Diane Valden is reporting in the Columbia Paper Camp Pontiac in West Copake, has submitted an application to the state Department of Environmental Conservation to use herbicides to kill weeds in Lower Rhoda Pond, but neighbors who share the pond think it’s a bad idea. The camp wants to remove what it calls "nuisance aquatic vegetation" that hinders the use of the pond for swimming, boating or fishing. The camp said all attempts at other forms of management have failed, and the proposal is to apply herbicides and algaecides from May through August in an effort to clean up the pond. A letter to landowners around Lower Rhoda said the exact dates of application are still unknown. One of the products the camp proposes to use would require a 24-hour ban on swimming and bathing and fishing for consumption. And using the water for irrigation or spraying or domestic purposes is not permitted for seven days after application. Camp neighbors have mounted an effort to oppose the camp application, sending letters to the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Bureau of Pesticides citing studies of the effects of the chemicals proposed for use. The Ancram Town Board in March submitted a letter to the DEC calling for a public hearing on the matter. A DEC spokesman said this week the department is in the early stages of evaluating Camp Pontiac’s application and said no public hearing is planned. He said the Department of Fisheries and the County Health Department will also weigh in on the proposal. Camp Pontiac, located on County Route 7, is a sleep-away summer camp that accommodates 550 campers, ages 6 to 17. The camp owns approximately seven acres of the 60-acre Lower Rhoda Pond, which spans the Copake/Ancram town line. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.

John Mason is reporting in the Register-Star Republican Congressional candidate John Faso has unveiled his plan to reduce local property taxes. Twenty-six percent of taxes collected in Columbia County and 41 percent of Greene County's taxes go to support Medicaid, the health care program for those earning a low income and with limited resources. Faso said, if elected to represent the 19th Congressional District, he would push federal legislation to make the state shoulder the full cost of Medicaid, and eliminate the burden on local governments to pay. Andrew Heaney, Faso's opponent in the June 28 Republican primary, called the idea "a multimillion dollar bailout for New York City." Faso said his proposal would not only lessen the tax burden at the local level, it would also force Albany to reform the Medicaid system. The plan was greeted enthusiastically by Greene County Treasurer Peter Markou and Columbia County Treasurer P.J. Keeler. Markou said the plan would mean significant savings for the county's taxpayers. Keeler the elimination of local Medicaid funding would be "the single-most financial benefit anyone could do for Columbia County." Read the full story in the Register-Star.

Matthew Hamilton is reporting at Capitol Confidential a new poll from Public Policy Polling finds that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo leads Kinderhook Republican Chris Gibson by 23 points more than two years ahead of the 2018 gubernatorial elections. Eighty percent of the voters surveyed were unsure of who the Congressman is. Gibson is not seeking re-election to Congress this year. Instead, he is exploring a run for governor. Cuomo has said repeatedly that he would like to remain in office.

Gail Heinsohn in the Chatham Courier reports that Chatham Central School District Superintendent Cheryl Nuciforo formally announced that she is leaving when her contract ends at the end of the 2017 school year. Also at the April 12 school meeting, the board adopted a tentative budget 2.14 percent larger than this year's, at $30,542,416. That's a budget of $26,560 per pupil, and carries a tax levy of 0.8856 percent. Voters will consider the budgets of school districts in New York May 17. Read the full story in the Chatham Courier.

Kenneth C. Crowe II reports in The Albany Times-Union that Rensselaer County announced April 11 that its latest tests for water contamination found one of 14 private wells in the town of Petersburgh exceeded federal guidelines for the suspected carcinogenic chemical PFOA. The Taconic Inc. plant is the source of the perfluorooctanoic acid that has previously been found in town wells. In total, 86 private wells within a mile of Taconic have been tested with 24 of them with PFOA levels above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for water consumption. Read the full story in The Albany Times-Union.

Dutchess County residents in 24 neighborhoods will soon be recruited for a large Lyme disease study, after the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies won a $5 million grant for a scientific study of reducing tick populations. The study, in partnership with Bard College, is being funded by The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, led by president Alex Cohen. "I have experienced the debilitating side effects of Lyme first-hand, and we are proud to support organizations like the Cary Institute that are investing in research on prevention strategies that will stop this awful disease from infecting more people," he said. More than 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease annually in the United States, and Dutchess County is near the epicenter of the disease. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that current pesticide applications in yards does not lower Lyme disease risk. Instead, this study will target ticks and mice at the neighborhood level. For more information about the study see www.tickproject.org.

Local weather forecast

Today: Sunny. High near 55. Thursday night, clear. Low around 31.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
FRIDAY: Sunny. High near 60. Friday night, mostly clear. Low around 33.
SATURDAY: Sunny. High near 62. Friday night, mostly clear. Low around 39.

Sunrise today: 6:13 a.m.
Sunset today: 7:36 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 13:22 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

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

CHATHAM Village meeting, 7 p.m. at Village Hall, 77 Main Street, Chatham (392-5821).
COPAKE Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 230 Mountainview Road, Copake (329-1234).
GALLATIN Town Board meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 667 Route 7, Ancram (398-7519).
HUDSON Planning Board public hearing on site plan approval for the property located at 20-22 Cross Street, and regular meeting, 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson (828-1030).
KINDERHOOK Planning Board workshop meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 4 Church St, Niverville (784-2233).
LIVINGSTON Town board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 119 County Route 19.
NEW BALTIMORE Planning board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 3809 County Route 51, Hannacroix (756-6671).
STUYVESANT Town board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 5 Sunset Drive, Stuyvesant (758-6248).
WINDHAM Town board meeting, 8 p.m. at Town Hall, 371 State Rt. 296, Hensonville (734-4170).

The Washington Post reported April 12 that hackers the FBI hired opened the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone, ending the recent court standoff between Apple and the Justice Department. Hackers discovered a previously unknown software flaw, allowing the FBI to create hardware to crack the iPhone’s password without erasing all the data on the phone. Disabling a feature on the phone that erases data after 10 incorrect guesses at the code. A few reports earlier claimed the Israeli firm Cellebrite solved the phone, but The Washington Post story says that was not true. Cellebrite is developing a thumb drive-sized device for police to plug into phones at car accident scenes to tell if drivers were texting at the time of the crash. The U.S. government has not said whether information about the flaw will be shared with Apple. The computer company said last week that it would not sue the government for the solution. Previously, White House staff have spoken positively about disclosing computer flaws. “When we discover these vulnerabilities, there’s a very strong bias towards disclosure,” White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel said in an October 2014 interview, not about the Apple case. “That’s for a good reason. If you had to pick the economy and the government that is most dependent on a digital infrastructure, that would be the United States.” Read the full story in The Washington Post.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local headlines and weather for Wed., Apr. 13 (7:46). (Produced by Philip Grant.)