Today's daily news update.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that 78-year-old Donal Gallagher, one of the East Durham's strongest Irish voices, passed away at his home in East Durham on December 10 after a long illness. Gallagher was one of the founders and past president of the Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural & Sports Centre in East Durham. He also founded Guaranteed Irish, American’s largest Irish import store, 42 years ago in East Durham. And he was married to Kitty Kelly, a famous local Irish singer. “You taught me so much in these 20 plus years and I will do my best to live the way you lived but I'm not sure how to do it without your lead, your advice, your wit, your constant support and love for me over these 20 plus years, plus your calm and gentle, loving presence,” Kelly wrote on social media on Dec. 11. “I am forever grateful God put us together. And I'm grateful we danced while we were able.” There was an outpouring of affection for Gallagher on social media. Gavin’s Country Inn described Gallagher’s passing as “a big loss to East Durham, "Irish Catskills" Community, and Gallagher family.” The Shamrock House posted, “A man with so much vision, passion, dedication and always helping others. Donal, your memory will live on in The Shamrock House and in all who were lucky enough to know you.” Funeral services have not yet been announced for Gallagher. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

The Greene County Health Department reported another death from COVID-19 on Dec. 12. Officials did not give out any details about the death, only noting it was the 146th death in Greene County since the pandemic began. On Dec. 8, the county reported another death, two for the month. Seven Greene County residents died from COVID-19 in November.

Mid-Hudson News reports that the first major local snowfall of the year took a life in Greene County. A 50-year-old man was killed early Dec. 12 while plowing snow at the Essendant Distribution Center on Route 9W in Coxsackie. Lamont Jackson of Catskill's plow collided with a stationary box trailer and caught fire, according to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. Jackson was pronounced dead at the scene. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

The Village of Coxsackie reports on social media that the Coxsackie Transfer Station reopened on Dec. 13. The station, at 88 Plank Road, has been closed since July 12 for construction. The station is open Tuesday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and is accepting all garbage and recycling.

Today's daily news update.

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

Raymond Pignone reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Olana Partnership on Dec. 13 will formally announce the details of how it intends to use $25 million raised for capital projects at the Olana State Historic Site. New York State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid will make the announcement and will be joined by state and local officials, as well as representatives of the Olana Partnership and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Some grants were obtained by the Olana Partnership and will come in conjunction with state funding. The $25 million in public and private funds will be used for significant capital projects at Olana including the Frederic Church Center, a new visitor entry and cultural orientation facility and the cornerstone of the Olana Partnership’s future capital development plan for the 250-acre site. In December 2021, Assemblymember Didi Barrett announced $1 million in state funding she helped obtain to assist with the construction of the Frederic Church Center for Art and Landscape. The $1 million award is the largest single grant from the Assembly to a New York State historic site. The Olana Partnership also received in late 2021 a $1.8 million grant and a second for $1.4 million that will be used for the Frederic Church Center capital project. “The Frederic Church visitor center will not only be a tribute to his legacy, but it will serve as a landing place for more than 170,000 locals and visitors,” Barrett said in 2021. The center will inform visitors about the Church family and Olana, and help visitors understand the story of one of America’s greatest 19th-century artists. Read more at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports for the Times Union that Metro-North riders may be paying more to travel through the Hudson Valley next summer after the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority increases fares. The board previously looked at raising the cost of commuting by four percent in 2023, and by four percent in 2025, but during its November meeting the board considered raising fares by 5.5 percent both years, with the first hike taking effect next June. How the increase will impact individual ticket prices on Metro-North has yet to be determined, according to MTA spokesperson Michael Cortez. The MTA Board will vote on the hikes as part of the 2023 spending plan on December 21. The proposed fare hike is part of a larger plan the MTA has to fill the giant budget deficit the authority has experienced as the result of low ridership since the pandemic began in 2020. Ridership is still only at 63 percent of pre-pandemic levels and is expected to rise to 69 percent in 2023, according to MTA Chief Financial Officer Kevin Willens. This was the primary reason the MTA was projected to suffer a $1.9 billion deficit this year. The proposed fare increases would at first generate an additional $50 million a year and an additional $100 million a year after the 2025 hike. Public hearings will be held before the proposed increases take effect, according to Cortez. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Kevin Tampone for New York Upstate [dot] com is reporting that two airports located upstate are among the 30 airports in the U.S. with the most delays, according to a recent list from Stacker. Albany International Airport ranked No. 29 for delays and Buffalo Niagara International Airport ranked No. 27. The list includes a total of 100 airports. Stacker created the list using data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Airports were ranked by on-time performance, referring to flights that were not canceled, diverted or delayed for 15 minutes or more from August 2021 to July 2022. Albany International Airport reported 11,261 flights in one year with 72.47 percent of those flights arriving on-time. The top reasons for delays at the Albany hub: air carriers (11.6 percent); aircraft arriving late (7.7 percent); and, canceled flights (3.2 percent). Airports in Syracuse and Rochester performed better, ranking in the 50s on the list of 100. The worst-performing airport on the list was Punta Gorda Airport in Florida. Just over half of its flights were on time, according to Stacker. The worst New York airport on the list was Long Island MacArthur Airport. With just 69.4 percent of its flights on time, it ranked as the 14th-worst in the nation. Read more at newyorkupstate [dot] com.

As the Climate Action Council prepares to vote on their Final Scoping Plan on Dec. 19, climate advocacy groups criticized last minute environmentally unsound proposals advanced by the fossil fuel industry. The groups said that the Council has so far refused to release a copy of the draft plan in apparent violation of the state's open meetings law. Bob Cohen of Citizen Action talks with WOOC's Mark Dunlea.

Today's daily news update.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that Catskill school officials will hold a public hearing Dec. 14 to get support to spend money from the repair reserve fund after a water main break earlier this month has closed the middle school for more than a week. Officials want to spend public funds on “emergency repairs to the Middle School heating, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, and alarm systems" after “significant flood damage” to a boiler room at the West Main Street campus. School officials have not said how much repairs will cost taxpayers. Catskill middle school students are currently attending class at the high school because of the water main issues. The public hearing begins at 6:15 p.m. on December 14 in the Catskill High School library, just before a regular board of education business meeting at 6:30 p.m. Read the full story at Porcupine Soup.

Kate Lisa reports at New York State of Politics that the end of the year is the time special interests worry that the governor won't sign the bill they got through the legislature earlier in the year. Nurses, for instance, are not worrying about how Gov. Kathy Hochul has yet to sign three bills regulating their industry. The bills that would limit the number of consecutive hours New York nurses can work, impose a fine for employers who violate the mandatory overtime restrictions, and expand rules to include homecare nurses. Currently, health care workers work 12-hour shifts, but can be made to work an additional overtime shift. "It's very hard to think that, for over year now, you'll show up for work and not know when you're going to be able to go home," said Pat Kane, the executive director of the New York State Nurses Association. Membership in the nurses union has dropped nine percent since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The health care industry does not want more money going to nurses, and does not want Hochul to sign the bills. "They're going to be forced by this legislation to either mandate overtime and incur penalties, or abandon the patients, which they won't do," Karen Lipson, executive vice president of Leading Age NY said. "So the penalties will be inevitable." Hochul won't say what she will do before new year's. “We are reviewing this legislation," said Justin Mason, a governor's spokesperson. "And the governor looks forward to working with the Legislature during the upcoming session." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Skylar Eagle reports for News10 that as National Grid officials said they expect home heating prices to increase by 39 percent for natural gas and 22 percent for electric this winter, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was at Albany City Hall Dec. 12 to tout aid available to help with those higher bills. She said anyone in need should turn to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. “It provides money for families when they have no where left to turn, it offers them support to keep their homes heated and to keep themselves safe,” Gillibrand said. Now there's $412 million for New Yorkers that need utility bill assistance, after Congress added $63 million more to the program in September because of rising inflation. Gillibrand said New Yorkers should not face the cold this winter because of the higher prices. “Some people can simply not afford that, especially after these last few years with COVID where many people have been struggling to make ends meet,” Gillibrand said. “Going without utilities is not an option.” Read the full story at News10.

Today's daily news update.

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

Raymond Pignone is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Columbia County leadership on Wed., Dec. 14, will deliver to the Board of Supervisors a proposed $163.3 million budget for 2023 that includes a 2 percent tax levy. No cuts in services, layoffs or elimination of county programs are anticipated. County officials said a healthy revenue flow, continued maintenance of infrastructure and providing services to residents dealing with a changing economy and personal difficulties are the goals of the proposed spending plan. “I’m happy to say that through the efforts of county officers, committee chairs, committee members and department heads, we’ve crafted a 2023 budget that adheres to the goals of addressing the needs of residents and continues to develop financial stability,” Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman and Budget Officer Matt Murell said December 9. The tax rate decrease of 7.5 percent and the tax levy put the proposed fiscal plan under the state tax cap, Murell said. The proposed budget contains the salary increases required under four collective bargaining agreements as well as raises for non-union employees and officers. Murell credited the county’s stable financial position to balanced budgeting, implementation of cost controls, consolidations achieved through the Central Business Office, measures originated by county department heads and the support of the Board of Supervisors. Also on December 9, Columbia County Treasurer PJ Keeler announced Moody’s Investor Service’s Issuer Ratings and debt instrument placed Columbia County near the top of their scoring. The ratings measure the financial condition of 1,104 U.S. cities and counties. Moody’s outlook for Columbia County remains at “Aa3,” a score that results in discounted borrowing interest rates, thereby saving significant tax dollars over the life of the bonds, Keeler said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

MidHudson News is reporting deaths in Ulster County from opioid overdoses have increased by 407 percent since 2014, and 11 percent between 2020 and 2021. The county received $1.3 million of a $1.47 million in opioid settlement funds in 2022, County Comptroller March Gallagher said. Those funds were derived from settlements negotiated by Attorney General Letitia James in four separate cases. “The comptroller’s office recommends that 100 percent of the funds received from settlement agreements be dedicated to the prevention and treatment of opioids, even those funds that are unrestricted, given the frightening increase in opioid deaths in Ulster County,” Gallagher said. She said the opioid epidemic continues to take “a serious financial toll on Ulster County government, business, and families. These first settlement proceeds are but a fraction of the human toll our community has suffered.” The funds are the first of a series of payments expected for settlements with distributors, manufacturers and pharmacies. The distributors' settlement will continue over the next 16 years; the Janssen Pharmaceutical settlement for the next six years. The County also received one-time payments from Allergan Pharmaceutical and one distributors’ settlement and a settlement payment from Endo Pharmaceutical is anticipated by year's end. A portion of the funds received must be used for approved uses such as treatment, prevention, training, research and first responder support. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

The Berkshire Eagle is reporting it has been named a Newspaper of the Year for its Weekender edition in a competition open to publications throughout New England. The Eagle was chosen as the best weekend paper in the under-25,000 circulation category by a panel of readers selected by the New England Newspaper and Press Association. The Eagle was also named a distinguished newspaper for its weekday editions, an honor it shared with the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton and The Day, in New London, Conn. The association is the professional trade organization for newspapers in New England and represents more than 450 daily, weekly and specialty newspapers. The association also honored Larry Parnass, the Eagle’s managing editor for innovation, for a 2021 series that explored changes in the world of work. “In sports, it is a huge accomplishment to win a championship, but it is far more rare to repeat,” said Fredric Rutberg, publisher of The Eagle. “This is the fifth straight year that one of our editions has been recognized as Newspaper of the Year. All the credit goes to our writers, photographers, designers and editors, but I am especially happy for our readers and advertisers – who get to read and enjoy what, year in and year out, has become New England's Newspaper of the Year.” Read more in The Berkshire Eagle.