Full audio of the local headlines and weather for Thu., Sept. 3 (5:55). (Produced by Lynn Sloneker.)

https://data.wavefarm.org/r/gf/b8/0n/WGXCDailyNews_20150903.mp3

The Daily Mail is reporting the Durham Republican Committee has endorsed former police officer and retired firefighter George Carroll for the Greene County Legislature District 9 seat representing the town of Durham. Carroll is a 50-year resident of Durham. He is a former U.S. Marine and a graduate of John Jay College. Carroll is a current member of the Greene County Planning Board. He also served 10 years as court clerk in the supreme courts of Greene and Columbia counties. If elected, Carroll said he would maximize the communication between the legislature and the Durham Town Board, pledging to provide a report of county matters at every town board meeting. Tourism, taxes, high-speed Internet, communications and quality of life are high on Carroll's list of priorities. He will face Democrat Aidan O'Connor in the November election. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Jim Planck is reporting in The Daily Mail the Catskill Central School District has updated its transgender protocol to comply with federal and state regulations. Catskill Board of Education President Andrew Jones said Wed., Sept. 2, the district acted to comply with a provision contained within a Title IX guidance document issued in April 2014, to address sex discrimination. The sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of bias based on gender identity or "failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity...." Catskill Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell said district staff was contacted and provided an overview of the amended protocol on August 5. Farrell said under the protocol, “[If] a student who is biologically female states that he is of the male gender, he must be given access to the male gender lavatory and locker room, potentially to male sports teams, and must be referred to with the appropriate male name selected and male pronoun.” The compliance piece of the update also included the physical restructuring of some school facilities, which has already been accomplished, Farrell said. The superintendent said staff training on the amended procedures is ongoing, and that a series of small, round-table discussions for parents, students and community members will be held. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Jeff Waggoner is reporting at Capitol Confidential New York women who belong to a union have a 25 percent wage advantage over women who are not union members, according to a recent study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research. That translates into a difference in income of $191 more per week on average. The study was funded by the American Federation of Teachers. The Institute's research also found:

[Updated Thu., Sept. 3]
The Columbia County Fair opened Wednesday today, with the demolition derby tonight. The fair, in Chatham, celebrates its 175th anniversary this year. The fair includes more than 200 exhibits, shows, contests, amusement rides, and attractions and runs through Sunday, Sept. 6. The event is presented every year by the Columbia County Agricultural Society, which was established in Hudson in 1840. An opening-day ceremony marked the anniversary will take place at 2 p.m. at the fairground’s North Gate Stage, and an 800 million candlepower, truck-mounted searchlight will be lit that night was lit to beckon visitors to the six-day event. For a list of attractions and entertainment, and a full schedule of events, go to Columbia Fair [dot] com.

Clarence Fanto in the Berkshire Eagle reports that Massachusetts approved long-term preliminary contracts for Berkshire Gas, National Grid, and Columbia Gas to buy supplies from the proposed Northeast Energy Direct project on Aug. 31. Kinder Morgan wants to put a natural gas pipeline from Wright, N.Y., west of Schenectady, through Rennselear County into Berkshire County on its ways to outside of Boston. The three suppliers signed 20-year agreements to purchase natural gas from the $3.3 billion, 30-inch natural gas pipeline project, if approved by federal regulators. But the preliminary contracts required state approval because they exceed one-year limits. Originally, the proposal was for a $5 billion, 36-inch pipeline. Berkshire Gas claims there is a shortage, and has declined to accept new customers in Franklin and Hampshire counties until the pipeline project is approved. Kinder Morgan wants approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by October 2016 to build the pipeline for use in November 2018. Read the full story in the Berkshire Eagle.

Weather right now


[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="128"] Cairo: High 89F; low 61F.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="125"] Catskill: High 88F; low 63F.[/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: Patchy fog before 9 a.m. Otherwise, mostly sunny. High near 88. Thursday night, isolated showers and thunderstorms before midnight, then a slight chance of showers between midnight and 1 a.m. Partly cloudy. Low around 66. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Friday: Partly sunny. High near 78. Friday night, partly cloudy. Low around 54.
Saturday: Sunny. High near 82. Saturday night, clear. Low around 55.

Sunrise today: 6:23 a.m.
Sunset today: 7:25 p.m.
Length of the day: 13:02

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 audio version of this report. (1:40)

[caption width="250" align="alignright"] Julie Shapiro photo from PRX.org.[/caption]Nicholas Quah reports for Nieman Lab that Julie Shapiro has been hired away as Executive Director of Third Coast Festival to be executive producer of Radiotopia. Radiotopia was in the news in May, winning a $1 million grant from the Knight Foundation. The audio group launched in February 2014, and includes the shows "99% Invisible" from Roman Mars and "Criminal" from Lauren Spohrer and Phoebe Judge. In the last 18 months, the similar networks Radiotopia, SoundWorks, Infinite Guest, Gimlet, the Loud Speakers Network, and Wolfpop have all launched, with Midroll creating the Howl app. Shapiro founded Third Coast Festival in 2000, as, "a big independent radio conference/summit/party in Chicago." Shapiro, besides starting the Third Coast conference, also co-produced Third Coast's "Filmless" festival, and edited the "Re:sound" audio show. After the mainstream success of the "Serial" podcast in 2014, that claimed 40 million downloads, radio companies have been hiring, and working on new shows and distribution. In August, the U.S. podcast conference "Podcast Movement" drew more than 1000 audio storytellers from around the globe to Fort Worth, Texas to discuss the medium. Wired reports 2013's 1.9 billion listens rose to to 2.6 billion in 2014, according to Nielsen data.

Full audio of local headlines and weather for Wed., Sept. 2 (6:51). (Produced by Tom Roe and Philip Grant.)

https://data.wavefarm.org/r/19/tk/69/WGXC_local_news_20150902.mp3

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="217"] MaryEllen Alia during her tenure as Hillsborough County (Fla.) superintendent.
(Patch.com file photo)[/caption]

Charlie Holmes is reporting in The Daily Mail New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia [EH-lee-uh] spoke to teachers and administrators at the Cairo-Durham Central School District Tue., Sept. 1, telling them communication and collaboration are the keys to making students succeed. The Common Core standards and their assessments were a major focus of the afternoon session held as part of the district's Superintendent's Conference Day. “I think there were a number of reasons that people reacted.... One of them was there wasn’t a lot of communication done about why we should change the standards,” Elia said. She said new standards are needed because 30 percent of students graduating from high school statewide are unable to survive in the SUNY or CUNY system without taking remedial classes. The Annual Professional Performance Reviews were also part of the conversation, Tuesday. Teachers asked if their own reviews would also be curved since the Commissioner said it would take time for students to adjust to a new standards. “The formula…is not based strictly on what a student’s score is. It’s [based] on the growth of that student and there are factors... to take into account,” Elia said. Classes in the Cairo-Durham district begin September 8. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

The Daily Freeman is reporting the 127th Greene County Volunteer Firemen’s Association Convention begins next week in Palenville. The event will feature a Mardi Gras parade and a dress parade, as well as dinners and a memorial observance. The convention is being hosted by the Palenville Fire Department, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The Mardi Gras parade begins lining up at 6 p.m., Fri., Sept. 11 along Pennsylvania Avenue and will step off at 6:30 p.m. The dress parade will step off at 2 p.m., Sat., Sept. 12 along state Route 32A. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.