From Helena Kosorek in Greenville:

Hudsonic Series, No. 5 by Sam Truitt
The Point, Catskill, Greene County
September 18, 2009, 4:43 PM
1.5 MB (1:11 minutes) MP4 A dog barks, and a Dutchman conducts a crowd in song as music plays.
Hudsonic%205.mp3


View Larger Map

Mary and I did a number of interviews with students and supporters after Obama's policy address at Hudson Valley Community College. Here is one of them.

Hudson, NY – Today, Congressman Scott Murphy (NY-20) announced that WGXC was awarded a grant of $71,486 from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration through their Public Telecommunications Facilities Program, which will fund half the equipment needed for the station to go on the air on 90.7 FM. WGXC will be a 3,300-watt non-commercial community radio station, with shows about agriculture, local history, the arts, education and local issues. WGXC will broadcast from a studio in Hudson, and at the Catskill Community Center.  This will bring the first public radio signal to more than 12,500 people.

“This funding will help bring an essential new resource for residents in the Hudson-Catskill region by helping to provide them with access to important news and information through the radio,” said Rep. Murphy.  “In addition, this funding will improve the infrastructure of the region that is critical to rebuilding our economy and improving the quality of life for its residents.” 

Kaya Weidman, a member of the WGXC Radio Council, and founder of the Germantown Community Farm, said: “The station will provide programming for farmers and rural people to exchange ideas and information, share resources, hear regionally specific news, market price reports, as well as weather, crop, pest, and disease information. This resource will strengthen our local food system, support our area farmers, keep people informed of environmental issues, and ultimately contribute to our vibrant rural community.”

Hudson Talbott, a member of the WGXC Radio Council and Vice-President of the Catskill Community Center and Thomas Cole House, said: “The Catskill Community Center is thrilled to be hosting WGXC. Catskill is in the process of re-imagining itself and the community center is at the heart of the new vision. We are sharing information, participating in activities, and joining together for local events as never before. The radio station brings exactly what our revitalized community needs right now - a voice.”

WGXC will need to match the funds in the PTFP grant before the station’s debut next summer.

Here are some shots from yesterday's presidential visit.

Hudsonic Series, No. 4 by Sam Truitt
Marianne Courville Gallery, 341 Warren Street, Hudson, Columbia County
09.13.09, 6:34 pm (02.59 minutes)
3.7 MB, MP4
The microphone lies on a table. Crowd voices.

View Larger Map

The Hudson City Democrats and the Columbia County Common Sense message board both mention a public meeting at 7 p.m., Thur. Sept. 24 in the community room at Bliss Tower, that concerns redevelopment of Bliss Tower. The message board guesses that Hudson Mayor Rick Scalera; Exec. Dir of HHA Jeff First; 4th Ward Supervisor William Hughes Jr.; Omni housing developer, COO Duncan Barrett; a member of Congressman Murphy’s staff Benedict MacCafree; and others will attend the meeting about the housiing project between N. 2nd and N. 3rd Sts. and Columbia St. in Hudson. Anybody want to make a recording and upload it here?

This is an audio recording of President Obama's Monday, 9-21-09 visit to Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. He was introduced by Dr. Jill Biden, educator and wife of Vice President Biden. We also interviewed four people after the address to get their reactions: two students and two Obama supporters.

Because of the file size, we cut it into a number of parts. This is the introduction.

This is an audio recording of President Obama's Monday, 09-21-09 visit to Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. He was introduced by Dr. Jill Biden, educator and wife of Vice President Biden. We also interviewed four people after the address to get their reactions: two students and two Obama supporters.

NY State Senator James Seward and Assemblyman Peter Lopez will be at the Cornell Cooperative Extension's Agroforestry Resource Center, 6055 Route 23 in Acra, NY at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday for the 40th anniversary of Environmental Awareness Days, and to honor the event's founder Eric Rasmussen.

(At right, "Business Idol" winner Kip Christie from Banner Hill School of Woodworking in Windham [right] with award presenter Kathleen Packard of KathodeRay Media, the Greene County Chamber of Commerce and the WGXC Radio Council. Chamber Executive Director Tracy McNally is in the background.)

The Greene County Chamber of Commerce held their annual Greene Jeans Gala at the Pine Ridge Farm in Greenville Thursday evening. The following businesses received Emerald Awards: Large Business: GNH Lumber, Inc.; Small Business: Martinez Auto Body Shop, Inc.; and Not-for-Profit Organization: Greene County Historical Society. Banner Hill School of Woodworking and Timber Framing in Windham got the "Business Idol" award.

Assemblyman Marc Molinaro (R,C,I-Red Hook) hosts an open house for constituents from 3 to 6 p.m. on Friday, September 18 in Molinaro’s district office located at 7578 North Broadway, Suite 4, in Red Hook. “In Albany, there is much work to be done for the residents of the Hudson Valley, including comprehensive property tax reform, revolutionizing our education system, making health care more affordable and creating local jobs in an effort to jump start our struggling economy. We can only accomplish these goals together and I would appreciate your input,” said Molinaro.

Click here to listen to public hearing about proposed sidewalk law in Cairo

Last night the Town of Cairo held a public hearing about a proposed law for snow removal on sidewalks. Listen by clicking on the link. Won't work with Internet Explorer.

Click here to listen to Town of Cairo Board meeting 091609

The Town of Cairo held its regular board meeting last night, with Dave Hart being appointed to the town's Zoning Commission, and the board deciding to wait on a decision on the proposed law for sidewalk snow removal. Planning Board Chairman Dan Benoit (pictured at right) addressed concerns raised by a recent arrest of a Main St. business woman for perhaps violating Cairo's Site Plan law, which has been reported on by this blog here and here and by The Daily Mail here. Several residents wondered why the Code Enforcement and Police investigated the complaint against this business, but not similar complaints by others.

Hudsonic Series, No. 3 by Sam Truitt
Walmart, 265 West Bridge Street, Catskill, Greene County
09.13.09 (03:52 minutes)
4.36 MB, MP4
The microphone lies behind a flower pot (daisies) on a rack. Cars and carts pass variously, a person speaks, and a car door opens and closes.
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=265+West+Bridge+Street,+Catskill,&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=265+W+Bridge+St,+Catskill,+NY+12414&gl=us&ei=AgqySpGIAsaglAf_qt3uDg&t=k&ll=42.213254,-73.882617&spn=0.001192,0.002414&z=17&output=embed&w=225&h=150]

Congressmen Scott Murphy (NY-20) and Paul Tonko (NY-21) announced that President Obama will visit Hudson Valley Community College at 11:00 a.m., Monday, Sept. 21. Several months ago the Congressmen requested that the President visit the region to highlight hi-tech job creation in Upstate New York. “I am honored to welcome President Obama to Upstate New York,” said Rep. Murphy in a press release. “I am proud to show how Upstate New York is a part of the solution by quickly becoming a world leader in hi-tech jobs.”
Click here to listen to a wav file of Rep. Murphy's statement about Obama's visit to the area.

From Mid-Hudson News Network:

ALBANY - State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced his office completed an audit of the Village of Catskill – Fiscal Oversight and Internal Controls Over Selected Financial Activities.

According to the report, the village board and president did not effectively oversee the village’s financial operations and failed to address significant weaknesses, identified in our previous audit, in budgeting, accounting, reporting, cash management, and claims processing. These inadequate management practices have contributed to the deteriorating financial condition of the village’s primary operating funds, perpetuated a reliance on interfund transfers to maintain cash flow, and placed the village at risk of fiscal stress that could jeopardize its ability to operate effectively.

For example, due to poor planning and unrealistic budgeting, the total fund balances of the village’s main operating funds (general, water, and sewer) decreased by $933,727 (58 percent) over the three fiscal years 2004-05 to 2006-07. At the end of 2006-07, these three funds had a combined operating deficit of $574,876, or 36 percent of their total fund balance at the beginning of the 2004-05 fiscal year.

Columbia County Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner Virgina Martin provided the following corrected election results for the Town of Taghkanic tonight at 7 p.m. "The results we gave you last night had a series of errors due to the complexity of the election and the high number of write-in votes that were cast," she wrote. "We expect to be able to provide official results countywide for the machine votes (lever machine votes including write-in votes cast on the lever machines) by tomorrow (Thursday)."

UNOFFICIAL Columbia County Primary Election 2009 Results
9/16/09
Town
of
Taghkanic
District
1

Supervisor
IND
1C
Elizabeth
L.
Young

2
IND
2C
Lorea
Hoffmann
13
Total
Votes/Voters

15
Twn
Clrk/Tax
C
IND
3C
Cheryl
E.
Rogers
5
IND
3C
Audrey
Koran
(write‐in)
9
Total
Votes/Voters

14
Twn
JusÒce
WFP
4E
Raymond
Dalrymple
(write‐in)
1
Total
Votes/Voters

1
Twn
Council

IND
5C
Tom
Kiely

3

(vote
for
2)
IND
5C
Joyce
Thompson
(write‐in)
9
IND
6C
Larry
Kadish

13
Total
Votes

25
Twn
Council

WFP
5E
Joyce
Thompson
0

(vote
for
2)
WFP
5E
Tom
Kiely
(write‐in)
1
WFP
6E
James
Romaine
(write‐in)
1
Total
Votes

2
Hwy
Super
IND
7C
Edward
E.
Waldron

3
IND
7C
Tom
Youhas
(write‐in)
9
Total
Votes/Voters

12
Hwy
Super
WFP
7E
Edward
Waldron
(write‐in)
1
Total
Votes/Voters

1
CommiŞee
DEM
8A
Diane
M.
Rodriguez
96

(vote
for
2)
DEM
9A
Cheryl
E.
Rogers
29
DEM
10A
Gary
L.
Stoller
100
Total
Votes

225
L:/Columbia Co. Candidates 2009
6:49 PM

Columbia County Board of Election Democratic commissioner Virgina Martin says they are recanvassing machines, and should have a count after 6 p.m. tonight. But final results will not be announced before Tuesday, as absentee ballots still are allowed to arrive from the post offfice. In the Democratic contest for District 1 in Hudson, incumbent Carole Osterink trails challenger Geeta Cheddie by two votes, while Sarah H. Sterling leads Cheddie by seven votes currently. The Register-Star previously reported six uncounted absentee ballots, but Martin would not give a specific number.

Wal-Mart closed its giant store in Greenport today and opened an even larger marketplace across Fairview Avenue in Greenport today. The empty store sits next to Price Chopper and Fashion Bug.