From Francesca Olsen in The Register-Star:

The Columbia County Industrial Development Agency unanimously denied a request Tuesday morning from Widewaters Development Corp. on behalf of the Kohl’s department store chain for a 15-year payment in lieu of taxes. Read the entire article at The Register-Star.

From The Watershed Post:

American shad, once plentiful in the Hudson and the smaller rivers they return to each year to spawn, have suffered tremendous declines in recent years--so much so that the NY DEC declared them off-limits in the Hudson this year. Nevertheless, the guides at Cross Current Fly Fishing think this is going to be a good year for shad on the Delaware:

Reports of 20+ fish days are common throughout the river up to the Delaware Water Gap. This past week the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission electrofished a stretch of river near Raubsville, PA and averaged 39 fish per hour, a very high number according to fisheries biologists. Read the entire story in The Watershed Post.

From Mid-Hudson News.com:

JetBlue Airways is for now planning on sticking with its two daily flights to Florida from Stewart Airport, just west of Newburgh. The airline flies one flight a day each to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. At some point it would like to consider expanding, but for now, officials say they are satisfied with the level of service they provide to the Hudson Valley. If and when they decide to expand, one city they would consider is Las Vegas. In fact, JetBlue Northeast Regional Manager Susan Gorski told MidHudsonNews.com in an exclusive interview that airport officials have pitched them to cover that destination city. “We would have to have enough traffic to sustain that; 150 people on a daily basis,” she said. “I know our folks do a lot of research before they go into a market because when we go into a market, we are committed to it and don’t want to go in and pull out of a market.” Read the entire article at Mid Hudson News.

Conservative blog The Daily Sok reports on what Kinderhook's Republican Congressional candidate Chris Gibson said, meeting with a group of so-called "tea party" citizens outside NY's District 20 at Duke's Pub in Glenmont last Wednesday, about his positions in his quest to unseat Democrat incumbent Scott Murphy:

The Colonel didn’t miss a beat answering the opening question (posed by a local activist sporting a symbolic Tin Foil Hat), “Will you support impeaching President Obama for violating the terms of his Oath of Office?” His level reply: “No”. Rather, he said, he will focus on “making him [President Obama] a one-termer”, which drew a cacophony of applause from those gathered. Other answers drew mixed reactions. On Abortion, the Colonel, who was “raised Catholic”, doesn’t oppose Abortion “in the first trimester”, which split the crowd roughly evenly. He responded to calls from the crowd that the “Fed has no place [in Abortion]” by re-emphasizing that his position is “aligned with limited government”. When asked “Why can’t you be bought?” Gibson revealed he intends to turn back his military pension when he is elected, to avoid any semblance of “double-dipping” and sees the opportunity to represent NY-20 as “not a job, a cause”. He sees a balanced budget and term limits as steps towards shifting power away from Washington and back to the local communities. He indicated that, as a 24-year Veteran, he is keenly aware of the need to cut Soviet-era systems and his 4 combat tours in Iraq have given him a unique insight into effective strategies for dealing with threats like Al Qaeda, including (exceedingly popular with the crowd) dismantling the Department of Homeland Security.

"Defrost" was a fundraiser for WGXC March 20, 2010 at Spotty Dog Books & Ale with a number of amazing performances. Really, this was a special night with some incredible performances. Below are links to mp3 audio recordings of performances that night. They may not play in Internet Explorer, try a different browser. You may need Quicktime Pro Player to download files.

Rob Hervey performed first, and you can hear all but the very beginning of his performance here, or by pasting this url into your media player:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/04/
RobHervey_SpottyDog_WGXC_032010.mp3


After Hervey, DJ Lunar Moon (who can be heard Thursdays at PM Wine Bar) kept everyone happy until Evan Randall (pictured, above right) performed. Listen to his mp3 here, or insert this code:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/04/
EvanRandall_SpottyDog_
WGXC_032010.mp3



Catskill's Brian Dewan (right) followed with a set that included "Our Ever-Improving Village," which one could surmise draws locally for some of its descriptions and metaphors. Dewan is pictured at right, and his set's mp3 can be heard here, or by inserting:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/04/
BrianDewan_SpottyDog_WGXC_032010.mp3

Lady Moon kept the auto harp flava going, with her set here, or here:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/04/
LadyMoon_SpottyDog_WGXC_032010.mp3

Matthew O'Koren (below, right) did some comedy while standing up, which you can hear here, or here:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/04/
MatthewOKoren_SpottyDog_
WGXC_032010.mp3

Alexander Turnquist (below) finished up the night on guitar, with some vibes help from O'Koren. Click <a href="http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/04/AlexanderTurnquistMattOKoren_SpottyDog_WGXC_032010.mp3
">here to listen to the mp3, or insert:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/04/
AlexanderTurnquistMattOKoren_SpottyDog_WGXC_032010.mp3



Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

The first line of Jamie Larson's story in the Register-Star about the Bliss Towers renovations never gets proven: "Residents and city officials agree: Hudson’s 30 year old, 11 story, 132 unit low-income housing high-rise built during the height of the Urban Renewal program in the 1970s, is obsolete." Larson never produces one person to verify that statement. Who are these people that agree? In Hudson? Who says it is obsolete? Why not ask someone who lives there? Then Larson says, "On Tuesday, Omni Housing Development will hold an informational planning discussion with local officials and developers to discuss what they hope will be a more socially and environmentally responsible low-income housing system to replace the aging tower." The story never says where the meeting is, or what time it is on Tuesday.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Incident Report and WGXC presented three performances at Hudson Opera House last night: Canada's Julie Lequin, and Hudson's Tom Morini and Jeremy Kelly. Kelly went first and performed with Geoff Macioleck (left in photo), and was followed by Morini solo at the piano. Lequin finished things up, and her audio would not make sense without the video she played with it, so we will not post an mp3 of her performance. Lequin's "Car Talk" installation is viewable/listenable at Incident Report's 348 Warren St. location through April 19.

Click here to listen to mp3 of Tom Morini's performance, or paste this into your media player:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/04/
TomMorini_HOH_WGXC_041010.mp3

Click here to listen to mp3 of Jeremy Kelly and Geoff Macioleck's performance, or paste this into your media player:
http://data.wavefarm.org/2010/04/
JeremyJeff_HOH_WGXC_041010.mp3

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

As we reported Friday, Jean Deux Books & Records is moving out of its current space at 339 Warren St. April 17 after the landlord raised the rent dramatically. In its place, a reclaimed lumber store will open, we hear. Jean Deux is contemplating taking over the building next to Strongtree Organic Coffee Roasters across from the Amtrak station. At the other end of Hudson, several sources suggest there is a falafel restaurant opening at 11 N. 7th St. on the park, where a construction permit dated April 6 hangs. There is now a Facebook group for the restaurant. And the Times-Union reports Mexican Radio is opening a Schenectady outpost, to add to its original Manhattan location and its spot at 537 Warren St. And Sam Pratt says Baba Louie's (of the 517 Warren St. and Great Barrington locations) will open another outpost in Pittsfield.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

From Ariel Zangla in The Daily Freeman:

The fundraising deadline to help community radio station WGXC get on the air has been extended until July 1, the program director says. Tom Roe said that, as of Friday, the station has raised 40 percent of what it needs to match a $71,486 grant provided by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration through its Public Telecommunications Facilities Program. He said the station has raised $28,357, but still needs another $43,128. “It’s been going very well so far,” Roe said of the fundraising. He said $5,000 was raised in the past two weeks to get the deadline extended from March 31 to July 1. Roe said the money being raised will help the station buy the equipment necessary to get on the air. He said the grant, though, will only pay for large equipment, like the transmitter. The grant will fund half of the equipment needed to put the station on the air later this year at 90.7 on the FM dial. WGXC will be a 3,300-watt non-commercial community radio station with shows about local issues such as agriculture, history, the arts and education. It will reach most of Greene and Columbia counties and have studios at the Catskill Community Center and in Hudson. Another studio may be established in Cairo. Roe said the station is trying to get on the air by the end of September and that individuals interested in hosting shows have until May 1 to apply. The application form is available at www.wgxc.org. Most of the shows will be hosted by people from Columbia and Greene counties and feature topics of interest to those locales, Roe said. One of the station’s next fund raising events will be an open mic night on April 23 at Gallagher’s, 513 Main St., Cairo. The event will run from 7 to 9 p.m. and is being held in conjunction with the Cairo Public Library.

Congressman Scott Murphy, now also running a campaign against Republican Chris Gibson, to retain his seat in New York's 20th District, holds one of his town meetings this Monday, April 12, from 2:45 – 3:45 p.m. at the Weis Cinema in Bertelsmann Campus Center, at Bard College, 30 Campus Rd. in Red Hook.

WGXC staff will be in Hudson on Saturday, first in front of Jean Deux Books & Records at 339 Warren St. (though they just lost their lease and will be out of this space April 18), giving out information about community radio and taking Founding Memberships from 1-4 p.m. Then, at 6 p.m. we move to the Hudson Opera House, where WGXC and Incident Report present Incident No. 31: Julie Lequin One Night Performance of Top 30, with special guests Tom Morini, Jeremy Kelly on Saturday, April 10, from 6-9 p.m. The performance of Top 30 combines live presentation with video projection. Admission is free. Incident Report is an experimental viewing station for visual projects, located in Hudson, NY. We are a model of portability, non-site, no-budget and low-maintenance. We offer an interface between the many publics of the street, and the concepts and issues generated by artists and social thinkers in a wide yet coherent spectrum. Installation of Jule Lequin's "Car Talk": March 22 - April 19, 2010 Knitting together excerpts from the NPR show of the same name and my own fabricated responses, Car Talk presents a fictional conversation between myself and the two radio icons discussing my linguistic troubles, my Québécoise identity and life as an artist. Also one-night performance of Lequin's "Top 30," April 10 with special guests Thomas Morini and Jeremy Kelly. WGXC live broadcast on WGXC Online Radio at www.wgxc.org. Performances at the Hudson Opera House: April 10, 6-9 p.m. @ 327 Warren Street - Hudson, NY. One Night Performance of Julie Lequin's, Top 30 With Special Music/Sound Performances by Jeremy Kelly and Thomas Kiko Morini.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

From Nippertown!:

The Albany Sonic Arts Collective just keeps hitting ‘em the out of the ballpark: Saturday at Upstate Artists Guild in Albany, they’re hosting “Defragmented: A Concert of Emergent Systems,” featuring the Finnish based composer/sound artist Marko Timlin and thenumber46. Both acts use improvisation and non-linear analog systems to create music that teeters on the edge between control and chaos. Helsinki-based Marko Timlin has invented a variety of virtual and analog instruments and his music focuses on real-time interactions with electronic media with often unpredictable and surprising results. thenumber46, a duo comprised of electro-acoustic flutist (and free103point9 collaborator) Suzanne Thorpe and electronic musician Philip White, improvise volatile and explosive soundscapes by pushing and coaxing feedback systems to their limits.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwBG2j-1zQk&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Bella's Bartok plays original song "Satan's Song" at WGXC New Year's Masquerade Ball at Basilica Industria in Hudson, NY for radio station WGXC, New Year's 2009/2010.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmdRMcjoFCA&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Kelli Rudick performing at the Hudson Opera House, Jan 30 2010 (live webcast on WGXC Radio). Part one of five on YouTube.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylwn3bh7s6o&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Video, drum performance, and text (preverbs) by George Quasha. First full live performance of "Axial Drumming with Preverbs" using digital LED of Preverbs text (presentation design by Susan Quasha) on the occasion of a benefit fundraiser at Nicole Fiacco Gallery in Hudson, New York, for WGXC radio station --"Hands-on Radio 90.7 FM" (see www.WGXC.org). Event organized by Paul Smart and Max Goldfarb for WGXC.

From Chris Churchill in the Times-Union:

GlaxoSmithKline announced this evening that it would shift its toothpaste manufacturing from New Jersey to Greene County preventing the shutdown of its plant in Oak Hill. The British pharmaceutical giant had planned to shutter the Oak Hill plant by 2012, following its $3.6 billion acquisition last year of Stiefel Laboratories, which made skin products there. Glaxo will still shift skin-product manufacturing to a plant in Canada, as originally planned. But it will invest $56 million to remake the Oak Hill factory to manufacture Aquafresh, the company and Greene County officials said. The move will not save every Glaxo job in Greene County. After the transition, the Oak Hill plant will employ about 200 workers, down from the more than 260 who work there now. And some of the jobs will be taken by workers transferring from the plant in Clifton, N.J., which will close in 2012. "It's going to be a mix and match of current employees and new employees," said Alexander "Sandy" Mathes, the executive director of the Greene County Industrial Development Agency, which worked to save the plant. Glaxo's decision to close the plant stunned Greene County officials, who have depended on the factory as a stable source of employment in the mostly rural area. Officials described Thursdays announcement as a victory resulting from a long effort by several local and state agencies including Empire State Development, the Division of Housing and Community Renewal and others to keep the factory open. In part, they did that by targeting the factory for nearly $7 million in grants designed to boost energy efficiency and modernize the plant. Also, the Greene County IDA will freeze property taxes at the site and exempt Glaxo from some sales taxes. The Oak Hill plant consists of 250,000 square feet of manufacturing and laboratory space along Route 145.

Michael Ryan in the Windham Journal writes:

Thousands of dollars were handed out when the Schoharie Watershed Advisory Council awarded its second round of Stream Management Program funds, last week, during a meeting at the Windham Country Club. SWAC members awarded $77,627 to seven entities in Greene and Delaware counties for projects aimed at preserving water quality in the New York City reservoir system and increasing awareness of watershed related issues. All of the funds are provided by the Department of Environmental Protection, which has set aside $2 million to be distributed over a 5-year period, with two years having passed on the contract, administered by the Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District. [Greene County] Funds were allocated in round two as follows:

—EDUCATION AND OUTREACH: The Mountaintop Arboretum in Tannersville, $6,810, with a $750 In-kind contribution to create landscape design plans for a Wooded Walk outdoor classroom, accommodating approximately 45 people. The natural amphitheater will offer year-round outdoor programming on ecological and natural history topics relating to the watershed such as wetland plants, insect and wildlife along riparian areas, birding, stream health and leaf pack workshops to learn about geology.

—EDUCATION AND OUTREACH: Greene County Cornell Cooperative Extension, $1,884 with a $498 In-kind contribution to set up a rain barrel workshop that will be held at the Sugar Maples Arts Center in Maplecrest. The hands-on workshop will take place during Schoharie Watershed Week, May 17-23, 2010, providing materials and instruction for approximately ten families, teaching them to construct a rain barrel for home use. While the rain barrels will be fun to build, they will also be functional. The workshop will also introduce participants to methods of stormwater control, non-point pollution prevention and conservation of water resources in a residential setting.

—EDUCATION AND OUTREACH: the SWAC Education and Outreach Committee, $5,100 with an In-kind contribution of $4,125 to conduct a series of events, activities and workshops for people of all ages during Schoharie Watershed Week, taking place throughout the region. On tap will be a watershed-related film series (at the Hunter Theater in the town of Hunter), fly-fishing demonstrations, downspout disconnect programs, an Adopt-A-Stream clean up, a watershed scavenger hunt and kayak and canoe demonstrations.

—RECREATION/HABITAT IMPROVEMENTS: the Town of Windham, $15,000 with an In-kind contribution of $6,536 (and a potential to raise more in community contributions) to be used toward the creation of a multi-use, non-motorized trail on the Batavia Kill. The 1.1 mile loop trail will be built on a 68-acre parcel owned by the town at the former Police Anchor Camp, along Route 23, on the eastern outskirts of the hamlet district, allowing for improved access to the popular fishing stream. Bridge and boardwalk materials are needed to cross over a wetland and a tributary. A trail committee of local residents and business owners is planning the Windham Path with assistance from the Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District.

--PLANNING & ASSESSMENT: the Town of Hunter, $35,000 with an In-kind contribution of $5,000 to conduct a detailed review of current land use regulations with an intent to adopt revisions and write new regulations and/or guidelines promoting low impact design, climate smart and smart growth principles. In the absence of zoning, the town is seeking to investigate, and adopt as appropriate, innovative land use practices which will be an incentive to achieve desirable future growth related to private housing, development and commercial enterprises.

--PLANNING & ASSESSMENT: the towns of Ashland, Jewett, Lexington and Windham and the villages of Hunter and Tannersville, $12,000 with an In-kind contribution of $21,500 from the Catskill Watershed Corporation to hold “Mountaintop-wide Better Site Design Plan Workshops.” The workshops will guide each community through a comparison of the local codes against model development principles using a consensus building approach. Model principles will then be compiled into a General Guide for Mountaintop Communities, facilitating specific recommendations for each community.

SWAC has thus far awarded a total of $518,957.50 in the first two rounds of programming, leaving $1.481,042.50 for future projects. The application deadline for round three is August 2, 2010, with approvals formally taking place on October 27, 2010. Projects awarded funding in round one included improving stream access along the Schoharie Creek in the town of Prattsville by constructing a parking area and installing floodplain drains under Vista Ridge Road in the Town of Jewett, reducing backwater conditions causing channel aggradation. Stormwater retrofits were approved at the Mountaintop Library in the village of Tannersville and Town of Hunter, reducing the quantity of, and improving the conveyance of, stormwater runoff, vastly improving water quality.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-K5kh6NpYM&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Didi Barrett announces her campaign for NY State Senate in Poughkeepsie, NY April 7, 2010 in the video above. Later in the day, she also announced her candidacy at the Columbia Courthouse in Hudson, with about 50 onlookers, the Register-Star reported. Barrett so far is the first Democrat to announce a challenge for the 41st New York State Senate seat held by Republican Steve Saland that covers Columbia County, and Dutchess and other nearby area.

Diane Valden in The Columbia Paper reports:

The 122-acre cornfield between the hamlet and the Copake town hall--the proposed site of a controversial 138-unit senior and mixed-income housing development called Copake Green--is now up for sale [from Housing Resources of Columbia County]. The asking price is $1.2 million. And unless someone ready, willing and able to invest in the housing project shows up before the property is sold, Copake Green will be nothing more than a not-so-fond memory for many in town who never thought it was a good idea.

Jimmy Vielkind in Capitol Confidential reports:

Federal officials have sent a letter to Gov. David Paterson, warning him that his proposed closure of state parks and historic sites would put New York in “non-compliance” with the requirements attached to funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, possibly resulting in the loss of federal funding for parks or other areas. “In addition, closure of any park acquired through FLP (Federal Land to Parks) could result in reversion of the property to federal ownership and the possible sale of the property,” wrote Dennis Reidenbach, Northeast Regional Director for the National Parks Service. The letter, posted on Facebook by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, is dated March 31. New York received just under $1.9 million in federal parks funding in 2010, the letter said. Paterson’s proposed closures would save about $6.3 million; the state faces a $9.2 billion budget deficit.