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Weekend in review
May 09, 2016 4:45 am
Some of the headlines that made the news Fri., May 6, through Sun., May 8:
Emilia Teasdale reported in the Columbia Paper the Chatham Village Board held a workshop meeting last week to discuss water. Mainly, the plan to replace the open village reservoir on High Street with a closed structure. Village engineer Pat Prendergast said it is not standard procedure for a municipality to use an open reservoir like the one currently in use. Water is now pumped from the village wells to the reservoir and held there until it flows to users in the village. The process is expensive, Prendergast said, and thousands of gallons of water leak from the reservoir on a daily basis. Prendergast advised the board to have a survey of the land around the reservoir done to see how much property the village owns at the site.
Colby Hamilton reported at Politico New York it was announced Fri., May 6, the state's first court for young adults will soon open in Brooklyn. The court will exclusively handle misdemeanor defendants between the ages of 16 and 24. The court will make available young adult-specific counseling, treatment and services. The goal is to reduce the use of jail and recidivism among that young adult population. The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office is also launching a new Young Adult Bureau. The court is being funded by a U.S. Department of Justice grant. It is the second of its kind in the nation.
The Daily Freeman reported Scenic Hudson announced it has protected 22 ecologically important acres adjoining Clermont State Historic Site. in Columbia County The estate of Erno Szemes [sch-EH-mz] donated a conservation easement on the property to ensure its permanent protection. The parcel contains woods, wetlands and 1,600 feet of shoreline along Clay Kill. The site is contiguous with nearly 1,100 acres of previously protected land, including state parkland around the Clermont mansion and adjacent farmland. Szemes lived off the land for more than 50 years in a small structure without electricity or running water.
Rick Karlin reported at Capitol Confidential Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Labor Department released a report last week showing that more than $10 million in stolen wages was returned to more than 17,000 victims of wage theft during the first quarter of 2016. Some of the most common ways an employer may steal wages include paying tips only; failure to pay overtime; not paying for training time; charging for required uniforms or equipment; and, withholding final paychecks. In this latest effort, the department disbursed nearly $263,000 to 982 workers in the Capital Region, and more than $500,000 to 646 workers in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Information on wage theft recovery can be found at www [dot] Labor [dot] NY [dot] gov [slash] wage theft.
John Mason reported in the Register-Star the Hudson Common Council Arts, Entertainment and Tourism Committee is weighing how to distribute $20,000 in city funding for community festivals in the coming year. The committee's final decision will be made at a special meeting at City Hall, Wed., May 11. At its meeting last week, the committee gave tentative funding approval for Arts Walk, the Bangladeshi Cultural Fair, the Black Arts and Cultural Festival, the Hudson Promise Neighborhood annual block party, Flag Day, the Halloween Parade, Winter Walk, a Hudson Sloop Club fish fry and an event by the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. The committee was at odds on funding private, for-profit businesses and tabled a number of requests as a result. Third Ward Alderman and attorney John Friedman, head of the Council Legal Committee said one event -- “Wonderful World of Women” proposed by the Perfect Ten organization -- discriminated against men. He recommended a legal opinion be obtained before a decision is made on that request. With a number of issues to be resolved, the committee agreed to meet again this week.
Jim Planck reported in The Daily Mail the Durham Town Board received an application package for a new retail store on Route 145, and from all indications it will be a Dollar General. Town Supervisor William Carr Jr. said he received a call from the Albany branch of Bohler Engineering last week saying the package was on its way. Bohler's client, Primax Properties, is proposing the construction of a 91,000-square-foot retail store at the intersection of Brown and Clay Hill roads and Route 145. Primax and Dollar General have worked together on several local and regional projects. Bohler has represented Primax for Dollar General stores at proposed sites in Germantown, Schuylerville, Fort Ann, in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. The Tennessee-based bargain retail chain Dollar General has more than 12,000 stores in 43 states nationwide. There are five Dollar General stores located within 20 miles of Durham at present, including locations in Greenville, Cairo and Palenville.
Emilia Teasdale reported in the Columbia Paper the Chatham Village Board held a workshop meeting last week to discuss water. Mainly, the plan to replace the open village reservoir on High Street with a closed structure. Village engineer Pat Prendergast said it is not standard procedure for a municipality to use an open reservoir like the one currently in use. Water is now pumped from the village wells to the reservoir and held there until it flows to users in the village. The process is expensive, Prendergast said, and thousands of gallons of water leak from the reservoir on a daily basis. Prendergast advised the board to have a survey of the land around the reservoir done to see how much property the village owns at the site.
Colby Hamilton reported at Politico New York it was announced Fri., May 6, the state's first court for young adults will soon open in Brooklyn. The court will exclusively handle misdemeanor defendants between the ages of 16 and 24. The court will make available young adult-specific counseling, treatment and services. The goal is to reduce the use of jail and recidivism among that young adult population. The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office is also launching a new Young Adult Bureau. The court is being funded by a U.S. Department of Justice grant. It is the second of its kind in the nation.
The Daily Freeman reported Scenic Hudson announced it has protected 22 ecologically important acres adjoining Clermont State Historic Site. in Columbia County The estate of Erno Szemes [sch-EH-mz] donated a conservation easement on the property to ensure its permanent protection. The parcel contains woods, wetlands and 1,600 feet of shoreline along Clay Kill. The site is contiguous with nearly 1,100 acres of previously protected land, including state parkland around the Clermont mansion and adjacent farmland. Szemes lived off the land for more than 50 years in a small structure without electricity or running water.
Rick Karlin reported at Capitol Confidential Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Labor Department released a report last week showing that more than $10 million in stolen wages was returned to more than 17,000 victims of wage theft during the first quarter of 2016. Some of the most common ways an employer may steal wages include paying tips only; failure to pay overtime; not paying for training time; charging for required uniforms or equipment; and, withholding final paychecks. In this latest effort, the department disbursed nearly $263,000 to 982 workers in the Capital Region, and more than $500,000 to 646 workers in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Information on wage theft recovery can be found at www [dot] Labor [dot] NY [dot] gov [slash] wage theft.
John Mason reported in the Register-Star the Hudson Common Council Arts, Entertainment and Tourism Committee is weighing how to distribute $20,000 in city funding for community festivals in the coming year. The committee's final decision will be made at a special meeting at City Hall, Wed., May 11. At its meeting last week, the committee gave tentative funding approval for Arts Walk, the Bangladeshi Cultural Fair, the Black Arts and Cultural Festival, the Hudson Promise Neighborhood annual block party, Flag Day, the Halloween Parade, Winter Walk, a Hudson Sloop Club fish fry and an event by the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. The committee was at odds on funding private, for-profit businesses and tabled a number of requests as a result. Third Ward Alderman and attorney John Friedman, head of the Council Legal Committee said one event -- “Wonderful World of Women” proposed by the Perfect Ten organization -- discriminated against men. He recommended a legal opinion be obtained before a decision is made on that request. With a number of issues to be resolved, the committee agreed to meet again this week.
Jim Planck reported in The Daily Mail the Durham Town Board received an application package for a new retail store on Route 145, and from all indications it will be a Dollar General. Town Supervisor William Carr Jr. said he received a call from the Albany branch of Bohler Engineering last week saying the package was on its way. Bohler's client, Primax Properties, is proposing the construction of a 91,000-square-foot retail store at the intersection of Brown and Clay Hill roads and Route 145. Primax and Dollar General have worked together on several local and regional projects. Bohler has represented Primax for Dollar General stores at proposed sites in Germantown, Schuylerville, Fort Ann, in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. The Tennessee-based bargain retail chain Dollar General has more than 12,000 stores in 43 states nationwide. There are five Dollar General stores located within 20 miles of Durham at present, including locations in Greenville, Cairo and Palenville.