DOWNLOAD or PLAY the audio version of the local news headlines for Thu., Feb. 23 (9:47). (Produced by Philip Grant.)

Amanda Purcell is reporting in the Register-Star nearly 150 people from the 19th Congressional District protested outside the Fort Orange Club in Albany, Wed., Feb. 22. The protest took place on the street while a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. John Faso was underway inside the club. Many in the group said they came to protest Faso’s failure to host town hall meetings during the Congressional recess. "He is an elected official. He should meet with his constituents," Dominique Devito of Ghent said at the protest. "It doesn’t mean anything will be solved but I think people should be able to speak about what concerns them. And, if he’s got answers, he should speak to as many people as possible." Local chapters of Indivisible, Women’s March, MoveForward and others attended the rally. Faso's representative said in a statement that since Faso was sworn into office last month, and continuing through this week, he has met with dozens of constituents, healthcare and insurance industry leaders, spoken at public policy forums and participated in live call-in programs on both radio and television. "He is currently planning additional media appearances and a telephone town hall for hundreds of residents who have already signed up through our website (faso.house.gov)," the statement read. Patricia Doxsey is reporting in the Daily Freeman that more than 600 people have signed up to attend the unofficial John Faso town hall event Fri., Feb. 24, organized by Citizen Action of the Hudson Valley. The group invited Faso, but he is not expected to show. In his absence, a panel will discuss the Affordable Care Act, immigration reform and other issues. Because of the expected size of the crowd, the venue has been moved from Kingston Town Hall to the auditorium at George Washington Elementary School.

Emilia Teasdale is reporting in The Columbia Paper the Valatie Village Board gave the go-ahead this week for the village to foreclose on various properties for unpaid taxes. Mayor Diane Argyle said the property owners were “many years behind on their taxes.” She said the village is owed approximately $150,000 in back taxes. “There are some properties in the tens of thousands of back taxes owed,” she said. Foreclosure proceedings are already underway on the River Street property that once housed Energy-Onix. That building has been abandoned since the company moved out several years ago. Village Attorney Rob Fitzsimmons will now send letters to all property owners in arrears from 2014 and earlier, advising that the village is taking legal action. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

Victoria Addison, Rosa Acheson and Daniel Zuckerman are reporting for Columbia-Greene Media on the anticipated impact of recent immigration orders issued by the new Republican administration on the local agricultural economy. Keri Latiolais, a Columbia County vegetable and animal farmer, said the new policies have created a sense of fear. “We already know of some farms that just aren’t going to plant what they’ve planted in the past because they know they won’t have the labor to pick it,” Latiolais said. “We won’t be able to find enough employees if we lose all of the immigrants here,” she said. Latiolais said she does not believe people understand how the loss of immigrants will impact their food system. Derek Grout of Valatie-based Harvest Spirits said people cannot devalue immigrant labor if they value their own food security. “Foreign labor is so critical to young, new farms, old established dairy farms, even a lot of fruit farms,” Grout said. “You cannot devalue immigrant labor if you value your own food security — the ability to grow your own food in your own country.” Harvest Spirits uses workers from Jamaica through a temporary work visa program, as well as qualified, local residents. Farm labor requires skilled work that can be done in large quantity, seasonally, he said. Farm employees are not transient, he said, but are skilled laborers who are loyal to the farms that hire them. In Greene County, 21 percent of the land is used for agricultural production, according to an educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension. In Columbia County nearly half of the land -- 48 percent -- is used for farming. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

518sports.com has complete coverage of local high school basketball, and Tue., and the first round of playoff games were held Tue., Feb. 21. Local boys basketball teams won Feb. 21 in the first round of the playoffs. Hudson defeated Bishop Gibbons 92-78, and Ichabod Crane 65 beat Schuylerville 65-54, and Catskill won over Hoosick Falls 59-52. Hudson plays Ichabod Crane at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at Hudson Valley Community College. Catskill plays Mekeel Christian at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at Shenendehowa High School. In other Class B games Coxsackie-Athens lost to Glen Falls 82-55, and Ravena lost Voorheesville 54-40. In a Class C Sectional boys game Maple Hill beat Greenville 61-52.
Girls Basketball score from Feb. 21 Sectional playoffs:
Class B:
#12 Emma Willard: 24 #5 Hudson: 46
#15 Ravena: 31 #2 Tamarac: 76
#11 Catskill: 23 #6 Cohoes: 65
Class C:
#12 Stillwater: 63 #5 Berne-Knox: 75
#10 Greenville: 52 #7 Mechanicville: 64
#14 Chatham: 46 #3 Middleburgh: 56
Class D:
#12 Salem: 49 #5 Germantown: 35

The Daily Freeman reports that television host Jimmy Fallon donated $100,000 to the art program at Saugerties High School. Fallon graduated from the school in 1992. “And if anyone there wants to return the favor with a statue of me or something, I’m totally cool with that, too,” he said. District Superintendent Seth Turner thanked Fallon for the gift but said he's only willing to erase Fallon’s disciplinary record in his files. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.

Anne McCloy reports for CBS6-TV in Albany that inmates in the Albany County jail are charged up to a nickel per minute for internet access. With donated funds, the jail has 103 tablets for 623 inmates, operated through a company called Telmate, that blocks certain sites, and allows only approved contacts. “When inmates are busy, you have a safer facility,” Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said. “I know some people are going to sit back, and go, wow, you’re in jail, you should be paying the price or whatever, but jail is supposed to correct the behavior. It’s not supposed to, you know, kill someone in there.” Read the full story on the CBS6-TV website.

Bill Mahoney reports at Politico New York that Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoes more bills than other recent governors. Cuomo vetoed 97 bills last year, or 15.7 percent. His overall rate as governor is 14 percent. For comparison, George Pataki vetoed 11.4 percent of bills and Mario Cuomo vetoed 8.5 percent of bills. Read the full story at Politico New York.

Today is Day 9 of the WGXC Radical Radio 2017 Winter Pledge Drive. During the coming days, WGXC programmers, volunteers and staff must raise $20,000 to keep WGXC Hands-on Radio on the air, live and local during the coming months. Your support will make all the difference. Call (518) 697-7400 or go online to wgxc.org [slash] donate. Thank you for supporting creative community radio in New York's Greene and Columbia counties.

Local weather forecast:

TODAY: Patchy fog before 7 a.m. Otherwise, mostly sunny. High near 68. Thursday night, a chance of showers, mainly after 10 p.m. Mostly cloudy. Low around 43.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
FRIDAY: A chance of showers, mainly before 11 a.m. Mostly cloudy. High near 60. Friday night, a slight chance of showers before 10 p.m. Mostly cloudy. Low around 50.
SATURDAY: A chance of showers, then rain likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy. High near 60. Saturday night, rain likely before 1 a.m., then a slight chance of rain and snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. Mostly cloudy. Low around 33.

Sunrise today: 6:38 a.m.
Sunset today: 5:39 p.m.
LENGTH OF THE DAY: 11 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS
Today is the fourth Thursday of the month.

WGXC suggests calling ahead to confirm time and location.
All numbers are in the 518 area code unless otherwise noted.

ATHENS Town Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at community center, 2 First Street, Athens (945-1052).
CHATHAM Village Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Village Hall, 77 Main Street, Chatham (392-5821).
CHATHAM Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 488 Route 295, Chatham (392-1651).
COLUMBIA County Board of Supervisors Finance Committee meeting, 3 p.m. at 401 State Street Office Building, Hudson (828-1527). COPAKE Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 230 Mt. View Road, Copake (329-1234).
COXSACKIE Town Board workshop meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 16 Reed St., Coxsackie (731-2727). HUDSON Community Development and Planning Agency meeting (tentative), 12 p.m. at 1 North Front St., Hudson (751-1044).
HUDSON Planning Board meeting, 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson (828-1030). Rescheduled from Feb. 9. WINDHAM Town Board meeting, 8 p.m. at Town Hall, 371 State Rt. 296, Hensonville (734-4170).

POLITICAL EVENTS
Unofficial JOHN FASO Town Hall, 6 p.m., Feb. 24, at George Washington Elementary School. Organized by Citizen Action of the Hudson Valley. Local activists organized this town hall event for Faso. He is not expected to attend. The first-term Congressman is not holding public meetings with his constituents.
MAKE FASO LISTEN March, 2 p.m., Feb. 25, at U.S. Rep. John Faso's District Office, 2 Hudson Street, Kinderhook. Organized by Indivisible CD19NY.
PEOPLE'S MARCH for Education Justice, 1 p.m., Mar. 4 at locations across New York: Buffalo, Rochester, Schenectady, Kingston and New York City. Organized by Citizen Action of the Hudson Valley and Alliance for Quality Education of New York.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Wednesday, February 22 (2:37). (Produced by Alanna Medlock.)