Daniel Zuckerman is reporting in The Daily Mail the state Department of Transportation Mon., Oct. 3, announced that a three-and-a-half-mile stretch of Route 23A between Haines Falls and Palenville will be closed for a four-day period next week to repair some of the slope areas on the Mountain Cloves Scenic Byway. Work will begin Tue., Oct. 11 at 7 a.m., and continue through 4 p.m., Fri., Oct. 14. The road will be closed between Wingate Road in Haines Falls and the Route 23A bridge over Kaaterskill Creek near Palenville. Four separate sites within the closed stretch of Route 23A will be repaired. The road will remain closed even when crews are not working. Motorists must use Routes 32, 23 and 296 as alternatives to Route 23A. Hikers will not be permitted to walk along the side of the road. “We appreciate people’s cooperation with it. We are aware that it’s an inconvenience,” said DOT Regional Public Information Officer Bryan Viggiani. The slopes are being repaired to prevent future slope failures caused by flooding that could close the road for long periods of time. Viggiani said there have been closures in the past due to flooding in Kaaterskill Creek. Additional information can be found at the Town of Hunter website. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

The Daily Freeman is reporting the last day to register by mail to vote in the Nov. 8 general election is Oct. 14. Mailed registration forms must be postmarked no later than Oct. 14, and must be received by the Board of Elections no later than October 19. In Columbia, Greene and Ulster counties, Board of Elections offices will offer special hours on Sat., Oct. 15 for in-person voter registration, from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more information in Columbia County call 518 828 3115; in Greene County call 518 719 3550; and in Ulster County 845 334 5470.

Casey Seiler is reporting at Capitol Confidential a coalition of environmental groups have united to oppose a state effort to subsidize three upstate nuclear power plants. The state Public Service Commission voted in August to approve a rate increase for the power generated by the upstate plants to pay for the subsidies. Since then, a group of downstate lawmakers have called for the PSC to reconsider that action, noting that the majority of the costs to keep the plants on line will be borne by downstate rate-payers. Speaking Wed., Oct. 5, members of the coalition claimed that residential consumers will be on the hook for an estimated $2.3 billion over the 12-year life of the plan. Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group said keeping the plants in operation was like “subsidizing the horse-and-buggy industry while Henry Ford is rolling cars off the Assembly line.” The coalition plans to mount a grassroots effort to kill the subsidies similar to the way that hydrofracking was blocked. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Lorna Cherot Littleway is reporting in The Columbia Paper the Taconic Hills Board of Education has allocated $7,500 for mandatory water testing for lead. In September, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation requiring that all school districts test drinking water for lead contamination. Taconic Hills Facilities Director Nicholas Smith told the board at its meeting last month that 420 samples were taken and sent out for analysis on September 19. “Every cold water outlet was tested,” Smith said. The K-12 facility, located on County Route 11A in Craryville, is supplied by two wells. Smith said that should the test results indicate an unacceptable level of lead, the district would then conduct flush tests to determine whether the contamination was from the water source or the faucet. The new law requires school districts to test their water every five years. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

Emily Masters is reporting in the Times Union Department of Motor Vehicle investigators arrested 411 people for underage drinking and confiscated 437 fake IDs statewide during the recent summer concert season. The crackdown included sweeps of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and were a coordinated effort between state, local and parks police, and the State Liquor Authority. The DMV reported SPAC netted the second most arrests and documents confiscated among the six venues tested. At an event on August 7, fake drivers licenses from Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina were seized. In New York, anyone under 21 found using a fake ID to buy alcohol can be arrested and have their license revoked for 90 days to a year. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Leonard Sparks is reporting at The Fray Democrat U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is drawing criticism from his Republican opponent, Phil Oliva, for his response to the Coast Guard proposal to create 10 anchorage sites on the Hudson River, as well as the legislation Maloney introduced to defeat the plan. Oliva said Maloney's slow response caused opponents of the proposal to miss a June 30 deadline to request a public hearing. In a statement, Oliva also dismissed the federal legislation introduced by Maloney to stop the Department of Homeland Security's plan to create 43 additional commercial slots in ten anchorages on the Hudson River between Kingston and Yonkers, calling it "political theatre" in the weeks leading up to the November election. Oliva also criticized Maloney for his vote against a Republican-backed piece of House legislation that would give Congress the power to approve or reject agency regulations with an economic impact of $100 million or more. Maloney was asked about Oliva’s criticisms as he stood at Newburgh’s waterfront to announce the anchorage legislation. The assertion that he was slow to act was “old news,” Maloney said. “I’m not surprised that in the political season, people want to make political points,” he said. Read the full story at The Fray.

Brian K. Sullivan is reporting for Bloomberg News Hurricane Matthew is getting stronger and is on course to hit the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coasts by early Friday and Saturday. Florida and South Carolina have ordered evacuations of coastal regions. The chances of Matthew reaching the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast fell overnight. The Category 3 storm forced the closure of the Buckeye oil terminal in Freeport, Bahamas, and could disrupt oil shipments throughout the east coast of the U.S. Many oil storage facilities are already being taken offline. Read the full story at Bloomberg News.

Local weather forecast:

Today: Patchy fog before 9 a.m. Otherwise, sunny. High near 73. Thursday night, patchy fog after 2 a.m. Otherwise, clear. Low around 48.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
FRIDAY: Patchy fog before 9 a.m. Otherwise, sunny. High near 75. Friday night, mostly clear. Low around 49.
SATURDAY: A chance of showers. Partly sunny. High near 68. Saturday night, a chance of showers before 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy. Low around 48.

Sunrise today: 6:59 a.m.
Sunset today: 6:26 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 11:27 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS
Today is the first Thursday of the month.
WGXC is unaware of any recurring meetings scheduled for today.

ANCRAM Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 1416 County Rte. 7, Ancram (329-6512).
ASHLAND Planning Board meeting, 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 12094 Route 23, Ashland (734-3636).
AUSTERLITZ Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 812 Route 203, Spencertown (392-3260).
CAIRO Town Board meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 512 Main St., Cairo (622-3120).
COPAKE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 230 Mt. View Road, Copake (329-1234).
COXSACKIE-ATHENS Board of Education meeting, 6 p.m. at middle school, 24 Sunset Boulevard, Coxsackie (731-1850).
COXSACKIE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 16 Reed St., Coxsackie (731-2727).
GREENE County Legislature Public Safety Committee workshop meeting on the proposed Greene County Jail, 6 p.m. at Catskill High School auditorium, 343 W. Main St., Catskill (719-3270).
KINDERHOOK Zoning Board of Appeals meeting (tentative), 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 4 Church St, Niverville (784-2233).
STOCKPORT Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 2787 Atlantic Ave., Stottville (828-9389).

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Wednesday, Oct. 5 (3:41). (Produced by Alanna Medlock.)