[caption id="" align="alignright" width="340"] Pilgrim Pipeline community meeting at Bridge Street Theater in Catskill with Jen Metzger of Citizens for Local Power, Kate Hudson of Riverkeeper, Iris Bloom of the Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipeline, and Roger Downs of the Sierra Club. Photo by Tom Roe.[/caption]

About 40 residents gathered to hear opponents of the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline host a community forum at the Bridge Street Theater in Catskill on Oct. 1. Mary Finneran of the Coalition to Stop Pilgrim Pipelines in Greene Co. organized the discussion about the proposed 178-mile Pilgrim Pipeline would move Bakken crude from Albany to Linden, NJ, through Albany, Greene, and Ulster counties, and send refined crude back to Albany, largely along the I-87 corridor. In Greene County, the proposed project veers east of Route 9W west of Sleepy Hollow Lake in Athens, and then back near the interstate around Leeds-Athens Road. After Catskill, the pipeline veers west of the interstate briefly around Cauterskill Road. Panelists at the community forum included Kate Hudson of Riverkeeper, Roger Downs of Sierra Club, Jen Metzger of Citizens for Local Power, and Iris Bloom of the Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipeline, and they discussed possible accidents, emergency response, the number of jobs involved in the project, eminent domain questions, and related topics. A representative from the Pilgrim Pipeline company was at the meeting to observe, and did answer a few minor questions, saying he would be open to speaking at a public forum organized by the Greene County Legislature. That idea came after Catskill politicians spilled out of a nearby candidate's forum and began asking questions at the end of the pipeline presentation. WGXC recorded the entire forum. Click here to download or play the audio from the pipeline forum.

Katie Kocijanski and Kate Seckinger are reporting in The Daily Mail financial relief is now available for residents in Greene and Columbia counties whose homes were damaged or destroyed by recent superstorms and hurricanes. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Wed., Sept. 30, $20 million is now available to fund the construction of new affordable housing units damaged by Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene or Tropical Storm Lee. “These communities have witnessed first-hand the damage caused by extreme weather and we must ensure we build back stronger to adjust to this new normal,” Cuomo said in a statement. Funding for the housing comes from the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery. The office’s $4.4 billion federal allotment comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery Program. A total of 33 counties statewide are eligible to receive the money, including Greene, Columbia and Albany. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

John Mason is reporting in the Register-Star as the New York State Public Service Commission moves closer to approving higher-voltage power lines that would run through Columbia County, an energy economics firm has released a study showing there is no need for them. On Sept. 22, a branch of the Public Service Commission released its recommendations on the need for the project, and which proposals should go forward. The department recommended the state move ahead with its plans to "significantly enhance and improve the state’s bulk electric system," according to PSC spokesman James Denn. Denn said the estimated $1.2 billion in recommended infrastructure investments will improve existing transmission system bottlenecks that now "restrict large amounts of electricity from flowing freely to the areas of downstate New York needing it the most." Around the same time the PSC was receiving its report from  the Department of Public Service, the Hudson Valley Smart Energy Coalition received the results of a study it commissioned. That study found that congestion costs are expected to decline by 70 percent to 85 percent in the next 15 years, because of changes in the price differential of natural gas between upstate and downstate. Present costs of $300 million would drop to $100 million. A PSC technical conference will take place Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 in Albany. Read the full story in the Register-Star.

Diane Pineiro-Zucker reports in The Daily Freeman that lots more rain is on the way to our already-soaked area, with Hurricane Joaquin heading up the east coast early next week. “If it will effect us, it won’t be for five days,” meterologist George Maglaras said on Sept. 30. On Oct. 1 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo held a phone briefing on the State’s preparations for the possible arrival of the hurricane later this week. "In the past, we were not – we didn’t take the worst-case scenario into full consideration and we paid the price," Cuomo said. "So our way now is to err on the side of caution and we’re starting to get prepared because there are things that you can do before a storm that, once the storm hits, it’s too late." Meterologists in the story said the storm was too far out to make any specific predictions for New York. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.

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

Nia Hamm at Public News Service reports that Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration has awarded $175 million to five new, large-scale clean energy projects. Officials say the projects will help New York meet its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and relying less on fossil fuels. Peter Constantakes with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority says the projects will also help reduce demand on existing state energy infrastructure. "They are not grid projects. They are not a typical power plant," he says. "They're renewable energy, so they can produce it. Often they can do it cheaper. But it decreases the amount of demand on the grid, and less people then need to get their electricity though the grid." The projects include a wind farm, a biogas facility that turns food waste into electricity, and two hydroelectric facilities. The money comes from the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard, a policy that aims to increase renewable energy, and is funded by small charges on electricity bills. New York has been awarding millions for clean energy projects for more than a decade through its Renewable Portfolio Standard, but Conor Bambrick with Environmental Advocates of New York says that policy is set to expire in 2016 - and state officials are looking at new ways to continue funding these efforts. "There's a lot of interest in things like community renewables," he says. "Those are parts of the questions that are out there, as to how the new program is going to be structured. How are they going to incorporate different technologies and different business models?" The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has proposed a $1.5 billion, 10-year program to replace the Renewable Portfolio Standard, so the state can continue to contribute to large-scale, renewable energy projects.

Weather right now


[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="128"] Cairo: High 56F; Low 40F.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="125"] Catskill: High 57F; Low 42F.[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAR LEFT: The temperature on the far left is from the Hawthorne Valley Farm Weather Page.
MIDDLE TEMP: Cairo from Weather Underground page.
FAR RIGHT: Catskill from Weather Underground page.

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

Today: Mostly cloudy. High near 58. Friday night, a chance of rain, mainly after 7 p.m. Cloudy. Low around 43. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

Forecast for the next two days:
Saturday: A chance of rain. Cloudy. High near 52. Saturday night, a slight chance of rain. Cloudy. Low around 45.
Sunday: A slight chance of rain. Mostly cloudy. High near 59. Sunday night, a slight chance of rain before 9 p.m., then a slight chance of showers after 9 p.m. Mostly cloudy. Low around 44.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local headlines and weather for Thu., Oct. 1 (8:30). (Produced by Philip Grant.)

https://data.wavefarm.org/r/w6/qm/w4/WGXC%20DailyNews20151001.mp3

William J. Kemble is reporting in the Daily Freeman the non-profit organization, Historic Hudson Valley has agreed to transfer ownership of Montgomery Place to Bard College. The college is located just north of the 19th century riverfront estate. Bard and Historic Hudson Valley have a contract of sale in place for the 375-acre Northern Dutchess property. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year. The college announced the acquisition plans Wed., Sept. 30. The financial details of the transfer were not disclosed. Historic Hudson Valley has owned Montgomery Place since the mid-1980s. Bard will use Montgomery Place as a teaching space for various programs, including the arts, the humanities and environmental sciences. Bard President Leon Botstein said in a prepared statement, “The college has every intention of respecting the significance of the property in terms of historic preservation, public access and agriculture.” The main building at Montgomery Place is a Federal-style house built in the early 19th century. It was originally used by members of the Livingston family. The estate was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992. The house has been open for tours since May 2010. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Gail Heinsohn is reporting in the Chatham Courier the Chatham school board has killed an unpopular consolidation plan, at least for now. At a meeting last December, the board revoked an earlier plan to consolidate by August, but passed a resolution calling for the development of a new consolidation plan during the current school year. That resolution was revoked at a meeting this week, but the board left the door open for future action. Board member Beth Hover said, “...we’re not talking about taking this off the table. We’re not forgetting it or pushing it off. We’re just approaching it in a different manner.” Superintendent Cheryl Nuciforo urged the board to weigh he impact of declining enrollment and the future financial prospects for the district when considering consolidation. A report from the board's facilities committee is expected by late November or early December. In November 2013, district voters overwhelmingly rejected a resolution to authorize a $13.8 million capital project, a key part of an earlier consolidation plan. Read the full story in the Chatham Courier.

Charlie Holmes and Roger Hannigan Gilson are reporting in The Daily Mail on the consequences of the weather that hit Greene and Columbia counties, Wed., Sept. 30. The rain began shortly after midnight and by the afternoon flash floods were creating problems throughout the region. “Your area got the brunt of it,” National Weather Service meteorologist Evan Heloer said. Weather observers in East Windham and Tannersville reported 5.10 inches of rain by 12:19 p.m. to the National Weather Service in Albany, the highest 24-hour total for the area. Coxsackie village mayor Mark Evans had to close Mansion and Bailey streets, causing school buses to be detoured. Roads were reopened by 10 a.m. In Catskill, the west side of the village lost power and the fire department answered nine pump-out requests before 1 p.m. According to Catskill Fire Chief Harold Rivenburgh, Embought and Cauterskill roads both flooded. He said two school buses got stuck in rushing water on Cauterskill, near Vedders Road. The Catskill schools closed Wednesday morning due to flooding in Palenville. In Columbia County, heavy rainfall caused flooding and strained sewer lines, shutting roads and saturating basements with sewage. Route 9G/23B south of Hudson flooded around noon, forcing the closure of the road, and tractor-trailers heading west on highway had to back into Riverfront Industrial Park to turn back. And a Greenport sewer line running parallel to Fairview Avenue overflowed near Maple Avenue, Wednesday morning. Residents nearby more than a foot of sewage in their basements. Greenport wastewater workers tried to determine if there was blockage in the line or if it was flooded due to the rain. They attempted to clear the line by sending a mechanical bore in to clear any blockages. The Hudson Wastewater Treatment Facility discharged untreated wastewater and stormwater into the North Bay for at least an hour, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Water was discharged because the bypass pumps were already at full capacity and bar screens used to cull debris from the water were clogged. The DEC said an estimated 500 gallons per minute were discharged into the bay. More heavy rains from Hurricane Joaquin are expected this weekend. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

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

Andrea Sears at Public News Service reports that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed a bill that expands access to medical treatment for drug addiction. The law amends state criminal procedure law to ensure that defendants and parolees are not penalized for using medically prescribed drugs to treat addiction while under a doctor's care. According to Kassandra Frederique, New York policy manager at the Drug Policy Alliance, some judges in the state's drug courts have forced defendants to stop medication-assisted treatment to avoid prison. "Judges are not doctors, judges are not treatment providers," she said, "and so putting them in a position where they are in charge of someone's treatment options or modalities is not appropriate." Drug-policy reform advocates say the law is an important part of the move away from a law-enforcement approach to addiction, toward one that treats drug use as a public health problem. In New York, as in many other states, heroin addiction and prescription drug abuse have been increasing dramatically. Frederique called medications such as methadone and Suboxone the gold standard for treating opioid addiction. "Research has consistently shown that medically assisted treatment helps reduce cravings, overdose deaths, HIV risk behaviors," she said. From 2003 to 2012, poisoning deaths involving drugs in New York more than doubled. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, improved access to medication with voluntary treatment and access to harm-reduction programs would save lives.

Opponents of the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline host a community forum in Catskill on Oct. 1. The proposed 178-mile Pilgrim Pipeline would move Bakken crude from Albany to Linden, NJ, through Albany, Greene, and Ulster counties, and send refined crude back to Albany, largely along the I-87 corridor. In Greene County, the proposed project veers east of Route 9W west of Sleepy Hollow Lake in Athens, and then back near the interstate around Leeds-Athens Road. After Catskill, the pipeline veers west of the interstate briefly around Cauterskill Road. Panelists at the community forum include Kate Hudson of Riverkeeper, Roger Downs of Sierra Club, Jen Metzger of Citizens for Local Power, and Iris Bloom of Protecting Our Waters. The forum is at 7 p.m. at the Bridge Street Theatre, 44 W. Bridge St. in Catskill. Mary Finneran of the Coalition to Stop Pilgrim Pipelines in Greene Co. discussed the forum and local opposition to the pipelines on the "WGXC Afternoon Show" Sept. 28. Click here, in the WGXC archives, to play or download that interview.

Weather right now


[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="128"] Cairo: High 61F; Low 41F.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="125"] Catskill: High 60F; Low 43F.[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAR LEFT: The temperature on the far left is from the Hawthorne Valley Farm Weather Page.
MIDDLE TEMP: Cairo from Weather Underground page.
FAR RIGHT: Catskill from Weather Underground page.

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

Today: Mostly cloudy. High near 60. Thursday night, mostly cloudy. Low around 43.

Forecast for the next two days:
Friday: A slight chance of rain after 3 p.m. Mostly cloudy. High near 57. Friday night, a chance of rain, mainly after 7 p.m. Cloudy. Low around 44.
Saturday: A chance of rain. Cloudy. High near 55. Saturday night, a chance of rain. Cloudy. Low around 47.

Sunrise today: 6:53 a.m.
Sunset today: 6:36 p.m.
Length of the day: 11:43

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

ANCRAM Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 1416 County Rte. 7, Ancram (329-6512).
ASHLAND Planning Board meeting, 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 12094 Route 23, Ashland (734-3636).
AUSTERLITZ Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 812 Route 203, Spencertown (392-3260).
COPAKE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 230 Mt. View Road, Copake (329-1234).
COXSACKIE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 16 Reed St., Coxsackie (731-2727).
GHENT Town Board informational planning and working session, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 2306 State Route 66, Ghent (392-4644).
KINDERHOOK Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 4 Church St, Niverville (784-2233).
STUYVESANT Board meeting workshop, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 5 Sunset Dr., Stuyvesant (758-6248).
WINDHAM Town Board meeting, 8 p.m. at Town Hall, 371 State Rt. 296, Hensonville (734-4170).

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

The march of broadband all over the world continues forward, but it is a battle of wins and losses. Let's take India in the past week, for example. Google announced a plan last week to bring Wi-Fi signals to 10 million rail passengers a day there. The broadband will be free at first, and available in 400 train stations across India. But while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Google in California for that announcement, he was being criticized back home for cutting off the internet. Radio Survivor reports that India has been blocking Internet service in Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi Television quotes Kashmir’s Inspector General of Police calling the ban on Internet services a “precautionary measure” in light of “communal tensions.” That internet jamming comes as Radio Maej Kasheer, a Kashmiri radio station, launched its online webstream.

The Daily Mail is reporting the Catskill Central School District closed early due to flooding, Wed., Sept. 30. High school students were sent home at 10 a.m.; elementary students were dismissed at 11 a.m. All after-school activities have been cancelled. The Board of Education meeting and the Epic Parent Engagement meeting scheduled for tonight have also been postponed.

Columbia County 911 is reporting on its Facebook page that state Route 9G is closed at Mt. Merino Rd. on the Hudson / Greenport line due to flooding.

The state Department of Transportation is reporting at NY 511 state Route 23B, between Middle Road and the Hudson line, in Greenport is closed for approximately three hours beginning at 11 a.m. due to flooding.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local headlines and weather for Wed., Sept. 30 (5:42). (Produced by Tom Roe with Philip Grant.)

https://data.wavefarm.org/r/bn/kn/ht/WGXC_local_news_20150930.mp3

Roger Hannigan Gilson is reporting in the Register-Star the proposed affiliation between Columbia Memorial Hospital and Albany Medical Center received preliminary state approval on Thursday. Speaking publicly about the plan for the first time, hospital President and CEO Jay P. Cahalan called the agreement "truly unique." He said, “It’s not a merger or consolidation. It’s not a sale, and it’s not an acquisition or a takeover. It’s most accurately described as an affiliation of our respective organizations that allows us to take advantage of one another’s strengths.” Under the plan, Columbia Memorial would maintain its own corporate identity, management structure, medical staff and employees, and keep its own board of trustees and foundation. The affiliation would integrate the clinical and administrative functions of both hospitals. Columbia Memorial maintains the change would make the delivery of health services more efficient and stable in the region, while also saving costs. According to the Times Union, the Hudson-based hospital lost $2.2 million in 2013, more than $500,000 in 2014 and nearly $400,000 in the first half of 2015. The final say rests with the state Public Health and Health Planning Council, which will consider the proposal at its Oct. 8 meeting. Read the full story in the Register-Star.

Jim Planck is reporting in The Daily Mail the annual Greene County property tax auction brought in more than $1 million. County treasurer Peter Markou said Tue., Sept. 29, the sale of real estate lost to back taxes was, to the best of his knowledge, a record high. Markou said a total of 85 parcels were sold at the auction, held earlier this month. The net gain to the county, he said, was more than half a million dollars. The entire process was managed by the combined real estate auction firms Haroff Auction & Realty, of Schroon Lake, and Absolute Auctions & Realty, of Pleasant Valley. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Claire Hughes is reporting at Capitol Confidential state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has called on federal officials to develop standards for child-resistant packaging and to put warning labels on liquid nicotine and other novel tobacco products, in an effort to curb poisoning among children. The request comes in the midst of a surge of use in e-cigarettes, which are filled with liquid nicotine. A single teaspoon of liquid nicotine can be lethal to a child, and smaller amounts can cause severe illness, often requiring trips to the emergency room. Last year, an 18-month-old Montgomery County boy died after ingesting liquid nicotine left in a bottle within his reach. His death is believed to be the first in the country from liquid nicotine poisoning. New York enacted legislation early this year requiring that liquid nicotine be sold in child-proof packaging. Read the full story in Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.