Mike McCagg of ccSCOOP reports that The Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda is currently the subject of public comment. The agenda is to improve river access and preserve the environment and conserving more land in the Hudson Valley. Through Feb. 22, comments on the plan are being accepted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at hrep@gw.dec.state.ny.us (include the words "Draft Action Agenda" in the subject line) or by mail to: Action Agenda, Hudson River Estuary Program, NYSDEC Region 3 Office, 21 South Putt Corners Road, New Paltz, NY 12561.

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The Daily Mail reports the Greene County Industrial Development Agency will hold a public informational meeting to discuss the proposed Route 9W/Route 81 Intersection Improvement Project in the Town of Coxsackie on Thursday, Feb. 11 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Greene County Industrial Development Agency Office, 270 Mansion St., Coxsackie. Submit written comments to Alexander Mathes Jr., Executive Director, Greene County IDA, 270 Mansion St., Coxsackie, NY 12051, (518) 731-5220.

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Congressman Scott Murphy (D-NY20) will host make several appearances in Columbia County Monday Feb. 8, with chances for the public to ask the area's U.S. Representative questions.
1) Noon: Congress-on-Your-Corner meeting in Ancram to discuss cellular service in Columbia County at Ancram Town Hall, 1416 County Rte. 7, Ancram, NY
2) 2 p.m.: Tour of JEM Woodworking in Ghent, 250 Falls Road (off Highway 9H), Ghent, NY
3) 3:30 p.m.: Congress-on-Your-Corner Meeting in Ghent to discuss local issues and the economy at Ghent Town Hall, 2306 State Route 66, Ghent, NY
After that, at 5 p.m., he will meet with the Columbia County Democratic Town Chairs in a closed meeting at Space 360 in Hudson.

Mike McCagg of ccScoop reports the Village of Chatham continues to violate a 2009 Order of Consent issued by the DEC, discharging more than 365,000 gallons of wastewater on six occasions in 2007 and 2008, and as recently as Jan. 25 of this year. ccScoop says Mayor Paul Boehme says the violations mostly happen during heavy rains, and Chatham is working to reduce infiltration to the system through manhole covers and other openings, to reduce input from those properties that exceed their limits, and to target people who discharge their sump pumps into the system in violation of village codes. While that would be enough of a problem for most towns, McCagg also reports that:

The capability of the wastewater system has been the center of discussion as officials examine the potential of expanding the Village’s water and wastewater lines outside the village boundaries to accommodate a new Price Chopper supermarket proposed to be constructed near the existing store. The developer of the proposed 45,000-square-foot store, Schuyler Companies, has approached village officials about extending the lines and various dollar amounts have been discussed for the extension. The project is also under review of the Ghent Town Planning Board.

Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley told The Daily Mail today that Catskill businesses will meet to discuss how to increase commerce in the village at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23 in the Catskill High School cafeteria. We understand that this meeting was supposed to happen last month, and guess that Tuesday's announcement from Hood & Company that the well-loved Main St. store will close spurred some action.

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New York State Senator James Seward will outline his agenda for 2010 and discuss the governor’s budget proposal focusing on the impacts on local schools at the Greene County School Boards Association’s annual dinner and roundtable discussion today, Feb. 4, at Catskill Middle School, 345 W. Main St. The dinner is at 6 p.m., and the meeting is at 7 p.m.

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In the latest issue of Wine Enthusiast (Feb. 2010) Executive Editor, Susan Kostrzewa, gave Hudson-Chatham Winery's Cabernet Franc an 84 rating and this comment: "This bright, lively red starts with refreshing aromas of cherry and plum, and on the palate, waves of cedar, red berries and pepper. Though not terribly complex, the wine has an appealing, sprightly character and will pair well with poultry and game."

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Catskill's Loni Pont will perform at Bell's Café at 387 Main St. in Catskill on Saturday, February 13 to celebrate Valentines weekend. Her set, with Ray DeTone on guitar starts sometime after 9 p.m. Bell's is also offering a special menu, so call for reservations (518-943-4070).

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After months of protests, accusations, anonymous internet slander, and controversy, Columbia County's Board of Supervisors chairman Art Baer held a love-in press conference last July announcing the county was bidding on One City Centre, on the corner of Green and State streets in Hudson, to use the building for county office space and make room at two other county office buildings (401 and 610 State St.) for the Department of Social Services, allowing DSS to remain in Hudson after the county’s lease on DSS's home at 25 Railroad Ave. ends in 2011. Now we are back where we started, as the county's bid of $2.6 million was significantly lower than three other bids. “I guess the question of what happens with DSS goes back to the (county space utilization) subcommittee for further review and research,” new BOS Chairman Roy Brown (Germantown) told The Daily Mail today. Which means several supervisors will be trying to move DSS to the Ockawamick property several miles outside Hudson, which caused all the initial controversy. Brown recently would not rule out such a move in an interview with The Register-Star.

The South Bay Coalition will meet Saturday, February 6, at 10 a.m., to review the draft Local Waterfront Revitalization Program and tour the waterfront. The learning session begins at Basilica Industria, just down from the Amtrak station on Front St.. The South Bay Coalition seems to be an offshoot of Friends of Hudson, a local advocacy group. This is the second in a series of meetings they are holding during the public comment period to familiarize people with the issues addressed in the LWRP and the GEIS. The public comment continues to March 15. The first meeting took place on January 17, prior to the public hearing. Jamie Larson in The Register-Star has a story about the LWRP today that says, "The greatest area of contention resides in the south bay with its waterfowl, leopard frogs, phragmites and sewer system runoff. Malcontents challenge the document’s support of rehabilitating an old causeway, which bifurcates the wetland, for use as a truck route from the Holcim deep water port on the river to Route 9G." Anyone challenging the document are "malcontents"? That's the word you want to use, Mr. Larson? And Jamie got the date of the public comment period wrong too, it closes March 15, not March 1 as his article states.

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From an e-mail from owner David Miles:

"It is with regret and a heavy heart that I must inform you of our decision to close Hood & Company. The current economic climate both nationally and locally has made maintaining the store unprofitable. Starting Wednesday, February 3 our entire inventory will be on sale for 20 percent off the lowest marked price (including all clearance items already marked 20-50 percent off). Hood & Company gift cards may be redeemed for merchandise until our final day of operation, which we anticipate to be sometime in March or April. All sales will be final. Hood & Company will be open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It has been an honor to serve you over the past three and a half years and while Hood & Company will be leaving [432] Main Street, Catskill our hearts remain with the community."

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cnLGj3kgT8&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Click above to watch Congressman Scott Murphy (D-NY20) talking to WMHT's "New York Now" about why he thinks Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand would better serve the state than her potential primary opponent Harold Ford Jr. This clip is an excerpt of the full interview that will air Friday night at 7:30 p.m. For more on this program go to wmht.org/newyorknow.

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From The Daily News:

Financially stressed Vanity Fair photog Annie Leibovitz may have found buyers for her 220-acre spread in upstate Rhinebeck. A spy says David Bowie and wife, Iman, didn't blink at the $11 million price when they toured the place. "Annie did an incredible restoration of the barn complex" — four buildings that used to be part of Brooke Astor's estate, says our source.

In 1996, Leibovitz paid $2.3 million for 220 acres in the Hudson Valley hamlet of Rhinebeck, said appraiser Pete Hubbell, president of Hubbell Realty Services Inc. It was once part of the Astor family’s 3,500-acre estate, called Ferncliff. In 2002, Leibovitz paid $635,000 for an adjacent 7.8-acre parcel, the Dutchess County records show. The property includes a pond, a mix of meadows and woodlands, stone barns and a former creamery. Others with homes in the area include financier George Soros, hotelier Andre Balazs, and Rolling Stone magazine’s publisher, Jann Wenner, Hubbell said. “It’s a sleepy little town and no one pays attention to celebrities,” said Steve Mann, former president of the Museum of Rhinebeck History. “That’s why they like to come to Rhinebeck.” Hubbell, who has appraised the Leibovitz property, said it could be worth $4 to $6 million in today’s market. Rhinebeck’s official appraiser pegged the value at $5 million, according to a 2009 Dutchess county tax report.

Molly Salisbury in The Register-Star reports the Taghkanic Town Board last night voted to set the process in motion to enact a six-month moratorium on any new gravel mine permit applications in areas zoned R-2 and R-3. The moratorium, which will only take effect after a public hearing March 1, comes largely because of the the Berry Pond LLC gravel mine application. The Taghkanic Zoning ordinance contains a discrepancy regarding the code’s stance on mining in Residential 2 and 3 acre zones, although Salisbury does cite it specifically. The Berry Pond mine application being reviewed by Taghkanic’s Zoning Board of Appeals is asking for a special permit to mine in an area zoned R-2, and, if the moratorium survives the public hearing, would be delayed six months. "The March 1 date [for the public hearing] is tentative, as the availability of the firehouse is in question, and the hearing will need the larger space," Salisbury wrote, failing to name the firehouse in question.

(Photo by Marion Ettlinger- Chronogram.)
Peter Aaron in Chronogram has a long interview with Hudson Valley resident Natalie Merchant who recoreded her new album "Leave Your Sleep" at Rhinebeck’s Clubhouse studio. The album sets 26 poems by as many poets to original music played by a cast of over 130 musicians, including Medeski, Martin & Wood, the Wynton Marsalis Quintet, Hazmat Modine, the Klezmatics, the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, and others.

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Stop by Swallow in Hudson any Monday this month (including today) and buy a Macchiato drink, and all proceeds go to WGXC and bringing community radio to Columbia and Greene counties. Swallow is at 433 Warren St. in Hudson and opened in August. Owned by Aaron and Sarah Dibben, Rural Intelligence says, "Every week Swallow offers a featured coffee, in addition to their stand-by beans from Intelligensia, the legendary Chicago chain, now also in L.A. Intelligensia’s coffee buyers are a step ahead of Fair Trade, working directly with farmers in Africa and Latin America, visiting each, on average, three times a year, building trust and relationships and sharing with the farmers the best practices they’ve picked up from producers around the world. They reward the resulting superior crops by paying 25% more than the farmer would normally get from an exporter or other middleman."

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Diane Cluck at Jean Deux Books and Records in Hudson, NY

Bob McC | MySpace Video
Di­ane Cluck at Jean Deux Books and Records in Hud­son, NY Sat., Dec. 12, 2009.

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(The Last Conspirators at Jason's Upstairs Bar Saturday, photo by Al Goldberg.)
From Nippertown!:

Over the weekend, Jason’s Upstairs Bar in Hudson shuttered its doors for good, but not before kicking out the jams one final time on Saturday night. The big send-off throwdown featured performances by Mother Fletcher, the Last Conspirators, Young Paris, Lady Moon, Musty Chiffon and others. And while it was certainly sad to see Hudson’s premier nightclub close, the farewell bash was rocking’, rollickin’ affair. The best news of all is that “The Last Hurrah” raised $1,469 for Doctors Without Borders and their Haitian earthquake relief effort.