The State of Politics blog reports that Sen. Kathy Marchione, (R-Halfmoon), who represents parts of Columbia and Rensselaer County, and who has been criticized by Hoosick Falls residents for not calling for hearings on the PFOA water contamination in her district, still is not calling for those hearings, but released a letter June 30 saying she held a productive meeting and listed what is getting done on the issue in Albany. Marchione's meeting with state Operations Director Jim Malatras, DEC representatives and local officials from Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh yielded this information from Marchione:
• Officials are trying to get a water filtration system for the Berlin School;
• A preliminary report about fixing the municipal water system in Petersburgh says it will cost around $8.5 million;
• Officials will continue the “if you want it, you get it” policy for POET carbon filtration systems for in Petersburgh and Hoosick Falls;
• New York will study fixing Hoosick Falls’ municipal water system;
• New York will pay for six months of water for Town of Petersburgh residents, just like the state did for Hoosick Falls residents;
• Blood tests for Petersburgh residents start on July 23 at the Petersburgh Community Center;
Marchione listed a few other items, and said this is “not the end of this effort." Read the full story in The State of Politics blog.

Anyone lighting fireworks this holiday weekend beware, there are very dry conditions throughout the area. The National Weather Service reported 2.4" less rain than usual in June in Poughkeepsie, and 1.5" less in Albany. The U.S. Drought Monitor lists the entire WGXC listening area as "abnormally dry," with "moderate drought" conditions in mountainous parts of Greene and Ulster counties. There is little rain in the weather forecast too.

WGXC programming changes:

• Michelle Lewis has left Catskill, and Joanna Tipple, a local pastor and colleague of Michelle's, is taking over her Sunday morning faith show from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. starting July 3 with "Faith Matters."
• Pete Lievense takes over hosting the "WGXC Morning Show" on Tuesdays, from Lewis. WGXC is looking for a additions to the "WGXC Morning Show" team, anyone interested should e-mail info@wgxc.org.
• George Spencer of Stuyvesant, a poet and public access TV veteran, starts a new one-hour arts show on the fourth Thursday at 2 p.m. with music and interviews with local people doing creative things. His first show will be July 28, the next in September.

Local weather forecast

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 73, and a low around 54.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
SUNDAY: Sunny, with a high near 78, and a low around 55.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81, and a low around 59.

Sunrise today: 5:24 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:35 p.m.



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

Andrea Sears reports that immigrants have a lot at stake in this year's presidential campaign, and a new smartphone app aims to help get out the vote on Election Day.

Voter turnout will be critical this year but, traditionally, fewer Latino voters, especially Latino youths, have gone to the polls than have other groups. John Rudolph, executive producer of the public radio organization Feet in 2 Worlds, said he hopes this new app will make a difference.

"The Unidos app is designed to engage young Latinos to give them information that they need to register to vote and become informed voters," he said.

The free app is being released today for iPhones.

Latinos are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, but Rudolph said a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll showed that differences in voter turnout are significant.

"Forty-four percent of Hispanics said they were likely to vote in the November election," he said, "which compares to 70 percent of whites who say that they're going to vote."

That difference could be enough to sway the election results in many districts.

The difficulty in engaging young voters is nothing new, and other efforts are under way to try to motivate them to vote. Rudolph said the Unidos app is using a mix of news and useful information combined with sharable content such as emojis in Spanish and English.

"So we're hoping that by using the language of smartphones," he said, "we'll be able to engage an audience that a lot of people have been scratching their heads over how to reach for many years."

Rudolph said the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, and that court's recent immigration ruling, is just one example of the importance this election will have for the Latino community.

More information is online at beta.fi2w.org. The app is Unidos - The Next Generation of American Voters.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Fri., July 1 (3:08). (Produced by Alanna Medlock.)