Melanie Lekocevic is reporting in The Daily Mail Coxsackie Bike and Sport has announced it is closing. The shop has been located in Coxsackie since May 1992, a little less than 25 years. Owner Nick Bove said his other two shops, Windham Mountain Outfitters and Hunter Mountain Outfitters, will remain open. He said in recent years the bicycle business has fallen on hard times, with internet sales cutting into the profits of smaller local businesses. And although the mild winter had an impact on his mountaintop stores, the bike shop was showing a clear downward trend. Bove said, “People are buying their bigger items elsewhere, like bikes and bike racks, and we are having to do the service for them, but we are not getting the sale itself.” All three employees from the Coxsackie store will keep their jobs. Bove said he will find a place for them at the two remaining shops. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Emilia Teasdale is reporting in The Columbia Paper the Chatham Town Board has approved a plan to hire a deputy from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office to police speeding on the Taconic State Parkway and other town roads as a way to boost town revenue. The board recently learned there was a $60,000 shortfall in its 2016 budget. At its meeting last month, the board approved paying the Sheriff’s Office $26 to $54 an hour plus mileage to monitor speeding on local roads and the portion of the parkway that runs through the town. “The town needs revenue,” said Supervisor Maria Lull of the plan. Other board members stressed that speeding was also a safety issue that needed to be addressed. Board member Bob Balcom said he was certain the town would see a return on the money spent on fees and added court costs. “I’m quite certain in an eight-hour shift the deputy will find the revenue,” he said. Board member Henry Swartz was the lone dissenter. “I don’t think we are going to hire a deputy to make money for the town,” he said. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

Rick Karlin is reporting at Capitol Confidential the state Public Service Commission on Mon., Aug. 1, passed a new set of standards to ensure that half of New York’s energy needs are met by renewable methods by 2030. Those renewable methods range from solar and wind, to hydro and nuclear power. The move was generally hailed by environmental groups. PSC Chairwoman Audrey Zibelman said, “The Commission’s primary interest is to see that renewables get built in New York. I think this is a pragmatic approach.” The environmental group Environmental Advocates said it particularly liked the requirement to move power generators toward a more renewable, green standard. The plan is not without controversy, however. It does include subsidies to make sure the state's existing upstate nuclear plants remain open. Critics complain the subsidies will cause New Yorkers to pay more for their power, and argue those funds would be better spent on the development of more renewables. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.

The Times Union is warning motorists to watch for flash flooding in the Capital Region, based on information from the National Weather Service in Albany, early Tue., Aug. 2. Thunderstorms moved through the region overnight, triggering the warning. The flood warning was issued at about 3 a.m. By 4:30 a.m., the weather service said the storm was moving into New England but street flooding was a problem in the Capital Region. Power was knocked out to about 1,400 National Grid customers in the city of Albany, as off 4:37 a.m. Read the full story in the Times Union.

John Mason is reporting in the Register-Star the Hudson Pride Foundation awarded its annual college scholarships at an event held, Sun., Jul. 31, in Hudson. The foundation has now presented a total of $27,000 to 10 local high school graduates since it began the program seven years ago. Students awarded the scholarships receive a $1,000 gift annually, provided they maintain a 3.0 grade point average at minimum. First-time winners went to Mikala Menegio-Stahl, a graduate of Chatham High School, and Hudson High School graduate Zachary Krein. A four-year award went to Nick Ganey, and second-year awards were presented to Amber Harris and Sam Engel. Hudson Pride Foundation's co-founding executive director Martha Harvey said, "We want to encourage kids to go to college and do well....It is very satisfying to play a small part. We encourage them to have a successful college experience, which helps them be better prepared to go into the world and be a success." Read the full story in the Register-Star.

Mid-Hudson News is reporting traffic and revenue increased during the first half of the year on all five bridges over the Hudson River operated by the New York State Bridge Authority. Traffic rose by more than 6 percent, for a total of nearly 30.4 million crossings. Revenue increased by 6.37 percent, for a total of $28.1 million. The Rip Van Winkle Bridge, between Catskill and Hudson, reported slightly less than 2.8 million crossings, or a 5.18 percent increase. The bridge took in $2.3 million in revenue, an increase of nearly 5 percent. The Bear Mountain Bridge, the southern-most facility operated by the authority, reported the highest increase in traffic -- nearly 11 percent. The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, remains the busiest in the system, with 12.7 million crossings during the first six months of 2016. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Helena Bottemiller Evich is reporting for Politico Sen. Chuck Schumer rebuked the FDA over the weekend for failing to recall potentially dangerous food fast enough, and called for a comprehensive review of the agency's recall process. "Delays in getting bad food off store shelves is just a recipe for disaster," Schumer said in a statement released Sun., Jul. 31. The New York Democrat pointed to a Health and Human Services Inspector General report released in June that found the agency did not have "an efficient and effective food recall initiation process that helps ensure the safety of the nation's food supply." Schumer called on the FDA to create a new detailed plan for how it will execute a reformed food recall process. The call for reform comes on the heels of a major expansion of the General Mills E. coli flour recall last week that stemmed from a 21-state E. coli outbreak. The outbreak has sickened at least 46 people. Read the full story at Politico.

Fri. July 29 Dan Udell recorded, and uploaded to YouTube, this video of the Warren Street Academy ribbon-cutting ceremony. Speakers included Bruce Potter, superintendent of the Berkshire Union Free School District; Dan Kent, director of Foundation Initiatives for Galvan Foundation; and Didi Barrett, local State Assemblymember.

Local weather forecast:

Today: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8 a.m., then a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy. High near 77. Tuesday night, partly cloudy. Low around 59.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny. High near 83. Wednesday night, partly cloudy. Low around 62.
THURSDAY: Isolated showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Mostly sunny. High near 85. Thursday night, partly cloudy. Low around 64.

Sunrise today: 5:50 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:12 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 14:21 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

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

ATHENS Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, 7 p.m. at Village Hall, 2 First St., Athens (945-1052).
CATSKILL Leeds Jefferson Heights Sewer District Informational Meeting, 6 p.m.; Town Board meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 439 Main St., Catskill (943-2141).
CLERMONT Town Board meeting (rescheduled), 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 1795 Route 9, Clermont (537-6868). DURHAM Town Board meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Town Building, 7309 State Rt. 81, East Durham (239-8260).
HILLSDALE Zoning Board meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 2609 State Route 23, Hillsdale (325-1702).
HUDSON Conservation Advisory Council meeting, 6 p.m. at City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson (828-1030).
HUNTER Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 5748 Route 23A, Hunter (589-6150).
ICHABOD CRANE Central School District Board of Education annual organizational meeting, followed by a regular meeting, 7 p.m. at Ichabod Crane High School, 2910 Route 9, Valatie (758-7577).
LEXINGTON Town Board meeting, 6:30 p.m., at Municipal building, 3542 Route 42, Lexington, (986-6303).
LIVINGSTON Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, 7 p.m., at Town Hall, County Rte. 19, Livingston (851-9441).
TAGHKANIC Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 909 Route 82, Taghkanic (851-7638).

Ars Technica reported that last week that Illinois is the latest state to require law enforcement officials to seek court approval before deploying cell-site simulators, so-called "Stingray" devices, which can locate and track a person’s cell phone without their knowledge. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the “Citizen Privacy Protection Act,” with law enforcement officials forced to, “include a description of the nature and capabilities of the cell site simulator device to be used and the manner and method of its deployment, including whether the cell site simulator device will obtain data from non-target communications devices.” The law also makes law enforcement immediately delete any information collected about others, non- "targets." Some stingrays can intercept calls and text messages, others just collect metadata, and they can collect all sorts of records near their location, including criminals, and folks just passing by. California, Washington, Virginia, Minnesota, and Utah mandate a warrant for use of the devices, and the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice last year created new policies that require a warrant for stingray use in most cases.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Mon., Aug. 1 (7:08). (Produced by Philip Grant.)