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

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that New York's State Senate voted 40-19 on party lines to confirm Rowan Wilson as the next chief judge of New York on April 18. Wilson will be the first Black judge to lead the Court of Appeals and state's sprawling court system. The Senate rejected Gov. Kathy Hochul's first choice for the job, Hector LaSalle. But she crowed April 18 about her second choice, saying, "Judge Rowan Wilson is a highly qualified jurist with a keen sense of fairness and a deep commitment to justice.... Throughout his tenure on the bench, he has proven himself to be a thoughtful leader who recognizes the power of the judiciary to impact the lives of all New Yorkers." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Kathleen Moore reports for the Times Union that the New York Board of Regents voted unanimously on April 18 to ban mascots that use names and images of indigenous people at schools in the state. The Education Department convened an advisory group of indigenous people to decide if schools could keep nicknames such as Raiders or Warriors while removing images of indigenous people. But those proposals were rejected, with advisory group members calling such changes an “evasion.” But the Education Department is allowing school districts to keep their mascots or nicknames if they get the approval of the specific indigenous group. The Oneida Indian Nation released a statement saying it would not approve any requests from a school district to keep a mascot that refers to their people, and other nations have released similar statements. “This issue is about how New York state views its responsibilities to an increasingly diverse population,” said nation representative Ray Halbritter. “The state’s directive promotes inclusivity and mutual respect, and is the best way to unify our communities moving forward.” Education Department officials say they expect at least a few school districts will sue to keep their nicknames. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Andrea Macko reports in Porcupine Soup that a chemical incident April 14 at the Haleon plant on State Route 145 in Oak Hill sent one person to the hospital, but there were not enough lingering effects to stop the plant from reopening April 17. Unknown chemical fumes called out local emergency crews who treated 12 people at the site. The company makes oral care products, and says that titanium dioxide, glycerin, and a phosphoric acid derivative known as Prayphos, were involved in the incident. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says each of the substances can result in respiratory problems if inhaled. A statement from the company said the incident, "was not due to a leak or a spill," and that, "the site was assessed over the weekend and determined to be safe for re-entry. Operations were restarted today.” Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the state Department of Environmental Conservation is renewing the permit for the Meadow Woods apartment complex to discharge 10,000 gallons of on-site treated wastewater daily into state surface waters. The 38-unit apartment complex is located on Route 385 near the Hudson River. The DEC checked the apartment complex’s wastewater practices, and said the septic tanks there were cleaned this past winter. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Cairo Town officials keep admitting their errors and inability to make budgets. Town Supervisor Jason Watts told the newspaper, “We had a forensic investigator here and we’re just waiting for some other audits to be done.... There were three or four different spreadsheets.... We couldn’t figure it out without hiring somebody.” On November 7 last year, Watts said taxes were only increasing by 0.51 percentin Cairo as the final 2023 budget was adopted. But then on December 28, town officials say an error was discovered and actually the town tax levy was growing by 7.5 percent and the tax rate was increasing by 5.11 percent. On December 29 the town board held an emergency meeting to pass a local law authorizing an override of the state’s tax cap. Minutes from that meeting show that town resident Monica Keff warned officials that the state requires a town’s approval to go over the tax cap before an increase goes into effect, and that their retroactive resolution to do so would not be accepted. But Cairo officials voted for the retroactive resolution anyway, and now admit they were wrong. “The attorney said, really quickly, ‘Let’s try to do something to correct this,’” said Watts. Town board member Tim Powers, who was not present for that vote said, “The resolution was voted on, prepared and sent to the state but the state rejected it.” Town officials later discovered they had made the same budget error before, and are now studying how many budget errors they have made. So far, the town has been forced to cut out funds for a new roof and steps for the town hall, and salary increases for the town board, because of their accounting errors. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Patricia R. Doxsey reports in the Daily Freeman Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat representing the 18th Congressional District, reported $1,095,594 in campaign donations in the first three months of 2023, while Marc Molinaro, a Republican representing the 19th Congressional District, reported raising $638,670. The Federal Election Commission filings for Jan. 1 through March 31 come a little more than 100 days into the 2022-2023 congressional term, but show representatives spending much time focusing already on the 2024 election. On April 12, Democrat Josh Riley said he would run against Molinaro again, after losing to the Dutchess County-based Republican in 2022. Riley than announced he raised $250,000 in the first 24 hours of his campaign. While Riley's donations came after the filing deadline and won't be available for the public to see for months, he criticized Molinaro’s contributions, saying they came from “corporate special interests and far-right Republican members of Congress, including Claudia Tenney and several Freedom Caucus members who have proposed cuts to Medicare and Social Security.” Riley also promised, “I’m not taking any corporate PAC money because I’ll never sell out upstate New York." So far, Ryan does not have any announced opponents in 2024. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that a federal grand jury investigation that has focused on the handling of absentee ballot documents by numerous Renssleaer County officials is nearing an end after a year, and more charges could be filed soon. The newspaper says two anonymous people claim further charges are coming. So far, the investigation has led to guilty pleas from former Troy Councilperson Kimberly Ashe-McPherson and Jason T. Schofield, the county's former Republican elections commissioner. While it is unknown what future charges could come, "the federal investigation has recently focused on campaign work by county employees who work under the direction of Richard W. Crist, the county's operations director and a longtime GOP operative and political consultant. Investigators also have examined absentee ballot documents handled by Jim Gordon, the county's director of purchasing," the story says. A theme of the investigation has been county employees doing political campaign work, mostly about absentee ballots. Nationally, Republicans have railed against absentee ballots, but in Rensselaer County, local Republicans clearly spent much time on getting them counted. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Village of Philmont's $500,000 water tower restoration project began April 17, along with mandatory water restrictions. Nonessential water use will not be permitted during the work, so watering lawns and plants, washing cars, and pool-filling is not allowed, while cooking, bathing, and general hygienic-related uses of water are allowed. Village Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Christine Speed said, "Divers need to go in and assess the situation, then the tower needs to be drained so the work can be done, and then painted. To do the actual work, they have to set up a system to do the test to ensure that there will be a safe and consistent supply of water during the refinishing of the inside of the tank.” Officials say the work will take months. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Today's daily news audio update.

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

Luke Parsnow reports at New York State of Politics that after a three-hour hearing April 17 the New York state Senate's Judiciary Committee voted to send the nomination of Judge Rowan Wilson to be the next chief judge on the state Court of Appeals for a full Senate vote. Gov. Kathy Hochul's first nominee, Judge Hector LaSalle, did not get approved by the committee. Wilson did, with all the Democrats voting in favor, four Republicans voting against, and one Republican voting to move the nomination to the floor without recommendation. If the full Senate votes in favor, Wilson would be the first Black man to lead the court system in New York. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

The Troy Record reports that Rep. Paul Tonko announced 15 community development and improvement projects in his 20th 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. Tonko asked for two of his 15 projects for the southern Albany County town of Coeymans and the village of Ravena. Coeymans, if successful, would get $1,882,500 for their sewer system, while Ravena is asking for $3,000,000 to improve their drinking water systems. Read the full story in the Troy Record.

Raymond Pignone reports at Columbia-Greene Media that the village of Catskill will install eight Level 2 electric vehicle charging ports thanks to a $26,605 grant from the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office announced April 14. New York is giving more than $8.3 million to 70 municipalities, including five in the Capital Region, to install public electric vehicle charging stations. Currently New York has 3,000 public EV charging stations. But Cornell University professor Bob Howarth says the state needs more, saying, “I do think we need to have a much better charging infrastructure than we have now.... There’s a long way to go, but, you know, it’s happening." New York's goal is to eliminate the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035. The story does not say where in Catskill the charging stations will be located. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

The Columbia Paper reports that on April 23 the town of Stuyvesant turns 200 years old. On April 21, 1823 New York State legislation went into effect carving Stuyvesant out of part of the Town of Kinderhook. The town, and villages of Stuyvesant Landing and Stuyvesant Falls, were named after the former governor of New Netherlands, Peter Stuyvesant. In two hundred years, the story says, Stuyvesant has had brick making, a stove foundry, ice harvesting, a variety of mills, railroads, hotels, a bicycle emporium, and an island amusement park. The town is celebrating its birthday from 1 to 3 p.m. on April 22 at the Town Hall with birthday cake, a video history, and many artifacts on display. There are other events celebrating Stuyvesant's Bicentennial in July, September, and December. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

Today's audio daily news update.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that unknown chemical fumes at the Haleon plant in Oak Hill in Greene County sent someone to the hospital on April 14. Durham Ambulance, Oak Hill-Durham Volunteer Fire Company, Greene County EMS, Cairo Ambulance, Ashland Ambulance, and East Durham Volunteer Fire Company turned up at the plant that makes oral care products. One person was taken by ambulance to an area hospital for minor exposure, and 12 others were evaluated on scene but did not require hospitalization. The story did not include any other information about the chemical leak. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that there is good news and bad news for New York taxpayers, as state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office reported $2.9 billion more tax revenue than expected for the fiscal year that ended April 1, but $9.5 billion less than the previous year. DiNapoli said, “The financial position of the state remains on a solid footing, for now.... While tax collections have exceeded projections, they were considerably lower than last year. Although easing, inflation continues to present challenges to economic growth. State policymakers should ensure that the enacted budget for State Fiscal Year 2023-24 commits additional resources to the state’s reserve funds to improve long-term financial stability.” Sales taxes and business taxes collected by New York increased by almost a billion dollars each. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Doug La Rocque reports for Capital Region Independent Media that Norm Rasmussen is returning to the New Lebanon Town Board after the March resignation of town board member Britt Buckenroth. Town Supervisor Tistrya Houghtling said Buckenroth's schedule was too busy to stay on the board. Rasmussen, a former town board member, fills out her term through Dec. 31. There will be three council seats on the November ballot, with two for four-year terms and one for the two years remaining on Buckenroth’s term. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

Liz Montgomery reports in Porcupine Soup that Hailee Dickson, Becky Pine, Russ Nadler, and some other Athens residents are trying to stop a cell tower going up in their town because the thin pole obstructs their viewshed. ARX Wireless/Verizon Wireless wants to put a 155-foot cell tower on on Farm to Market Road to improve local cell reception. The company's application says, “Approval of the project will enable Verizon Wireless to provide an adequate and safe level of wireless telephone service to the identified area of the Town of Athens and surrounding environs." But the trio's group says that, “This area is one with stunning views and the proposed placement would be in the center of the mountain views from both east and west.” The proposal for the cell tower is before the Athens planning board, which next meets at 7 p.m, Thursday, April 27 at the E.J. Arthur Elementary School in Athens. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.