UPDATE: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sent 70 additional state personnel to help combat the wildfire, which has now consumed 800 acres, on April 25. There are now more than 110 state emergency personnel on the scene dedicated to containing the fire.

Governor Andrew Cuomo's office sent more state emergency personnel to battle the wildfire at Sam's Point Preserve near Ellenville in Ulster County on April 25. Over forty state personnel from Department of Environmental Conservation, Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, State Police, Office of Fire Prevention and Control, and Office of Emergency Management are assisting at least 80 Ulster County first responders at the scene of the fire, which started April 23. Two helicopters with 250-gallon buckets are dumping water from local lakes onto the fire, according to Cuomo's office. Rain is expected April 26, which should help extinguish the flames.

The New Paltz Climate Action Coalition has announced a civil protest against the proposed Pilgrim oil pipelines will be held at three locations in the Hudson Valley, Sun., May 1. According to a statement released by the coalition Mon., Apr. 25, protestors will be present between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at New York State Thruway Exit 21, Catskill, and Exit 20, Saugerties, and from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Exit 18, New Paltz. The Pilgrim Pipeline proposal calls for shipping Bakken crude from Albany to Linden, N.J., through a pipeline that would roughly follow the Thruway corridor. Refined crude products would be returned to Albany via a parallel line. The coalition claims this unneeded oil would further increase climate change. In addition to climate concerns related to the 178-mile pipeline, the group and its supporters are also focused on protecting waterways, public health and safety, the local and regional economies and air quality. Read the full story at the May Day Against Pilgrim Pipelines Facebook page.

Brian Nearing is reporting at Capitol Confidential the Houston-based developers of the Constitution natural gas pipeline have vowed to challenge the state Department of Environmental Conservation's rejection of the project. Constitution Pipeline Company LLC announced Mon., Apr. 25, “it remains steadfastly committed” to the project and blasted the DEC for a ruling based on “flagrant misstatements and inaccurate allegations," alleging the decision "appears to be driven more by New York State politics than by environmental science.” The company said the decision came as no surprise and ran contrary to its effort to work collaboratively with the state to address concerns. The company wrote, “Contrary to DEC statements, the company was not informed of any outstanding issues that it had not agreed to address as a condition of the permit. In fact, during the past nine months, weekly inquiries were made to the department to ensure no additional data was needed. Those inquiries were either ignored or responded to in the negative. It is obvious that the DEC deliberately chose to remain silent to bolster the political campaign of the state.” The company said the permit denial will delay approximately 2,400 jobs expected to be created during the pipeline construction, and generating $130 million in labor income. The decision could also cost local governments roughly $13 million in property tax revenue, as well, the company said. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.

The details of two more adopted school budgets have emerged. Melanie Lekocevic is reporting in The Daily Mail the Coxsackie-Athens Board of Education last week adopted that district's 2016-17 spending plan, totaling $29.9 million, and requiring a .5 [point five] tax levy increase. The district was able to stay within the state-mandated tax cap, at the same time it increases spending by nearly a half million dollars. There will be no staff reductions, and no academic programs will be cut. The school board election is uncontested -- three candidates are seeking three open seats. A public hearing on the budget will be held May 3 at the elementary school in Coxsackie; on May 5 at the elementary in Athens. The Germantown Board of Education unanimously approved that district's 2016-17 budget at a meeting on April 13, according to a report from Debby Mayer in the Columbia Paper. The $14.8 million spending plan requires a .64 [point six four] percent tax levy increase. To keep the tax levy increase below the state cap, the district will have to tap its unreserved fund balance. A public hearing on the proposal will be held Wed., May 4 at the school. Residents will also vote to fill two seats on the board of education. Ralph DelPozzo, Lester Olsson and George Sharpe Sr. are competing to fill those seats.

Local weather forecast

Today: Rain, mainly before 4 p.m. High near 50. Tonight, a chance of rain, mainly before 7 p.m. Mostly cloudy. Low around 35.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
WEDNESDAY: Sunny. High near 60. Wednesday night, mostly clear. Low around 31.
THURSDAY: Mostly sunny. High near 60. Thursday night, a slight chance of rain. Mostly cloudy. Low around 38.

Sunrise today: 5:55 a.m.
Sunset today: 7:50 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 13:54 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).
CHATHAM CENTRAL Board of Education meeting, 6:30 p.m. at high school, 50 Woodbridge Ave., Chatham (392-2400).
COLUMBIA COUNTY Board of Supervisors County Government Committee meeting, 5 p.m. at 401 State St., Hudson (828-1527).
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).
GREENE COUNTY Tourism Advisory Committee meeting, 10:30 a.m. at 411 Main St., Room 427, Catskill (943-3223).
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).

Darren Orf at Gizmodo rounds up what the public now knows about the Apple vs. FBI case of the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone. FBI Director James Comey told a crowd in London April 21 that the U.S. government paid someone to hack open the phone. He said they were paid more money than Comey would make for the remainder of his seven years and four months as FBI director which is at least $1.34 million. Comey says, “It was, in my view, worth it,” although all reports indicate the FBI did not find any useful information on the phone. Perhaps Comey is referring to the legal fees saved, as the Justice Department ended its lawsuit against Apple when the FBI broke into the phone. Read the full story at Gizmodo.

Some of the stories that made the news Fri., Apr. 22 through Sun., Apr. 24:

Greg Hudson reported in the Register-Star more than 100 children turned out for the 33rd annual Hudson Department of Youth Fishing Derby, Sat., Apr. 23. The lake was stocked last week with brook and rainbow trout, joining the sunnies, bass and perch already in the lake. Four-year old Claverack resident John Davi took first place in his age category with the 15-inch trout he caught. "It is so huge," Davi said. The grand prize for the largest fish caught went to three-year-old Casey Tiernan after he landed a 16-inch trout.

Emilia Teasdale reported in the Columbia Paper the Ichabod Crane Board of Education last week adopted its $38 million 2016-17 budget. The annual spending plan included job cuts for recess and lunch monitors at the primary and elementary schools. Schools Superintendent George Zini said $46,000 was allocated to fund those positions three years ago as a way to free up teachers during the lunch period to work with students. However, he said, that time was not used as he intended, so the funds will now be used to pay for substitute teachers. In May, voters will be asked to ratify the board-adopted budget, and green light the purchase of four school buses at a cost of nearly $400,000, as well. Four candidates are competing for three open seats on the school board. A public hearing on the proposal will be held Wed., May 4. The annual budget vote and school board election will be held statewide Tue., May 17. In the Ichabod Crane district, polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the high school gymnasium.

The Catskill Board of Education, Jim Planck reported in The Daily Mail, also adopted its 2016-17 budget last week. The $39.4 million spending plan requires a .2 [point two] percent in the tax levy, an allowable increase under the state-mandated tax cap. Interim Superintendent Annemarie Barkman provided an overview of the proposal. Barkman said more than $51,000 in missing Gap Elimination Adjustment money has been restored by the state. And because of careful budgeting and new revenue, she said, up to seven positions could be added next year, even though the budget has been reduced by nearly $700,000. A public hearing on the spending plan will be held May 4. The polls are open 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on May 17, in the high school gymnasium.

Katie Kocijanski reported in the Register-Star fire departments statewide held open houses this weekend as part of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York Recruit NY effort. The public was encouraged to visit their local fire company to see how they are run. According to the association, more than 500 departments across New York were slated to participate. Fire company volunteers demonstrated firefighting techniques, conducted tours of their facilities and allowed visitors to try on turnout gear. Companies in Austerlitz, Chatham, Coxsackie, Freehold and Hudson participated in FASNY's [FAZZ-knee's] Recruit NY weekend.

Emilia Teasdale reported in the Columbia Paper the Kinderhook Village Board accepted the bid of One Way Construction for $357,000 to build a new Department of Public Works garage on Route 9. Insurance payments to the village will cover the full cost of repairs. The old DPW building was destroyed by fire last year.

Questar III BOCES [QUESS-star Three BOW-seez] reported its proposed $5.8 million administrative budget for the 2016-17 school year was unanimously approved by component school district boards of education last week. This is the only portion of the budget the 22 component school boards vote on each year. The entire BOCES budget totals $68.3 million for the coming year. Board members Edmund Brooks, and Lynn Clum were reelected, and Nadine Gazzola and Mary Marro-Giroux were elected, all to three-year terms beginning July 1. The state Legislature created BOCES in 1948 to provide shared educational programs and services. There are 37 BOCES, or Board of Cooperative Educational Services, statewide.

The Daily Freeman reported cashless tolling took effect on the Tappan Zee Bridge overnight, Sun., Apr. 24. Drivers traveling southbound on the span between Nyack and Tarrytown with E-ZPass have the tolls automatically charged via that system, and those without will receive a bill in the mail. New York transportation authorities are turning to cashless tolling to reduce congestion, improve safety and reduce air pollution. More than 35 bridges, tunnels and toll roads across the country use cashless tolling.

Local weather forecast

Today: Mostly cloudy. High near 64. Monday night, showers likely, mainly after 2 a.m. Cloudy. Low around 44.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
TUESDAY: Showers likely. Cloudy. High near 51. Tuesday night, mostly cloudy. Low around 36.
WEDNESDAY: Sunny. High near 57. Wednesday night, partly cloudy. Low around 35.

Sunrise today: 5:57 a.m.
Sunset today: 7:49 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 13:51 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

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

COLUMBIA COUNTY Board of Supervisors Economic Development Committee meeting, 5 p.m.; Environmental Management Council, 6:30 p.m., all at 401 State St., Hudson (828-1527).
GHENT Zoning Review Committee meeting, 6:30 p.m., at Town Hall, 2306 State Route 66, Ghent (392-4644).
HUDSON Industrial Development Agency meeting, 3 p.m. (828-0212); Common Council Fire Committee meeting, 5:30 p.m., Police Committee meeting, 6 p.m. (828-1030). All at City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson.
NEW BALTIMORE Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 3809 Co. Route. 51, Hannacroix (756-6671).
STUYVESANT Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 5 Sunset Drive, Stuyvesant (758-6248).
TAGHKANIC Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 909 Route 82, Taghkanic (851-7638).

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

At 12:09 p.m. April 21, KCMP (89.3 FM), the Minneapolis radio station known as The Current, played Prince’s “The Beautiful Ones,” and didn't play a song by any other artist for over 48 hours. The pop star Prince died that day, and that caused many people to want to hear Prince's music. But Prince had a unique marketing and sales campaign among most musicians, with no songs available online except for the new Tidal service. Radio stations playing all Prince CDs and LPs became the source for mourners, and the Minnesota station with long ties to the pop star was the logical choice of many. Last year, Prince helped the station with a “Prince A-to-Z" marathon, and after his death the station toured his albums first chronologically, and then played every song alphabetically. The Current station also had reporters the first day at Prince's Paisley Park Studios, and at the First Avenue club where the the movie "Purple Rain" was filmed, and where Prince often performed.

Scott Waldman reports at Politico New York that Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration denied the water-quality permits for the Constitution Pipeline April 22. "The denial would be perhaps the most significant environmental decision to come out of the Cuomo administration since it banned fracking last year," Waldman writes of the Department of Environmental Conservation's denial of permits. The 124-mile proposed pipeline would carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to Schoharie County, largely along the I-88 corridor. Earlier this week Kinder Morgan canceled plans for the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, because of low gas prices and a lack of customer commitments, and on April 22, a group of New York lawmakers urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to halt work on the Algonquin Incremental Market pipeline in the lower Hudson Valley. A fourth pipeline, the Pilgrim Pipeline, is still proposed to slice through Albany, Greene, and Ulster counties on its way to New Jersey. Read the full story at Politico New York.

John Mason reports in The Register-Star that in 15 or 17 months, the city of Hudson will have a new website from a developer from Troy, Michigan who was chosen without bids. The public will be able to use the website to lodge complaints. At the April 19 meeting the Common Council also reappointed three members of the Conservation Advisory Council and appointed a new one. Holly Gardner, Nick Zachos, and Alderman Michael O’Hara, D-1st Ward, were all appointed, over objections from Alderman John Friedman, D-3rd Ward, and Alderman Henry Haddad, D-3rd Ward. Friedman said public officials should not serve in two capacities, but the other nine votes all approved the appointees, with O'Hara voting for himself. “You can’t even abstain?” Friedman said. “That’s a reasonable request,” O’Hara answered. “Reasonable request? It’s Clown College here,” Friedman responded. Read the full story in The Register-Star.

Jim Planck reports in The Daily Mail that Susan Vickars was made the Hunter-Tannersville school's new superintendent at the April 21 Board of Education meeting. Current Superintendent Patrick Darfler-Sweeney retires at the end of the year, replaced by Vickars July 1 on a three-year contract, at $125,000 a year. Vickars was a teacher for five years, then an administrator for nine years, in the Cazenovia Central School District in Madison County. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Local weather forecast

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 57, and a low around 39.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
MONDAY: There is a 40 percent chance of showers, growing to 70 percent Monday night, with a high near 64, and a low around 42.
TUESDAY: Showers likely, mainly before 2 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51.

Sunrise today: 5:58 a.m.
Sunset today: 7:48 p.m.



Patricia Mitsopoulos reports in The Mountain Journal that Jefferson, in Schoharie County, currently has a solar moratorium, as commercial solar farms are poised to crop up everywhere because of a state mandate for cleaner energy. Monolith Solar from Rensselaer spoke to the Jefferson town board at a recent meeting, explaining how the company is looking to buy property for solar panels. Jefferson is leaving its moratorium in place for now, and Cairo in Greene County also considers a solar moratorium at its May 2 town meeting. Read the full story in The Mountain Journal.

Sturgill Simpson, "In Bloom" from "A Sailor's Guide To Earth"



xiu xiu, "Plays the Music of Twin Peaks."



Mendi + Keith Obadike, "Numbers Station [Furtive Movements]" (excerpt)
This is a 2min excerpt from a 25min live performance and installation. This project sonifies New York Police Department Stop and Frisk data. Mendi + Keith read numbers from NYPD reports while generating sine tones from this same NYPD database. This two channel sound installation was created and broadcast (via shortwave radio) during a live performance at the Ryan Lee Gallery in New York.
Numbers Station [Furtive Movements] is the 1st in a series of works. The 2nd work, Numbers Station [Red Record] was performed at The Metropolitan Museum's Breuer building on 3/2016.



Vetiver, "Stranger Still (Daniel T remix)" (Easy Sound Recording Co.)



Bajah, "Breaking My Heart" produced by Brooklyn’s Teleseen, 7" on Someplace Called Brooklyn.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local headlines and weather for Sat., Apr. 23 (4:44). (Produced by Tom Roe.)