Cairo-Durham school election results: School Budget Passed 551-527; Library Appropriation Failed 477-581; Biomass heating system Failed 433-625. Board Member results: Greg Koerner-Fox - 584; Thomas Plank - 564; Beatrice Clappin - 537; Pat Ublacker - 512; Nicole Maggio - 472; Dean Pectal - 456; Sam Mozzillo - 338. The Daily Mail reports Catskill results:

Catskill Central School District’s $36.6 million budget package for 2010-11 was approved by district voters Tuesday night in a 2-1 margin of 712-375. The Catskill Public Library budget was also passed with an approximate 2-1 margin, 701-368. Elected to the Board of Education for three-year terms were incumbent Michael Bulich, who was returned to the board for his second term with 579 votes, and first-timers Christopher Van Loan and Tracy Powell, who drew 439 and 408 votes, respectively. Elected to a two-year term — the unserved balance of an existing seat from a former BOE member — was first-timer Matthew Leipman, who received 402 votes.

The 2010-2011 budget for the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District was adopted by voters by a margin of 738 votes to 521. Three Board of Education seats were also up for grabs in the vote held yesterday - incumbents Mark Gerrain, Russell Nadler and Beth Tailleur were all up for re-election. Gerrain and Tailleur had easy victories, but Nadler was unseated by opponent Stephen Oliveira, who won 575 votes to Nadler’s 404.

The Hudson City School District budget for 2010-2011 squeaked by Tuesday by a margin of a little more than 100 votes. District voters also reelected Mary Daly (663 votes) to the School Board and brought aboard Peter Merante Sr. (717), Justin Cukerstein, 593 votes. He may still may get a board seat. Patricia Abitabile, currently in the second year of her second five-year term, is resigning from the board as of June 30. There has yet to be a resolution on how Abitabile will be replaced, but a discussion at a recent BOE meeting seemed to indicate the candidate with the third highest number of votes could garner her seat. Carrie Haddad received 422 votes and Peter Rice Jr., garnered 263.

The 2010-2011 budget for the Taconic Hills Central School District passed Tuesday after polls closed, with 604 yes and 377 no votes....Joseph Costa (552), a Claverack automotive business owner who said he would encourage attendance at board meetings, and Kevin Maisenbacher (511), a branch manager at Key Corp/N.A. Licensed Investment, who hopes to involve the community more deeply in board decisions, won the district’s two open school board seats, replacing incumbent board members Scott Decker and Tom Bailey.

U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy, the Democrat from Glens Falls who represents Columbia and Greene counties, ranked 370 of 435 with $6.09 million federal pork-barrel funds for local projects, according to the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste’s annual “Pig Book,” William J. Kemble reports in The Daily Freeman. In comparison, longtime U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, who represents an area just south of Murphy's district, ranked 50th with $54.96 million in projects. Murphy has served less then one full term. Murphy recently posted his appropriations requests online. Murphy is facing Republican Chris Gibson this fall.

Voting for school board members and issues takes place Tuesday in both counties. From The Daily Freeman:

Greene County

Cairo-Durham
(Polls are open noon to 9 p.m.)
Cairo-Durham Middle School cafeteria.

Catskill
(Polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.)
Catskill High School gymnasium.

Coxsackie-Athens
(Polls are open 1 to 9 p.m.)
District elementary schools.

Hunter-Tannersville
(Polls are open 1 to 9 p.m.)
Hunter Elementary School.

Columbia County

Germantown
(Polls are open noon to 9 p.m.)
Germantown Central School office lobby on Main Street.

Jimmy Vielkind at Capitol Confidential says Tom Poelker of the Greene County Democratic Committee, and two other upstate county Democratic leaders are about to endorse Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice for the Attorney General race. Cindy Emmer, chairwoman of the Chemung County Democratic Committee, and Mike Kunzwiler of the Oswego County Democrats are also about to endorse Rice, Vielkind says, in her race against Sen. Eric Schneiderman.

Next Monday May 24 at 7 p.m. at Catskill High School the Village of Catskill holds its annual Appropriations Meeting, where voters get to speak about the village budget.

Kyle Wind in The Daily Freeman:

More than 250 jobs will be eliminated in the region if voters approve school district budgets as proposed Tuesday. All the districts in the area with except Hunter-Tannersville, in Greene County, plan to cut faculty and staff members in response to projected reductions in state aid, and, in some districts, declining enrollment.

GREENE COUNTY

Cairo-Durham school officials are planning to cut 7.2 teaching positions — half at the elementary level and half at middle and high schools — along with a psychologist and a teaching assistant. Catskill school officials are planning to cut three teachers — an art teacher, a librarian and a foreign language teacher — as well as a secondary school administrator, an assistant principal at the elementary school and 1.4 support staff positions. The district plans to reduce the assistant director of special education from a 12-month to 10-month position. In Coxsackie-Athens, planned cuts include a kindergarten class, a teacher’s aide, a high school teacher’s aide, a part-time high school Spanish teacher, an elementary special education teacher, high school academic intervention teaching assistants in science, English and the computer lab, a middle school enrichment teacher, an elementary school librarian, a middle school reading teacher, a high school special education teacher, a part-time high school math teacher, a fifth-grade section and a sixth-grade section. Hunter-Tannersville is the only district in the region not planning to cut any positions.

COLUMBIA COUNTY

In Germantown, the district is planning to cut 1.5 high school teachers, an elementary teacher, a teaching assistant, a custodian and a part-time Spanish teacher. Read the entire story in The Daily Freeman.

Sets from "Feed the Radio" fundraiser at Germantown Community Farm:
Click here to listen to an mp3 recording of the set from Lady Moon and the Eclipse: Evan Randall, Peter Lindstrom, Ngonda Badilla, and Milandou Badilla. Or paste the following url into your media player:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/05
/LadyMoon_WGXC_051510.mp3

Click here to listen to an mp3 recording of the set from Moonlight in Paris: Young Paris with Lady Moon. Or paste the following url into your media player:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/05/YoungParisLadyMoon_WGXC_051510.mp3

Click here to listen to an mp3 recording of the set from Hi-NRG. Or paste the following url into your media player:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/05/HiNRG_WGXC_051510.mp3

Saturday New York's Green Party nominated Howie Hawkins for Governor. Gloria Mattera, long-time peace activist from Brooklyn, was nominated for Lt. Governor. Colia Clark, a long time social justice activist from Harlem, won the nomination to run for the U.S. Senate for the seat presently held by Democrat Chuck Schumer. Cecile Lawrence, a resident of Apalachin in Tioga County who is a leader in the movement against hydrofracking for natural gas due to concerns over water and other environmental issues, will run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand. Julia Willibrand, a long-time environmental leader from Manhattan, was nominated for State Comptroller. The Green Party needs 50,000 votes for Governor to regain its status as an official ballot access qualified party.

PEFORMANCES

Lady Moon and the Eclipse (Evan Randall, Peter Lindstrom, Ngonda Badila, Milandou Badila)
Moonlight in Paris (Lady Moon and Young Paris)
Hi NRG with Giorgio
DJ Dance Party
(Sound by Tom Morini)


WORKSHOPS

Making radio: real live tools for real local radio

Meet upstairs in the barn.
From asking good questions to pressing the right buttons, we'll be producing some short interviews and field recordings while engaging the skills needed to make radio that really represents. Dharma Daily and Emily Bennison will share their expertise and lead us through.

Joining the airwaves: The WGXC radio station "barnraising"
Meet downstairs in the barn.
Capacity Building for Community Building:
WGXC community radio is really rolling. The station launch date is set for late September, and Prometheus Radio Project has chosen us to collaborate with to produce a huge event called a Radio barnraising. Radio barnraisings are weekend-long radio building and movement building events. Individuals from the local community and participatory media folks from around the country come together to share ideas, experiences, and skills in the launching of a community radio station. This is an extremely exciting opportunity for those interested in community radio to get involved and get trained! Come find out more about this event, see a couple short films of other barnraisings, and become a part of making it happen. Cory Fischer-Hoffman of Prometheus Radio Project and Kaya Weidman of WGXC: Hands-On Radio will guide us through.

Food and farmland access
Our regional resources and strategies meet by the tables or in the house
With Ashley Loehr of Fog and Thistle CSA and some other farmers.

Farm Tours

Meet by the washstand next to the barn.
Cruise around the property with the farmers here on the land and hear of the successes, as well as the trials and tribulations of the soil, the seasons, breaking new ground, marketing, and various earthly forces that affect what they grow, how they grow, and what happens.

Labor of Love: get yer hands dirty!
Meet at the greenhouse.

With the farmers: Don't feel like going to a workshop, and just want to get your hands in the dirt? Luckily, there's plenty to do! Come see the glamorous side of farming by picking rocks and planting potatoes, and help the farmers enjoy the party by getting some big work done.

TUNE IN TODAY
Tune in today live from Germantown Community Farm.
Click here to listen to live web stream.

Or paste this url into your computer's media player:
http://comm.free103point9.org:8000/
germantown.mp3.m3u

Hudson Rotary Club named Ellen Thurston as 2010 Hudson Area Citizen of the Year, according to GoToHudson.com. Ms. Thurston is Third Ward Alderman and Majority Leader of the Hudson Common Council, Vice President of the Hudson Opera House Board, and for years was the principal organizer of Winter Walk. Her events calendar, "Much to Do About Hudson" is a must, for anyone wanting to know what's happening in Hudson and beyond. There will be a reception in her honor to be held at the Hudson Opera House on Thursday, May 20, from 5 to 7 p.m. Although not required, please RSVP to the Hudson Rotary Club by contacting Joel Allen at hudsonallens@verizon.net or (518) 828-4729.

From The Business Review (Albany):

A $200,000 state grant will enable Greene County to help small businesses. The grant from the New York State Office of Community Renewal will be funneled into the county’s Microenterprise Assistance Program, which provides grants to small businesses. The county will also offer training classes for small businesses. Start-up companies and existing businesses with five or fewer employees are eligible for grants of up to $25,000 to create jobs or expand their business. Applications can be submitted to the Greene County Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Planning. For more information, go to http://greenebusiness.com/economic-development/loans-incentives. Reservations are also being accepted for the Spring 2010 Microenterprise Assistance Program training class, a free, two-day intensive session that covers the basics of business planning, accounting and marketing. The class will be held June 18-19 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Greene County Emergency Operations and Training Center, One Volunteer Drive in Cairo. To reserve a seat, call the county at 518-719-3290. Reservations should be requested by June 14 at 4:30 p.m.

Chatham resident Judy Grunberg, owner of the Blue Plate restaurant and the founder of the PS/21 arts center, is among a group of investors close to finalizing a deal to buy Chatham's Crandall Theater, The Columbia Paper, and other papers, report today after the "For Sale" sign came down Thursday. When owner Tony Quirino died in January, he had been working to sell the theater to the Chatham Film Club, though the Club now is among two bidding groups that apparently lost to the Grunberg group. The Grunberg group is reportedly talking with the film club about extending the theater's previous collaborations.

[caption id="attachment_1383" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Chris Gibson opens his campaign headquarters in Kinderhook May 12, 2010."][/caption]

Republican Congressional candidate Chris Gibson opened his campaign headquarters in his hometown of Kinderhook Thursday, May 12, packing the small space with loyal supporters down the street from Ichabod Crane High School, where Gibson was the point guard and co-captain of the basketball team. The candidate sat down for a few minutes with WGXC to talk about the issues he is hearing about from residents of Greene and Columbia counties, and you can listen to the mp3 file here or paste this url into your computer's media player:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/05
/ChrisGibson_WGXC_051210.mp3

J.P. Harris and the Tough Choices, just plain country from Brattleboro.


The Weight: American rock 'n' roll from Brooklyn


Happy Birthday: Sub-Pop recording artist from Brattleboro.



9 p.m., Sat. June 19 at Club Helskini, 405 Columbia St., Hudson, NY 12534

Tickets are $10 for WGXC Founding Members in advance; $12 for others in advance; and $15 for all at door. All proceeds will go to help launch the very exciting new community radio station for Columbia and Greene counties, WGXC. Check out www.wgxc.org for more info.






On Saturday, May 19, three bands will take the newly-opened stage of Club Helsinki by storm. Comprising an unrelenting cross-section of American music today, all three acts have more than just old friendships in common: None of them have left a stage in the last year without everyone in the room sweaty, wild-eyed, and screaming for more. Don't miss this rare opportunity to see three bands that are truly shaking the foundations of independent music, all on one stage.



Because of their love for independent community radio, these bands are travelling all the way to Hudson to play this blowout benefit for this area's soon-to-be very own community radio station, WGXC: Hands-On Radio. The station is gearing up for its grand launch onto the airwaves this fall, and just needs to raise the remaining bucks to do so. So come out, get moving, and help make it happen.



for more info check out:

www.wgxc.org



The Weight: If this doesn't move your body, all hope is lost. "While there's certainly no shortage of classic rock / Americana revival bands in Brooklyn these days, The Weight... have the drawl and enthusiasm to make the rest sound like they're reading off cue cards." -Vice Magazine



Happy Birthday, with their self-titled debut on Sub Pop records (L7, Nirvana, Reverend Horton Heat, etc.) are making waves. Poppy, sour-bubblegum waves. The kind that makes you keep chewing even though it makes your mouth water too much, your eyes tear, and your feet propel your body up and down off the floor. The kind of wave that makes you smile and dance until it hurts. A lot.



J.P. Harris and The Tough Choices play old-fashioned Honky Tonk. Period. If you wanna two-step, if you wanna cry in your drink, or if you just like scruffy young fellas in Wranglers, find them in a low-lit roadhouse near you.




BUY TICKETS THROUGH BROWN BAG TICKETS:

WGXC Founding Members get a discount. Type in "wgxc" in discount box.

The Chris Gibson for Congress Campaign has opened its headquarters at 12 Broad Street directly across from Bagel Tyme cafe in the village of Kinderhook. The campaign invites neighbors and friends from Columbia County to meet the candidate on May 13 from 5 to 8 p.m. Kinderhook-native Gibson is the Republican nominee to challenge incumbent Democrat Scott Murphy to represent New York's 20th District.

New York State Senator James Seward will join the Greene Business Alliance, members of the business community, and local elected officials at an Empire Merchants North open house at 11 a.m. Friday, May 14 at Empire Merchants North, 16 Houghtaling Rd., West Coxsackie, NY.

WGXC's Sam Sebren made it out to record the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation legislative hearing for renewal and modification of the existing Lafarge Title V Air Permit application last night at 6 p.m. at the Ravena-Coeymans Selkirk High School Auditorium.

Click here to listen to mp3 audio recording of the hearing, or paste the following url into your computer's media player:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/05/Lafarge_DEChearing_WGXC_RavenaHigh_051110.mp3

Review the complete LaFarge application documents at this link: http://www.dec.ny.gov/dardata/boss/afs/draft_atv_l.html. The DEC will be accepting written comments until May 21. Please mail or email your comments & include the application number so your comments aren't lost.
Mail to:
Sarah H. Evans
NYSDEC Region 4 Headquarters
1130 North Westcott Rd.
Schenectady, NY 12306
518-357-2069
r4dep@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Application ID# : 4-0124-00001/00112

Recently testing began on where [the WIOX] signal can reach. The signal is strong in Fleischmanns, Margaretville, and Andes....tests [continue] over the next few weeks in the other directions....WIOX will have a booth at the Roxbury Sidewalk Festival.

From Brian Nearing in The Albany Times-Union:

Several hundred people turned out for a hearing Tuesday on the proposed state air pollution permit for the Lafarge cement plant, and nearly all gave the same message -- the state must do more to limit the amount of mercury and other toxins coming from the smokestack. "I think we are splitting hairs here over just how much they are poisoning us," said Leigh Jamison, who lives about seven miles downwind of the Route 9W plant in Stuyvesant, Columbia County. Nearly 30 people spoke during the three-hour hearing held across from the plant at Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Read the entire story in the Times-Union.

WGXC's Emily Bennison made recordings of children's authors during the Hudson Children's Book Festival. Click on the author's name to listen to an mp3 audio interview.

Anne Broyles
Ann Jonas
Barbara Slate
Danielle Joseph
Donald Crews
Ellen Jensen
Gail Carson Levine
Zetta Elliott