Nick Resiman reports for Spectrum News that New York's sales tax revenue rose 12.7 percent last year, bringing in $22.1 billion according to Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office. “The pandemic created significant sales tax volatility over the past few years, first with a major decline, then with a strong rebound,” DiNapoli said. “Sales tax growth has remained strong for a sustained stretch as consumers resumed spending relatively quickly after pandemic shutdowns ended. Additionally, the state implemented policies just before the pandemic that ensured more online sales were being fully taxed.” The story says "Most county governments saw increases that ranged from 4 percent to 10 percent." Read more about this story in Spectrum 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.

WOOC's Mark Dunlea speaks with Dr. David Carpenter, founder and director of the University ay Albany's Institute for Health and the Environment, who has been put on "administrative leave" for the last nine months as the school investigates fees he had received for participation as an expert witness in cases alleging toxic pollution, particularly PCBs. Dr, Carpenter however has either donated his fees to the university or his graduate students. The request came from lawyers for the Monsanto Company, which manufactures PCBs, a substance declared carcinogenic and banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1977. On Feb. 6, the University said it wanted to halt Dr. Carpenter from testifying as an expert witness.

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Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that almost everyone, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, believes that lack of affordable housing in New York is a major problem. "The future of our state will be hinging on whether we can meet the need, meet the demand right now," Hochul recently told reporters. "Otherwise, it's going to be challenging to attract new businesses here so they can house their employees." But getting affordable housing actually built is much more difficult than just getting politicians to make proposals. Hochul's proposal is already facing opposition from local governments, especially in suburban communities, because of a provision that could lead to the state pushing through qualifying projects over the objections of local zoning and planning officials. Hochul was in Syracuse this week and send her proposal would spend $227 billion in that city, including money for public housing and economic development. Hochul hopes to build 800,000 units of housing. Hochul admitted the process is difficult saying, "I don't have the answer to say it's going to happen tomorrow, I'm saying we have to get started." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that the Columbia County Republican Committee endorsed candidates for county-wide positions, with three major openings. The current District Attorney, Paul Czajka, is resigning, and backed his assistant district attorney since 1985, Ryan Carty for the job, and the Republican committee agreed. The Republican committee also backed Robert Gibson and Joyce Crawford for the two county court positions that will be available when Republican Judges Jonathan Nichols and Richard Koweek retire at the end of the year. Kevin Marchetto, the former chief of the Greenport police, is the Republican nominee for coroner. and incumbent P.J. Keeler is running again be the county treasurer. Republicans often win general elections in Columbia County. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Neal Simon reports for the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin that a bill in committee in Albany would raise the speed limit on select highways by five miles per hour, or from 65 to 70. But it mainly affects roads in the western and northern parts of the state. Locally, "Interstate 90 from exit 8 in Rensselaer County, then generally easterly to the interchange with the Berkshire section of The Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway," would raise its limit, but few other roads. But a Republican in the minority in the state senate, Tom O’Mara, introduced the bill to the Transportation Committee. New York has had its current 65 mph speed limits on highways since 1995, when then-Gov. George Pataki signed a bill into law raising speeds. Read the full story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Greene County has moved moved from low to medium on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website for COVID-19 risk this week. Columbia County remains low, but Dutchess, Ulster, Albany, and Rensselaer counties are all at medium currently. Meanwhile, Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that the number of flu cases in New York dropped for the seventh week in a row, with a 34 percent decrease last week, according to the state Department of Health. Acting state Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “It’s important to remember that, despite the decline in flu cases across the State, flu season is a long one, generally lasting through the spring, so it’s important to continue to take precautions against infection.... The best defense against becoming seriously ill and spreading the virus is a flu shot. Fortunately, it’s not too late to get one and I encourage everyone to do so as soon as possible.” Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

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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.

Noah Zweifel reports in the Altamont Enterprise that Albany County is recommending more than 20 projects to mitigate climate-change impacts locally in its draft climate resiliency plan. In 270 pages, there are 20 long-term, large-scale projects and several smaller-scale projects in the plan. “The threats [of weather] are not new,” Albany County’s Economic Development and Sustainability Coordinator Luke Rogers said at a recent public-input meeting. “It’s the frequency and severity that has increased over time, and we see that nationwide. We see it globally. There’s a lot we can do to fight climate change — we take seriously reducing our emissions — but that is really a regional, national, and global issue. Arguably, on the resilience front, there’s even more that we can do to directly prepare the county to address and be ready for these climate threats when they do arise.” Albany County identified towns along the bank of the Hudson River, and the City of Albany and at high risk. Coeymans, in southern Albany County, has the greatest degree of risk over the largest area, with the entire town appearing to be at moderate risk or greater. Heat and flooding are the largest risks identified in the report. Many of the projects proposed in the plan are shifting to more renewable practices, and are already taking place. Expanding the county-wide trail network; building out the county’s network of rain and stream gauges; and electrify the county’s vehicle fleet are among the recommendations. Read more about this story in the Altamont Enterprise.

NBC New York reports that a team at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine published findings last month that show COVID-19 spreading rapidly through the state's white-tailed deer. The researchers found that the SARS-CoV-2 variants in the animals were old and had not been circulating among humans for many months. The researchers wrote, "Although the pathways for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from humans to White-Tailed Deer remain largely unknown, human activities such as feeding wildlife or targeted baiting of hunting prey could provide the opportunity for human-to-White-Tailed Deer transmission of the virus." Researchers want to examine the possibility of deer-to-human transmission and its risk likelihood. They say there has only been one reported case, in Canada, of a person testing positive for a white-tail deer-like variant. Read more about this story at NBC New York.

Tyler A. McNeil reports for the Daily Gazette that State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli says he does not want the New York State Thruway Authority’s to raise tolls just yet. In a new 36-page report, DiNapoli recommends addressing other financial problems before raising the E-Z Pass rate five percent and Toll-By-Mail rate 75 percent in 2024. New York's Comptroller said, “Raising tolls should be the last option, and the Thruway has more work to do." DiNapoli says the New York State Thruway Authority needs more money because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the construction of the Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge, and management of its debt. DiNapoli said the Thruway Authority could make more money from service areas, gas stations, and special permits, and from fixing cashless tolling mishaps. Authority spokesperson Jennifer Givner said, “We believe this modest proposal will begin to raise additional revenue to support the long-term financial needs of New York’s main transportation corridor and engine for economic activity.... We would be happy to discuss this with the Office of the State Comptroller at any time.” Read more about this story in the Daily Gazette.

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Gov. Kathy Hochul promised no new taxes when she unveiled her budget proposal last week. But apparently there is at least one exception. Zach Fink reports for New York State of Politics that Hochul wants to raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes by a dollar, to $5.35. Hochul also wants a ban on flavored tobacco, including menthol cigarettes. Trevor Summerfield of the American Lung Association, said he was ecstatic at the news, saying, “There is evidence out there that shows when you increased the tax on tobacco products by a minimum of a dollar, or 10 percent of the product price, you are going to see people quitting smoking, but also not picking up the habit in the first place.” Capitalists, such as Kent Sopris of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, are unhappy with Hochul's new cigarette policies, saying, “The proposed flat out ban of flavored and menthol tobacco will harm convenience stores and other tobacco retailers across the state. Hands down." Sopris did point out one inconsistency in Hochul's policies. “It is bizarre and unfair that the state on one hand would promote smoking marijuana and cannabis, and then say that menthol cigarettes and menthol tobacco are no good," Sopris said. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

The Troy Record reports that Rep. Paul Tonko is crowing that helped get the Capital District Transportation Committee a $1,150,000 grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program for a safety plan for the Capital Region. Tonko said some of the money will go for planning to make streets locally safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. Read more about this story in the Troy Record.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that Greene County legislators hold a public hearing on Monday, Feb. 6 on whether to give volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical personnel a break on their county property taxes. Legislators have proposed a property tax exemption of 10 percent of assessed value for the primary home of a volunteer first responder. The Greene County Legislature takes public comment on the matter at 6 p.m. on the fourth floor of the county office building at 411 Main Street in Catskill. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

The Times Union rounds up reports from the record-breaking cold this past weekend. Albany's temperature fell to minus 13, matching a record for the date in 1978. The wind chill fell to 34 below, which had not been felt in Albany since Valentine's Day, 2016. Glens Falls fell to minus 24, beating the previous record there of minus 22 in 1978. Poughkeepsie only got to minus 7, which was not a record. This week temperatures will be in the 40s several days and may reach the 50s. Read the full story in the Times Union.