Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that the Harold Handy beating case is back in court, in front of a different judge, on Feb. 16. Judge Richard Koweek recently recused himself from the matter, but the reason why has not been released. State Supreme Court Judge Thomas Marcelle now oversees the proceedings. Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Kelly Rosenstrach; her husband, gym owner Alex Rosenstrach; IRS agent Bryan Haag; and contractor Corey Gaylord were initially indicted on gang assault charges for the beating of Handy in Kinderhook in 2020. Handy was beaten so severely he was eventually taken to the intensive care unit of Albany Medical Center after attending a 2020 July Fourth party at the Rosenstrachs' home. State Police took over the investigation from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, since their own officers were accused. Koweek dropped the top charges in December 2021 after the defendants' attorneys in the criminal case appealed. Jury selection in the case was set to begin last November was abruptly adjourned after a private conference between Koweek and Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka, who is prosecuting the case. The minutes of that discussion have been sealed, so the reason for the delay is unknown. The trial was suspended five days after Haag's attorney filed a subpoena for information about negotiations between a private attorney employed by the Rosenstrachs and a private attorney for Handy, to find out if a payout was discussed that would have hinged on the four defendants not being indicted. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Mid-Hudson News reports that Congressperson Pat Ryan, who represents the 18th Congressional District, has introduced his first bill, the Health Care Fairness for Military Families Act. Ryan, himself a military veteran, said, “It is not an accident that it is focused on supporting veterans and military families.... Specifically, it gets at the issue of rising costs and rising healthcare costs that put so much pressure on families and military families.” Children of military families get to extend the eligibility for health insurance coverage to 26 years of age under the legislation. Ryan was first elected in August to represent the 19th District, and began representing the 18th District after winning the fall election in the 18th because of redistricting. Read the full story at Mid-Hudson News.

Nick Reisman at New York State of Politics reports that former Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, now in Congress, on Feb. 15 formally endorsed former state Sen. Sue Serino to take his old job. Serino announced her campaign earlier this year. Molinaro held the post from 2012 until January, when he took over the 19th Congressional District seat. Molinaro said. "Sue will be a familiar face to County residents as someone who grew up here, represented Dutchess in the State Senate, served as a County Legislator, and operated a local business. Sue's track record of success as a public servant and business owner, and independent approach to solving problems will make her a perfect fit to be Duchess's next County Executive. Sue Serino cares. She listens. She leads. She has my full support." Serino lost last fall to Democrat state Sen. Michelle Hinchey in a redrawn Hudson Valley Senate district election between two incumbents. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics reports.

The Chatham School District reports that both budget proposition passed in their February 14 election. Proposition One, which authorized $18,218,595 for Capital Improvements at the schools passed 419 to 181. Proposition Two, for an addition $3,879,600 in spending for a better HVAC system at the middle school passed 403 to 193.

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Joshua Solomon reports in the Times Union that the full New York State Senate voted down Gov. Kathy Hochul’s nomination of Hector LaSalle for chief judge of the state Court of Appeals on Feb. 15. The vote was 39-20, after the Judiciary Committee also voted the nomination down. Republicans sued for a full Senate vote, even though issues voted down in committee rarely get a full floor vote in Albany. Republicans say their court hearing Feb. 17 in the lawsuit about forcing the full senate to vote will go on, even though the full Senate already voted on the nomination. Hochul had also wanted a full vote on her nomination, and agreed with Republicans that it was constitutionally required, though she decided not to sue for a vote. After her nomination was voted down, Hochul said, "This vote is an important victory for the Constitution. But it was not a vote on the merits of Justice LaSalle, who is an overwhelming qualified and talented jurist." Hochul said she would begin looking for a new nominee. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Patricia R. Doxsey reports in the Daily Freeman that Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro was appointed chair of the House Small Business Committee’s Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development Subcommittee by House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams, a Republican from Texas. The subcommittee works on growth for small businesses and the development of new technologies. Williams, in a press release, said that in his first weeks in Congress, Molinaro has “shown promise in his ability to be a leader on this committee” and expects Molinaro will “push forward pro-growth policies that will help our nation’s small businesses.” Molinaro said, “Small businesses have an outsized impact in Upstate New York and I look forward to working on commonsense policies that unleash the potential of local small businesses and create good-paying jobs." Molinaro represents the 19th Congressional District, though he lives in the 18th District. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Michael Hill reports for NBC New York that fully paid parental leave arrived for some employees in the state on Feb. 14. Gov. Kathy Hochul's new policy covers nonunionized state employees, including managers and administrative support workers, and parents of adopted and foster children. That's more than 10,000 New York state employees now covered. Hochul said, “The dedicated New Yorkers who keep our state moving should not be forced to choose between a paycheck and caring for their child, and this policy will establish New York state as a model for helping working families." Read the full story at NBC New York.

Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that supporters of the proposed Clean Slate Act were bragging Feb. 15 that all of the newly elected members of the New York state Assembly are backing the legislation that would seal many criminal records. Sarahana Shrestha, a new Ulster County Assemblymember, is one of those backing the bill. So is lawmaker George Alvarez, who said, “Along with all ten of the newly sworn in Assembly Members, I am proud to co-sponsor the Clean Slate Act. Clean Slate is an economic justice bill, a racial justice bill, a housing justice bill, and a community safety bill. Both data and common sense make clear that eliminating barriers to jobs, housing, and education benefits all of our communities.” The bill has stalled in the state Assembly over the last several years, and these new members hope to get it through this session. Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay voiced his opposition to the Clean Slate legislation last month, saying, "I think we all believe that in life, you should have second chances, but that doesn't mean carte blanche or you erase the total history of the person." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

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William J. Kemble reports in the Daily Freeman that the Woodstock Town Board approved $175,000 for affordable housing loans and $199,000 for engineering fees for potential affordable housing projects on town-owned properties. The vote was 3-to-2, and was accompanied by heated and angry discussion. Councilperson Bennet Ratcliff the Woodstock Housing Alliance was “self-dealing” by both helping to draft affordable loan guidelines and potentially also being recipients of the loans for the projects. Ratcliff said, “I am…for a community land trust and I am for and have been a Woodstock Housing Alliance supporter, but I believe this is self-dealing that (some) members…actually wrote the proposed code changes and they are now going to benefit from the $175,000." Ratcliff and Maria-Elena Conte voted against the funding, and Supervisor Bill McKenna, and Laura Ricci and Reginald Earls voted for the funding. Ratcliff is also accusing Kirk Ritchey and Jeff Collins, who are members of both the land trust and housing task force, of benefiting from being involved in drafting the law while overseeing land acquisitions. Ritchey and Collins said they were not receiving any money personally and they are only trying to bring more affordable housing to Woodstock. “(Ratcliff) is incorrect,” Collins said. “We’re not relying on any code changes for this to be effective for our housing alliance. The existing code allows a single (accessory dwelling unit) per residence in Woodstock. That’s the code we need, that’s the code that’s going to be there that we’re going to use.” Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Mid-Hudson News reports that the Ulster County Legislature on Feb. 14 voted to spend $4 million on construction and paving of a new Kingston Rail Trail, while some thought the money should be spent on housing for the homeless. Legislator Laura Petit said, “We have people sleeping outside DSS waiting for emergency housing. We have them moved from emergency housing every 21 to 25 days. These places are disgusting. They have bedbugs. They have roaches. Kids are missing school because they are not being given the transportation they need.” Many politicians are naming affordable housing as the number one issue in the Hudson Valley currently. Read the full story at Mid-Hudson News.

The Troy Record reports that Rensselaer County sales tax figures were more than 10 percent larger in 2022. Rensselaer County took in a record $122 million in sales tax revenues in 2022. Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin crowed about the numbers in a press release. “These sales tax revenue numbers are outstanding, and good news for our residents and taxpayers across Rensselaer County." Sales tax revenues are shared with cities and towns in the county, so not just county government gets the money. Read more about this story in the Troy Record.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that a documentary about the lives of six Bangladeshi-American youths in Hudson will be shown Feb. 18 through Feb. 26. "Hudson, America" was shot over six years in Columbia County and other locales, and was first. screened locally Feb. 4 at Hudson Hall. Hudson has hundreds of Bangladeshi-American residents, and six of them are featured here attending Hudson High. Geoffrey Hug and Zuzka Kurtz created the documentary. Hug said it, "took a little work to build the trust, because they are a pretty insular community that hasn't opened up like this before." The film was earlier featured in the DTLA film festival in California and the Big Apple Film Festival in Manhattan. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Avery Stempel, Co-President of New Yorkers for Mental Health Alternatives and co-founder of the New York Psilocybin Action Committee, joined Blaise Bryant and Sina Basila Hickey on WOOC to talk about his recent meetings with senators and assembly members about psilocybin legislation and the importance of this legislation.

Ward Stone, who served as the state’s wildlife pathologist for over four decades and was from Columbia County, died this week. Roger Downes of the Sierra Club said, "Ward shone a light on environmental threats long before others could notice them and gave a science-based voice to nature in times of crisis when few other state officials would listen. He always chose to pursue environmental justice first before pointless bureaucracy." We hear from Lynne Jackson, Judith Enck and Ward. By WOOC's Mark Dunlea

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Melanie Lekocevic reports for Capital Region Independent Media that Coeymans Town Supervisor George McHugh discussed parks and truck traffic in his State of the Town address Feb. 9. “Many of the old, abandoned and condemned properties in the hamlet are being restored or razed, depending on their condition,” McHugh said. “And with the investment of over $1.4 million into the Coeymans Landing Park, using monies received from our state and federal partners, and new permanent bathrooms going under construction at both town parks this year, our parks are becoming destination locations for people living around the area and even from neighboring states.” Besides out-of-state tourists visiting the parks of Coeymans, McHugh got to brag about the offshore wind project at the Port of Coeymans with hundreds of clean energy jobs. “All of our local businesses win when more jobs, more businesses and more people come to Coeymans,” McHugh said. “With its shovel-ready sites, a low tax rate, critical infrastructure in place and a workforce second to none, it is no wonder why Coeymans has been identified by many global industries, including General Electric, as the place to come and establish their facilities and invest hundreds of millions of dollars, bringing new tax revenue and jobs to our community.” With all that business, Coeymans is considering alternative truck routes. “Currently, there is an engineered plan under review at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for an alternate truck route,” McHugh said. “Once approved, this alternate truck route will allow Holcim Cement to construct a new road off the east side of the Holcim quarry, so that trucks will have ingress and egress on County Route 101 into and out of the quarry. This will remove the large trucks from our town roads like Jarvis Road North, Jarvis Road South and Mountain Road Extension. This is phase 1 of our plan.” Read more about this story at The Upstater.com.