Lorna Cherot Littleway is reporting in the Columbia Paper the Hillsdale Town Board recently heard from Columbia Connect Chairman Howard Lieberman, who encouraged town officials and residents to exert pressure on Charter Communications to provide full broadband service to the area. Currently available internet service is slow compared to the broadband service in many other parts of the state, he said. Lieberman noted the Federal Communications Commission and state regulators placed requirements for upgraded service on Charter prior to approving the company’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable, and he said there are “piles of money” available to implement full broadband service. The effort will require a public-private partnership, Lieberman opined. He added that municipalities will have to be especially vigilant because Charter will not want to invest here. According to July 2014 data from the New York State Broadband Program Office, 74 percent of county’s population is unserved by broadband of 6 megabits or more per second, which makes Columbia, and neighboring Greene County, the two worst served counties in the state. Columbia Connect is the countywide broadband task force created by the Ghent Community Action Network. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.

Today, Tue., Jun. 28, primary voters will go to the polls and choose the two candidates who will face-off to replace Republican Chris Gibson in the November election for the 19th Congressional District seat. John Faso of Kinderhook and Andrew Heaney of Millbrook in Dutchess County are competing for the Republican line, and Zephyr Teachout of Dover Plains in Dutchess County and Will Yandik of Livingston in Columbia County, are vying for the Democratic line. Polls are open from noon to 9 p.m. For information, contact either the Greene County Board of Elections at (518) 719-3550, or the Columbia County Board of Elections at (518) 828-3115.

Roger Hannigan Gilson is reporting in the Register-Star a brush fire that burned more than eight acres off Stevers Crossing Road in Philmont Sun., Jun. 26, rekindled Monday afternoon. Five fire companies were dispatched to extinguish the blaze for the third time in two days. The flare-up was minor compared to the original fire, Mellenville Fire Chief Michael Layman said. The Mellenville department and 10 other fire companies were called to the scene late afternoon Sunday after a piece of farm equipment caused a hay bale to ignite. When someone attempted to move the burning bale to the pond, it caught the field on fire. That fire destroyed approximately 20 round hay bales, but no crops, and firefighters were able to extinguish the fire before it spread into the woods. The fire occurred at Hillview Farm, the new location of Common Hands farm, which is currently in the process of setting up operations on the land. Read the full story in the Register-Star.

Katie Kocijanski is reporting in The Daily Mail on the cooperative school now open in Catskill. The Catskill Wheelhouse was founded by four parents, Laura Anderson, Rob Kalin, Leslie Reed and Andrea Mitchell, and is located on a 200-acre farm in Catskill. The Wheelhouse is described as a learning hub for children that embraces the beauty of nature, as well as the community surrounding it. The nonprofit school serves children ages 3 through 10. They help with daily chores and cleanup along with self-directed projects led by teachers at the school. And all of the food grown in the school's garden is harvested and eaten by Wheelhouse students and staff. Anderson said the school is still accepting applications for its summer session and the fall semester. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

The Register-Star is reporting police will target impaired drivers statewide, beginning Fri., Jul. 1, and continue until Tue., Jul. 5. The Columbia County Sheriff's Office, New York State Police and the Greenport and Hudson police will participate in the STOP-DWI Crackdown, according to Columbia County STOP-DWI. The campaign is also active during Labor Day weekend, Halloween and the end of December. One-third of all driving fatalities involve drunken drivers, according to Columbia County STOP-DWI.

Larry Rulison is reporting in the Times Union Berkshire Bank is expanding out of New York and New England. The Pittsfield, Mass. bank is acquiring First Choice Bank of Lawrenceville, N.J., a move that pushes its influence into the mid-Atlantic region. The deal is valued at $111.7 million and gives Berkshire six new branches in the Princeton, N.J. area and two in the Philadelphia area. Berkshire Bank has a large Capital Region presence, including branches in Cairo, Chatham, Greenville and Hudson.

"Share the Safety" press conference at the Reagan Library from Troy's Yes Men.

Claire Voon reported in Hyperallegeric that Troy-based art activist group The Yes Men have now started a website called "Share the Safety," purporting to be a joint effort between the National Rifle Association and arms manufacturer Smith & Wesson to donate a gun to a “less fortunate” U.S. citizen for every gun sold. The "Share the Safety" program promised a gun to someone living in an “at-risk neighborhood” whenever someone purchases one of three Smith & Wesson weapons. Donors can also choose from ten U.S. neighborhoods. The Troy-based group has previously had fake press conferences, and a fake edition of The New York Times, making various political points with their satire. This time, the group announced the gun initiative at the Reagan Library in California. Read the full story in Hyperallegeric.

Local weather forecast

The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for the greater Capital District and the Mid-Hudson Valley all day Tuesday and Tuesday night. Widespread showers and thunderstorms are expected along a slow-moving cold front. There is a slight risk the thunderstorms may become severe, with damaging wind gusts the primary threat. Heavy rainfall is also expected and isolated flash flooding will be possible, mainly for urban and poor drainage locations.

Today: A chance of showers, then showers and thunderstorms likely after noon. Some storms could be severe, with damaging winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy. High near 82. Tuesday night, showers and thunderstorms before 2 a.m., then a chance of showers. Some storms could be severe, with heavy rain. Low around 61.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
WEDNESDAY: A slight chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Partly sunny. High near 81. Wednesday night, partly cloudy. Low around 57.
THURSDAY: Sunny. High near 83. Thursday night, mostly clear. Low around 58.

Sunrise today: 5:22 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:35 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 15:13 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

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

CANAAN Zoning Board of Appeals, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 1647 County Route 5, Canaan (781-3144).
CATSKILL Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 439 Main St., Catskill (943-2141).
COLUMBIA Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors meeting, 8:30 a.m. at 4303 Route 9, Hudson (828-4718).
GERMANTOWN Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 50 Palatine Park Road, Germantown (537-6687).
GREENPORT Planning Board meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Greenport Town Hall, Town Hall Drive, Hudson (828-4656).
GREENVILLE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 11159 Route 32, Greenville (966-5055).
HUDSON Development Corporation meeting (tentative), 12 p.m. at 1 N. Front St., Hudson (751-1044).

John Anderson reports in DIYMedia.net about current pirate radio action, one year after the Federal Communication Commission announced it was scaling back its enforcement bureau and creating so-called “Tiger Teams” that swoop in with a cheaper, swifter form defense against the scourge of pirate radio. "Have they even been populated and trained up yet?" Anderson asks, after reporting that enforcement actions are slightly up from a year ago, but not by any significant amount. Last week the U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted 29-17 for a Federal Communications Commission appropriations bill that would dramatically reduce the FCC budget, mostly to attempt to hamstring net neutrality rule enforcement. But that also means less money for pirate radio enforcement, and lawmakers in the New York City area, who have been very vocal in their calls for increased pirate radio enforcement given the large amount of activity on the airwaves in the area, might not be happy with the figures showing less enforcement in the area this year. So far in 2016 there have been 70 enforcement actions nationally, slightly ahead of the pace of last year's 125 actions. But, Anderson writes, "with party conventions and elections looming, it’s highly unlikely that Congress will get around to awarding any supplementary enforcement tools to the agency beforehand, and with a change in presidential administration on the horizon Chairman Tom Wheeler might very well like to leave this entire issue for his successor to sort out." Read the full story at DIYmedia.net.

(Note: John Anderson is on Wave Farm's board.)

Matthew Hamilton is reporting at Capitol Confidential new polls from the 19th Congressional District show Democrat Zephyr Teachout and Republican John Faso have expanded their leads in their respective primary races. Teachout leads Livingston farmer and journalist Will Yandik by 39 points, according to a Time Warner Cable News/Siena College poll of likely Democratic primary voters released Mon., Jun. 27. A poll of likely GOP voters indicates Faso is leading fellow Republican, Dutchess County businessman Andrew Heaney by 30 points. Ninety percent of Democrats and 88 percent of Republicans say they are unlikely to change their minds about whom they support before the primary on Tue., Jun. 28. All four candidates are hoping to replace Kinderhook Republican Chris Gibson. Gibson is not seeking re-election. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Mon., June 27 (7:23). (Produced by Philip Grant.)