Katie Kocijanski is reporting in The Daily Mail about the informational session held last week by the Catskill Village Board on the pending sale of St. Patrick's Central Catholic High School. A representative of the buyer, Mental Health Association of Greene and Columbia Counties Executive Director Jeff Rovitz, spoke about the organization's plans for the parcel. As previously reported, the association will consolidate six or seven Greene County locations and relocate approximately 40 professional staff to the former school. A majority of the campus would be used as office space and house one program. Business hours would be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Rovitz said the association is looking for community input on how best to use the gymnasium, the Hudson River overlook portion of the property and the athletic fields behind the buildings. The meeting was attended by more than a few "perturbed" Woodland Avenue residents, according to Kocijanski. Property owners in the residential neighborhood were unhappy about what they called a "lack of transparency" so far. Neighbors were not pleased that they were kept in the dark on the identity of the proposed buyer and its plans for the building. It was alleged that by not being as forthcoming as possible, the project has raised concerns with village residents over potential zoning issues and the buyer’s tax exempt status. Village President Heather Bagshaw said the meeting went well despite what others might think, and that the session was an important step in the right direction. The association must still submit its letter of intent to the village board. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Roger Hannigan Gilson writes in the Register-Star about "World Wide Weave," an exhibit of weavings created by Camphill communities around the world. The show opens Fri., May 6, at the Solaris Center for the Social Arts in Hudson. Camphill is a global community of people with specials needs. The international textile exhibition includes a number of pieces that incorporate other media, such as ceramics, metal and wood carvings with fiber. Many of the pieces depict the surroundings of the Camphill communities where they were created. Each weaving is paired with a photograph of the people who made the piece. The show will be on view through May 16. Kam Bellamy, executive director of Camphill Hudson, will be a guest on the "WGXC Afternoon Show" with Ellen Thurston and Tom DePietro. Thu., May 5, to talk about "World Wide Weave."

The Daily Freeman is reporting Hudson Valley Distillers, located in Clermont, won the Best of Class Vodka Award at the American Distilling Institute's conference held in San Diego last month. New York agriculture commissioner Richard Ball visited the distillery Tue., May 3, to congratulate owners Thomas Yozzo and Chris Moyer. The facility opened in 2013. Hudson Valley Distillers makes vodka from local apples, gin from local grapes, and applejack and whisky from local ingredients.

Riverkeeper is recruiting people to collect water samples from the Catskill Creek on six Thursdays: May 19, June 16, July 14, August 18, September 15, and October 13. The environmental group is testing the water quality. Anyone interested should contact Jen Epstein at jepstein@riverkeeper.org.

Daniela Galarza at Eater.com reports that Zak Pelaccio, from Hudson's Fish & Game restaurant, was named Best Chef: Northeast (a region defined as the U.S. north of NYC) by the James Beard Foundation May 2. Several New York City-based chefs and restaurants also got honors from the Foundation, but no one else from the Hudson Valley. Read the full story at Eater.com.

Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was sentenced to 12 years in prison and a $1.75 million fine on corruption charges in Manhattan federal court May 3. Meanwhile, lawmakers have failed to pass any substantial ethics or transparency reform, even after indictments of leaders of both chambers from both parties in the past year. And now, there are more corruption allegations, this time a federal investigation involving a former top aide to Governor Andrew. Joe Percoco made between $70,000 and $125,000 from two companies involved in the state's Buffalo Billion project, just after leaving a state job. Cuomo said he did not know who Percoco's clients were.

Verizon Communication’s two major unions -- with 1,000 employees in the Capital Region -- began striking at 6 a.m. April 13, and workers are picketing daily at the Verizon store in Fairview Ave. in Greenport. The Communications Workers Association 1120 from Kingston and Catskill are picketing there, asking motorists to honk in support. For local consumers, the union claims Verizon has, "failed to build out FiOS in western Massachusetts, virtually all upstate New York cities, and many towns in Pennsylvania," while Verizon has denies that it hasn't lived up to FiOS construction agreements. There are 39,000 union members currently on strike. The last Verizon strike, in 2011, lasted two weeks.

The Village Board of the Village of Athens on April 27 adopted a resolution subject to a permissive referendum authorizing games of chance within the Village. The resolution shall becomes effective by May 28, unless action is taken before then by the board or voters.

Click here to play or download an audio recording of the entire May 2, 2016 Cairo Town Board Meeting.

The Cairo Town Board tabled a proposed solar moratorium May 2, saying they would tweak a bit of the language in the moratorium before another public hearing. Towns around the area are hurrying to update laws around solar arrays, after state law changed May 1. Solar companies are approaching homeowners about hosting large arrays of solar panels that feed the grid and make them money. Hudson, Catskill, Jefferson in Schoharie County, and all of Delaware County are among the local municipalities that have passed regulations or had discussion about solar rules in the past month, and Greenville holds a special meeting on the issue May 16. The Public Hearing on the issue was largely a back and forth between first, current supervisor Dan Benoit, and former town supervisor John Coyne. Benoit opened by framing the reasons for the 12-month moratorium. (Instead of reading quote, play this sound recording of the quote.) "It's the town board's understanding that there are a lot of companies called escos that are going around looking for places they can put these solar farms on private property," Benoit explained at the public hearing's outset. "When the town did its zoning it did not address these private solar farms and there are a lot of fly-by-night companies that are running around and causing problems with a lot of people, tying up their property in very onerous leases." So the Town of Cairo, which runs its own solar farm, was deciding what's best for its citizens. That did not go down well with former town supervisor John Coyne, who has researched plans to put a solar array on his property. (Instead of reading quote, play this sound recording of the quote.) "How can the town implement a moratorium if there's not an increase in, I'll say, 'demand,' on the building department. I understand where you are coming from. We don't want this to become a big issue and have it out of control, but on the other hand is it fair to people who have done their homework, have chosen a reputable dealer, and want to move forward." After more back-and-forth, the town tabled the issue for later, with Benoit promising another Public Hearing.

Local weather forecast

Today: Patchy drizzle with a chance of showers before 8 a.m., then showers likely with patchy drizzle between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., then showers likely after 9 a.m. Patchy fog before 9 a.m. Otherwise, cloudy. High near 55. Wednesday night, showers likely, mainly before midnight. Cloudy. Low around 45.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
THURSDAY: A chance of showers. Cloudy. High near 55. Thursday night, a chance of showers. Cloudy. Low around 48.
FRIDAY: Showers likely, mainly after 2 p.m. Mostly cloudy. High near 62. Friday night, showers likely, mainly before 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy. Low around 49.

Sunrise today: 5:45 a.m.
Sunset today: 7:59 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 14:14 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

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

ANCRAM Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 1416 County Rte. 7, Ancram (329-6512).
ASHLAND Planning Board meeting, 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 12094 Route 23, Ashland (734-3636).
AUSTERLITZ Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 812 Route 203, Spencertown (392-3260).
CATSKILL Central School Board public hearing on 2016-17 budget, 6 p.m.; workshop meeting, 7 p.m. at high school, 341 Main St., Catskill (943-4696).
COLUMBIA County Board of Supervisors Sewer Sub-committee meeting, 4 p.m. at 401 State St., First Floor Committee Room, Hudson (828-1527)
COPAKE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 230 Mt. View Road, Copake (329-1234).
COXSACKIE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 16 Reed St., Coxsackie (731-2727).
GHENT Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 2306 State Route 66, Ghent (392-4644).
GREENE COUNTY Legislature Health Services, County Resources and Public Safety committee meetings, 6 p.m. at County Building, Caucus Room, 411 Main St., Catskill (719-3255).
GREENPORT Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 600 Town Hall Drive, Greenport (828-4656).
HUDSON Common Council Youth and Aging Committee meeting, 6 p.m.; Arts, Entertainment and Tourism Committee meeting, 6:45 p.m. at City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson (828-1030).
JEWETT Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, 7 p.m. at municipal building, 3547 Co. Rte. 23C, Jewett (263-4646).
KINDERHOOK Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 4 Church St, Niverville (784-2233).
PRATTSVILLE Planning Board meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 14517 Main St., Prattsville (299-3125).
STOCKPORT Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 2787 Atlantic Ave., Stottville (828-9389).
VALATIE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building, 3211 Church St., Valatie (758-9806).

John Eggerton at Multichannel.com reports that four House Democrats want FCC chairman Tom Wheeler to make all broadcast station files machine readable so they can be more easily searched and inspected. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Communications Subcommittee, Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) sent an April 29 letter urging Wheeler "in the near term" to fulfill his pledge to make the files accessible. In 2012, the FCC made TV station public files available online in a central, FCC-administered database, with cable and satellite TV, and radio added to the mandate this year. Public broadcast files contain records of stations fulfilling public service commitments and what political ads they have aired, and other public information. Two weeks ago, while the measure failed, 179 members of Congress voted to support Luján's H.R. 4179, the Fair and Clear Campaign Act, an amendment to an FCC bill that would have required public files be machine readable. "With unprecedented spending from super PACs on broadcast advertisements during the current election cycle, this commonsense request is an essential first step to shedding sunlight on our current political system," the legislators wrote to Wheeler.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Tue., May 3 (3:47). (Produced by Alanna Medlock.)

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