The Daily Freeman reports that test results improved on this year’s Common Core standardized tests, but 20 percent of New York students chose not to take the tests. State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia did not want to compare the year-to-year results since changes were made to the tests last year. In 2016, 37.9 percent of third- through eighth-grade students scored proficient in English language arts, up 6.6 percentage points from 2015, while math scores increased by just one percentage point to 39.1 percent. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.

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

Andrea Sears at Public News Service is reporting that the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, continues to make real progress in reducing carbon emissions. A new status report from the Acadia Center finds the nine cooperating Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, including New York, are reaping benefits on multiple fronts. Peter Shattuck, who heads the Center's Clean Energy Initiative, said since its launch in 2009, those states have cut carbon emissions by 37 percent. "Over that same time period, they've seen economic growth that has outpaced other states that have yet to act significantly on climate," he said. "And electricity prices are below where they were when the program launched." Electric rates have gone up more than seven percent in other states. The status report is background material for a review to determine the future course of the program. RGGI takes a market-based 'cap-and-trade' approach to reducing emissions, charging power plants for their carbon emissions and using that money to create what Shattuck calls a "virtuous cycle." "Reducing the carbon pollution that we don't want, and investing in energy efficiency, which saves consumers money, reduces carbon pollution and makes the cost of the program come down," he added. The report said investments in energy efficiency in the nine states are up 230 percent, and gains are projected to continue into the future. The RGGI cap is set to reduce carbon emissions by two-and-a-half-percent a year for the next four years. But Shattuck believes this year's review of the program could result in extending it for an additional ten years, and raising the target to five percent. "That's the trend that we've seen under RGGI to date, and anything short of doubling down will make it harder for states to achieve the reductions in climate pollution that we need to see," he said. Shattuck said the success of RGGI so far proves that a flexible but ambitious, market-based program can produce results faster than anticipated, and at lower cost.

Local weather forecast:

Today: There is a 60 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms, then rain likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74, and a low around 64.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
MONDAY: There is a 40 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73, and a low around 61.
TUESDAY: Partly sunny, with a high near 76.

Sunrise today: 5:48 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:14 p.m.



Daniel Zuckerman is reporting in The Daily Mail New Baltimore town officials have approved a measure to hear public comment on a proposed law to regulate solar arrays and solar collection systems. Town Supervisor Nick Dellisanti said Greene County first contracted with the company Solar City to construct a solar farm in 2014. The company said that there would be enough room on a grid for the town to plug in, making New Baltimore the first to do so. Dellisanti said he has two other solar companies have expressed interest in investing in the town. The supervisor said New Baltimore’s building department has been in contact with a Phoenix-based company. Dellisanti also said residents with questions or concerns about solar panels must go before the planning board. He also advised residents to beware of scams and to be thorough in their search for a solar company. The public hearing will take place Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Congressional candidate Zephyr Teachout talked to the public Fri., July 29 at 194 Main St. in Catskill, and WGXC's Neva Wartell recorded all but the very beginning of the forum. Click here to download or play a recording of the meeting.

Tim Tulloch in The Altamont Enterprise reports that the Berne planning board voted 3-to-1 recently to approve the Albany County Sheriff Department’s plan to add a latticed-metal, free-standing communications tower on U’hai mountain. Planning board chairman Richard Rapp and Michael Vincent and Debra Bajouwa voted for the tower, with Todd Schwendeman voting against and Gerard Larghe absent. Many residents though, at a June 16 public hearing, objected to the tower spoiling the view, though many firefighters and EMS volunteers spoke in favor of the placement. The U’hai tower is one of 13 put in across Albany County, as the county moves, "from a Very High Frequency system to a trunked 800 megahertz two-way radio system that enables computer-controlled assignment of open channels to users." The tower won't help the area's spotty cell service, as a Verizon antenna is currently mounted on a church steeple in Berne. Read the full story in The Altamont Enterprise.

Diane Valden in The Columbia Paper reports that the Ancram Town Board passed a local Right to Farm Law at its July 21 meeting. The town already passed an Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan in 2011 for the 17,017 acres farmed in Ancram today. That's 62 percent of Ancram's land, with agriculture the town's largest employer with 15 percent of the town’s households working farms. The law says its intent is to “maintain and preserve the rural traditions and character of the Town, to permit the continuation of agricultural practices, to protect the existence and operation of farms, to support the initiation of farms, farm enterprises and agri-business, to promote and encourage the use of Agricultural Best Management Practice Systems.” The next Ancram town meeting is at 7 p.m. August 18. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

Local weather forecast:

Today: Isolated showers and thunderstorms are possible after 2 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 78. Saturday night there is a 40 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms, mainly after 10 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
SUNDAY: There is a 60 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms, then rain likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74. Sunday night rain is likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8 p.m., then a chance of rain and thunderstorms after 8 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64.
MONDAY: There is a 40 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 73.

Sunrise today: 5:47 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:15 p.m.



DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Fri., July 29 (4:23). (Produced by Alanna Medlock.)