Ryan Whalen reports for New York State of Politics that New York State's Independent Redistricting Commission released yet another proposed Assembly map for the state Legislature to approve on April 20. Last year, the bipartisan commission could not agree on a map and instead sent two different maps of state Senate, Assembly and Congressional lines, which the Legislature rejected. Then Albany lawmakers drew their own maps of their own districts. Voters used those maps for the 2022 elections. Now, the legislature is considering changing all that for the 2024 elections. Republican Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay thinks the new map will be approved by the Democratic-led legislature. He said, "I'm happy this is done and I suspect this thing will get passed next week.” But the new map is almost identical to the one the legislators made. New York Public Interest Research Group Executive Director Blair Horner said, "It does raise the question though, how independent is the redistricting commission if they come up with maps that more or less match the ones made by lawmakers." If the map is not approved by the Legislature or the governor the commission will have until June 16 to create yet another one, and if that's struck down, lawmakers draw yet another map. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Hudson City School District Board of Education wants voters to approve a budget of $54,509,530 with no tax increase for 2023-24 school year. On April 18 the Board decided on that proposed budget, with a six percent spending increase. The story does not say what the schools are proposing to cut and add in this year's budget. Voters decide on the fate of the budget May 16, with polls open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Hudson Central Fire Station, Greenport Community Center, and the A.B. Shaw Firehouse. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

H. Rose Schneider reports in the Times Union that Norfolk Southern construction on a rail line in Albany County begins April 24, with a series of railroad crossings in Voorheesville, Altamont, Knox, and Duanesburg closed to through traffic at times through May 19. While the Norfolk Southern railroad replaces railroad crossings and installs new tracks, the intersections in the following towns will be closed beginning at 6 a.m. on these days:
April 24-26: School Road in Voorheesville, and Hennessey Road in Guilderland
May 1 to 3: Meadowdale and Gardner roads, in Guilderland
May 2 to 4: Brandle Road in Guilderland
May 2 to 5: Altamont Fairgrounds back driveway
May 8 to 10: Main Street in Altamont
May 15 to 17: Bozie Hollow Road in Knox, and the Schoharie Turnpike in Duanesburg
May 16 to 19: Cole Road in Duanesburg
Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's audio daily news update.

Andrea Macko reports in Porcupine Soup the Greenville Central School District Board of Education will hold a forum May 30 to let parents vent about what books they want banned from the school library. A few parents have been wanting to ban books in the school library, including "All Boys Aren't Blue," a memoir by George M. Johnson about growing up as a queer Black kid in New Jersey. But Kellie Wolf told the school board, “This is not just two or three books… there are like 30 or 40.... I have been doing my research and will get you a final count.” Wolf did not say if she has read those 40 books. Greenville Superintendent of Schools Michael Bennett said, “As educators, it is not our responsibility to ban books, but to offer books that represent viewpoints to which students need to be introduced.” Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Andrea Macko in Porcupine Soup reports that Rep. Marc Molinaro announced many community development and improvement projects in his 19th Congressional District that he submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations. This is what is sometimes called pork in Washington D.C. Each Congressional representative may request funding for up to 15 projects each Fiscal Year. Not all projects are guaranteed funding, but most get their dollars, under the guidelines issued by the Appropriations Committee. Locally, Molinaro asked for $2.4 million for the Village of Athens to rehabilitate its wastewater plant and another $2.4 million for Greene County Highway and Solid Waste Department to improve Main Street in Leeds. Read the full story in Porcupine Soup.

Liz Montgomery reports for Porcupine Soup that the bridge over Ten Mile Creek on Route 81 in Durham will be closed and replaced for the next nine weeks. Until June 23, that means a detour to State Route 145. But Oak Hill business owners are complaining about the detour. Mary Lou Nahas, owner of I. U. Tripp, Antiques and Home Provisions, says, “There are signs about the detour on Highway 81, but they make no mention of Oak Hill. It is like Oak Hill does not exist.” She wants more signs, as other businesses in Oak Hill have reported fewer customers since the work began. “If you know the back roads you know how to get to Oak Hill. But if not, you do not know what to do,” Nahas said. “Since the businesses in Oak Hill derive much of their business from people coming from outside the community, this lack of direction hurts them.” Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Mid-Hudson News reports that Metro-North Railroad now has its highest number of riders since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the rail line is only at 74 percent of their pre-pandemic average of riders. To try to get those numbers up Metro-North is now offering a 10 percent discount for monthly passes and a 20 percent off, 20-trip ticket tailored for a hybrid work schedule. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Today's daily news audio update.

Click above to download or play the "Better Weather." Produced by Joe Demanso of the Catskill Makers Syndicate.

On April 18 the Philmont Planning Board voted to approve The Woods, the Clover Reach Partners’ housing project in Philmont. Developers want to build 16 expensive single-family homes on 22 acres along Summit Lake in Philmont and initially got approval from the Planning Board last year. But an Article 78 lawsuit from a group of local citizens reversed that approval, so the planning board went through the process again, with a March 20 public hearing where a majority of residents speaking opposed the project, and evidence was introduced about the project's danger to bald eagles, while others complained the project did not get a full environmental review. Here is audio of the vote from the live WGXC webstream of the meeting: Click here to download or play audio of the vote. WGXC has a link to audio of the entire meeting on the WGXC Newsroom at wgxc.org.

Michael Ryan in the Mountain Eagle runs down some folks still complaining about the tax break Greene County officials recently gave to the Athens Generating power plant. The plant is not new, so the tax break was not some incentive to get it to move to the area. So many citizens were opposed to renewing the tax break for the New Athens Generating Company that Athens legislator Edward Bloomer said he was in favor of the tax break, but was the lone vote against it because he said so many of his constituents opposed the decision. Bloomer said, "I think it is the best way to go....There is a significant volume of people in Athens who disagree with that, people I respect, being far more learned than I am. I want to honor their voice. I vote a reluctant ‘no.’” The story does not say exactly how much money taxpayers lose by giving the power plant another 20-year deal. Greene County Legislature Chair Patrick Linger said, "At the public hearings, they mostly heard from people against this, but the loudest voice is not always the right voice.” Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Kate Lisa reports at New York State of Politics that New York state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins says Democrats are demanding tenant protections are in the final state budget, which was due April 1. Cousins wants the Good Cause Eviction legislation included in the budget, which would require property owners to give cause for an eviction and caps rent increases on tenants at 5 percent, with exceptions for renovations and higher rises in the consumer price index. Stewart-Cousins on April 19 said, "I have to have tenant protections.... I guess this is a national problem, quite honestly, but I don't think we can talk about just building without talking about affordability." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Unbridled Thoroughbred Foundation owners Susan Kayne and Andrew Elsbree say the Greenville-based horse sanctuary may have to close because of a lawsuit from their neighbors. Lara and Josh McAneny have an easement to access their property through the horse sanctuary. They are suing for $500,000 in damages for intentional interference of real property rights, defamation, and continuous trespass. Kayne and Elsbree are asking for donations and have organized a charity golf tournament June 5 at the Island Green Rainbow Golf Club in Greenville to raise money for Unbridled’s Legal Aid Campaign. Both sides describe each other as hostile. Depositions will be held from May through July while a trial date has not been set. Read more about this year at HudsonValley360.com.

Today's audio daily news update.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that Hudson housing officials picked Mountco Construction and Development Corp. to rebuild public housing in the Columbia County city. The plan is to build new public housing units, move the current tenants into them, then tear down the 50-year-old Bliss Towers and Columbia Apartments and build other housing on those sites. Hudson Housing Justice Director Michelle Tullo, Mayor’s Aide Michael Hofmann, and Hudson Housing Authority Executive Director Jeffery Dodson chose the Westchester County-based developer from five proposals. Tullo said, the new units that will eventually be built on the sites of the current buildings could be mixed-income, though hoped that there will be more affordable units in the new plan. The city does not yet have a timeline for construction or demolition. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that New York Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has given lawmakers and the governor until 4 p.m. on April 20 to pass a new budget or a fourth deadline extension. Sources close to the governor and legislative leaders claim their close to an agreement, with changes to the bail reform law the largest impasse. Housing and charter school issues are also said to be complicating a deal. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Several years ago, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic there weren't enough ventilators in the state, but now Andrea Macko reports at Porcupine Soup that Greene County Emergency Medical Systems has acquired three LTV1200 ventilators. Greene County EMS President Mark Evans explained that they got the ventilators through Columbia Memorial Health, saying, “The three units they gave us required updating, new software, new batteries, field carrying cases… which in total was about $10,000.... Since we did not budget money for this, I sought out the assistance of the Rural Health Network which I have been a member of for the last 15 years or so.” The Rural Health Network provided the money, and now paramedics will use the ventilators for patients who have suffered cardiac arrest and regained pulses, and who require intubation. The three units will be spread around the county and Greene County EMS says, “As a rural county without its own hospital, and with extended transport times from various areas, this is a necessary step in providing region leading healthcare to our patients.” Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Raymond Pignone at Columbia-Greene Media reports that an 11-mile trail network opens in Hunter on April 22. The trail connects Kaaterskill Falls in Haines Falls to Dolan’s Lake in the village of Hunter. The new trail runs partially over the Catskill Mountain Railroad path, and includes a new 90-foot-long pedestrian bridge replacing a railroad span over a small Schoharie Creek tributary. The trail network now connects Kaaterskill Rail Trail at the Mountain Top Historical Society at Haines Falls, the Huckleberry Multi-Use Trail in Tannersville, the North South Lake State Campgrounds, and the Escarpment Trail, the site of the former Catskill Mountain House. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Today's daily news audio update.