IHeartRadio took down one of its 560-AM towers on Aug. 2, and will take down another one along 9G in Greenport. Bill Draper, chief engineer at 93.5-FM, took video above.

Local weather forecast:

Today: Sunny. High near 85. Monday night, clear. Low around 55.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
TUESDAY: Sunny. High near 86. Tuesday night, a slight chance of showers after 2 a.m. Partly cloudy. Low around 64.
WEDNESDAY: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy. High near 82. Wednesday night, a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy. Low around 69.

Sunrise today: 5:55 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:06 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 14:10 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

a href="https://wavefarm.org/wgxc/calendar">PUBLIC MEETINGS

Today is the second Monday of the month.
WGXC suggests calling ahead to confirm time and location.
All numbers are in the 518 area code unless otherwise noted.

ASHLAND Town Board meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, Main Street, Ashland (734-3636).
CANAAN Town Board meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 1647 Co. Rte. 5, Canaan (781-3144).
CATSKILL Village Board meeting, 7 p.m. at the Firehouse, 1 Central Ave. (behind Walgreens) (943-3830).
CLAVERACK Planning Board meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 91 Church St., Mellenville (672-7911).
COPAKE Environmental Committee meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 230 Mt. View Road, Copake (329-1234).
GREENE COUNTY Legislature County Services and Public Works committee meetings, 6 p.m. at County Building, 411 Main St., Catskill (719-3270).
GREENPORT Town Board special meeting, 5 p.m. at Town Hall, 600 Town Hall Dr., Greenport (828-4656).
GREENVILLE Town Board special meeting, 7 p.m. at Greenville Town Hall, 11159 Route 32, Greenville (966-5055).
HUDSON Common Council Informal meeting, 7 p.m. at City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson (828-1030).
HUNTER Village Board meeting, 8 p.m. at Village Hall, 7955 Main St., Hudson (263-4020).
NEW BALTIMORE Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 3809 Rt. 51, Hannacroix (756-6671).
PHILMONT Village Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Village Hall, 124 Main St., Philmont (672-7032).
PRATTSVILLE Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 14517 Main St., Prattsville (299-3125).
TAGHKANIC Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 909 Route 82, Taghkanic (851-7638).

Katie Kocijanski reports in The Daily Mail that westbound West Bridge Street will be closed on Monday for construction for the rest of the month, according to Catskill Village President Heather Bagshaw. The closure is from Division Street to the intersection of Route 9W. The road will be open for drivers going east, or down the hill into the village, according to the paper. "Walnut Street will have access from Division Street. When drainage work is being done at the corner of Walnut Street and West Bridge Street, the DOT will close Walnut Street until the work is finished," the paper reports. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced $56.4 million in grants Aug. 5 for 30 municipal water infrastructure projects in the Capital District and Mohawk Valley, including in many towns locally. Cairo, Catskill, Chatham, Coxsackie, Greenville, and the Rensselaer County Sewer District #2 were among grant winners, getting between $1.5 and $3 million dollars each.

Click here to download or play an audio version of this report.

Andrea Sears at Public News Service is reporting that the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan was finalized one year ago, and a new report said that the plan could provide big benefits for businesses.

Commercial customers are responsible for nearly one-third of all electricity-related carbon pollution nationwide. According to Dr. Marilyn Brown, professor at Georgia Tech's School of Public Policy, implementing the Clean Power Plan could mean significant savings by 2030.

"Bills for electricity could be reduced by 6.7 percent if states were to include energy efficiency as a strong component of their approach," Brown said.

In New York state, that translates to a savings of $138 million a year on electric bills for commercial building owners and occupants.

The state is committed to meeting or exceeding the goals of the Clean Power Plan. Peter Iwanonwicz, executive director at Environmental Advocates of New York, said the state will be spending upwards of $5 billion over the next 10 years on energy-efficiency programs.

"We're really well positioned to drive down the amount of electricity and overall energy that our building sectors and our residential sectors consume," Iwanowicz said. "And that's going to be a big benefit down the line."

He said every dollar invested in energy efficiency produces $3 of economic benefit.

Some states are planning to build new power plants to meet projected needs. But according to Brown, by upgrading to new heating and cooling systems and LED lighting to increase efficiency in buildings, the city could significantly reduce or eliminate the need to generate more power.

"It can meet energy service requirements with these more efficient products and not lock in a next generation of high-priced power plants," Brown said.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court stayed enforcement of the Clean Power Plan while it faces legal challenges, New York is actively pursuing a clean energy future.

Local weather forecast:

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 78, and a low around 57.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
MONDAY: Sunny, with a high near 78, and a low around 56.
TUESDAY: Sunny, with a high near 81.

Sunrise today: 5:55 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:06 p.m.



Emilia Teasdale is reporting in the Columbia Paper Ichabod Crane Superintendent of Schools George Zini will leave the district when his contract expires next June. Zini made the announcement at a school board meeting Tue., Aug. 2. Reading from a letter he addressed to School Board President Anthony Welcome, Zini said it was time for him to explore other options. Zini has been with the district since January of 2013. Zini came to Ichabod from a school district in Massachusetts, replacing the previous Interim Superintendent, Lee Bordick. Brodick served the district for two years. Board members praised Zini for his work on behalf of the district, but they did not discuss how they plan to move forward with finding his replacement. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.

Mid-Hudson News Network is reporting sales tax revenue is up in the Hudson Valley. Putnam County came in first, followed by Columbia County with a 5.4 percent increase, followed by Rockland and Sullivan counties. Ulster’s revenue rose by 2.7 percent. Dutchess County followed with a 2.1 percent increase, followed by Greene County at 1.8 percent. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

DOWNLOAD or PLAY the audio version of this story.

Andrea Sears is reporting for Public News Service New York State has become a national leader for workplace policies that support families. A new state-by-state analysis by the National Partnership for Women and Families gave New York an “A-," just slightly below first-place California. Vicki Shabo, vice president of the organization, said the state's Paid Family Leave Act that passed this year is one of the strongest in the country - offering eight weeks of leave initially, and twelve weeks when in full-effect. "And it will offer job protection,” Shabo said, "which means that people who work in smaller companies or have less time on the job won't risk losing their job when they need to care for a new child or a seriously ill family member." New York's law, which goes into effect in 2018, makes the Empire State the fourth in the country to have paid family leave. August 5 is the 23rd anniversary of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act - or FMLA - which guaranteed workers unpaid leave for the birth of a child or medical emergency. According to Shabo, some states, like New York, have enacted measures since then to improve upon federal statutes. "But a host of states, more than half, have done very little or nothing to improve the experiences and the supports that working families have at the time when a new child joins their family,” she said. There were 12 states given an “F" for failing to enact any workplace policies beyond the Family and Medical Leave Act and other federal laws to help new or expecting parents. Around the world, 183 countries guarantee paid maternity leave, and 79 have paid leave for fathers as well. Shabo said the evidence shows that enacting a national paid family leave program would benefit everyone. "It would boost our GDP. It would boost women's labor force participation,” Shabo said. “It would create greater gender equality and it would reduce economic inequality, as well as difference in opportunities for children and children's health going forward." She noted that 68 percent of the nation's children live in households in which all parents are employed.

Local weather forecast:

Today: There is a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 82, and a low around 62.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
SUNDAY: Mostly sunny, with a high near 78, and a low around 57.
MONDAY: Sunny, with a high near 78.

Sunrise today: 5:54 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:07 p.m.



DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Fri., Aug. 5 (3:35). (Produced by Lynn Sloneker.)