Today's daily news audio update.

Click above to download or play the "Better Weather." Produced by Joe Demanso of the Catskill Makers Syndicate.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that an attorney for the family of a 29-year-old man who died from burns weeks after a Catskill village police officer ignited him with a Taser, sent a letter to the state attorney general's office Feb. 7 wondering why there has been so little legal action in the case. Jason Jones died after more than 40 days in a coma in a Syracuse burn unit, after the incident that was recorded on video in the Catskill Village police station. In October 2021 Jones entered the police station, doused himself with flammable hand sanitizer in front of three police officers in the lobby of the village police station. Jones is Tasered by one of the officers, and they scatter instead of giving aid when Jones caught on fire, the recording shows. The office of state Attorney General Letitia James has not issued a report summarizing its investigative findings or indicated whether the matter will be reviewed by a grand jury. Kevin A. Luibrand, an attorney for Jones' family, wrote to the attorney general that, "Sixteen months have passed since Jason was shot and 14 months have passed since Jason died, and yet your office has been unable to even reach a decision on whether the actions of the officers involved warrant a referral of the case to a grand jury, let alone actually presenting the matter to a grand jury for consideration." A spokesperson for James said her office is investigating the matter and "We offer our sincerest condolences to Mr. Jones’ family and will provide them with the answers they are owed." Read more about this story in the Times Union.

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.

Diane Pineiro-Zucker reports in the Daily Freeman that two 13-year-old Pine Bush residents in Ulster County who spray painted “the N-word” on buildings at a Buddhist retreat center are facing felony hate crime and criminal mischief charges. Someone at the World Buddhist Center on state Route 52 reported the racist grafitti to police at 11 p.m. on Jan. 9. The teens were arrested in Shawangunk and Wawarsing, and were released with Ulster County Family Court appearance tickets. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

WNYT reports that community members in Menands, just north of Albany are running a daily donation drive for the victims of the earthquake in Turkey at 100 Broadway in Menands from 1 to 5 p.m. They are collecting jackets, blankets, sweaters, baby supplies and hygiene products for those injured, homeless, and getting through freezing weather. Several local mosques are contributing to the efforts. Supplies donated go to the Turkish Consulate in Manhattan to be shipped overseas. There are now more than 12,000 dead from the earthquake, with more rubble to search. Read more about this story at WNYT.

Today's audio daily news update.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that the Greene County Legislature unanimously adopted a local law Feb. 6 to give a tax break to first responders. Volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical personnel will get a county property tax exemption of 10 percent of assessed value for the primary home of a volunteer first responder. And any volunteer who has 20 or more years of service will be get the exemption for life. But Greene County Real Property Tax Service Director Raymond Ward says, “For the 20-year exemption you just have to live within the county.” Read the full story at Porcupine Soup.

At the Town of Catskill Feb. 7 meeting, Town Attorney Theodore Hilscher said there were at least three subdivision proposals before the town. Hilscher proposed a recreation plan as a way to regulate the new subdivisions. His proposal would force developers to set aside natural areas and have playgrounds, and could create a recreation trail in Catskill. Here is a brief excerpt of Hilscher speaking before the Town Board at the Feb. 7 meeting, from the WGXC webstream of the meeting. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OR PLAY THE EXCERPT. Anyone can tune in the entire Town of Catskill Feb. 7 meeting in the WGXC Audio Archives.

Rachel Silberstein reports in the Times Union that Amy Gildemeister, the Schoharie County Health Director who recommended masks and vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic and was then frozen out of her job, was hired by the state Department of Health. Gildemeister was unanimously approved for a new six-year term by the Schoharie County Board of Health but was allegedly denied access to her office and county resources by opponents of her policies. The Schoharie County Board of Supervisors refused to reauthorize Gildemeister's salary. Gildemeister left a resignation letter that cited "hostile work conditions" and "extreme duress" as reasons for the new job. The Schoharie Board of Supervisors claimed their were complaints about her work, but never produced any proof of those allegations, and denied a Times Union Freedom of Information Law request for a copy of a report on Gildemeister that was allegedly presented during an executive session of the board. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Paul Kirby in the Daily Freeman reports that Ulster County bus ridership is up 38 percent in last three months of 2022, after the rides became free. The Ulster County Area Transit, commonly known as UCAT, began free rides in October. Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger said, “The increase in ridership is exactly what we’d hoped to see with the elimination of fares, and since state funding is tied to ridership, this means more funding to the county to invest in public transit.” Ridership was 85,476 during the final three months of 2022 in Ulster County. Last August, the Ulster County Legislature, voted 16-7 to offer the bus at no cost for riders, with all Republicans voting against the measure. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Today's daily news audio update.

Click above to download or play the "Better Weather." Produced by Joe Demanso of the Catskill Makers Syndicate.

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. 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.

Joshua Solomon reports in the Times Union that Republican Lee Zeldin would not say if he is running against U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the 2024 election, But he also would not say that he is not running. Zeldin spoke at his first news conference on Feb. 6 since losing to Gov. Kathy Hochul in last fall's election. Zeldin said it is Gillibrand that is floating the rumor that he would run. "She's trying to create a sense of urgency with donors," Zeldin told reporters in front of a crowd of Conservative Party members in Albany. "They know it would be a pretty epic clash if I decided to do it." Gillibrand's campaign team said in a fundraising email last month, that "Zeldin very nearly won the New York governorship in the 2022 midterms, all while New York Republicans had their best election cycle in two decades — flipping enough House seats red to retake the majority." Right now Zeldin says he is starting a new federal political action committee. "I do believe that at some point there will be a reentry to government," Zeldin said. "Exactly what that will be and when, we'll see." Read the full story in the Times Union.

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.

Kate Lisa reports at New York State of Politics that hundreds of home care workers rallied with several lawmakers at the state Capitol on Feb. 6 for a rise in home care salaries. "We do toileting, meal prep, tube feeding ... medication, management, yet the state does not pay us enough and it's causing a huge worker shortage," said Zulma Torres, a home health care aide at Cooperative Home Care Associates in New York City. "Older adults and disabled people are not getting the care they need. Last year, the governor acknowledged we are in a home care crisis, but her budget shows she is actively choosing to worsen this dangerous shortage." Last year's New York state budge included pay increases of $3 an hour for home workers, but many workers from across the state claim they have not seen those increases from their employers. Hochul spokesperson Justin Mason said in a statement on Feb. 6 that, "Gov. Hochul believes that all New Yorkers deserve to be paid fairly, including home health care workers, and there is nothing in her budget that would reduce wages for home health care workers." There also is not anything in her budget that would raise wages for home health care workers. Read the full story at New York State of Politics.

Today's audio daily news update.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that an inmate at the Hudson Correctional Facility in Columbia County died last week, but prison officials are not saying how the inmate died, or virtually anything else about the incident. The name of the deceased person has not been released. State Police spokesperson Trooper Aaron Hicks said the incident was being treated as an "unattended death." That means no officials or medical personnel were present at the death. But Hicks declined to give any more information, saying it was an ongoing investigation. The State Police, the attorney general's office, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision's Office of Special Investigations, and the state Commission on Corrections are all investigating the death, as they would any death in a state prison. There were 113 people incarcerated at the Hudson Correctional Facility, as of Feb. 6, but little other information about the death is being released by public officials. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that Gov. Kathy Hochul may be saying she wants no new taxes besides a cigarette tax increase, Assemblyperson Sarahana Shrestha wants to raise the tax rate on wealthy businesses to generate more than $9 billion. Shrestha, an Ulster County Democrat first elected last fall, is co-sponsoring the legislation with Assemblyperson Anna Kelles, a Democrat from Ithaca. Shrestha, who is former chair and still a member of the Hudson Valley chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, said, “Corporations have no problem jacking up prices and asking consumers to ‘pay for inflation.... Private utilities like Central Hudson have no problem raising rates even as its parent company, Fortis, boasts of record profits. Exxonmobil, Johnson & Johnson, and Amazon continue to line their pockets on the back of working families who are struggling to make ends meet. We need to tax corporations so that we can claim what is rightly ours.” In 2021, New York temporarily raised the corporate income tax rate from 6.5 percent to 7.25 percent for companies with more than $5 million in business income base. “This minor adjustment raised hundreds of millions in revenue each year, but the law expires in 2023,” her office said in a press release. Shrestha wants to go further, with an 8 percent tax on corporations with a business income base of over $2.5 million; a 12 percent tax on corporations with an income base of over $10 million; and a 14 percent tax on companies with an income base of over $20 million. “Even with the temporarily increased tax rate of 7.25 percent,” said Shrestha, “New York is still behind ten other states, including Vermont, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, who tax at higher rates.” Hochul, though, seems uninterested in raising taxes on the wealthy. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.