Paul Kirby in the Daily Freeman reports that Democrat Pat Ryan and Republican Marc Molinaro have little to say about former President Donald Trump’s claim that he will be arrested March 21 in connection with hush-money payments made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Only the former president has said that he will be arrested, there is no confirmation from any official source. Molinaro’s communications director, Dan Kranz, would only say in an email that, “A charge has not been brought yet and Congressman Molinaro is not speculating about what could be in it,” and, “Regarding the call for protest, Congressman Molinaro always thinks protests need to be peaceful.” All Ryan would say in a brief statement is that, “No one is above the law.... Anyone who breaks the law or seeks to undermine the rule of law must be held fully accountable.” Ryan represents the 18th Congressional District, and Molinaro the 19th Congressional District. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

The Times Union reports that another country music festival is coming to Greene County this summer. "Concert in the Catskills" takes places June 24 at Catskill Point, Michael Ray, Spencer Crandall, and Ian Flanigan performing. Flanigan is a Saugerties native and contestant on on season 19 of the "The Voice" TV show. The "Taste of Country" festival left Hunter Mountain in 2019. Concert organizer Jim Miller said, "I thought coming back home and putting on a concert was a perfect way to give back to the community that I grew up in ... I am looking forward to making this an annual concert." Read the full story in the Times Union.

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Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Rep. Marc Molinaro spoke in front of a local conservative audience at the 60th annual Lincoln Award Dinner at Kozel’s Restaurant in Ghent on March 16. Molinaro was asked about a Texas court possibly blocking access to Mifepristone, an abortion drug, and he said, “I supported accessing contraception as a member of the state Assembly.... I voted to have that drug approved for over-the-counter use and, so, from my perspective, we certainly want to ensure that women and families have access to both the contraception and care that they desperately want.” In an interview with the newspaper, Molinaro also said he has no interest in increasing the tax rate on the wealthy, who pay a historically low share of taxes. Molinaro said, "I don’t think America and the federal government have a revenue problem. They have a spending problem.... While there are so many that want us to confront the issues of America financial conditions, first by talking about taxes, I’d like us to talk about responsibility for taxpayers’ money and not taking it from taxpayers to begin with." Molinaro represents the 19th Congressional District. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

William J. Kemble reports in the Daily Freeman that on March 15 the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency gave the Canadian battery maker Zinc8 tax breaks of up to $186,000 on sales tax for purchases and services for setting up shop at iPark 87. Zinc8 also gets to take out a $10 million bond. The board said they voted to approve the bond without finalizing the terms of the bond. But the agency's attorney Joseph Scott said, “The expectation is that the interest rate will be a fixed rate … and they expect that rate to be between 7.25 and 9 percent.... The maturity date of the financing will be between 10 and 20 years.” New. York Senator Chuck Schumer in August 2022 and Gov. Kathy Hochul last January both claimed a deal had been reached for Zinc8 to move to iPark 87, but the Daily Freeman says that a final agreement has not been announced. The state Department of Environmental Conservation formally lists the site under the state Superfund Program. The possible contamination of the site has been traced to the 1950s when Building 033 was used for degreasing activities for an ambulance and a fire truck. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

The Daily Freeman reports that the Woodstock Fire Department is changing its radio frequencies, upgrading its portable radio system to a “high-band” system that firefighters say will provide better coverage in remote areas of the town. A $132,597 Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistance to Firefighters grant is paying for most of the 61 VHF p25 high-band portable radios, chargers, remote speaker mics, carrying cases and shoulder straps. Fire Department Chief Kevin Peters said, “This is big news for our department as after various evaluations were conducted, it was determined that high-band radios are more reliable and have better coverage throughout our 69-square-mile town as compared to the current low-band system we are using.... This will greatly benefit our department and enhance safety for our members and the public, particularly on the long stretches of remote roads where in the past there was little to no reception and into the depths of the woods and tops of the mountains where it has become common to build houses.” Read more about this story at the Daily Freeman website.

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Mid-Hudson News reports of some New York reaction to former President Donald Trump claiming on March 18 that he would be arrested on March 21. Trump says he will be arrested for the alleged $130,000 "hush money" payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik seemed to say that Trump was leaking the news, which she called "illegal." But then she went on to attack the independent investigation of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. On March 18 New York State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox released a statement misspelling “Manhattan” twice, and saying, “This is a blatant political scheme by Alvin Bragg to play to his liberal Manhatten base by smearing, tearing down, and demeaning former President Trump." Michael Dupree, the Chair of the Dutchess County Democratic Committee responded, saying, “Ed Cox should know that no one is above the law, and he should know how to spell, too.” Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Zack Fink reports at New York State of Politics that state Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, is blaming former Governor Andrew Cuomo for the slow rollout of cannabis retail stores in the state. Recreational cannabis was legalized in April, 2021, but the first store only opened at the very end of 2022 in Manhattan. Since then, another store has opened in New York City, and two others in Binghamton and Ithaca. A lawsuit is blocking any from opening in five regions of the state, including the Hudson Valley. “I do believe part of the problem here is we passed the law, but we had a governor named Andrew Cuomo who didn’t start the agency and get rolling.... So, people were sitting there going ‘where are you? Where are you?’ And we were trying to get him to do something, and he wasn’t.” Now lawmakers in Albany are already considering changing the cannabis laws. Democratic Assembly Majority Leader Crystal People’s-Stokes, a Buffalo Democrat, said, “I wouldn’t characterize it as an overhaul. But I would characterize it as some necessary tweaking." The Democrats want to crack down on illegal sales, and simplify some regulations and taxes, to get more stores open. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

WNYT reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Lyme Disease isn't the only reason to avoid tick bites. Babesiosis is another tick-borne disease that can be fatal in rare cases, and is becoming more prevalent in the Northeast. The symptoms of babesiosis include fever, chills, sweats, headaches, body aches, nausea, fatigue, or muscle and joint pain and there is a fatality rate of around 1 to 2 percent. Scientists are concerned because cases in Vermont rose 17-fold over the last decade. Read the full story at WNYT.

WNYT in Albany reports that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have rescheduled a recently postponed Albany performance at the MVP Arena to Tuesday, September 19. The band was originally set to perform March 14, but was rescheduled due to a band illness which coincided with a major local snow storm. Read more about this story at the WNYT website.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports for the Times Union that on March 21, Coxsackie village voters will choose between incumbent Republican Mark Evans and Democrat Veronica Foley for mayor. Foley became involved in village politics because of the development of the Newbury boutique hotel. The hotel is attached to an events center on the village waterfront, and broke village zoning rules and undermined permissions granted by the village Planning Board, creating more opposition in Coxsackie. The Newbury got a stop-work order by the village, but then several residents, including Foley, found it had been built with an extra floor, one of several unapproved variations to the plan. Foley started a newsletter about the building project, and, eventually, other village government news. If she wins the election Foley says she will continue the newsletter, "but on a wider scale." Evans is up for his eighth term as village mayor. He grew up in Coxsackie and is the vice president of State Telephone Company, founded by his great-grandfather. Evans is also a former paramedic, and president of Greene County Paramedics. Evans crows about an upgrade of the village's water system and a $3 million state grant to install a water tank to back up the system in case of water main breaks under his watch. And recently Coxsackie won a $4.5 million New York Forward grant that Evans wants to use to address the local affordable housing crisis. Evans said, "I want to try and do everything I can to ensure that my kids, who both graduated the high school (here and) work in the area, will have a place that they will always be able to afford in Coxsackie." But Foley believes winning the grant works against because of his administration's lack of transparency. She said that she is concerned that picking the final project list would involve "opaqueness" from the village, and she pledged open communication and transparency as mayor. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that hunters in Greene County killed 43 bears during the 2022 hunting season. Statewide hunters killed 1,318 bears. But Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said, "New York's black bear populations remain robust, particularly in the Catskill and Adirondack regions.... Regulated bear hunting is a necessary tool for population management, especially with numbers increasing in recent years. I'm pleased to see hunters across the state logged another successful and safe bear hunting season." The area of New York that includes Greene, Schoharie, Delaware, and Ulster counties had the largest number of bears harvested per 100 square miles, according to the DEC. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that New York nursing homes will no longer require negative COVID-19 tests for entry, state Department of Health officials announced on March 17. Acting State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “Enabling families to visit their loved ones safely remains a priority for the Department of Health.... Our new guidance aligns with CMS guidance and recommends that facilities use passive screening, which includes providing visitor and staff education on COVID-19 signs and symptoms, and post-instructional signage throughout the facility.“ In other words, anything goes now at state nursing homes. Wearing a face mask and hand washing may be suggested, but not required. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

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Michael Ryan reports in the Mountain Eagle that incumbent Michael Papa and former mayor Alan Higgins are competing for the mayor job in the village of Hunter in a March 21 election. Also Jason DiLeo, Tyler Kelaher, and Abraham Stefansky are competing for one open seat on the Hunter Town Board. Higgins resigned as mayor last winter, to take a job as superintendent for the village’s Public Works Department, and Papa, a Hunter trustee took over. Higgins says it is Papa's poor performance that has drawn him back. Higgins calls Papa a bully and says, “Never have I seen a need as I have with this man.... He does everything unilaterally. He feels he is in charge and in control of every aspect of village government. Actually, everything is a board of trustees’ decision.” Papa said. “I don’t believe I have power over everything but as mayor I am head fiscal officer. Not everything is a board of trustees’ choice. Many optics I have to deal with are mayoral decisions.” Both Higgins as former mayor and Papa as current mayor accuse each other being behind with filing the Annual Update of Documents, the yearly financial reports filed with the State Comptroller’s Office. About the bullying, Papa says, “It’s not bullying if you are trying to hold someone accountable for their job. If that’s interpreted as bullying, that is their interpretation. When you start peeling back the onion, the problem is in the office.... The village clerk is trying to create a case of harassment. She, in my view, has bullied people out of that office by the way she treated them, by the behavior she imposed on them.” Read more about this story, reprinted in Porcupine Soup.

New York State of Politics reports that another lawsuit has been filed against the New York state Office of Cannabis Management. Currently, a lawsuit is blocking cannabis stores from opening in five regions of the state, including the Hudson Valley. The new lawsuit comes from some of New York's medical cannabis companies. They are asking the court to make state regulations come from the state Legislature, not the Office of Cannabis Management. They also want the judge to open up dispensary applications to all applicants, not just justice-involved candidates, and get law enforcement to crack down on illegal sales. Meanwhile, the fourth cannabis store in the state opened this week in Ithaca. Read the full story at New York State of Politics.

Austin Jefferson reports in the Daily Freeman that Warren Lawrence has been with radio station WKNY for 50 years as of March 17. He says the first day was, “Scary.... I was a kid [and] I was in high school. It’s just something I was always interested in doing. I wrote letters to different radio stations and I heard from the program director here and I came in, we talked and I started hanging around doing different things around the station.” Then, Lawrence says, on “St. Patricks Day of 73,’ he called me and he said, ‘my overnight guy is not feeling good. Can you fill in?’ and I was like, ‘yeah, sure’. So that was the first day.” Lawrence has been with Radio Kingston, 1490-AM, ever since. “Just interacting with so many people in the community or people I’ve worked with has been terrific. I never thought it would last this long,” he said. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.