Jim Planck writes in The Daily Mail the New York state Department of Labor is reporting that job growth in Greene County was one of the strongest statewide during the past year. Greene County Community Development Specialist Karl Heck said Fri., Mar. 25, the county created 400 new jobs between February 2015 and February 2016, a 2.7 percent increase. Heck said that of the county’s 400 new jobs, 300 were in the private sector and 100 were in government. Among the new private sector jobs, 200 were tourism-related, in the leisure/hospitality industry, and 100 were in trade. Greene County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jeff Friedman said Monday the news is a good indicator of how strong the county's economic growth has been. Friedman said, “Over the past couple of years, we’ve been either leading — or one of the leaders — in job growth percentage, especially in the upstate counties, in many instances for the entire state, and we also outdid most of the metro areas, as well.” Friedman said during the past year the state has actually lost nearly 10,000 jobs, while Greene and Columbia counties combined created 800 new jobs. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Greg Hudson is reporting in the Register-Star nonprofit service providers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are campaigning for state funding to help pay for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed minimum wage increase. A study published last month by a coalition of agencies estimated it would cost approximately $1.7 billion per year for every nonprofit agency statewide to raise its hourly wage to $15. If that increase is implemented gradually, the cost in the first year would be $270 million, eventually rising to $1.7 billion by 2021. Organizations like Arc of Ulster-Greene and Coarc, in Columbia County, have asked the state to include $270 million in the 2016-17 state budget to allow nonprofit care providers to implement the wage hike. Kenneth Stall, Coarc's chief executive officer said the hourly wage for that agency's employees is largely dependent upon their job. "Many of our entry-level employees are making between $9.25 and $9.50 an hour,” he said. John McHugh, executive director of Arc of Ulster-Greene said an increase to $15 an hour would help his agency be more competitive. “It is difficult to attract staff because our rate of pay is low compared to other fields,” he said. However, raising the agency's rate of pay would cost $2.4 million in the first year, and the agency's share of the requested $270 million would total only $380,000. “Our organization relies almost entirely on the state for the funding we need to operate, so to be given a mandate to increase our employee wages without being given the funding to pay for it would be catastrophic for agencies all over the state,” McHugh said. Read the full story in the Register-Star.

Marie J. French in The Albany Business Review reports that efforts are being made to both stop, and also push through, the proposed Constitution Pipeline ahead of a New York ruling on a water quality certification permit by April 29, 2016. Executives of investors in the Constitution Pipeline have met with a top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Bill Mulrow, the secretary to the governor, according to pipeline spokesman Christopher Stockton, pressing him on reasons for the $875 million pipeline that would carry natural gas produced by hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania to New York. The pipeline would travel through Schoharie and Delaware counties locally. There is a rally against the proposed pipeline on April 5 in Albany to get the governor's attention from the other side. Read the full story in The Albany Business Review.

The Register-Star is reporting the New York State Police has announced troopers issued more than 17,000 tickets across the state in the days leading up to the St. Patrick's Day holiday. More than 250 people were arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated between Sat., Mar. 12 and Thu., Mar. 17. State police issued 6,422 tickets for speeding, 627 for distracted driving and 503 for seat belt violations during that same period. The campaign was funded by the governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. That committee uses federal highway safety grant funds to encourage and enforce traffic safety.

Matthew Hamilton is reporting at Capitol Confidential Bernie Sanders wants to debate fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton in New York before the presidential primary April 19. In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press," Sun., Mar. 27, the U.S. senator from Vermont said he wants to debate Clinton in “New York City, upstate, wherever, on the important issues facing New York and, in fact, the country.” A March Siena College poll showed that among New York Democrats Sanders trailed the former secretary of state by 21 points. The Democrats have already debated eight times. The locations for the ninth and 10th debates are officially undetermined. While the Sanders campaign is pushing for a New York debate in April, the Clinton camp is said to want that exchange to take place in Pennsylvania. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.

Ashley Sapir Lathrop of New Paltz's of Dreamkeeper Botanicals was on the "Roots, Runners, Rhizomes" show on WGXC March 28 discussing her work as an herbalist, wellness coach, and educator. She discusses the healing power of roses with hosts Sarah Falkner and Lauren Giambrone, and information about their events in Kingston April 7 and May 1.

Click here to play or download the excerpt of the interview about roses. (Use description above to introduce the excerpt.) (4:13)


Click here to download or play the full show.

Local weather forecast

The National Weather Service in Albany has a Wind Advisory in effect for the WGXC listening area until 6 p.m., Tue., Mar. 29. Northwest winds of 15 to 30 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph, are expected.

Today: Mostly sunny. High near 44. Breezy, with a northwest wind of 21 to 25 mph, and gusts as high as 46 mph. Tuesday night, clear. Low around 29.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
WEDNESDAY: Sunny. High near 57. Wednesday night, a slight chance of showers after 2 a.m. Partly cloudy. Low around 41.
THURSDAY: Showers likely, mainly after 2 p.m. Partly sunny. High near 62. Thursday night, showers likely. Cloudy. Low around 56.

Sunrise today: 6:40 a.m.
Sunset today: 7:18 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 12:38

PUBLIC MEETINGS

Today is the fifth 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). COLUMBIA Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors meeting, 8:30 a.m. at 4303 Route 9, Hudson (828-4718).

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

Wired and others reported that the Justice Department dropped its lawsuit with Apple over breaking into an iPhone belonging to one of the alleged San Bernardino shooters, after they found a way to hack it themselves. The Justice Department asked a California court March 28 to vacate its previous order commanding Apple to create a software tool to help authorities break into the phone. “The government has asked a United States Magistrate Judge in Riverside, California to vacate her order compelling Apple to assist the FBI in unlocking the iPhone,” United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker said in a statement. “Our decision to conclude the litigation was based solely on the fact that, with the recent assistance of a third party, we are now able to unlock that iPhone without compromising any information on the phone…. Although this step in the investigation is now complete, we will continue to explore every lead, and seek any appropriate legal process, to ensure our investigation collects all of the evidence related to this terrorist attack.” The same day The Washington Post reported about a study that shows government surveillance causes people to self-censor their dissenting opinions online. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly published the study that showed that the majority of participants reacted by suppressing opinions that they perceived to be in the minority, when they were aware of government surveillance. How did the study work: "Participants in the study were first surveyed about their political beliefs, personality traits and online activity, to create a psychological profile for each person. A random sample group was then subtly reminded of government surveillance, followed by everyone in the study being shown a neutral, fictional headline stating that U.S. airstrikes had targeted the Islamic State in Iraq. Subjects were then asked a series of questions about their attitudes toward the hypothetical news event, such as how they think most Americans would feel about it and whether they would publicly voice their opinion on the topic," the Post reported. Elizabeth Stoycheff, lead researcher of the study and assistant professor at Wayne State University, said, “So many people I've talked with say they don't care about online surveillance because they don't break any laws and don't have anything to hide. And I find these rationales deeply troubling,” she said. “The fact that the 'nothing to hide' individuals experience a significant chilling effect speaks to how online privacy is much bigger than the mere lawfulness of one's actions. It's about a fundamental human right to have control over one's self-presentation and image, in private, and now, in search histories and metadata,” she said.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local headlines and weather for Mon., Mar. 28 (6:58). (Produced by Philip Grant.)