Michael Ryan is reporting in The Daily Mail the town of Prattsville has learned its request for state grant funding for the construction of The Mews senior housing center has been turned down. Prattsville Development Corporation Executive Director Kevin Piccoli said that while the state was positive and encouraging in its feedback, the project was thought to be too big. The Housing and Community Renewal agency determined 60 units were too many. The proposal calls for a 44-unit apartment complex and 16 individual cottages. Piccoli said the developer is committed to seeing the project through, and the feedback received will make for an even stronger application during the next round of funding. Prattsville is in the process of creating a regional health care center, working with the Governor's Office of Storm Recovery on that project. That facility will be built on the parcel adjacent to The Mews site, and share a roadway, sewer and water. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Jeanette Wolfberg is reporting in the Columbia Paper the Columbia County Board of Supervisors this month adopted policies to restrict smoking in county facilities and to allow female county employees to express milk for their babies while at work. The new county tobacco policy prohibits the use of tobacco products in all interior spaces, vehicles and in the areas outside of county-owned, operated or leased properties. The policy also designates the areas where smoking is permitted outside of those properties. The policy states tobacco users are expected to clean up after themselves -- they are directed to leave cigarette butts and matches in designated receptacles, and nowhere else. Under the new rules, employees are not permitted additional smoking breaks. Mothers of children under the age of three employed by the county are now permitted to express and store their milk during the work day. Under the newly adopted policy, this can be done during a lunch or regular breaks, and, if necessary, at another time arranged in collaboration with their supervisor. Women will be able to do so in a private, sanitary space, provided by the county. The resolution approved by the supervisors specified the sanitary room to be used cannot be a toilet stall or restroom. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.

The Ichabod Crane Central School District is testing the water throughout school buildings for presence of pollutants such as perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, after many reports of problems with water in nearby Rennselaer County. The district water comes from the Village of Valatie, so they are not required to test it, but said at its June 7 meeting that over 300 samples have been taken by lab technicians in May. They expect results by mid-July.

Above, Hailey Bussey, 10, of Hoosick Falls reads a letter for Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Videos are from Kyle Hughes of NYSNYS.com.

Casey Seiler in Capitol Confidential reports that two dozen residents from Hoosick Falls with elevated PFOA levels after drinking poisoned water in the town got within a few feet of the New York Governor June 15, but did not meet with Andrew Cuomo. Instead, they talked to a Cuomo aide. The group first held a news conference with Assemblymember Steve McLaughlin (R-Schaghticoke) about the PFOA contamination of the Rensselaer County community’s water, again asking for hearings on the issue. After the press conference, they were allowed to meet Cuomo’s state Operations Director Jim Malatras for more than an hour, with Cuomo in an adjacent room talking to politicians. The media was not allowed in the meeting, but Karen DeWitt of New York State Public Radio and the “New York Now” TV show mixed with the residents past the security gate, and then refused to leave, becoming the pool reporter for the meeting. Malatras told the group Cuomo would meet with them in the future, and said that he has children to that he worries about, which had the residents jumping mad with complaints about cancers, autism, and other illnesses and a lack of answers from the administration. Malatras said the Department of Health was struggling with so many blood tests and the lack of research on PFOA, which until recently was an unregulated chemical in New York. He did not address accusations that Cuomo's administration knew about the PFOA problem up to 18 months before they warned residents not to drink the Hoosick Falls water. Malatras promised more direct contact with the governor’s office and said residents could get more help from doctors from Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. After the meeting Hoosick Falls music teacher Rob Allen said, “the next few weeks will be critical” for Cuomo to regain the trust of Hoosick Falls residents. Michele Baker said she received more answers in the meeting than at any other time since the PFOA in the water was publicized. Read the full story in Capitol Confidential.


Above, Rob Allen and Anna Wysocki, who just graduated from Hoosick Falls High School, talking to reporters after the meeting.


Assemblymember Steve McLaughlin, who represents Hoosick Falls, and parts of Columbia and Rensselaer counties, speaking after the meeting with an aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Bethany Bump reports in The Albany Times-Union that the state Board of Regents passed new rules June 14 mandating New York school districts conduct four lockdown drills a year. The rules were recommended by the Safe Schools Task Force, a group of law enforcement and state officials commissioned a month after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newton, Conn. to make schools safer. In a lockdown drill school officials clear hallways, lock doors, and take cover positions. The rules also require eight evacuation drills; policies and procedures for contacting parents when there is an implied or direct threat of violence by a student; and the assigning a chief emergency officer to coordinate communication between staff and first responders. Bump writes, "In the years since Sandy Hook, there have been more than 100 school shootings in the U.S. for an average of nearly one a week, according to Mass Shooting Tracker, a crowd-sourced database." Read the full story in The Albany Times Union.

Matthew Hamilton, Rick Karlin, and Michaela Kilgallen report in The Albany Times-Union that even after the leaders of both legislative bodies, from both parties, were recently sentenced to prison, no ethics reform will pass in the state capitol as the legislature shuts down at the end of the week. "We've pleaded, we've talked rationally, we have pleaded with legislators — and the governor's office," The League of Women Voters' Barbara Bartoletti said. "We have done our jobs. Now it's time for the public to do their jobs: Make sure that some of these people don't come back next January, and maybe that will change the culture of corruption here in Albany." Read the full story in The Albany Times-Union.

The United States Drought Monitor site says most of New York is "abnormally dry" currently, which means more black bears will be looking for food farther from home, closer to people. The Watershed Post reports that from May 1 to May 23 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation received 54 complaints about bears in the Catskills. "Bears can obtain all of the food they need from the forest, but they are intelligent and opportunistic animals that will find and consume whatever food they can find most easily,” the statement read. “Bird feeders, garbage cans, dumpsters, barbecue grills, unsecured out-buildings or vehicles containing food or waste are all potential attractants to bears," the Department of Environmental Conservation said in a press release this spring. "Once a bear learns to obtain food from people or certain structures, it is very difficult to change the animal's behavior. These bears are more vulnerable to motor vehicle collisions in populated areas, more likely to be illegally killed, or may become a threat to public safety." The DEC asks anyone with property damage from a bear to report the incident at 518-357-2450. Read the full story in The Watershed Post.

Today is Day 15 of the WGXC All Together Now! 2016 Summer Pledge Drive. WGXC programmers, volunteers and staff are in the process of raising $20,000 to keep WGXC Hands-on Radio on the air, live and local during the coming months. Your support will make all the difference. Call 518-697-7400 or go online to wgxc.org [slash] donate. Thank you for supporting creative community radio in New York's Greene and Columbia counties.

Local weather forecast

Today: Mostly sunny. High near 81. Thursday night, partly cloudy. Low around 54.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
FRIDAY: Mostly sunny. High near 78. Friday night, mostly clear. Low around 53.
SATURDAY: Sunny. High near 79. Saturday night, mostly clear. Low around 55.

Sunrise today: 5:18 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:34 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 15:15 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

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

AUSTERLITZ Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 812 Route 203, Spencertown (392-3260).
COLUMBIA COUNTY Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee meeting, 5 p.m. at 401 State St., Hudson (828-1527).
GHENT Town Board meeting, 7 p.m., at Town Hall, 2306 State Route 66, Ghent (392-4644).
GREENE County Legislature Special Meeting, 6 p.m. at 411 Main St., Catskill (719-3270). HUDSON Common Council Economic Development Committee meeting, 6 p.m. at City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson (828-1030).
KINDERHOOK Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 3211 Church St., Kinderhook (784-2233). STUYVESANT Joint Zoning Law workshop, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 5 Sunset Dr., Stuyvesant (758-6248).
WINDHAM Planning Board public hearing on site plan review application for Crown Fuels, 7:10 p.m. at Town Hall, Main St., Hensonville (734-4170).

The South China Morning Post reports that, according to state-run China news agency Xinhua, police in northeast China have shut down over 300 illegal radio stations since 2015. “It was like harvesting garlic chives. A new batch would always spring up soon after you cut the previous batch,” said Liu Weidong, director of Shenyang’s wireless regulator, in the Chinese press. But is the Chinese media to be believed? Just like in the United States, the article quotes Chinese officials claiming pirate radio stations could bring down airplanes, saying that on January 9, 2015 the landings of four flights at Dalian airport in Liaoning were disrupted by a pirate station, even though there is little evidence that FM signals would bounce into the frequencies that airline pilots use to communicate. The story says that Chinese pirates can expect a 5,000 yuan fine if caught, but that many make money promoting illegal medicines, "with treatments for venereal diseases accounting for over 80 per cent of their business." Station operators often get a commission for selling more drugs, according to the Chinese media. The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently said it would increase the maximum fines for pirate radio stations to 20,000 yuan. The Global Times quoted a Chinese law enforcement officer saying, "Since these offenders tend to use remote terminals to operate their transmitters, and use fake ID cards to rent rooms, it is rather hard to catch them in action." A 24-hour pirate radio station might operate with just a USB flash drive, a radio transmitter, and an antenna, the story says.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Wed., June 15 (3:20). (Produced by Alanna Medlock.)

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