[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.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Gov. David Paterson was handed a hefty fine for using his influence to secure tickets to game one of the 2009 World Series at Yankee Stadium in his native New York City yesterday."][/caption]With 11 days to go in his pick-up term as governor, Gov. David Paterson got hit with a $62,125 fine by the state Commission on Public Integrity for soliciting and accepting five free Yankees tickets for Game 1 of the 2009 World Series. The fine was made public on Monday. In its notice of the action, which the panel arrived at earlier this month, the CPI stated Paterson gave "false testimony" when he said he had always planned to pay for the free tickets, which he used for himself as well as for two aides, his son and a son's friend. The story is everywhere throughout the state and even national press today, although Rick Karlin of the Times Union puts it all into nifty perspective by opening with a sentence, "Talk about an expensive baseball game."


From Karlin:

"The moral and ethical tone of any organization is set at the top. Unfortunately, the governor set a totally inappropriate tone by his dishonest and unethical conduct," commission Chairman Michael Cherkasky said in a statement. "Such conduct cannot be tolerated by any New York state employee, particularly our governor."

In its report, the CPI detailed how Paterson's testimony was at odds with statements made by the Yankees, as well as the governor's own staff members.

They noted, for example, that the check Paterson said was going to pay for the tickets appeared to be postdated. Former aide David Johnson had argued that such tickets should be given to the governor for free.

And while Paterson said he attended the game at the invitation of Yankees President Randy Levine, a law school classmate of the governor, Levine disputed that.

Paterson also has said he felt a duty as governor to attend the series opener, but he played no ceremonial role and had no official duties at the game.

Last winter, the CPI released its initial findings in the case just as Paterson was grappling with a second scandal involving Johnson, in which the governor reached out to a woman who had made a domestic violence allegation against the aide. Johnson was recently fired after months on unpaid suspension.

The CPI charged that Paterson and Johnson, following an inquiry from the New York Post after the ballgame, concocted an effort to make it appear they had always intended to pay for the tickets by creating the postdated check.

Tickets for the field-level seats were $425 each. The two aides, Johnson and Director of State Operations Mark Leinung, repaid the Yankees after questions were raised.

The Yankees have business and financial interests relating to state government, including real estate, stadium development and tax matters, the commission noted.

When the CPI released its initial findings last winter, Paterson said the panel was being "unfair" in its investigation of the ticket scandal.

Paterson asked Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to probe both the ticket scandal and the domestic violence matter. They were subsequently investigated by former state Chief Judge Judith Kaye, whose August report on the ticket scandal was sent to Albany County District Attorney David Soares for a possible perjury investigation.

Soares' office didn't return a call on Monday. Paterson's press office referred questions to his spokeswoman, Ann Cordasco. She didn't return a call on Monday. Paterson's personal lawyer, Theodore V. Wells, was out of town.

Paterson has tangled with the CPI before. He asked members of the commission to resign in May 2009 after the state Inspector General released a scathing report saying the CPI's executive director, Herbert Teitelbaum, had leaked information to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer about an investigation into the governor's handling of the travel records scandal. Teitelbaum resigned.

But the CPI, now headed by Cherkasky, disagreed with that assessment; the current commission includes some new members.

Initially, the CPI argued that Paterson should be fined $96,375.

The hearing officer in the case said the governor should pay a $10,125 fine. but commission members upped that to $62,125: the $2,125 for value of the tickets and $60,000 for three violations of the state's public officers law, which says officials aren't supposed to get "unwarranted privileges."

"They pointed out the fact that this was not the first time that he did this," said CPI spokesman Walter Ayres, who noted that the report referenced another incident in which Paterson got free Yankees tickets for himself and his son for opening day.

Good-government groups bemoaned the fact that Paterson could potentially pay the fine from his campaign account, which contained more than $615,000 as of the most recent filing.

Generally, politicians can use their accounts to pay legal costs associated with their political work. But critics like Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group argue that the baseball game had nothing to do with Paterson's political or government role. "The governor's failures on ethics policies and his behavior will forever tarnish his record," said Horner.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="The Ockawamick School in Philmont was bought by Columbia County in 2008 for eventual renovation as a county facility. Nothing, the Register Star reports today, has happened for the past year, with nothing also predicted for the coming 2011 year. Photo from Register-Star."][/caption]The Register Star is running a story this morning reminding everyone that, "For all of the year 2010, the county Board of Supervisors passed no resolutions mentioning or pertaining to the county-owned Ockawamick School on Route 217 in Philmont."

Purchased by the county for $1.5 million in 2008, the 77,000 square foot building has remained mostly vacant since then. Copy paper and other tools of county government are stored there, and the county’s facilities workshop is located there. County cars and Medicaid transport vehicles are parked in the parking lot. If the old school, once earmarked for the county Department of Social Services, didn’t see any action this year, there’s even less hope for 2011. The county’s adopted 2011 budget cuts Ockawamick completely out of its capital projects list — a decrease of $1.6 million, county controller Ronald Caponera confirmed Monday. That leaves zero funding earmarked for any potential renovation of the building.

The story goes on to note how the fate of the former school has gotten caught up in that of the county's Department of Social Services, which advocates have been fighting to keep in the City of Hudson. Most recently, county discussions have centered on possible renovation of the former Wal Mart facility on Fairview Avenue in Greenport. Read the entire story here.

Cement makers Holcim and Lafarge are among the state’s top polluters, according to a recently released report from the Environmental Protection Agency reported on in today's Daily Mail. The report, which details the amount of toxic chemicals released to land, air and water in 2009 by industrial facilities across the United States, shows Holcim’s Catskill plant and Lafarge’s plant in Ravena are among those most responsible for pollution in New York. And all this despite recent public relations campaigns to the contrary by both companies, and Lafarge's being currently in the midst of a major effort to rebuild its Albany County plant. The report says Lafarge released about 445,500 pounds of chemicals, including hydrochloric acid, ammonia and lead and mercury compounds, ranking it ninth in the state for on-site releases. Last year’s pollution total at Lafarge represents a nearly 70 percent increase over 2008, the report shows, although the amount of lead and mercury compounds emitted is lower. Lafarge spokespeople attributed the drastic increase to additional testing done by plant officials. The report says Holcim released 189,000 pounds of chemicals, including hydrochloric and sulfuric acid, as well as lead and mercury compounds, ranking it 14th in the state for on-site releases. But unlike Lafarge, Holcim emissions were lower last year than in 2008 — by more than 120,000 pounds. The EPA report, known as the Toxics Release Inventory, is a yearly analysis of pollution data and has been made public since 1988. “This report informs the public and policymakers about the types of pollution in our communities and where they come from,” said Judith Enck, EPA regional administrator for New York, in a statement. “It is an invaluable tool that we all can use to better understand pollution problems and to take action to protect health and their environment. The data is a reminder that we need to work toward preventing pollution at the source.”



Most of the Lafarge pollution is in the form of air emissions from the plant’s kiln, Lafarge Environmental Manager John Reagan said Monday. A smaller amount of the chemicals are present in the kiln dust and released in a secure landfill, he said.

Holcim Human Resources Manager Tony Madrazo did not return a call for comment Monday.

Catskill’s Lehigh Northeast Cement Co. and Stiefel Labs in Oak Hill also reported data to the EPA. Lehigh disclosed the release of 111 pounds of chemicals, including chromium, lead, manganese and nickel compounds, while Stiefel said it emitted 250 pounds of compound benzoyl peroxide.

More than 600 industrial facilities in New York are currently required by law to disclose its emissions data to the EPA.

The Finch Paper plant in Glens Falls topped the agency’s list of state polluters, reporting a total of nearly 3.8 million pounds of on-site releases.

Total releases last year to land, air and water in New York dropped 26 percent from 2008, from 24.7 million pounds to 18.3 million. Similar decreases were seen at the national level, too.

In 2009, 3.37 billion pounds of toxic chemicals were released into the environment, a decrease of 12 percent from the year before. Air pollution dropped 20 percent, while water and land decreased 18 and four percent, respectively.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="55" caption="New York State Senator James Seward."][/caption]On Sunday, the New York State Environmental Board announced a Board meeting Wednesday to vote on regulations for outdoor wood boilers, mostly for new models, but a few that impact older stoves. On a few days notice, the vote would be just before Christmas. Do you think they wanted to get something passed without attracting much notice? State Senator James Seward (who represents Greene County) does, and sent out a press release denouncing the process. "I must also express my profound disappointment with the lack of transparency and public input surrounding the new proposed regulations," Seward wrote Monday in a letter to NYS DEC Acting Commissioner Peter Iwanowicz. "To highlight the secretiveness of the process, as of December 20, just two days before the planned vote, the new revised regulations were not even posted on the DEC website." Further, Seward says the board is not thoroughly reviewing this matter. "It is my understanding that, during the October meeting of the Environmental Review Board, DEC promised to hold a new public comment period before a set of revised regulations would be enacted. DEC failed to follow through on this promise," Seward writes. "Instead, they have chosen to push the new regulations through without giving both legislators and the public the opportunity to review the proposal and provide comment." What are those new regulations? A summary of the regulations was posted by Monday afternoon. Read on.



The Watershed Post does the best job of breaking down the proposal:

One provision of the proposed OWB regs that applies to existing OWBs is a list of what can and cannot be burned in an outdoor wood boiler. The rules would outlaw anything except "clean wood" as an OWB's main fuel, and specifically prohibit the burning of garbage, yard waste, and animal carcasses:

Seasoned clean wood may be burned in a OWB. 'Clean wood' is defined in section 247.2 as wood that has not been painted, stained, or treated with a coating, glue or preservative. In addition, natural gas and heating oil that meets the sulfur content limits set forth in Subpart 225-1, and non-glossy, non-colored papers, including newspaper, may be used as starter fuels. The Department may approve additional fuels for specific models of new OWBs provided that the models have been tested via United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Test Method 28-OWHH with the fuels in question. A list of prohibited fuels is contained in subdivision 247.3(b). The list of prohibited fuels includes, but is not limited to, garbage, yard waste, household chemicals and animal carcasses.

Another provision of the proposed regs that affects existing wood boilers is a prohibition on "the operation of any OWB in such a manner as to cause or allow emissions from such OWB that are injurious to human, plant or animal life or which unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property." The reg gives examples of this kind of use, specifically:

1. activating smoke detectors in neighboring structures;
2. impairing visibility on a public highway; or
3. causing a visible plume migrating from an OWB and contacting a building on an adjacent property.

There's a third provision of the proposed rules that applies to existing OWBs as well: they prohibit boilers from producing a "smoke plume with an opacity of 20 percent or greater (six minute mean) as determined via EPA Reference Method 9 (or equivalent)."

These proposed rules for existing OWBs aren't particularly controversial. Maybe the DEC is gambling that OWB fans won't be able to rally a bunch of supporters two days before Christmas to defend their right to burn garbage and puff smoke onto their neighbors' buildings. But OWB supporters have surprised the DEC before, and the department isn't doing itself any favors by appearing to renege on a promise to get more public comment before making rules about existing OWBs.

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. 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.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Lawrence Hall of Science visitors observe sunset on day of the winter solstice using the Sunstones II. Image from Wikipedia."][/caption]Today is the Winter Solstice.


Town meetings tonight
CITY OF HUDSON Common Council Finance Committee meeting at 5:30 p.m., and Common Council Formal Meeting at 7 p.m., both at City Hall.
TOWN OF DURHAM Regular Town Board meetings held first and third Tuesdays of each month at 7:30 p.m., at Town Building, 7309 Rt. 81, East Durham.


Weather
WARMER And cloudier.


Birthdays
DECEMBER 21: Josh Gibson, Donald Regan, and Phil Donahue.

There's a fascinating story in HVBIz.biz about a little-discussed element in the state Department of Environmental Conservation that's been charting the effects of climate change on sea levels and New York State, including what's happening, and could occur, as icepacks melt off and water levels begin rising over the next 10 to 70 years.

Picture your favorite place along the shoreline of the Hudson River, or along the East River in New York or the beaches of Long Island. Now picture things if that locale is permanently under four feet of water. Though it sounds like science fiction, a task force appointed by the state Legislature finds this outcome could develop within the lifetime of a child born today.

“There is already climate change and we have to prepare for it,” said Mark Lowery, climate policy analyst in the state Office of Climate Change, which is part of the DEC, that agency that helped oversee preparation of the document. “We don’t want to be alarmist. We want to let people know what is happening, based on the best available science, so we can prepare for it.”

The report by veteran reporter Jim Gordon stresses how changes are already happening and will have broad repercussions statewide in areas such as energy, agriculture, tourism and transportation. New York has 3,000 miles of coastline and more than 60 percent of its population lives in a marine coastal county.



Under scenarios given in the report using a consensus of data vetted by the International Climate Change Partnership, (ICCP) the lower Hudson Valley, Long Island and New York could experience a sea-level rise between 2 inches to 10 inches in the 2020s and between one foot and four and a half feet within 70 years, depending on which climate model proves correct.

The higher figures arise in the event of “rapid ice melt” where the glaciers rapidly diminish and send their trapped water into the sea. Since the ICCP report was released in 2007, an array of data has emerged suggesting that rapid ice melt is indeed occurring, but no conclusions have been finalized. “Unfortunately what’s being observed, is more consistent with that rapid melt scenario,” Lowery said.

“The Hudson River is not going to escape the effects of sea-level rise,” said Lowery. “The sea-level rise at the Battery will be translated in almost 1-to-1 corresponding figure all the way up the Hudson to the Troy Dam, because the gradient is so slight.”

Increased storm surges would be, relatively speaking, more severe along the Hudson River because of the physics involved in wave action in the confines of the river, he said.

David Church, the Orange County planning commissioner, said he was familiar with the report and noted the effects of higher seas would move inland even away from the Hudson to tributaries, such as the Rondout and Esopus in Ulster County, Wappingers Creek in Dutchess, Moodna Creek in Orange County and Croton River in Westchester.

“We have to get really smart, fast, about considering site location issues and flood proofing for the riverfront communities,” Church said. And he noted key infrastructure along the Hudson River and tributaries, especially the rail road lines on both shores of the Hudson. “If four feet is the model that turns out to be true, that would put a lot of that track under water, so it an issue for sure,” said Church.

The report was released in November by the New York Sea Level Rise task force, which was appointed by the state Legislature to examine the scope and implications of sea-level rise as the climate changes. It is a draft document accepting public comment until Dec. 12 before being finalized and delivered to state lawmakers in January.

Lowery said he hopes the Legislature acts on the report. “Given that we can predict what is going to happen, it doesn’t make sense not to prepare for the inevitable.”

So how ARE the chances of Greene Columbia getting feeder businesses in place to work with the giant new GlobalFoundries plant being built in souther Saratoga County, just to the north of Albany off I-87? The Albany Business Review reports today that the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency has just agreed to grant $139 million in sales tax breaks to the massive computer-chip manufacturer currently building a plant in Malta, based on its expected purchase of up to $5.7 billion in chip-making tools. And this is anticipation of further state tax breaks, on top of previous exemptions, all tied to the growing anticipation of what the new business will mean for local employment, as well repercussions throughout the region's long-in-decline manufacturing sector.

In recent weeks, Greene County Industrial Development Agency director Sandy Mathes noted that companies are starting to inquire about the possibility of locating in Greene County as part of the supply chain for GlobalFoundries new Malta operations, which have already spurred the building of massive arehouses in the Albany area.



The IDA approved $99.7 million in sales tax exemptions to cover manufacturing equipment and another $39.5 million to cover sales tax related to construction at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta.

Of the $39.5 million, $27.8 million previously had been approved. That piece was increased to account for a $336 million expansion to give GlobalFoundries more manufacturing capacity.

GlobalFoundries also had asked the IDA to grant sales tax exemptions on a quarter of the manufacturing tools as an insurance policy in case the state does not provide such breaks.

In most cases, manufacturing equipment in New York state is exempt from sales tax.

Kevin McAuliffe, an attorney representing GlobalFoundries, asked the IDA to provide the tax breaks on equipment due to fears that the state may not view some semiconductor or wafer fab tools as eligible for tax exemptions.

“When taken in the context of a project of this magnitude, any lack of clarity and anything short of complete certainty is problematic,” McAuliffe, wrote in a letter to the IDA.

McAuliffe is a partner with Hiscock & Barclay in Syracuse.

The IDA board vote on the exemption request Monday morning following separate hearings in the towns of Stillwater and Malta. The plant will straddle both towns.

GlobalFoundries began construction of the $4.6 billion plant in the summer of 2009 and production is expected to begin by late 2012.

If the company installs all $5.7 billion in tools, the total project costs would grow to roughly $6.8 billion.

GlobalFoundries could employ up to 1,400 by 2014.

Scott Rajeski, director of finance of the Malta plant, said his company expects to begin meeting with staff from the state Taxation and Finance Department in February to begin discussing how various pieces of manufacturing equipment are used.

McAuliffe said he was pleased with the IDA’s decision to grant exemptions for a portion of the tools


Read more: IDA OKs $139M GlobalFoundries tax break | The Business Review

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="An image from a recent academic paper on how to count people in crowds, from Stanford University, one of many institutions that will make much of new 2010 census figures after the world of American politics has their way with new figures."][/caption]While some have started to comb the new census date for anecdotal information about who we are as a civilization these days, and academics are already setting their sights on new analysis and prognostications, most media is focusing on the politics of it all, at least as things break down into our hyper-partisan, sports-like focus on the way the two major parties will be splitting up the nation, and our future prospects, over the coming decade.

While some of the national publications are going on about how demographic shifts might affect our current President's chances two years hence, today's Albany Business Journal has a piece noting how New York is poised to lose one seat in the House of Representatives -- and perhaps two -- when the U.S. Census Bureau releases official 2010 population figures on Tuesday. New York's congressional delegation almost certainly will shrink from 29 to 28 members, according to the story. And there's an outside chance that it could drop to 27. Texas is expected to be the big winner on Tuesday, picking up three or four seats in the House. Ohio is projected to be the big loser, almost certain to lose two seats. Also shifting, tied dirctly to the House apportionment, will be the make-up of the Electoral College... that archaic entity that regularly comes up for review and never gets seriously challenged.

Decades hence, what will be more important about these new figures will be other trends not noted in today's emphasis on political headcounts. Which we'll be exploring on WGXC-FM, and this community blog, over the coming years...



Click here for the projected allocation of House seats for all 50 states.

The 435 seats in the House of Representatives are reallocated every 10 years, in line with the official results of the decennial census. Each state is guaranteed one seat, and the remaining 385 seats are dispersed one at a time under an arcane system known as the "method of equal proportions."

Texas gained four seats in the projection, though the fourth seat is extremely tenuous. Texas won the very last seat -- No. 435 -- allocated under the "method of equal proportions," meaning that it could easily be displaced when the official numbers are released.

Seven other states are projected to gain one seat each: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington.

Ohio is the only state projected to lose more than one seat, though New York has an outside chance of joining it. The final seat allocated to New York in the projection was 430th on the overall list, putting it in a tenuous position.

Also projected to lose a single seat on Tuesday are Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.


Read more: New York could lose 1 or 2 House seats | The Business Review

[caption id="attachment_1383" align="alignleft" width="195" caption="Chris Gibson opens his campaign headquarters in Kinderhook May 12, 2010."][/caption]Congressman-elect Chris Gibson was on Susan Arbetter's "The Capitol Pressroom" radio show (which will soon air on WGXC Mon-Fri at 11 a.m.; listen to recording here) Monday morning and discussed his concerns with the repeal in Congress on Saturday of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy about homosexuals in the armed forces. “If gay men or lesbians, if they’re serving openly, it could impact the cohesion of the unit, the trust of the unit as it stands today,” he told Arbetter, according to Capitol Confidential. “I think with leadership, I believe we’re going to be able to mitigate a lot of that through tolerance discussions and focus on effectiveness and combat readiness. I don’t think this is something that can’t be overcome.... Leadership is going to have to be involved in drafting new policies that support (the repeal) — everything from barracks policies to interactions among service members, all these things are going to have to be policies,” Gibson said. “Not that it can’t be done; Susan, it can be done, but it’s going to take time to do it.”

From NYCourts website:

The Court of Appeals will hear oral argument on Monday in a pair of related election proceedings, Matter of Johnson v Martins and Matter of Jacobs v Nassau County Board of Elections, arising from the November 2 election for the office of State Senator for the 7th Senatorial District. Craig M. Johnson, the Democratic incumbent, and Jay Jacobs, chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Committee, are appealing an order and decision of the Appellate Division, Second Department that denied their petitions for a manual recount of paper ballots. On December 6, Supreme Court certified Republican Jack M. Martins as the winner of the election by 451 votes. The argument will begin at 11 a.m. on Monday, December 20, at Court of Appeals Hall, 20 Eagle Street, Albany. An audio-visual feed will be provided for broadcast media at the court house. A live webcast of the session will be available.

Decisions in these cases will impact the final resolution of the New York State Senate.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Brut is one of the major brands bought and now manufactured by Texas-based Helen of Troy, which is completing a merger acquisition of Hudson-based Kaz, Inc."][/caption]Here's a copy of the press release, made available locally by The Gossips of Rivertown, announcing the purchase of Kaz, Inc. by Texas-based Helen of Troy Limited (Nasdaq: HELE), designer, developer and worldwide marketer of brand-name personal care and household consumer products, announced December 9 after a definitive merger agreement to acquire the business of Kaz, Inc., for $260 million in cash, subject to certain closing working capital and other adjustments, was reached. The acquisition is expected to close by December 31, 2010, subject to the closing of financing for the transaction and other customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.



Based in Southborough, Massachusetts, Kaz is a world leader in providing health care and home environment consumer solutions. Kaz markets its products to leading retailers under a variety of brand names, including Vicks® and Braun® under license from The Procter & Gamble Company, Honeywell® under license from Honeywell, and Stinger®, Softheat® and Kaz®, owned by Kaz, Inc. Product categories include vaporizers, humidifiers, digital, infrared and non-invasive thermometers, blood pressure monitors, hot/cold health care therapy, air purifiers, seasonal humidifiers, heaters, fans, and dehumidifiers, and lawn and garden products. Kaz products are sold in the United States and throughout the world. Sales for the next twelve months ending December 31, 2011 are expected to exceed $400 million. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Helen of Troy's earnings per share in fiscal year ending February 29, 2012.

Gerald J. Rubin, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, stated, "We are very excited about welcoming the Kaz organization into Helen of Troy. Kaz is a world-class business with excellent leadership with significant potential for growth, both domestically and internationally. We are pleased that Julien Mininberg, Chief Executive Officer of Kaz, and his talented management team will be joining our Helen of Troy family. Kaz's business and culture will continue to operate as it has in the past. Helen of Troy, through the addition of the Kaz business, will have combined annual net sales revenue in excess of $1.1 billion in fiscal 2012. Helen of Troy and Kaz are committed to together building a world class consumer products company that uses its impressive stable of global brands, its outstanding people, and its strong capabilities to drive shareholder value."

Richard Katzman, Chairman of Kaz, Inc., stated, "After 84 years and three generations, the Katzman family is very pleased that Kaz will continue to operate as a vibrant part of the Helen of Troy organization. They have built an outstanding company that shares the same entrepreneurial culture and core values that have been essential to our success. I believe the combination of these two market leaders will be very powerful."

Julien Mininberg, Chief Executive Officer of Kaz, stated, "We are excited to be joining the Helen of Troy family. Their well-respected expertise in worldwide sourcing, marketing and distribution of consumer products will complement our own., The increased critical mass will enhance our ability to maintain and expand our leadership role in the markets we serve. Helen of Troy's financial and sourcing strengths make for a uniquely compelling business combination for the Kaz team."

Helen of Troy Limited intends to finance the acquisition through its existing working capital and through debt financing, which has been committed by Bank of America. BofA Merrill Lynch acted as financial advisor to Helen of Troy Limited in connection with the transaction. Sawaya Segalas & Co., LLC(1), a leading consumer investment banking firm, acted as exclusive sell-side advisor to Kaz, Inc. in connection with this transaction.

CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST INFORMATION

A conference call will be held at 11:00AM EST today, at which time we will further discuss the acquisition in more detail.

Members of the news media, investors and the general public are invited to access a live broadcast of the conference call and a copy of the presentation regarding the Kaz acquisition via the Investor Relations page of the Company's website at www.hotus.com. The event will be archived and available for replay through January 31, 2011.

Helen of Troy Limited is a leading designer, producer and global marketer of a strong portfolio of brand-name household and personal care consumer products. The Company's household products include kitchen tools, cutlery, bar and wine accessories, household cleaning tools, tea kettles, trash cans, storage and organization products, gardening tools, kitchen mitts and trivets, barbeque tools, rechargeable lighting and baby-toddler products sold under the OXO®, Good Grips®, OXO tot® and Candela® brand names. The Company's personal care products include hair dryers, straighteners, curling irons, hair setters, women's shavers, brushes, combs, hair accessories, home hair clippers, mirrors, foot baths, body massagers, paraffin baths, liquid hair styling products, body powder, shampoos, hair treatments, deodorants and skin care products. These products are sold to consumers by mass merchandisers, drug chains, specialty retailers, warehouse clubs and grocery stores under Helen of Troy's owned brands including Infusium 23®, Brut®, Pro Beauty Tools®, Pert Plus®, Sure®, Vitalis®, Final Net®, Ammens®, Condition® 3-in-1, SkinMilk®, Dazey®, Caruso®, Karina®, DCNL®, Nandi®, Isobel® and Ogilvie®. Products are also sold under licensed trademarks including Vidal Sassoon®, licensed from The Procter & Gamble Company, Revlon®, licensed from Revlon Consumer Products Corporation, Dr. Scholl's®, licensed from Schering-Plough HealthCare Products, Inc., Sunbeam®, Health at Home® and Health o meter® licensed from Sunbeam Products, Inc., Sea Breeze®, licensed from Shiseido Company Ltd., Vitapointe®, licensed from Sara Lee Household and Body Care UK Limited, Toni & Guy® outside of the Americas, licensed from Mascolo Limited, Bed Head® and TIGI® in the Americas licensed from MBL/TIGI Products, LP, and Toni&Guy® in the Americas licensed from MBL/TONI&GUY Products, LP. The Company markets hair and beauty care products under the Helen of Troy®, Hot Tools®, Hot Spa®, Salon Edition®, Gallery Series®, Wigo®, Fusion Tools®, Belson®, Belson Pro®, Gold 'N Hot®, Curlmaster®, Profiles®, Comare®, Mega Hot®, and Shear Technology® owned brands to the professional beauty salon industry.

(1) Securities offered through ,Sawaya Segalas Securities, LLC

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to change. The forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any or all of the forward-looking statements may turn out to be wrong. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Many of these factors will be important in determining the Company's actual future results. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Actual future results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by a number of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical or anticipated results. Generally, the words "anticipates", "estimates", "believes", "expects", "plans", "may", "will", "should", "seeks", "project", "predict", "potential", "continue", "intends" and other similar words identify forward-looking statements. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company intends its forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time of such statements, and does not undertake to update or revise them as more information becomes available. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release should be read in conjunction with, and are subject to and qualified by, the risks described in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended February 28, 2010 and in our other filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to refer to the risk factors referred to above for a description of these risks. Such risks include, among others, the departure and recruitment of key personnel, the Company's ability to deliver products to our customers in a timely manner, the Company's projections of product demand, sales and net income (including the Company's guidance for Kaz's sales for 2012 and the fact that the acquisition will be accretive) are highly subjective and our future sales, net income and earnings per share could vary in a material amount from our projections, the Company's relationship with key customers and licensors, the costs of complying with the business demands and requirements of large sophisticated customers, the Company's dependence on foreign sources of supply and foreign manufacturing, the impact of changing costs of raw materials and energy on cost of goods sold and certain operating expenses, the inability to liquidate auction rate securities, circumstances that may contribute to future impairment of goodwill, intangible or other long-lived assets, the risks associated with the use of trademarks licensed from third parties, our dependence on the strength of retail economies and vulnerabilities to a prolonged economic downturn, the Company's ability to develop and introduce innovative new products to meet changing consumer preferences, disruptions in U.S. and international credit markets, exchange rate risks, expectations regarding acquisitions and the integration of acquired businesses, the Company's use of debt and the constraints it may impose, the risks associated with tax audits and related disputes with taxing authorities, potential changes in laws, including tax laws, and the Company's ability to continue to avoid classification as a controlled foreign corporation.

SOURCE Helen of Troy Limited

The Times Union's great State Worker web blog has a fascinating tidbit up about how state business groups are starting to line up with incoming governor Andrew Cuomo for some major public employee union bashing in the months to come, pledging $10 million to their effort's publicity. Seems that the trend started years back with the utter divorce between Labor Day and its history is now getting a full throttle push against all forms of worker organization... with teachers and other longterm, hardworking state employees getting the blame -- alongside immigrants -- for our current jobs problems. And not those who actually employ people.

Steve Spinola of the Real Estate Board of NY and the new Committee to Save New York visited Liz Benjamin at “Capital Tonight” to explain the group’s support of Andrew Cuomo in his upcoming fight against public-sector unions, how much money the group spent on the most recent election, and how much they plan to spend on “educating” the public by countering information put out by unions.

Read the entire story in The Times-Union.

Late December, and municipal governments are counting their money, making final year-end payments, and getting reports from independent auditors on how they've doing at balancing their books and checking them twice. In Hudson, the Register Star reports this morning, City Treasurer Eileen Halloran is saying that this year’s independent audit conducted on Hudson’s financial records indicate some opportunities for strengthening internal controls and operating efficiency, but overall, the results were satisfactory. The audit, completed this year by Certified Public Accountants Craig Sickler, Michael Torchia, Robert Allen and Victor Churchill, is conducted annually. “I think it’s a good thing,” said Halloran. “It’s costly for the city, it’s a lot of work internally with the departments and my office — we pull all kinds of files and spend time — but I feel like it’s worth it, because the most important thing to me is that our financials are fairly stated.” One of the audit’s criticisms was that the city does not maintain a complete listing of its fixed assets, and “no records are maintained for current year acquisitions or disposals.” Furthermore, the audit asserts that the city’s internal control system of financial statement findings “lacks certain controls with respect to separation of duties. This is mostly due to the small number of staff with relation to the numerous duties they’re responsible for.” There have also been some questions about how the City utilizes its petty cash allowances



Halloran said this finding is pointed out as a weakness year after year, but this is because the independent auditor uses standards that are different than what the state Comptroller’s Office requires.

“Because we don’t have our assets inventoried and valued and part of our financials, they always cite that as a weakness for the federal single audit,” said Halloran. “That is required to be reported at a federal level because of the stimulus money, but in New York State, the way we’re doing it is not required to meet that standard.”

The auditors suggested that the city review its procurement policy, because in going over the city’s bidding documentation, in one instance the city was unable to locate the third of three written proposals received. Halloran said this was for the project to install pay stations at the Front Street Amtrak station.

“The committee that worked on that — the mayor’s aide (Carmine Pierro) and the police chief (Ellis C. Richardson) — they did get bids, but they could only find the paperwork on two of the three,” said Halloran. “It was just a housekeeping item that the auditors recommended for us to make sure we always keep the documentation to support.”

In regard to budgets, the auditors noted that final budget revenues and expenditures were not in agreement with each other.

“The budget is an essential ingredient in the financial planning, control and evaluation process,” the audit’s memorandum reads. “Budgetary accounting is a management control technique used to assist in controlling expenditures and tracking revenues. We suggest the City review its budgetary accounting procedures and State of New York statutory laws.”

But Halloran said at the end of the year, incoming revenues will likely be different than the revenue projections the city makes when voting on its budget in the beginning of the fiscal year, and she thinks the auditors were simply cautioning the city to “do the best we can in not over- or under-projecting revenues and not to over-allocate or under-allocate the budget for the departments.”

“Some expense lines will be run into higher costs — we might transfer some funds out of a department’s equipment line and transfer it into their materials and supplies line, or we might have to actually dip into the fund balance for projects like the streetlighting replacement,” said Halloran. “Those are the reasons why, at the end of the year, our projected revenues and our appropriations expenses will look different than they did when they start the year.”

Halloran said the auditors are unable to make any suggestions as to how the city might rethink its budget process because it would compromise their independent auditor status.

For example, “With the budget — what they’re suggesting about looking closely at revenues and expenditures: If we were to say to them, ‘Okay, what’s a tolerable margin? Is it within 5 percent or 10 percent?’ My experience with the independent auditors is the same thing with the Comptroller’s Office,” said Halloran, in that “they hesitate to give an answer on something like that, because then, in the future, they’d be auditing their own advice.”

Overall, the auditors wrote, the city “complied, in all material respects, with the requirements ... that are applicable to each of its major federal programs for the year ended December 31, 2009.” However, instances of noncompliance were disclosed and are required to be reported, the auditors wrote.

Among the items found in prior years that were reiterated in this year’s budget:

* Expenditure Testing: In 2006, 2008 and 2009, the auditors observed numerous vouchers which did not contain the mayor or finance committee’s approval.
* Trust and Agency Fund: In 2006, 2008 and 2009, numerous accounts carried small balances year after year, with very little change.
* Payroll Testing: Numerous supporting documentation issues were indicated, including the city’s inability to produce documentation for a department involved in ongoing legal investigation; the auditors not being provided with all direct deposit authorizations requested; copies of I-9 forms unable to be located, with no explanation; and “several cases where gross pay recalculations did not tie in exactly to the payroll being tested.”
* Interfund Transfers: Permanent transfers between funds occurred without budgeting or Common Council approval.

One item that the auditors found to be remedied since fiscal year 2008 was the issue of petty cash accounts, which at the time were not authorized by the Common Council. Having found that the council did reauthorize petty cash levels for various departments in 2009, the auditors declared the issue resolved.

Lunar eclipse on winter solstice
The next lunar eclipse on the winter solstice falls in 2094, according to the Christian Science Monitor, so, if you are in to that sort of thing, you want to stay up late tonight/early Tuesday morning. Tips for lunar eclipse photography here. For the Western Hemisphere, the eclipse will "officially" begin on Dec. 21 at 12:29 a.m. EST (9:29 p.m. PST on Dec. 20) as the moon begins to enter Earth's outer, or penumbral, shadow. "But even in clear weather, skywatchers will not notice any changes in the moon's appearance until about 45 minutes later when a slight "smudge" or shading begins to become evident on the upper left portion of the moon's disk," Space.com says. The website has this chart to show you where and when the eclipse can be seen.

Town meetings tonight
TOWN OF ATHENS Regular Town Board meetings held first and third Mondays of each month at 6:45 p.m., at Town Clerk’s office, 2 First St.

Weather
CLEAR But chilly, below freezing.

Birthdays
DECEMBER 20: Irene Dunne, Sandra Cisneros, and Mike Watt.

Watching 150 fully-decked out Santas ride ski lifts and glide downhill can be thing of beauty. Today, over 150 skiing and riding Santas raised $1,400 for the Windham Community Food Pantry (no website, but WRIP says their number is 734-3826) on Windham Mountain.

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, New York and consider a rulemaking action proposed by DEC: Part 247, Outdoor Wood Boilers; and Part 200, General Provisions. 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.

For a weighted analysis on what's at stake in this discussion, including Farm Bureau objections to today's meeting and growing concerns about these types of boilers, read the Daily Freeman story on the subject here.