WGXC held an audio workshop with fifth and sixth graders from the Catskill Community Center's summer program. Audio workshop run by Dharma Dailey, Emily Benison, Sara Kendall, Meghan Baxter, and Michael Davis. Students choose their own topics, and made radio about them. Sorry about the slight buzz. Click here to listen to an mp3 audio recording of the workshop, or paste the following url into your computer's media player:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/08/CCC_audioworkshop_WGXC_080910.mp3

The Hudson Pride Foundation, the organizers of the Hudson Pride parade, honor parade Grand Marshals Charlie Ferrusi and Timothy Howard with the first HPF Scholarships at 2 p.m. Aug. 21 at American Glory (second floor) in Hudson. Ferrusi and Howard made headlines around the country just before the Hudson Pride parade, as they were named King and Queen of the Hudson High prom. Organizers are asking anyone wishing to attend to RSVP trixie@gayhudson.com.

Republican Congressional candidate Chris Gibson will be at MTTS Graphics/Mountain T-Shirts, 8 West Bridge St., Catskill on August 24, in a town-hall style event, according to his campaign. They do not say what time.

The Times-Union's excellent Capitol Confidential blog has a link to a chart from New York Public Interest Research Group, tracking the amount of money New York candidates are raising outside of their districts. Democratic challenger Didi Barrett has raised the most money from outside the counties in the district she is running for, with only 25 percent coming from Dutchess and Columbia counties. On the other hand, Marc Molinaro, challenged by Democrat Susan Tooker for his Columbia County and Dutchess County Assembly seat, got 88 percent from the counties in his district.

TEAM GORDON FOR ASSEMBLY; Assemblyman Tim Gordon of District 108, 39.44 percent from within counties in his district. $5,209 total raised.

FRIENDS OF DIDI BARRETT, candidate Didi Barrett for Senate District 41, 25.16 percent from within counties in her district; $150,361 total raised.

SALAND FOR SENATE '94'; Senator Steve Saland of Senate District 41; 50.12 percent from within counties in his district; $61,850 total raised.

FRIENDS OF SENATOR SEWARD; Senator James Seward, of Senate District 51; 75.42 percent from within counties in his district; $23,169 total raised.

MJM 4 NY; Assemblyman Marc Molinaro of District 103, 88.36 percent from within counties in his district; $20,195 total raised.

No results for Assemblyman Pete Lopez of District 127.

From Ariel Zangla-Girard in The Daily Freeman yesterday:

Community radio station WGXC will “go live” Sept. 26, but whether it will broadcast on the FM dial depends on whether it can raise the remaining funds it needs to match a $71,486 grant. To date, the station has raised about 65 percent of the funds needed to match the grant, said staff volunteer Sara Kendall. She said the station also needs to raise an additional $20,000 for other start-up costs, including labor and supplies. Kendall said WGXC is working hard to raise money and is focusing on selling underwriting to local businesses. The $71,486 grant was given to the station by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration through their Public Telecommunications Facilities Program. The grant will fund half of the equipment needed to put the station on air on 90.7 FM. WGXC will be a 3,300-watt non-commercial community radio station with shows about local issues such as agriculture, history, the arts and education. It will reach most of Greene and Columbia counties. In addition to fund raising, the station is gearing up for a planned “Radio Barnraising.” In collaboration with Prometheus Radio Project, the barn raising will bring experts from around the country to train area residents in all aspects of radio production, according to a press release from WGXC.... The barn raising will take place from Sept. 24 to Sept. 26 in Hudson. Galen Joseph-Hunter, executive director of free103point9, said Sept. 26 is the date WGXC will go live with a full program schedule. She said whether the station is on the FM dial or online will depend on fund raising. If WGXC, which is a project of free103point9, raises the needed funds it will go live on the FM dial, Joseph-Hunter said. To register for the barn raising go to www.prometheusradio.org/WGXC_barnraising. For more information about WGXC and its fund raising, visit www.wgxc.org. Read the entire story in The Daily Freeman.

Vetiver & Fruit Bats from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Lissa Harris in Watershed Post reports the Environmental Protection Agency first moved a public hearing about hydraulic fracturing from Binghamton to Syracuse three days before the a was scheduled, and now has postponed the meeting. The Binghamton Press & Sun reports:

"We have a beautiful convention center here that can easily accommodate 1,000 or 1,200 people, but in the last day we continued to get calls about additional people, and that number is easily growing to more than 5,000,” [Sandy] Baker, [the vice president of sales and marketing at the Oncenter, the proposed venue] said. “In order to accommodate all of the safety issues, we need more time to plan this.”

New York Senator Charles Schumer will be visiting B and B Wood Products on Route 145 in Cairo for a press conference Tuesday at 2:45 p.m. to discuss the impact of the the Chinese Emerald Ash Borer. The bug has recently been discoverd in Saugerties and Greene County. Senator Schumer is here to discuss federal efforts to support the NYS DEC and enhance public awareness, about the pest that some estimate will wipe out seven percent of New York forests (the entire population of ash trees).

[caption id="attachment_2473" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Ellen Thurston at the Hudson Common Council meeting."][/caption]WGXC volunteer Victor Mendolia recorded tonight's Hudson Common Council meeting which you can hear here. The Council discussed the Draft Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP), the vinyl siding on the Emmanuel-St. John’s Lutheran Parish at Sixth and Union, and other issues. The meeting was Chaired by Alderman Ellen Thurston (pictured) as Council President Moore is on vacation. Paste the following url into your computer's media player to listen to the mp3:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/08/HudsonCommonCouncilmtg_080910.mp3

Assemblyman Tim Gordon (I-Bethlehem), who represents parts of Greene, Albany and Columbia counties, will appear at a second trap-shooting Sportsmen Care event to raise money for NYS Cancer Services 9 a.m. August 15 at the Ravena-Coeymans Sportsman Club on New Baltimore Road in Hannacroix. Proceeds from the event, which will be hosted by Gordon in coordination with several local sportsmen clubs, NYS Cancer Services and the American Cancer Society, will benefit NYS Cancer Services of Albany, Rensselaer, Columbia and Greene counties. All shoots are noncompetitive and open to the public, and no pre-registration is required.

All five Hudson Common Council surpervisors surprised everyone in town Saturday morning with a letter to the editor in the Register-Star demanding that the Council immediately pass the Draft Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP). Predictably, the online public comment at this turn of events has created a buzz both on the internet (at The Gossips of Rivertown, Columbia County Common Sense, and eslewhere), and in word-of-mouth. We expect a packed 7 p.m. Common Council meeting Monday night, with reactions from all sides, and WGXC volunteer Victor Mendolia will make a recording that we hope to have online by 10 p.m.

[caption id="attachment_2438" align="alignleft" width="224" caption="Susan Falzon speaking at Beattie-Powers Place 080810."][/caption]Susan Falzon, Secretary-Treasurer of Friends of Hudson, spoke at Beattie-Powers Place in Catskill today about "Industry in Our Midst," mostly the Ravena Lafarge cement plant and the Catskill Holcim cement plant. Click here to see information about this event. Click here to listen to an mp3 recording or paste the following url into your computer's media player:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/08/SusanFalzon_BeattiePowers_WGXC_080810.mp3

WGXC fundraiser
Aug. 22, 2010: 8 p.m., $15
at Cannonball Factory, 359 Columbia St., Hudson, NY 12534
Vetiver returns to Hudson to play a benefit to bring community radio to Greene and Columbia counties. Other special guests to be announced. Live webstream from WGXC Online Radio at www.wgxc.org, and archived recordings there too after the show. From Wikipedia: Vetiver are an American folk band headed by songwriter Andy Cabic and often joined by Devendra Banhart, drummer Otto Hauser [who lives in Hudson], keyboardist Sarah Versprille, guitarist Daniel Hindman, and bassist Bob Parins. Their music has been described as "surreal," "lullingly pleasant," "tender and accessible," and "quirky and warm."

Congressman Scott Murphy (NY-20) announced Friday that the Hunter Mountain Ski Bowl will receive a $4.8 million loan from the USDA Rural Development’s Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program. Charles B. Slutzky, of Hunter Mountain said in Murphy's press release, “This is great news for Hunter Mountain and for all of Greene County. This loan will enable us to build a new, state-of-the-art six-passenger chairlift that will dramatically improve our facilities and our ability to attract visitors to our region."

Assemblyman Marc Molinaro (R,C,I-Red Hook) will host New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), New York League of Women Voters, and Common Cause/NY for an educational forum moderated by Blair Horner of NYPIRG followed by a traditional town hall-style meeting Thursday, August 12 at the Millbrook Village Hall, located at 35 Merritt Avenue. The educational forum will begin at 6:30 and the town hall at 7:30 p.m.

It is the apocalypse in the Catskills this week: in a few years seven percent of the New York forest will be gone, as a little bug is wiping out the ash tree population. Now Lissa Harris in Watershed Post links to a journal story about how the brown bat is being wiped out:

A paper published in the prestigious research journal Science on August 6 makes a dire prediction: The little brown bat, the Northeast's most common bat and an important species in the ecology of the region, could become extinct in the region within 16 years ((The executioner, in case you haven't been reading the news lately, is white-nose syndrome, a fungus that attacks hibernating bats over the winter and causes them to emerge from hibernation early, causing massive fatalities in caves that once were teeming with bats.) From Science News:

In the team's worst-case scenario, which assumes that 45% of the little brown bat population continues to die each winter, there is a 99% probability of regional extinction within 16 years. "That hit us like a brick," Kunz says. (The little brown bat lives throughout North America, so the species itself won't go extinct). If mortality declines to 10%, some little brown bats would last for 80 years, but the population would be dramatically smaller. Because brown bats eat a large amount of insects, including pests, a decline in their number could threaten farm fields and forests. Read the entire story in Watershed Post.

The Greene County Council on the Arts mailed a desperate fundraising letter to their membership this week, explaining how the state's late budget has them in a two-month hole with little funding. The missive read: "Due to the late state budget in Albany, we have very limited cash flow to keep the lights on and the doors open! Government funds we count on for operational costs will not be distributed for another six to eight weeks or more. We are at our maximum with the line of credit extended by the bank. We are in full financial "red line" crisis!" The Council saw an almost 20 percent cut in local, state and federal fund last year and closed its Windham gallery, and expects a similar 15-20 percent cut in government funding this year. To contribute to their cause send tax-deductible contributions to the Greene County Council on the Arts, 398 Main Street, P.O. Box 463, Catskill, NY 12414. Credit Cards are accepted by phone or mail. For more information, call 518-943-3400 or e-mail gcca@greenearts.org.

(Art by Chris Neumann, digitizing by Bob Mechling, text design by Michael Chameides.)

This September, Prometheus Radio Project and WGXC will hold Prometheus's 12th community radio barnraising. Radio barnraisings are weekend-long radio and movement-building events. Individuals from the local community, participatory media advocates, and artists from around the country will converge in Hudson, NY to share ideas, experiences, and skills in the launching of WGXC's full power community radio station.


The Prometheus Radio Project has helped many groups, including farmworker unions, civil rights groups, and rural arts organizations build their stations while training a new generation of radio organizers across the country. The collaboration with WGXC, which will broadcast at 3,300 watts as opposed to the 100 watts of low power stations, will be Prometheus's first full-power barnraising. This new station will be uniquely decentralized with three main studios spread out across the listening range, allowing broader participation from residents of New York’s Greene and Columbia counties. Partnerships are already forming with schools, music venues, and town halls to create live feeds from various locations, furthering the scope of the station.

WGXC: Hands-On Radio will be much more than just a radio station, with regular exhibitions and events, ongoing media trainings, a news blog, and community meetings. “We are all aware of the urgent importance of protecting and supporting our local resources, food system, watersheds, farmland, and local arts and cultures,” explains Kaya Weidman, a member of WGXC's Radio Council and co-founder of Germantown Community Farm. "WGXC is simply local media, a key tool for all these crucial issues."

"For the past ten years, we've been fighting to take the airwaves out of the hands of the powerful few and place them in the hands of communities. We've supported many groups in starting low-power and full-power FM radio stations that serve as tools for social justice organizing and a voice for community expression," says Andalusia Knoll, Community Radio Coordinator with the Prometheus Radio Project.

The WGXC Prometheus Barnraising will take place in Hudson, NY with workshops and events from September 24-26. To register for the Barnraising go to http://prometheusradio.org/WGXC_barnraising

Registration is now open!

* LOCAL REGISTRATION: Local registration is open for folks attending the WGXC barnraising who live in Greene, Columbia, Dutchess, Ulster, Albany, Rensselaer, or Delaware counties in New York or Berkshire County in Massachusetts.

* GENERAL REGISTRATION: If you do not live in one of the above counties, please go the general registration page.

http://prometheusradio.org/WGXC_barnraising

New York State Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I-Oneonta) will be in Coxsackie at 2:30 p.m. Saturday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the rebuilt Riverside Park playground at the Riverside Park Festival.

Click here to listen to WGXC volunteer Richard Roth introduce a phone interview by WGXC"s Sam Sebren and Alan Skerrett of Jim Michaels of Bradford County, Pennsylvania (near Scranton) who lives near shale gas drilling, or hydro-fracking, sites. Michaels talks about his experiences with the process of extracting gas from the ground by shooting high pressure liquid. On Wednesday the New York Senate voted for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing until May 2011. Assemblyman Tim Gordon, who represents parts of Greene, Columbia, and Albany counties, supports the measure and told WGXC's Tom Roe, “If we want to proceed on this, I think we need to do it right, and there are still some unanswered questions.” This is the first report created by the WGXC Audio Training program led by Dharma Dailey and Emily Bennison. Help with research from Sara Kendall and recording and editing from Goro Ikeda-Iyeki. File is mp3 audio file. Paste the following url into your computer's media player:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/08/WGXC_Roth_Sebren_Skerret_interviewJimMichaels_080510.mp3

From Wikipedia:

"Hydraulic fracturing (called "frac jobs"[1] or "frac'ing" in the industry[2][3][4] and recently, "fracking" by the media) is a process that results in the creation of fractures in rocks. The most important industrial use is in stimulating oil and gas wells, where hydraulic fracturing has been used for over 60 years in more than one million wells. On the other hand, high-volume horizontal slickwater fracturing is a recent phenomenon. The fracturing is done from a wellboredrilled into reservoir rock formations to enhance oil and natural gas recovery.... Man-made fluid-driven fractures are formed at depth in a borehole and extend into targeted rock formations. The fracture width is typically maintained after the injection by introducing a proppant into the injected fluid. Proppant is a material, such as grains of sand, ceramic, or other particulates, that prevent the fractures from closing when the injection is stopped. Natural hydraulic fractures include volcanic dikes, sills and fracturing by ice as in frost weathering. Considerable controversy surrounds the current implementation of hydraulic fracturing technology in the United States. Environmental safety and health concerns have emerged and are being debated at the state and national levels." Read the entire entry in Wikipedia.