Tomorrow (Friday) is Christmas, and the Daily Freeman has provided a rundown of how various services will be affected Thursday and Friday:

Amtrak: Modified schedule both days
Banks: Hours vary Thursday, closed Friday
County offices: Open Thursday, closed Friday
Federal offices: Open Thursday, closed Friday
Financial markets: Open until 1 p.m. Thursday, closed Friday
Greene County Transit: Regular service Thursday, none Friday
Mail delivery: Normal delivery Thursday, none Friday
Metro-North: Early Getaway Service Thursday (with additional trains), hourly service on all lines Friday
Schools: Closed Thursday and Friday
State offices: Open Thursday, closed Friday
Trailways: Normal schedule Thursday, holiday schedule Friday

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local headlines and weather for Thu., Dec. 24 (6:11). (Produced by Philip Grant.)

Charlie Holmes is reporting in The Daily Mail a Coxsackie man has taken legal action against Greene County under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In a complaint filed Wed., Dec. 23 with the U.S District Court of the Northern District of New York., Douglas C. Wager alleged that he and his service dog, 15-month-old Gracie, were denied entry to the Greene County Office Building on Main Street in Catskill. He said that on three occasions in October, November and early December, sheriff's deputies were rude and interrogated him even though he had proper identification and paperwork for Gracie. The incidents were humiliating and he experienced great stress as a result, Wager said. "Even though access was eventually granted, I believe that the entire situation was lawfully wrong and an act of complete discrimination of my rights as stated in the ADA and flagrant abuse of power,” he said. Wager filed the case on his own, and is acting without counsel. Sheriff Greg Seeley and Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden declined comment, and county attorney Ed Kaplan failed to respond when contacted. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

The Daily Freeman is reporting unemployment rates fell throughout the region in November, and Columbia County continued to have the lowest rate statewide, the New York Department of Labor said Tue., Dec. 22. Columbia County, with 3.5 percent unemployment last month, edged out Tompkins County, in the Ithaca area), for the lowest unemployment rate in the state. The unemployment rate in Columbia last month was down from the November 2014 level of 4.1 percent, labor officials said. In Greene County, the rate was measured at 5.1 percent, down a full percentage point from 6.1 percent in 2014. The jobless rates in both Ulster and Dutchess counties fell, as well. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Claire Hughes is reporting in the Times Union New Yorkers wishing to legally purchase marijuana for medical purposes in 2016 can now apply online to the state's Medical Marijuana Patient Certification and Registration System. The site launched Wed., Dec. 23. Marijuana is expected to be available for purchase from five licensed producers statewide. To qualify, a person must be diagnosed with specific severe, debilitating or life-threatening conditions. Patients must be certified by a doctor who has completed an online course to participate in the program. Patient advocate Julie Netherland, deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance, said the online system is launching late and it seems unlikely patients will be able to enroll by the scheduled start date of January 7. Netherland also said a number of questions remain about "how truly accessible the program will be to patients in need." Read the full story in the Times Union.

Roger Hannigan Gilson is reporting in the Register-Star the Hudson Correctional Facility will be converted to house primarily 16- and 17-year-olds as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new program to separate teenagers from adults in prisons statewide. Cuomo signed the executive order Tue., Dec. 22, bypassing the state Legislature to separate the two populations. According to the order, approximately 100 16- and 17-year-olds are now housed with adults in state prisons, and roughly 550 are housed with adults in local jails. The Hudson Correctional Facility is at present a medium-security, all-male state prison. Young men from minimum- and medium-security facilities and all young women currently housed in state facilities will be transferred to Hudson beginning in August 2016, according to the governor’s office. The Hudson location will also serve as a processing facility for all young people entering the penal system. The facility will begin a new program called the “youth program model,” designed to rehabilitate incarcerated youth and reduce recidivism. New York is the only state other than North Carolina to prosecute and jail 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. Cuomo's action Tuesday directs that teenagers be housed separately, but young people will continue to be prosecuted and sentenced as adults under state law. Read the full story in the Register-Star.

Andrew H. Roiter in the Albany Business Review reports that the Federal Department of Education said Dec. 22 that New York may face financial penalties for allowing participation in state tests to drop below 95 percent. New York had one of the largest opt-out rates in the country, with 20 percent of students not taking New York’s standardized tests in 2015. Read the full story in the Albany Business Review.

Local weather forecast


Today’s forecast is specific to Cairo, in Greene County:


Today: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy. High near 69. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent. Thursday night, partly cloudy. Mostly cloudy. Low around 41.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS:

Friday (Christmas Day): Mostly sunny. High near 56. Friday night, a chance of rain, mainly after 4 a.m. Mostly cloudy. Low around 36.
Saturday: Rain likely, mainly after 4 p.m. Mostly cloudy. High near 46. Saturday night, rain likely. Cloudy. Low around 42.

Sunrise today: 7:22 a.m.
Sunset today: 4:28 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 9:05


PUBLIC MEETINGS

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

HUDSON Community Development and Planning Agency board meeting is cancelled (751-1044).

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local headlines and weather for Tue., Dec. 23 (5:15). (Produced by Tom Roe.)

Charlie Holmes is reporting in The Daily Mail Friday will bring the first full moon to rise on Christmas morning since 1977. Holmes writes that according to the Metonic Cycle, a full moon should fall on the same day every 19 years, but it has been 38 years since the last full moon on Christmas day. "...It’s just a fluke of the calendar,” said NASA’s Noah Petro. CBS News reports the full moon will reach its peak at 6:11 a.m., Eastern Standard Time on Dec. 25. The phenomenon will not occur again until 2034. The final full moon of the year is known as the "Full Cold Moon" since it coincides with the beginning of winter.

Jeanette Wolfberg is reporting in the Columbia Paper on the details of the 2016 Columbia County budget. The spending plan was adopted by the full Board of Supervisors earlier this month. Total spending for the coming year is expected to be more than $146 million, a decrease of $1.2 million from the current year. While the tax levy exceeds the 2015 amount by more than $300,000, the tax rate per thousand dollars in assessed value will decrease in 2016 by five cents. The tax rate has decreased because property values have risen. The average home value in the county now stands at just under $225,000. The county fiscal year runs from January through December. The board will hold its final meeting of the year, Wed., Dec. 30. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.

The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a Dense Fog Advisory for Wed., Dec. 23 until 9 a.m., for the Hudson and Mohawk valleys. Visibility is between a quarter and a half of a mile. Travel conditions are hazardous as a result.

Brian Nearing reports in Capitol Confidential, the Times-Union blog, that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed Dec. 22 to speed up its study of whether the six-year Hudson River dredging project by General Electric was effective. Instead of starting the federal study in 2017, it will begin in 2016. GE still gets to disassemble a PCB-processing plant in Fort Edward that was used to remove the dangerous chemicals from the river. “We are encouraged and cautiously optimistic,” said Ned Sullivan, president of Scenic Hudson. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential.

Patricia Doxsey reports in The Daily Freeman that the call to arms from Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum’s could mean higher insurance rates for the county. Ulster County Insurance Officer Dorraine Whitney sent an email Dec. 7 -- four days after Blarcum's original Facebook post urging residents to carry their guns in public -- to administration officials warning that the county’s property and liability insurer had concerns about employees bringing their guns to work. The email recommended creating a policy banning weapons from Ulster County workplaces. “We need to move on this quickly to avoid potential premium increases in the county’s policy,” which she said renews on Feb. 1. Ulster County Legislator Ken Ronk disagrees, saying, banning employees from bringing guns to Ulster County job sites, “doesn’t make county residents any safer and so far nobody’s brought any proof to me that NYMIR is going to raise its rates and if they are going to raise our rates, they’re not the only game in town.” Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.

New York flags are flying at half-mast on state government buildings Dec. 23, 2015 in honor of a New York Air National Guard member who died in Afghanistan on Dec. 21. New York Air National Guard Technical Sgt. Joseph Lemm, a resident of West Harrison, was killed in an incident outside Bagram Air Base. He was a member of the 105th Security Forces Squadron, which is an element of the 105th Airlift Wing at Stewart Air National Guard Base at Newburgh, N.Y.

Local weather forecast


Today’s forecast is specific to Cairo, in Greene County:


Today: Rain likely, mainly before 3 p.m. Patchy fog before 3 p.m. Otherwise, cloudy. High near 52. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. Wednesday night, patchy fog after 10 p.m. Otherwise, mostly cloudy. Low around 39.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS:

Thursday: A chance of showers before 11 a.m., then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., then a chance of showers after 4 p.m. Mostly cloudy. High near 67. Thursday night, a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy. Low around 45.
Friday (Christmas Day): Mostly sunny. High near 55. Friday night, partly cloudy. Low around 36.

Sunrise today: 7:21 a.m.
Sunset today: 4:27 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 9:05


PUBLIC MEETINGS

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

ATHENS Village Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Community Center, 2 First St., Athens (945-1551).
COEYMANS Public Hearing about an application from David & Cheryl Salzer (15-006 ZAV): An application for an Area Variance on property owned by them located at 469 Copeland Hill Road, Coeymans Hollow, NY 12046, Tax Map# 130-2-15. A 20' sideline setback is requested for the existing garage. The R/A district requires a 30' minimum side and rear setback. 7 p.m. at Courtoom, Ravena Village Hall, 15 Mountain Road, Ravena.
COPAKE Hamlet Revitalization Task Force meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 230 Mountain View Rd., Copake (329-1234).
HUDSON Common Council Legal Committee and Public Works Committee meetings cancelled (828-1030).
HUDSON Development Corporation meeting cancelled (751-1044).
KINDERHOOK Historical Committee meeting, 7 p.m., Town Hall, 4 Church St, Niverville (784-2233).
PHILMONT Village Board Workshop meeting, 7 p.m., Village Hall, 124 Main St., Philmont (672-7032).

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local headlines and weather for Tue., Dec. 22 (7:55). (Produced by Philip Grant.)

William J. Kemble is reporting in the Daily Freeman the New York State Thruway Authority and the state Department of Environmental Conservation on Mon., Dec. 21, announced they will split the role of lead agency in the pending environmental review of the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline. The declaration was made in letters from both agencies, and comes as dozens of communities have expressed open opposition to the Thruway Authority taking the lead due to conflicts of interest. The Thruway Authority contends the best interests of the Authority would be served by allowing it to be in charge of the environmental studies. “This extensive, regional project, which spans from Albany County to Rockland County, necessarily implicates numerous significant impacts relating to Thruway maintenance and operations, including future use of the Thruway, which the authority possesses exclusive knowledge of,” Thruway Authority Executive Director Robert Megna wrote. Under the proposal, one pipeline would be used to move 200,000 gallons of Bakken crude oil each day from Albany to Linden, New Jersey. The second pipeline would carry the same amount of refined materials north. State Department of Environmental Conservation Acting Deputy Commissioner Thomas Berkman stated his agency is better suited to identify issues involving private property and environmental regulation. The decision was met with concern from Citizens for Local Power co-founder Jennifer Metzger. Metzger noted the state Thruway Authority, which is seeking to find a revenue source to pay for work on the Tappen Zee Bridge, has declined to say what Pilgrim Pipeline officials would pay for a lease along the highway. “It seems really clear there’s a conflict of interest there,” she said. Ulster town Supervisor James Quigley was also troubled by the decision. He said, “I’d feel more comfortable with the DEC having the full responsibility for the environmental review." The proposed 178-mile Pilgrim Pipeline would run through Albany, Greene, and Ulster counties, largely along the I-87 corridor. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Katie Kocijanski is reporting in the Register-Star the Columbia Economic Development Corporation has announced the appointment of three new members to its board of directors. Board chairman Tony Jones and Interim Executive Director F. Michael Tucker announced the appointments at a meeting last week. Russell Bartolotta, Michael Polemis and Sarah Sterling will begin their terms in January. Bartolotta is the owner of Klein Kill Fruit Farms in Germantown. Polemis has a background in international maritime trade and was instrumental in the establishment of the Columbia Land Conservancy, based in Chatham. Sterling is the board's current treasurer. She has a background in real estate development and art investment. She was recently re-elected as Hudson's First Ward Supervisor. The three appointees will replace former board members Mike Benson, Mary Bartolotta and Paul Colarusso. Read the full story in the Register-Star.

Matthew Hamilton is reporting at Capitol Confidential Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration officially announced Mon., Dec. 21, plans to issue conditional pardons for an estimated 10,000 people convicted of non-violent crimes when they were minors. Cuomo will seek to pardon individuals who were convicted as 16- and 17-year-olds and have not committed another crime in at least the past 10 years. The idea, Cuomo said, is that those people have paid the price for their mistake, but should not continue to be hindered by their poor decisions. The administration will seek out those who are productive members of their community, beginning with those convicted in 2004. Officials will then work backward year-by-year until outreach to all potential pardon candidates has been made. The pardon decision comes as Cuomo again will look to the Legislature to pass a slate of criminal justice reforms, including Raise the Age legislation. That measure would increase the age of criminal responsibility in New York from 16 to 18 and take youthful offenders out of adult prisons. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential.