[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Catskill's Black Bridge spanning the Catskill Creek."][/caption]One of the keys to Catskill's future plans has been a revitalization of its waterfront along Catskill Creek, a haven for boaters... and home to a number of historic old structures in various stages of rehabilitation in recent years. And key to that revitalization is the old span known locally as The Black Bridge, a former railroad bridge which now carries water and sewer pipes across the water and also hosted a popular walking path until deterioration forced its closure earlier this year. This morning's Daily Mail reports on how the Village of Catskill Board of Trustees got an update at its December meeting earlier this month on different ways to seek the cost of plans to repair the Black Bridge. Village Superintendent of Public Works Lewis O’Connor told board members that the village has officially publicized its Request For Proposal notice, which seeks companies to submit an outlined plan for determining what the bridge needs, as well as a cost estimate for actually creating that engineering plan if their company is selected. O’Connor added the committee that is overseeing the effort will review the RFPs when they come in, and said there is no requirement upon the part of the village to accept or select any of them, if the village so chooses. “It’s costing us no money,” he said. “If we decide we can’t afford it, then we drop it.”

Word in the community is that wishes are leaning towards an eco-friendly, artistic refurbishing of the span along the lines of what Sherburne Falls did by creating its own Bridge of Flowers in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts in recent decades, although formal plans have yet to materialize. Or money. The bridge was built in 1882 and is the last remnant of the former Catskill Mountain Railroad, one of the region's first.


O’Connor said each committee member will receive a copy of the RFPs, and if a recommendation for one is reached -- but the village determines the finances are not in place -- then it will be forwarded to Greene County Planning Department, which in turn, he said, will make its own decision of whether or not to request funding for it from the Greene County Legislature.

O’Connor indicated there is outside grant funding for developing the RFP, once selected, but that because it is a reimbursement grant, the county’s money would essentially first be needed to pay for the plan up front.

O’Connor indicated that if the county opts not to have the engineering study done, then it “dead ends.”

Village Trustee Joseph Kozloski, however, stressed the importance of determining the needs of the bridge, and solutions for them.

“But we have to know something,” Kozloski said, “because we have village sewer and water going over it.”

Kozloski said he is concerned what will happen in decades to come if the bridge’s needs are not identified and addressed now.

Village President Vincent Seeley asked whether there was any immediate or pending danger of structural failure, and O’Connor said there is not, again noting the RFP is just to get a cost estimate for getting the answers, in the form of what specific engineering results would be provided, if implemented.

O’Connor indicated the study is basically an absolute requirement for ever getting funding to actually do work on the bridge.

“To file for (grants), you need an engineering study,” he said, adding that if one is generated from the RFP process, it will meet that necessity.

The growing phenomenon of home and business copper theft again hit the front pages this morning with the Register Star's sterling crime reporter Andrew Amelinckx, soon to be a WGXC programmer as well, posting a story about an ex-con from Chatham pleading guilty for stealing the shiny (though as often patina-colored) metals from a number of buildings around the county. Seems that entire rings of criminals have been working similar copper-stealing beats up and down the Hudson Valley, working in second homes and closed buildings to take out plumbing, electrical wiring and fixtures while home or business owners are away. Amelinckx reports that Ronald K. Oakley, the ex-convict from Chatham, pleaded guilty to a multi-count indictment Wednesday for stealing copper and other items from numerous buildings in Columbia County and is now facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars. And that's not just for the copper but a long shopping list of petty crimes. Driving the copper thefts is a particularly robust secondary market for the materials, particularly in New York City.


The last time Oakley, 45, was in the Columbia County Courtroom of Judge Paul Czajka, Oct. 13 of this year, he had pleaded not guilty to the same indictment, but has since flip-flopped.

Arrested by the New York State Police in April for stealing copper wire and tubing from a Claverack business, Oakley was later charged with a laundry list of other crimes. The grand jury indictment includes 20 counts of third-degree burglary, class D felonies, one count of second-degree burglary, a class C felony and one count each of third-degree grand larceny, a class D felony and petit larceny, a class A misdemeanor.

Oakley admitted Wednesday that he broke into buildings in Chatham, Claverack, Ghent, Kinderhook and Stockport and stole items, mostly copper and brass piping, from January to April of 2010.

Police said Oakley targeted buildings that appeared to be abandoned.

Theft of copper wire and tubing has skyrocketed across the country as the price has gone up again recently after dropping last year. With the price of copper fluctuating, so too have the associated crimes, according to Sr. Inv. Gary Mazzacano, speaking to the Register-Star recently about an unrelated case.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that metal theft costs U.S. businesses around $1 billion a year.

During Wednesday’s hearing Oakley told Czajka that in regard to one charge of burglary he had never entered the building, but only climbed onto the roof to steal copper wiring. Columbia County District Attorney Beth Cozzolino withdrew that charge, third-degree burglary, leaving Oakley with 22 charges.

Czajka told the defendant that if he pleaded guilty to the charges he would be facing a “possible sentence, although perhaps reduced by operation of law, (that) could be over 100 years.”

Oakley answered that he was aware of that and only asked that “consideration be shown to my nephews.”

Three other individuals were named by the police as Oakley’s accomplices in his crime spree, brothers Kevin and Michael Beahn, of Chatham — nephews of Oakley — and Robert J. Knott, 51, of Philmont. The three were also arrested in April, a week after Oakley’s arrest. Kevin Beahn, 20, was charged with one count of third-degree burglary. His brother Michael Beahn, 22, was charged with one count of second-degree burglary and three counts of third-degree burglary.

Knott was charged with one count each of attempted fourth-degree grand larceny and trespass. Those three defendants’ cases are still pending. All three allegedly confessed to authorities, as did Oakley.

In statements taken by the State Police from Oakley, he recounts breaking into a residence in Kinderhook and stealing various items, including copper and brass vases and candle holders and what turned out to be “cheap jewelry.” According to the report, Oakley discovered that the house was not abandoned as he said he believed it was. “I looked in a bedroom and saw an old lady sleeping,” he told authorities. “We ran out of there ... We didn’t think anybody lived there.”

Cozzolino said Wednesday that the woman was 91 years old.

Oakley was on parole at the time of his arrest, having been out of prison since September 2009. He served eight years and three months for a conviction of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument. That case was also before Czajka. Oakley’s convictions and prison time stretch back for more than two decades and include burglary, grand larceny and attempted escape. Oakley will be sentenced Feb. 16, 2011 at 10 a.m. He was remanded back to the Columbia County Jail where he has been since his April arrest.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="140" caption="Image from Walking the Dog Theater website."][/caption]Added
EXTRA SHOW Walking the Dog Theater's take on "A Christmas Carol!" gets an added performance today at 5 p.m. at Space360 in Hudson. Tickets must be purchased or reserved in advance here or by calling 1-800-838-3006.


Town meetings today
HUDSON HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION 10 a.m. public hearing on the proposal to rebuild the front wall of 211 Union St. and to alter the building to make it appear as it may have looked when it was the home of General William Jenkins Worth. The public hearing will take place at City Hall and will be followed, at 10:30, by a special meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission to decide whether or not to grant the project a certificate of appropriateness.


Weather
SLIGHTLY COLDER Partly cloudy.


Birthdays
DECEMBER 23: Chet Baker, Harry Shearer, and William Kristol.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)'s Environmental Board today approved new stricter performance standards for new outdoor wood boilers (OWBs) sold in the state. The regulation will go into effect 30 days after it is filed with the Secretary of State. Many, including Greene County's representative in the New York State Senate James Seward, complained that the DEC rushed this process without proper public input. Environmentalists can cheer the stricter guidelines, with new OWBs burning 90 percent cleaner than older models, according to the DEC. "This is about ensuring that new outdoor wood boilers burn cleaner -- not only for people who buy OWBs and their families, but also for their neighbors. It's not unlike the switch to cleaner cars," said Acting DEC Commissioner Peter Iwanowicz in a prepared statement. "It's also to ensure that OWB stacks are high enough to disperse emissions rather than having them blow directly into houses and other dwellings. That's important for public health. Also, we have listened to the agricultural community and made appropriate exceptions for farming operations." The regulation approved today includes stack height requirements for new OWBs that will reduce the impact of emission plumes on neighboring property owners. In addition, new OWBs will be required to be set back a minimum of 100 feet from neighboring properties -- except for OWBs used in agricultural operations, which must be at least 100 feet from neighboring homes. Both new and existing OWBs will be subject to fuel restrictions limiting boilers to only clean wood. The text of the final rule before the Environmental Board is available at http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/69348.html on the DEC website.

What's involved in the state’s Smart Growth Policy Infrastructure Act, the bill signed into law late last summer, and enacted at the end of September, which requires state agencies that are funding projects to meet 10 goals aimed at focusing development around already existing infrastructure? "Smart Growth is an attempt to balance in local and state planning the interests of job creation, environmental stewardship and social equity,” noted Paul Beyer, director of Smart Growth of the Governor’s Office, at a regional conference on the act, and how a region such as the Hudson Valley can benefit from it, held in Fishkill earlier this month. “That’s the key to the movement, to balance those three aspects of community planning.” The Act, Beyer added, is intended to address sprawl by requiring certain state agencies to approve, undertake and fund infrastructure projects in a manner that is consistent with ten smart growth principles aimed at focusing development around already existing infrastructure. According to an HV Biz story on the recent conference, which tended to stay focused on the parts of the valley to Columbia and Greene's south, reporter Jim Gordon noted how, "the Hudson Valley with its centralized towns and city centers, hamlets and railroad lines and existing highways is ideally positioned to take advantage of the new law. It requires key state entities, including the Department of Transportation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Department of Education, and the Empire State Development Corp. to focus their infrastructure spending in developed areas. But," he added, "the potential advantages of smart growth for the Hudson Valley are diluted by the sprawling nature of the region, with cities from Yonkers to Kingston and towns from Dobbs Ferry to Rhinebeck, spread among five counties, all competing for increasingly scarce municipal resources and investment funds." And that's NOT counting in Columbia and Greene counties. Or Westchester, it seems... For the full story click by Gordon, a stalwart regional reporter who will be contributing to WGXC coverage once we're on the air, click HERE...

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="125" caption="Can a swell of community protest save Vasilow's yummy Toffee Pistachios? Photo by Carole Osterinck."][/caption]With all the political news so many of us are driven to follow these days, it's easy to forget our other obsessive compulsions... like candy! Amidst a flurry of on-the-button blogging (and reporting) about the many developments along the City of Hudson's waterfront, Gossips of Rivertown recently ran a sweet little piece about a favorite candy being given the boot... combined with a plea for help.

It has come to Gossips' attention that Vasilow's Confectionery will no longer be offering their beloved Toffee Pistachios. The bag in the picture--more than three-quarters empty--is the last one ever. The rising cost of pistachios is blamed for the cessation in the production of this delectable treat. This situation is, for many, intolerable. Gossips asks its readers to urge Vasilow's to do whatever is required to bring back Toffee Pistachios.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="225" caption="New York Conmgressional Districts, as of now... pre-redistricting."][/caption]Capitol Confidential has a fun piece today that draws together two major state news stories of the last week: the final settling of state senate races that gave the legislative body's majority back to the GOP after a two year hiatus of rare Democratic rule, and the reapportionment battle that will decide how New York's congressional delegation will look with two less seats. The story looks at press releases from "the Democratic and Republican press shops," surmising that the two parties "have already swapped identities as completely as in one of those brain-exchange sci-fi movies" and concluding that chances at an independent bipartisan commission for redistricting are rapidly shrinking.

The piece continues...

Here’s the Democratic statement (attributed to John Sampson and Martin Dilan), which amounts to the sort of foot-stomping and finger-wagging previously seen from the GOP minority — the word “should” makes what will likely be the first of many appearances by the new minority conference:

“As we begin to assess the new Census data New York uses to draw its political lines, Senate Republicans are already making it clear they will not keep their pledge to reform state government through non-partisan redistricting.

“On the day they claimed the Majority the GOP broke their first promise – Senate Republicans signed onto Mayor Koch’s NY Uprising pledge, but incoming Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos is now refusing to take a firm position on nonpartisan redistricting. Imagine how many other election promises will be broken in the New Year.

“We are disappointed that New York will lose two congressional districts as a result of the 2010 Census. This must serve as a wake-up call to state government to improve our economy and grow New York’s population, especially Upstate and in Western New York.

“We look forward to receiving actual redistricting data in March. The redistricting data will inform us where New York has gained or lost population and guide us in the redrawing of district boundaries for the House of Representatives and State Legislature.

“Senators truly committed to reform should support both an independent redistricting process and new district lines that will fairly represent all New Yorkers without bias or partisan advantage that disenfranchises key regions of the state and in diverse communities.

“The main source of Albany’s dysfunction is the absence of competitive elections which stem from the drawing of partisan political lines that protect political incumbents instead of preserving the public’s interest. Non-partisan redistricting, broad ethics reform, and continued improvements to the state’s electoral system will ensure more voter participation and instill greater faith in our government.”

In case you’re wondering: Sampson is listed as a Hero of Reform on the NY Uprising website (just like Skelos and, uh, Vincent Leibell), while Dilan is listed as an Enemy. Pedro Espada Jr., however, seems to have been dumped as a Hero.

And here’s the GOP response (from spokesman Scott Reif), which emphasizes several issues completely unrelated to redistricting reform — similar to previous Democratic releases parrying Republican foot-stomping and finger-wagging with an emphasis on economic issues:

“Our new Senate Republican majority will enact a comprehensive package of reforms so New Yorkers can have faith in their government once again. However, in the immediate term we are focused on working with the Governor-elect to balance the budget, reduce spending and taxes and help the private sector create jobs for workers who need them, and we are hopeful that the Senate Democrats will join us.”

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Gov. David Paterson"][/caption]Among the various last-minute bills currently working their way through exiting Governor David Paterson's desk over his final week in office is one that would give debtors and people filing bankruptcy in New York some more rights and the ability to keep a bit more equity in their homes and cars when they get in trouble and the debt collectors come calling, according to Rick Karlin of the Times Union. The bills, S7034 and A8735,would need to be signed, allowed to pass into law or vetoed by Dec. 28, although Karlin notes that, "Advocates say they’ve heard rumblings the governor is under heavy pressure by banks and credit card issuers to veto the measure, which they say would update some of New York’s comparatively draconian standards for the value of personal possessions that people can keep when they are being chased by creditors or are filing bankruptcy."

Among other things, the bill would raise from $2,400 to $4,000 the value of a car that could be shielded by bankruptcy or debt trustees and it increases the equity in one’s home that can be protected from $50,000 to $75,000 ($150,000 in costly downstate counties).

There are also increases for possessions like tools, and personal possessions.

“Please governor, no lumps of coal for the most struggling financially vulnerable New Yorkers,” said Haven, echoing others who fear a veto, if one is in fact planned, could m.

Supporters point to the fact that the exempt amounts haven’t been raised in years, and the high level of debt and bankruptcies that have hit New Yorkers and all Americans due to the Recession as a good reason for the bill.

The Senate version of the bill was sponsored by former Senator-turned Attorney General-elect Eric Schneiderman who also has a prevailing wage bill that are among the last batch of bills facing the governor.

The City of Hudson's beloved trolley buses, in operation since the early 1980s, are about to become a thing of the past as new bus routes throughout the city have started getting publicized and the city eliminated the trolley system from its budget for the coming year and chose, instead, to go with a new Coxsackie Transport system, pending approvals. The Register Star reports today that Mayor Richard Scalera’s office has formulated a new bus route through the city — pending approval from the county and Coxsackie Transport — which adds stops at four crucial locations and will eventually expand service by two hours in the morning and evening.

The shift will combine Hudson’s trolley stops with the county’s Greenport Shopping Shuttle while also incorporating new stops at Columbia Memorial Hospital, the Department of Social Services at 25 Railroad Ave., Hudson High School on Harry Howard Avenue and the Crosswinds Housing Project down the street from the high school. Officials hope to enact the new bus route at the start of 2011, but it may take a few weeks longer if County Commissioner of Planning and Economic Development Ken Flood and Coxsackie Transport owner Wayne Parks are not on board for whatever reason, Scalera said. In the case that further kinks need to be worked out, Scalera said there is still some money left in the budget to continue running the old bus service for a few weeks if need be, ensuring no lapse in service for diligent riders.


The additional stops will, clearly, make the original route a little longer, with less loops and different stops than what riders have been used to since the 1990s.

“There are going to be people inconvenienced and we understand,” said Scalera. “Even if it’s just one person, I feel for them, but we have a fiduciary responsibility — if the bus services is hemorrhaging money — to do something about it.”

There are plans to expand the bus services’ hours from its current 9:05 a.m. to around 3 p.m. to as early as 7 a.m. until as late as 5 p.m. This won’t be taking place in January as originally planned, Scalera said, because the county has not ordered its new buses yet and they may not arrive until as late as March of next year.

The buses will still be county owned but manned and operated by Coxsackie Transport employees, which may impose some additional costs on the city, Scalera said.

The city will retain ownership of its trolley buses for another year as they are currently under a 10-year agreement with the state Department of Transportation which does not permit the buses to be operated outside of Hudson. However, once that year is up, Scalera said the fate of the buses is “up for discussion” but selling them is the most likely scenario.

The main changes in the bus route are as follows:

The bus will still arrive at Stewart’s on Green Street from Albany (where the county’s buses are stationed) at 9:05 a.m. and proceed up State Street over Second Street to Providence Hall. The bus will then, as usual, go down Front Street and loop around the Amtrak station and then to Warren Street.

Normally, the next stop would be the St. Charles Hotel on Park Place at 9:18 a.m., but the new route will bypass this stop and instead arrive at the Columbia Memorial Hospital at 9:22 a.m.

Under the old schedule the bus would then continue straight out of the city into Greenport from the St. Charles Hotel to bring passengers to ShopRite, Peebles and other various retailers. But the new route dictates that from CMH, the bus will return to Stewart’s at 9:25 a.m. and then proceed to DSS at 25 Railroad Ave. at 9:30 a.m., then to the Crosswinds development at 9:35 a.m. and finally to Hudson High School at 9:37 a.m.

Under the old schedule with less stops, the bus looped around the city, out to Greenport and back again eight times. Under the new schedule with the additional four stops, it will only loop five times throughout the day — that is, until the expanded hours are able to be adopted.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Hunter Tannersville Central Schools are among several of the region's districts looking at potential mergers as a means of overcoming the current economic climate, which seems to be pusing for greater consolidations in the name of greater efficiencies."][/caption]The effects of dissatisfied taxpayers, shrinking federal and state aid to local school districts, and the increasingly serious threat of a two percent property tax cap have seen local school districts, from Kinderhook in Columbia County to Hunter-Tannersville on Greene County's Mountaintop, starting to look into drastic, large-scale mergers... with some prompting now from the state Boards of Cooperative Education Services, the statewide entity of 37 educational regions around the state set up to improve educational efficiency in the state in the late 1940s. Now, as regional BOCES (known as Questar III here in Columbia, Greene and Rensselaer counties) look into greater efficiencies to make it through the financing web ahead, where mandated budget increases are looking to outpace any property tax cap put in place (as has happened in neighboring New Jersey this year), local boards of education are starting to rear back and wonder about issues such as home rule, long bus rides, and empty school buildings in their midst. Today's Daily Mail has a story about the growing concerns at HTC, which serves a rural population and is being discussed in terms of a merger with schools in neighboring Delaware and Schoharie counties. Which dovetails with stories in the Register Star over the last month about budget concerns in Kinderhook, where a merger between the Ichabod Crane and Schodack central districts has been talked about, and even today's Daily Freeman piece about an old school building in the city of Kingston burning to the ground last night. Keep an eye on this issue over the coming year, folks... Continue HERE or HERE...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Hal Turner, the former talk radio provocateur sentenced this week to 33 months in prison for hate speech."][/caption]Five years ago this past November, all eyes in the Hudson Valley turned to Kingston where a New Jersey radio talk show host put together a white supremacy rally to protest the ways in which a local high school case involving a student fight was moving through the courts. This past Tuesday, December 21, Hal Turner -- now a blogger after his radio shows were stripped from him -- was sentenced in federal court in New York City to 33 months in prison for making death threats against three federal judges in Illinois, according to a brief blotter piece in today's Daily Freeman. The case stemmed from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in 2009 by three judges that upheld a district court decision dismissing lawsuits that challenged handgun bans in Chicago and Oak Park, Ill. Turner protested the decision with inflammatory remarks posted online. Prosecutors say he crossed the line by declaring, “These judges must die.” Turner, meanwhile, had claimed his tirades were protected by the constitutional right to free speech. The case was eventually moved to Brooklyn based on a change-of-venue ruling. Two previous trials ended with hung juries. In Kingston 5 years ago, public worries leading up to Turner's rally were thwarted when more people turned out to protest the right-winger's protesters than Turner could turn out himself. Two years later, however, the local blogger who invited Turner into town, "Yankee Jim" Leshkevich, of Hurley, killed himself and his wife, a local teacher, during an online rage based, partly, on his earlier experiences with Turner's rally.

Although the term earmarks makes home turf congressional expenditures sound like unwanted pests, in actuality they have a whole other affect within regions such as the Hudson Valley, and towns and cities like ours. They involve local institutions, local jobs, and local needs not addressed otherwise by regular federal, state or municipal budgeting, which tends to be done on large-stroke theme bases. Which is the sense one gets from an ambitious piece in today's Register Star and Daily Mail working from wire service stories about the effects of the Senate GOP's recent blockage of an omnibus spending package that had some substantial economic aid for our region in it. The earmarks mentioned as being planned for our area, and now held back indefinitely given the strengthening partisan battles in Washington, included $650,000 for health information and technology equipment at Columbia Memorial Hospital, $500,000 for a program at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry designed to combat Asian Long-Horned Beetle in state forests, nearly $4 million for solar energy research and production tied to the regional Solar Energy Consortium, and $19,000 in pre-disaster mitigation for the town of Livingston. For the full story, which includes more analysis and commentary on DC politics than is usual for our local papers, click HERE..., or for the full story on what the earmarks setback will be doing to the mid-Hudson Valley's hopes for economic re-emergence tied to renewable energy resources, backed with government money, click HERE...

Town meetings tonight
OUTDOOR WOOD BOILER MEETING The New York State Environmental Board will meet at 2 p.m., Dec. 22, 2010, in Room 129 at the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) main offices at 625 Broadway, Albany about new regulations for outdoor wood boilers. According to their website, this meeting will be webcast soon after the conclusion of the meeting. To observe the meeting, go to www.dec.ny.gov/public/36245.html.
VILLAGE OF ATHENS Meetings second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at 2 First St., Athens.


Weather
FLURRIES High just above freezing.


Birthdays
DECEMBER 22: Edgard Varese, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Robin Gibb.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Artists' rendering of proposed restaurant for the Hudson waterfront. Photo by Tom Roe."][/caption]The Hudson Common Council held a love-in of a meeting Tuesday night, with a presentation from Eric Galloway spokesman Kevin Walker about a proposal from Galloway's Warren Street Partners to turn the old Dunn warehouse building across Water St. from Henry Hudson Riverfront Park into a bar and restaurant that received nothing but encouragement from the Council and Mayor Rick Scalera. The proposed restaurant could fit up to 200 tables, and the Galloway group has offered to buy the property and building from the city for $250,000, $50,000 below what the Council currently considers it worth. T. Eric Galloway president of the Lantern Organitzation and other groups, owns numerous properties throughout Hudson, and has been criticized for warehousing buildings and altering the historic architecture of Hudson with changes to his many buildings. But at the meeting tonight, there was nothing but praise for this project, as it dovetails nicely with the city's current Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP), which city officials hope will attract hotels, restaurants, and other businesses to the Hudson River waterfront. The Council expected to confirm what price they want to sell the building for by January's Common Council meeting, and Walker said that the project would take between 18 months and two years from when all the permits and red tape are worked out. He estimated the cost of the project at $2 million, and said the buyers would select a chef or other restaurant group to run the business. The meeting ended the same way it started, with all present in agreement. At the beginning they agreed on the waterfront project being just what the city needed. At the end, several Council members thanked Council president Don Moore for his leadership this year, and several folks noted the Council has been less divisive in 2010. Then everyone wished everyone else happy holidays. WGXC made an audio recording of the meeting, which can be heard by clicking here, or copy and paste the following url into your computer's media player:
http://www.wgxc.org/media/uploaded_files/2010/12/HudsonCommonCouncilmtg_WGXC_122110.mp3

Read Lindsay Suchow's story about this meeting in Register-Star.
Read Carole Osterink's account at The Gossips of Rivertown.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="220" caption="Image from Citigroup website."][/caption]Three Citigroup-affiliated insurance agencies paid a $2 million fine to New York for insurance law violations committed from 2003 to 2007, New York State Insurance Superintendent James J. Wrynn announced today. Citicorp Insurance Agency, Inc., Citicorp Investment Services, and SBHU Life Agency, Inc., violated the Insurance Law and Department regulations about sales practices surrounding life insurance and annuity sales by the agencies. These included failure to disclose required information comparing policies or contracts being replaced with their potential replacements, and inaccurate or incomplete disclosure of policy or contract values or surrender charges. "Consumers considering replacing an annuity or insurance policy should get all the information they need in order to make an accurate comparison," Wrynn said. "Our regulations require it and we will enforce it. These are complex products and consumers may not be able to easily weigh the effects of surrender charges, interest rate changes or other hidden costs, for example. We insist upon accurate side-by-side comparisons of these products in order to protect consumers."

Capitol Confidential's Jimmy Vielkind reports the Census Bureau announced that New York will lose two Congressional seats based on the 2010 count. The New York delegation drops to 27. "It’s not yet settled how redistricting will proceed in New York: for the past several decades, the process has been controlled by a legislative task force consisting of Senate Republicans and Assembly Democrats. In addition to the congressional seats, they also draw districts for their own members," Vielkind writes. Nate Silver at 538.com thinks the Buffalo area and New York City will likely lose seats.

From Silver, now a New York Times blogger:
The loss wouldn’t necessarily be a Republican one, since several of the upstate districts are held by Democrats or are otherwise competitive, but eliminating one seat upstate would be a better outcome for Democrats than what might happen if New York loses two seats: that might mean one of New York City’s districts might have to to be consolidated, even though the city’s population has increased by 5 percent since 2000.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Wayne Speenburgh (R-Coxsackie) is saying the state owes Greene County $1 million in owed Social Service payments and the county will sue if it doesn't get them soon. Photo from Greene County Legislature."][/caption]Ariel Zangla-Girard reports in The Daily Freeman that Greene County is still awaiting more than $1 million in social services reimbursements from the state, but hopes to resolve the issue without a lawsuit, the Daily Freeman quotes Legislature chairman Wayne Speenburgh saying in a story this morning. “They’re holding back our money,” Speenburgh is quoted saying of the state, adding that it is unclear how much money the county is owed in social services reimbursements, but a lot of it is federal money that was supposed to be passed through the state.

The chairman added that the county will attempt to resubmit its claims under the signature of its current treasurer, Peter Markou, to obtain the payments. He said the county will also work with the new administration in 2011 to try to resolve the issue to avoid having to file a lawsuit against the state. If the payments are still not made, however, the county could file a lawsuit, Speenburgh said. The unpaid claims are tied to a disagreement between the county and the governor’s office over who has the power to appoint the county’s treasurer. In July, the county Legislature, which has a Republican majority, appointed Thomas Tracey as acting treasurer to succeed Willis Vermilyea, who had retired. The appointment was challenged by some Democrats, who questioned whether the county had the authority to make the appointment, prompting Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat, to appoint Alan Pavese as acting treasurer instead. At the time, Pavese was the Democratic candidate for county treasurer. He was later defeated by Markou, a Republican, in November’s election.

Following the governor’s appointment, county leaders said they would not seat Pavese, resulting in a legal disagreement. The situation was later compounded when the county in October issued a press release questioning the state for what they said was the withholding of funding for the local Department of Social Services. The state, in response, said it could not legally pay claims certified by an illegally appointed treasurer, which the governor’s office said Tracey was.

The county and state later both indicated they would appoint the winner of November’s election as acting treasurer until that person’s four-year term began in January. On Nov. 17, the county Legislature made Markou’s appointment effective Dec. 1.

Speenburgh said the state is holding back money owed to the county since the beginning of the year. He added that the governor’s chief counsel has been non-responsive to the county.

The governor’s office could not be reached for comment.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Photo from Public Radio."][/caption]Okay, it's not exactly US. The Mid Hudson News Network story is about something that occured way down in Newburgh, further south in the Hudson Valley. Nevertheless, it seems to say something about the times when a Salvation Army Captain says he is “shocked” that someone could walk off with 60 wrapped presents donated for children as Christmas gifts. The incident occurred on Friday, December 17 between 7:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m at the Salvation Army in Newburgh, during a moment when the agency's receptionist left her post to use the restroom. A Christmas party for a group of children was going on at the time. City Police brought in a K-9 to track scent, but because of the number of people in and out of the building and who touched the area around the missing gifts, the dog could not get a clear one. Seems the economy is bad.For the full story click here.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="23-25 Church Street, Coxsackie, which village officials want to tear down for building code vilations and unsafe conditions, even though its own says she's been remedying previous problems, some of which she blames on renters."][/caption]Imminent domain and forced home demolition stories are rare and attention-grabbing when they arise. Especially in places with deep histories such as Coxsackie, which figures in the history books for having framed its own Declaration of independence one year before Thomas Jefferson and pals got together in Philadelphia during the summer of 1776. According to a story in today's Daily Mail, the Coxsackie Village Board is proceeding with plans to demolish a home that has been deemed unsafe by its building inspector, even though the property owner, who rents the place out, is challenging that assertion - and has provided an architect’s report that claims the building does not meet the criteria of an “unsafe structure.” The decision to tear down the home was made one year ago by the Village Board, after several years of battling with the home owner over the condition of the property, located at 23-25 Church St. Among the issues in the home, which the village wants the county to help tear down, are too-small upstairs bedrooms, which has more to do with the structure's historic age, rather than poor building practices. There was also an oil spill which the owner says was remedied, with state Department of Environmental Conservation help, last year. Homeowner Paula Chandler also says many problems at the site were the result of previous renters, who have since vacated the premises so she could perform needed renovations.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Photo from Heatingoil.com."][/caption]It's official. Republicans have narrowly retaken control of the state senate chamber they held for over years following a last election battle's settlement in the courts yesterday, and incumbent Democratic Senator Craig Johnson's concession following the state Court of Appeals decision barrinmg any more recounts, including one by hand, as Johnson and state Dems had requested. Johnson trails Republican Jack Martins by 451 votes, whose victory gives the GOP a 32-30 edge in the legislative body. “There is no such legal error where, as here, the discrepancy rate is significantly below the margin of victory, such that there is no substantial likelihood that the result of the election would be altered by the conduct of a full manual audit,” the Court wrote in a unanimous decision. “Moreover, there is no evidence that the discrepancies arose from any flagrant irregularity in the election process. Therefore, on this record, this Court is without the power to disturb the discretionary determination below.”


Democrats took control of the Senate for the first time in more than four decades in the 2008 election.

In the State Assembly, one race in the mid-Hudson Valley's 100th District still needs resolution, where Republican challenger Thomas Kirwan of Newburgh, a former Assemblyman, is ahead of incumbent Democrat Frank Skartados of Milton by 64 votes with 119 ballots remaining in primarily Democratic strongholds. State Supreme Court Justice Victor Alfieri is expected to announce his decision today on which ballots may be opened and counted. Those will be tallied on Wednesday with the final results expected then. The district includes portions of Ulster, Dutchess and Orange counties. Kirwan represented the district until two years ago when Skartados unseated him.