Al Baker reports in The New York Times, New York is moving toward changing the way licenses are granted to teachers, de-emphasizing tests and written essays in favor of an approach that requires aspiring teachers to prove themselves through lesson plans, homework assignments and videotaped instruction sessions. Under the current standards, education students must sit for and pass three written exams. The new classroom assessment will replace two of those exams. New York is one of more than two dozen states implementing this type of change to its certification process. The new standards are expected to go into effect statewide in 2014. Read the full story in The New York Times.

Weather right now


[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="128"] Cairo: High 88F; low 63F.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="125"] Catskill: High 84F low 64F.[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

READ TEMPERATURE IN HUDSON: On thermometer in Studio A.
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 Catskill, in Greene County

Today isolated showers and thunderstorms before 2 p.m., then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3 p.m. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny. High near 82; low around 62.

The forecast for the next three days:

Wednesday: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms main possible after noon. Mostly sunny. Possible showers and thunderstorms Wed. night. High near 83; low around 64.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. High near 90; low around 65.
Friday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Mostly sunny. High near 90; low around 70.

Sunrise today: 5:47 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:15 p.m.
Length of the day: 14 hrs., 28 min.

Town meetings

Today is the fifth Tuesday of the month.
WGXC is unaware of any regular town meetings scheduled for today.

WGXC Programming notes

3:30 p.m. Super Maniac Radio Fun
4 p.m. WGXC Afternoon Show with Tom Roe and Peter Krug from Acra
9:30 p.m. Battlefield Earth

Stories that made the news, July 27 to July 30

Susan Campriello reports in The Daily Mail the rain this weekend took its toll on various community events and fundraisers throughout Greene County. Tannersville's 6th annual Crazy Race and Festival was postponed until August 11. The D.A.R.E. Golf Scramble, a Cairo-Durham school district fundraiser, was rescheduled to Sept. 30, and will be held at the Blackhead Mountain Lodge and Country Club. And the 8th annual Rip Wan Winkle's Wacky Raft Race, scheduled for Sunday, was canceled. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Nathan Mayberg reported in the Register Star Columbia County is the recipient of more than $80,000 in grant funding from the New York Soil and Water Conservation Committee. The money will be used to upgrade a pollution prevention system at Dutch Hollow Farm in Stuyvesant, allowing the farm to purchase and install an improved filter system, as part of new conservation standards recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The new system will reduce and prevent nutrient pollution from entering the Muitzes Kill Creek, a tributary to the Hudson River. Read the full story in the Register Star.

Susan Campriello writes in The Daily Mail Eric Rasmussen has been named a "Hero of Conservation" by "Field & Stream." Rasmussen, 75, is featured in the magazine's August issue. He was lauded for his volunteerism and for maintaining and restoring an Acra forest he then opened for educational purposes. Rasmussen called the honor “breathtaking.” For 50 years he managed the Siuslaw Model Forest as a for-profit tree farm, and in 1970, began inviting school children to the farm for an environmental field day. In 2008, Rasmussen gifted the 142-acre property on Route 23 to Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene Counties, to be used as an educational center. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Barbara Reina and Nathan Mayberg reported in the Register Star more than 60 residents appeared at a recent meeting of Valatie Village officials to oppose a proposed county mental health center and alcohol/drug counseling office in a former elementary school located the center of a residential neighborhood. The proposed satellite services would provide substance abuse services and mental health assistance, including voluntary and court-ordered treatment. Columbia County Human Services Director Michael Cole told the standing room only crowd, “these are sick people who are trying to get well.” He said, “we want to be good partners with the community.” Read the full story in the Register Star.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="403"] Ben Dabrowski at the Cairo Library / WGXC Open Mic live on WGXC 90.7-FM from Cairo's Angelo Canna Park Fri., July 27. Photo by Debra Kamecke.[/caption]

Mark Patton played a Willie Brown blues cover, at the Cairo Library / WGXC Open Mic live on WGXC 90.7-FM Fri., July 27. There will be another Cairo Library / WGXC Open Mic Fri., Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. at Angelo Canna Park in Cairo. Click here to listen to Mark Patton's blues cover.
PLAY MARK PATTON'S BLUE COVER 4:26

Hudson folk music artist Liv Carrow performed Friday night at Spotty Dog Books & Ale in Hudson. Click here to listen to her two-song encore.
PLAY TWO LIV CARROW SONGS 6:24


J Wise played with Carrow Friday night at Spotty Dog. Click here for an excerpt of his set.
PLAY EXCERPT FROM J WISE SET 11:02

Sasha Pearl plays in the band Pocatello with Liv Carrow, but Sat., July 28 at Spotty Dog Books and live on WGXC 90.7-FM Pearl sang solo. Click here to hear her last song.
PLAY SASHA PEARL LAST SONG 3:17

NOTE: Anyone recording local music, poetry, etc., WGXC will excerpt your recording on the radio Monday if you get us the file by Sunday at 6 p.m. at info@wgxc.org



Also, this came out this weekend, Animal Collective's new song, "Today's Supernatural"

Weather right now


[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="128"] Cairo: High 84F; low 63F.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="125"] Catskill: High 84F low 63F.[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

READ TEMPERATURE IN HUDSON: On thermometer in Studio A.
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 Catskill, in Greene County

Today patchy fog before 8 a.m. Otherwise, mostly sunny. High near 85; low around 62.

The forecast for the next three days:

Tuesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 p.m. Partly sunny. High near 83; low around 64.
Wednesday: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 11 a.m. Partly sunny. High near 83; low around 65.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. High near 87; low around 66.

Sunrise today: 5:46 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:17 p.m.
Length of the day: 14 hrs., 31 min.

Town meetings

Today is the fifth Monday of the month.
(WGXC 90.7-FM suggests you call ahead to confirm meeting time and location.)

GERMANTOWN Town Board has cancelled the Special Town Board Meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. on the awarding of the bid for the highway garage roof.

School board meeting

HUDSON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Education goal-setting meeting, 7 p.m., Hudson High School library, 215 Harry Howard Ave., Hudson (828-4360).

Programming notes

12 p.m. Musical Matinee with Lincoln Mayorga
2 p.m. Eat Food or Die Chef Hugh talks to Dan and Tess of Common Hands Farm
3:30 p.m. Bound By Books
4 p.m. The WGXC Afternoon Show will feature a report on NADA and audio from the Radio Explosion team at the Independent Media Sanctuary in Troy.
7 p.m. Lonesome Cowboys

Joshua Fried's "Radio Wonderland" airs every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. on free103point9 Online Radio and WGXC 90.7-FM in upstate New York. Fried's show samples and remixes the radio he receives in Brooklyn. Controllerism recently interviewed Fried:

"Earlier this year, we met up with artist, composer and controllerist mastermind Radio Wonderland to see a demo of his custom, radio-based live rig and ask him a few questions. During the demo, he shows us the basics of his live show, some custom software and his mind boggling hardware, hacked from everyday objects!"

The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a Flash Flood Watch through Sunday morning for throughout the WGXC listening area. A particularly strong storm was bearing through Columbia County around noon Saturday, and other heavy rain is possible.

Locally, unemployment dropped a bit in Greene County in June 2012, and rose slightly in Columbia County, according to New York State Labor Department figures. But jobless figures jumped from 8.8 percent in May to 10 percent in June in Schoharie County. The local figures:
Greene County
June 2012, 9.4 percent; May 2012, 9.6; June 2011, 8.5
Columbia County
June 2012, 7.9; May 2012, 7.7; June 2011, 7.3
Albany County
June 2012, 7.9; May 2012, 7.4; June 2011, 7.3
Delaware County
June 2012, 9.3; May 2012, 8.9; June 2011, 8.6
Dutchess County
June 2012, 8.6; May 2012, 8.2; June 2011, 7.7
Rensselear County
June 2012, 8.3; May 2012, 7.8; June 2011, 7.7
Schoharie County
June 2012, 10.0; May 2012, 8.8; June 2011, 8.8
Ulster County
June 2012, 9.1; May 2012, 8.8; June 2011, 8.2

The towns of Germantown, Livingston, and Clermont held, "a joint open discussion of hydrofracking" Thu., July 26, and WGXC's Cheryl K. was at the Germantown Town Hall's youth building to record the proceedings. High-impact hydraulic fracturing, or "hydrofracking," is a controversial method to extract natural gas from parts of the Catskills. Germantown Supervisor Roy Brown, Republican, began the meeting explaining if drilling is even an issue in southern Columbia County, and why his town passed an 18-month moratorium on hydrofracking at its April meeting. Click here to listen to the full recording of the meeting. (1:26:28)

LISTEN TO AN EXCERPT OF GERMANTOWN SUPERVISOR ROY BROWN EXPLAINING HIS TOWN'S CURRENT HYDROFRACKING MORATORIUM 1:38

Capitalizing on all the folks in town this weekend for the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) fair at Basilica Hudson, a group of local artists have created the Hudson Independent Artists Trail. At least 16 studios, will be open, with exhibitions, installations and performances from sound and visual artists including Brian Dewan, Laetitia Hussain, Dan Rupe, Jules Anderson, Gretchen Kelly, and others. There will also be talks about woodchucks and Hudson Valley history (Sam Pratt) and radio (WGXC's Dharma Dailey). On Thu., July 26, artist (and WGXC programmer) Sarah Falkner came on the "WGXC Afternoon Show" with Richard Roth and Ellen Thurston, and explained what one will see on this trail. Click here to listen to the entire interview. (11:03)

LISTEN TO AN EXCERPT WITH SARAH FALKNER DETAILING A VENUE FOR SEVERAL LIVE EVENTS :54

Come this October, the Vatican will canonize a fourth saint from New York's Mohawk Valley. But, as Sharon Otterman reports in The New York Times, this particular canonization comes with a twist of history. Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk woman born in 1656, will be added to the list of Roman Catholic Saints. She joins three Jesuits who were murdered by Mohawk Indians they were seeking to convert a decade earlier in Kateri's home village, which was located about 40 miles west of Albany. In the Times story, Otterman notes a complex reaction to the news of the impending veneration of Kateri, particularly among American Indians. Some are proud, because Kateri was a Mohawk. Some doubt the truthfulness of her story as told by the church. Some hope the canonization will ease tensions between Catholic and traditional American Indians. And some are euphoric that the church is about to name its first American Indian saint, even if they wish it had happened sooner. Sharon Otterman's report can be found online at The New York Times.

Weather right now


[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="128"] Cairo: High 88F; low 66F.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="125"] Catskill: High 93F low 72F.[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

READ TEMPERATURE IN HUDSON: On thermometer in Studio A.
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 A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms Friday, otherwise mostly cloudy, with a high near 85, low around 65, with the chance of rain remaining overnight at 30 percent.

The outlook for the weekend:

Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny. High near 83; low around 63.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. High near 84; low around 60.
Monday: Sunny, high of 84, low of 64.

Sunrise today: 5:43 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:20 p.m.
Length of the day: 14 hrs., 37 min.

Town meetings

Today is the fourth Friday of the month.
(WGXC 90.7-FM suggests you call ahead to confirm meeting time and location.)

CLERMONT Zoning Board of Appeals, 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 1795 Route 9, Clermont (537-6868).

Saturday Programming on WGXC
Tune in Saturdays and after midnight every night for transmission art, radio theatre, compositions, free jazz, noise, and other experimental sounds.

6 a.m.: Framework
Show about field recordings includes Glenn Bach, Lizzie Pogson, Thomas Mansell, Adrian Kolarczyk. murmer, and a framework introduction recorded by Tuuli Tubin.

7 a.m.: Upstate Radio Theater
"The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," and "Gunsmoke."

8-10 a.m.: Turn On the News
Radio show about radio tunes in "Habits of Imagination," a radio theatre work with two FM transmitters from free103point9 in Suffolk Community Garden on Manhattan's Lower East Side Sun. July 22. Also, we tune in Aurora, Colorado 911 audio recordings, Negativland's "Guns," "The Cable Act at 20" U.S. Senate Commerce committee hearing from July 24; Joe Frank's first radio work in ten years; Brenda Hutchinson's daily sunrises and sunsets; Alexander Cockburn's death; lightning static; and more.

Noon: Liv Carrow
Re-broadcast of performance of Hudson singer/guitarist from Fri., July 27 at Spotty Dog Books & Ale.

2 p.m.: Radius Sketchpad
Radius Sketchpad is an ongoing monthly program on WGXC 90.7-FM presented by the Chicago-based platform, Radius. This month features Imaginary Forces's CT Room, originally produced for Radius, and includes sounds from text messages.

Author Mindy Fox and her book, "Salads: Beyond the Bowl" will be at the Hudson Farmer's Market, Sat., July 28. Thu., July 26 she was on the "WGXC Afternoon Show" with Richard Roth and Ellen Thurston. Click here to listen to the full interview.

The National Weather Service in Albany predicts Thursday after 5 p.m. severe thunderstorms should descend on our area again, and have now issued a tornado watch through 9 p.m. The Columbia County Emergency Operations Center will be partially activated until 10 p.m. (UPDATE: IT CLOSED EARLY AT 8 P.M.) The tornado watch is for Greene, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Albany, Rensselear, Schoharie, and Ulster counties. "The main hazards will be damaging wind gusts... large hail and even isolated tornadoes. The area with the greatest threat appears to be just south of the Capital Region," a "Hazardous Weather Outlook" from the NWS said. Gov. Cuomo reported there might have been a tornado, or at least a violent storm, that passed through Elmira before 4 p.m. That line of storms is headed our way. Cuomo has also order Columbia County campgrounds evacuated of all tents. The Daily Mail is reporting three cancellations because of the impending weather:
• The grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting scheduled for this evening at New York Golf Park has been postponed due to threatening weather. The event will now be held at 5 p.m. Aug. 23 at the New York Golf Park facility on Route 9H near the Claverack/Livingston line.
• Claverack Republican Club has postponed this evening’s Music in the Park program. The band, Time Machine, will instead perform from 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Claverack Town Park.
• The Dutchmen's Landing Park concert featuring Johnny Moon & the Starz has been canceled due to safety concerns, according to Heart of Catskill Association's Linda Overbaugh.
ColumbiaPage reports another:
• The Firefighter 1 class scheduled to be held in Germantown tonight has been cancelled due to weather. The class will resume on July 31.

Al Jazeera English reports that this summer's record drought across the United States will drive food prices up by three or four percent next year, according to the Department of Agriculture. "In 2013 as a result of this drought we are looking at above-normal food price inflation. ... Consumers are certainly going to feel it," USDA economist Richard Volpe said on Wednesday. Meat prices are expected even higher, up to a five percent hike. "The drought has sent corn, soybean and other commodity prices soaring in recent weeks as fields dry out and crops wither across much of the country's midsection." A commodities trader in Chicago, Scott Shellady, told Al Jazeera that the corn shortage could affect other countries because U.S. food exports have increased dramatically in the last couple of decades. "So we have an issue here where we have been feeding the world, but we're going to have to slowly but surely dampen down those exports," Shellady said. Also on Wed., July 25, Reuters reports that the $491 billion farm bill has, "stalled in the House of Representatives on concerns there are not enough votes in the Republican-controlled chamber to pass a bill many see as too costly." Congress will recess next week until Sept. 10.

Joe Mahoney reports in the Oneonta Daily Star the Hunter Mountain ski resort faces proposed federal penalties of $8,500 following the death of a worker who slipped while working on snow-making equipment and fell down a 200-foot embankment earlier this year. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Hunter Mountain failed to provide workers with training on the "limitations" of using spiked footwear devices to prevent slipping or falling while working near snow gear. The agency also said Hunter did not require its workers to carry radio or communication devices so they could call for help if needed. Hunter Mountain general manager Russ Colton said that the company will challenge the findings. Read the full story at the Daily Star.

Nathan Mayberg reports in the Register Star a forum on the homeless shelter proposal put forward by the Galvan Initiatives Foundation is in the works. The Columbia County Homeless Plan Implementation Committee intends to hold the community forum in Hudson sometime in September. The plan was recently approved by the Columbia County Board of Supervisors Human Services Committee. If the full Board of Supervisors gives its approval, Galvan Executive Director Tom Swope said the matter could be in front of the city of Hudson Planning Commission next month, and a public hearing could happen as soon as September. The implementation committee, led by CARES, a nonprofit organization contracted by the county to work on the homeless plan, hopes to hold the forum before the public hearing takes place, but a date has not yet been chosen. Read the full story in the Register Star.

Weather right now


[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="128"] Cairo: High 88F; low 66F.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="125"] Catskill: High 93F low 72F.[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

READ TEMPERATURE IN HUDSON: On thermometer in Studio A.
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 Catskill, in Greene County

Today showers and thunderstorms are likely, mainly after 1 p.m. Some storms could be severe, with heavy rain. Mostly cloudy. High near 90. Showers and thunderstorms continue tonight, mainly before midnight. Low around 72.

The National Weather Service has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for the Greater Capital District through the weekend. NWS forecasts a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and evening. The main threat will be damaging wind gusts and large hail. There is also a threat for supercell thunderstorms with isolated tornadoes.

The outlook for the weekend:

Friday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy. High near 83; low around 66.
Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny. High near 82; low around 66.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. High near 86; low around 62.

Sunrise today: 5:43 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:21 p.m.
Length of the day: 14 hrs., 38 min.

Town meetings

Today is the fourth Thursday of the month.
(WGXC 90.7-FM suggests you call ahead to confirm meeting time and location.)

CHATHAM Village Board meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Village Hall, 77 Main Street, Chatham (392-5821).
COLUMBIA COUNTY Budget/Salary Committee at 10:00 a.m.
Public Works Committee at 6 p.m. at County Office Building, 401 State Street, Hudson.
COPAKE Zoning Board of Appeals meeting at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 230 Mt. View Road, Copake (329-1234).
GERMANTOWN Planning Board meeting at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 50 Palatine Park Road, Germantown (537-6687).
STUYVESANT Greenway Committee meeting at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 5 Sunset Drive, Stuyvesant (758-6248).
WINDHAM Town Board meets at 8 p.m. at Town Hall, 371 State Rt. 296, Hensonville (734-4170).

HUNTER The Village of Hunter Planning Board will not hold a meeting this evening, as previously planned. It was canceled due to lack of agenda items.

Public hearing

HUDSON The Mayor will hold a public hearing at 3:30 p.m. in the Common Council Chambers, City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson on two proposed local laws, adopted by the Common Council July 17. The first law increases penalties for dog owners who fail to clean up after their pet. The second bans smoking from city parks (828-1030).

Brian Nearing writes in the Times Union the state will create a list of invasive plants and animals illegal for New Yorkers to own, under a new law signed Tues., July 24, by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. The Invasive Species Prevention Act will require the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Agriculture and Markets to list species unlawful for people to possess with the intent to sell or introduce. The agencies also will create lists of other regulated species that would be legal to possess, sell, buy, breed and transport, although with restrictions. Invasive species are non-native plants and animals that can harm the environment, and economically important industries like farming, forestry or tourism. Read the full story in the Times Union.

W. T. Eckert reports in The Daily Mail New Baltimore town board members have agreed to change some of the wording in a proposed leash law thanks to input from members in its community, with a new public hearing. Prior to the June regular meeting, a public hearing was held for the original version of the proposed local law but residents of the town said they found the wording of the law confusing. The new wording of the ordinance specifies a timeline for disposal of canine waste, as well as redefining the areas covered by the law, specifically adding "Town Parks" throughout. With the changes in place a new public hearing has been set for Aug. 13 before the next regular town board meeting at 7:30 p.m. at New Baltimore Town Hall. The story, along with the full text of the new law, can be read in The Daily Mail.