Mid-Hudson News reports that the Dutchess County Legislature unanimously voted for a ten percent county property tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and ambulance service workers on Feb. 14. Greene and Rensselaer counties have also passed similar measures, in order to lure first responders to work there. New York State recently allowed counties to grant such tax exemptions. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Amanda Burke and Matt Martinez report in The Berkshire Eagle that it took Great Barrington police four minutes to respond to what turned out to be a hoax school shooting report on Feb. 14. A man called police and claimed he was going to enter the school with an AR-15-style rifle and bombs, and kill everyone inside, which turned out to be false. As word of the threat emerged, parents gathered across the street from the school. Great Barrington Police Chief Paul Storti said they aim for a four-minute response time and will review how the police reacted to this incident. The Associated Press reported several similar hoax calls to schools in Michigan, after the deadly shooting at a college there. Read more about this story in The Berkshire Eagle.

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Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that in 2022, deaths from opioids in Greene County were up 58 percent since 2019. But in 2021, deaths were up 143 percent since 2019. There were 11 deaths in 2022, and 21 opioid-related that in 2021. The Columbia-Greene Addiction Coalition estimates that Greene County's crude rate of overdose of 25.5 per 100,000 people is almost double the average of most upstate New York counties. "Fentanyl is contributing to almost every overdose," said Carl Quinn, the director of the Greener Pathways Mobile Outreach group that works to lower the death count. Veronica Silvas, an epidemiologist with the CDC Foundation says, "Heroin has largely been replaced by fentanyl. The drugs available are straight fentanyl.... Fentanyl is in every different substance. If someone thinks they're using cocaine or pills, it's fentanyl." The closest rehabilitation centers are in Albany, Kingston, or Rhinebeck. Locally, Twin County Recovery Services, Greene County Family Planning, and the Youth Clubhouse in Catskill all distribute fentanyl test strips. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that there are two more candidates for Columbia County Judge. Brian J. Herman of Copake and Mark S. Portin of Chatham announced their attempts to become judges. Jonathan Nichols and Richard Koweek are retiring as Columbia County judges, leaving two openings. Previously, Columbia County Social Services Commissioner Bob Gibson on January 11 announced his candidacy for Columbia County Judge, and Hudson attorney Michael C. Howard recently announced his run to become a Columbia County Judge. Read the full story at HudsonValley360.com.

John Camera at Spectrum News reports that more Hudson Valley towns are regulating short-term house rentals, to help the affordable housing crisis. In Saugerties, a new law gives its building department a list of rentals to ensure they’re up to safety guidelines. In New Paltz, a law also would create a list of short-term rentals in the village, and also ban property owners that do not live in the village from renting out the space. Saugerties Town Supervisor Fred Costello said, “Emergencies at short-term rentals throughout the town where proper, responsible ownership or ownership representation was out of reach in the responding community, so it's important that we had a go-to person if the property was owned remotely." Read more about this story at Spectrum News reports.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that the Hudson restaurant Lil' Deb's Oasis is moving three doors down Columbia Street to a former autobody shop. Owner Halo Perez-Gallardo is moving to a larger space to include room for musical performances, art shows, and in-house catering events. Perez-Gallardo said, "How can we stretch what we're doing, give the project new life, keep the intimacy of the old team that we have, and also give everyone the chance to do more?" The new restaurant space will seat 45, similar to the seven-year-old businesses current space, but will also have outdoor seating for warmer months. And Lil' Deb's Oasis plans to continue their mutal aid efforts. All menu items there are priced at a whole dollar amount plus 69 cents, with the change donated to local nonprofit youth organizations such as the Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood, Kite's Nest, and the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement. The restaurant, which has been nominated for seven James Beard Awards since 2019. is currently before the Hudson Planning Board with its plan to move and expand. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

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While most elections are held in the fall, and some occasionally in March, the Chatham school district is polling its electorate about a 2023 Capital Improvement Project proposal during a time when few people are thinking about voting. Polls are open on February 14 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the MED Elementary School gym in Chatham. There are two propositions on the ballot in Chatham. "Prop #1 is a $18,218,595 proposal to shore up aging infrastructure, improve classroom and community spaces, and address safety, security, and health concerns. The proposed work would take place at Chatham High School, Chatham Middle School, Mary E. Dardess Elementary School, and the Bus Garage." The school district would apply $8,434,944 in capital reserves and issue bonds for taxpayers to pay for the remainder of the costs. "Prop #2 would authorize the District to install a building-wide air conditioning/HVAC system at Mary E. Dardess Elementary School at a cost not to exceed $3,879,600." Prop #2 is dependent on the passage of Prop #1, so if voters do not approve Prop #1, Prop #2 will not pass. If voters approve Prop #1 but do not approve Prop #2, only the work under Prop #1 would be completed. See the Chatham school district website for more information about the budget proposals that go before voters on Feb. 14.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that on Feb. 8 the Catskill school district approved a property tax exemption for volunteer fire fighters and volunteer ambulance workers. Greene County passed a similar tax break for first responders a few days before. The laws are meant to entice more first responders to the area. The law even says, "Firehouses are closing and ambulance companies are being folded into larger county-spanning units to cover labor gaps." The Catskill Town Board will also consider a similar proposal at its 6:30 p.m., Feb. 15 meeting, which will have a live webstream at wgxc.org/listen. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that Gov. Kathy Hochul said Feb. 13 that vaccine mandates for health care workers will remain in place. On Feb. 12, Hochul lifted mask mandates for hospitals, though some, such as Columbia Memorial in Hudson, are keeping the mask mandate in place. Hochul said, "When you walked into a health care facility, a hospital or a nursing home, you should have the right to know that an individual who is taking care of you is not going to contract a virus and pass it on to you." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Chris Gelardi reports for New York Focus that Anthony Annucci, the acting head of the state prison agency for the past nine years, claims space issues are forcing prisons across the state to routinely violate the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act. That legislation passed last year to end solitary confinement in prisons, yet solitary confinement continues in prisons. According to Annucci, there was an increase in the number of assaults in prisons shortly after HALT’s enactment, which he claims “overwhelmed” the system forcing more prisoners into solitary confinement. State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal told New York Focus that he was “appalled with the acting commissioner’s responses” about the corrections system regularly violating the law. “Our corrections system is operating outside our statute, which was thoroughly considered, and negotiated by the executive itself,” Holyman-Sigal said. Read more about this story at New York Focus.

Here is this week's WGXC Congressional Report, tracking the votes, statements, positions, and campaigns of the representatives and candidates for the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Congressional seats in New York. Democrat Pat Ryan is representing the 18th Congressional District, Republican Marc Molinaro represents the 19th Congressional District, Democrat Rep. Paul Tonko represents the 20th District, and Republican Elise Stefanik represents the 21st District. Click here to listen to this report.

Patrick Hauf reports at Fox News that House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik was incensed on Feb. 3 about China’s "violation of the United States’s airspace" in response to the communist country’s spy balloon flying over the country. Stefanik was quiet, though, about reports of three similar balloons from China that violated United States airspace during the reign of President Donald Trump. "The Chinese Communist Party’s violation of the United States’ airspace and growing military aggression is a threat to our national security," Stefanik said. "This should be a wakeup call for Joe Biden’s weakness on the world stage. He can no longer allow China, our greatest geopolitical challenge, to undermine us." Stefanik did not comment on Trump's weakness on the world stage. A senior U.S. defense official said over the weekend that balloons from China similar to the one that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina this weekend flew over the U.S. at least three times during the Trump administration. Stefanik represents New York's 21st Congressional District, which includes Rensselaer County. Read more about this story at Fox News.

Porcupine Soup reports that Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro, who now represents NY-19, announced Feb. 6 the opening of local offices including one in Greene County, in Leeds. The others are in Binghamton, Liberty, Hancock, and Oneonta. Molinaro said, “Constituent services and accessibility is our top priority. These offices will provide Upstate New Yorkers with an important access point to our constituent service team who can help with a variety of federal issues. I encourage Upstate New Yorkers to use our office as a resource. We are here to help.” The Leeds office will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Leeds office is at 49 Gilfeather Park Road, off of Main Street in Unit 1. The office can be reached at 585-625-2100. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

The Troy Record reports that Rep. Paul Tonko, a Democrat who represents Albany County and the rest of the 20th Congressional District, recently introduced bipartisan legislation for research on Alzheimer’s disease and supporting scientists in the development of treatments and potential cures. H.R. 619 and 620 are the National Alzheimer’s Project Act Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act. Tonko and Republican Chris Smith from New Jersey hope to get the non-controversial bills passed. Both bills have passed previously, and expire in 2025, so extending them could be bipartisan. Read the full story in the Troy Record.

News10 in Albany reports that Gov. Kathy Hochul met with her state’s congressional delegation on Feb. 8, but.Rep. George Santos was not a part of the group. “No one noticed George Santos was not here,” Rep. Marc Molinaro, the Republican who represents the 19th Congressional District said. Democrat, Rep. Ritchie Torres said the discussion was productive, “partly because we had no charlatans like George Santos in the meeting.” Both Molinaro, and Democrat Pat Ryan, commented how they agreed with Republican Mitt Romney, who reportedly told Santos at the State of the Union speech that he did not belong in Congress. “And I’m glad he said directly to Congressman Santos what many of us have been saying and thinking,” Molinaro said, and Ryan agreed, saying, “I’m glad Sen. Romney joined what myself and my New York colleagues, Democrat and Republican, have been saying for weeks.” Read the full story on the News10 website.

Nick Reisman reports for Spectrum News that Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro is telling reporters that on Feb. 9 he will go on the House floor to complain about New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's $227 billion budget plan, which Congress does not vote on. Molinaro is upset that Hochul's proposal could shift Medicaid money away from county governments. Molinaro says he will say, "Governor Hochul’s budget puts these programs and the people served at risk. Her budget steals one billion in federal Medicaid dollars from the most vulnerable to subsidize a bloated and broken state bureaucracy.... Gov. Hochul is stealing from programs that help children, seniors, and those living in poverty – and putting Albany bureaucracy in control of another billion in taxpayer dollars." Molinaro represents the 19th Congressional District, though he lives in the 18th Congressional District. Last week, Pat Ryan, who represents the 18th District, went on the House floor to call for the CEO of Central Hudson to resign, because of controversial billing practices. Read the full story at Spectrum News.

Both Roll Call and Mid-Hudson News report that Democrat Pat Ryan and Republican Marc Molinaro are part of the SALT Caucus for the 118th Congress. They want restore the State and Local Tax deduction that Republicans took out in a 2017 tax law. New York, New Jersey, and some other states claim their citizens now pay double the tax. Ryan said, “The SALT deduction cap is blatant double taxation and unjustly punishes hard working families across the Hudson Valley. I’m proud to stand and fight with colleagues from both parties to reinstate this deduction and put dollars back in the pockets of Hudson Valley families.” The 2017 tax law put a $10,000 cap on the SALT deduction for taxpayers, and New York representatives so far have different plans for changing that. Read more about this story at Roll Call and Mid-Hudson News.

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Brian Hubert reports in the Daily Freeman that Central Hudson announced that its president and chief executive officer Charles Freni is out, less than two weeks after Rep. Pat Ryan called for his resignation on the floor of the House of Representatives. Central Hudson has faced ongoing billing problems and much criticism in recent months. Christopher M. Capone, who has worked at Central Hudson for 20 years, will be the utility’s new CEO, with Freni staying on for the transition before retiring. After Ryan, a Democrat, called for Freni to step down, Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro, Democrat State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, and other local officials also called for a resignation. “The Central Hudson Board of Directors believes the time is right for a change of leadership,” Margarita Dilley, chair of the Central Hudson Gas & Electric Board of Directors, said in a prepared statement. Capone promised fixing the company's billing system is “a key priority.... We have hired a significant number of additional personnel including contact center employees and other professionals to work on these issues around the clock. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Melissa Manno reports in the Times Union that there were at least 90 inmate suicides at state prisons and local jails between 2016 and 2021. During that time, two of those suicides were hangings at the Coxsackie Correctional Facility, and another was a hanging at the Greene County Jail. Manno writes that, "A common thread emerging from the fatal incidents is a pattern of inadequate mental health services and shoddy supervision that preceded the deaths." Most suicides were inmates convicted of violent crimes. But the second largest group, at 27 percent, were inmates awaiting trial, who had not yet been convicted of a crime. And 36 percent of the suicides in New York jails and prisons was among 25-to-34-year-olds. And suicides in prison are increasing. From 2001 to 2019, the number of suicides went up by 85 percent in state prisons, 61 percent in federal prisons, and 13 percent in local jails, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics data from the U.S. Justice Department. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Kate Lisa reports at Spectrum News that the first recreational cannabis store outside of New York City opened in Binghamton on Feb. 10. The owner of the store has plans to open the state's first legal cannabis theater. Meanwhile, a lawsuit is blocking cannabis stores from opening in the Hudson Valley and four other regions of the state, and there is no word when stores could open locally. Read more about this story at Spectrum News.

Raymond Pignone reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Rep. Marc Molinaro has give the $1,000 campaign donation he got from Rep. George Santos to the Southern Tier Veterans Support Group in Binghamton. Santos is under investigation and much criticism for an unusual amount of lies, even for a Congressperson. So far, local Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican who represents Rensselaer County and the rest of the 21st Congressional District, has kept the money Santos have her campaign. Molinaro and Democrat Pat Ryan have called for Santos to resign. Raymond Pignone reports for Columbia-Greene Media

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