Seward complains about driving costs
NY.Sen.James.Seward_Cost%20to%20Drive%20-%2008-11.MP3
Starting September 1, 2009 registration fees are scheduled to increase 25 percent for passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, trailers, taxis, busses, motorcycles, all terrain vehicles, construction vehicles, motorboats and custom vehicles. Fees for drivers licenses fees will also go up by 25 percent. In total, the fee hikes will create an additional cost to New York drivers projected to be almost $152 million over the next two years. New York State Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I- Oneonta) comments on those rising cost in the above audio clip you can click on to listen to or download.

Polling places not ADA accessible
From The Register-Star

COLUMBIA COUNTY - A survey of polling places in Columbia County currently underway could not find one polling place that is compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act checklist for voting sites or with standards outlined in the 2002 Federal Help America Vote Act. The survey was taken by Project HAVA, run by The Catskill Center for Independence, based in Oneonta, and funded by a grant from the New York State Commission on Quality Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities.

Budget cuts put art gallery in jeopardy
From The Daily Mail

WINDHAM - The Greene County Council is considering closing the Mountaintop Gallery in Windham Jan. 1, or keeping the gallery running with the help of artist volunteers, Executive Director Kay Stamer told the Greene County Legislature Wednesday. The arts council’s general operating budget was cut by 11 percent this year, while decentralization — the Council’s funding that is redistributed to other arts groups across the county — was reduced by five percent, and arts and education programming remained at 2008 levels.

Seeley proposes full-time village manager
From The Daily Mail

CATSKILL - Village Board President Vincent Seeley wants to eliminate his job and put in a business manager or administrator to oversee department heads but be answerable to the Village Board. The article is unclear what, if any, role Seeley would have under that scenario. Catskill Trustee Patrick McCulloch said the Village Charter would require modification before any managerial position could be created, and any changes would be put before voters in a referendum.

Catskill Community Orchestra at Union Mills
Click here to listen or download Catskill Community Orchestra's performance of Musical Director David E. Woodin's "A Hudson Journey" last Saturday at Union Mills in Catskill
CATSKILL - The Catskill Community Orchestra premiered Musical Director David E. Woodin's "A Hudson Journey" to finish the night at Union Mills along Main St. in Catskill. Click on the above link to listen or download the mp3 recording. Click here to hear other Catskill Community Orchestra recordings.

New party forms in wake of court rulings
From The Daily Mail

CATSKILL - Republicans have set up a new political party to get Linda Overbaugh elected to one of the four seats for Greene County Legislature District No. 1. Overbaugh, Karen Deyo, Keith Valentine, and Joseph Izzo are setting up The Have A Voice Party and need 188 registered voters' signatures to get on the ballot. They have set up party headquarters at 347 Main St., Catskill, the Day & Holt building, and registered voters will stop by. This all comes after the wrong Linda Overbaugh (there are two in Catskill) was listed on petitions for the Republican ticket, Democrats challenged the petition, and a judge excluded Overbaugh from the GOP line.

Hudson dredging resumes -- slowly
From Albany Times-Union

General Electric resumed its clean-up of PCB's in the Hudson River, after high levels of the chemical in the river prompted a four-day shutdown. The story says, "The unsafe PCB levels were found about 20 miles upriver from drinking water intakes used by the towns of Waterford and Halfmoon. Neither town has used the intakes since dredging began; both are using water purchased from Troy. Despite the PCB spikes upriver, chemical levels at the intakes have remained well within the safety standard."

Dec grants mine permit, despite neighbors' objections
From The Register-Star

GHENT - The article is a bit unclear, but implies the Department Of Environmental Conservation ruling that the Vincent and Lisa Molinari mining project on Carpenter Road would not have adverse environmental impacts, which led the town planning board to grant a Special Use Permit, limiting hours of operation to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays only with dust must be controlled with water and by limiting processing to 150 cubic yards per hour.

(Pamela Badila at the WGXC event on Warren St. in Hudson, Aug. 1, 2009. Photo by Dharma Dailey.)

Badila family gathering Saturday in Hudson
Click on mp3 audio files to download or listen online:
WGXC's Allan Skerrett talks with Pamela Badila about community radio, community, and more
Kuyla Badila interviews Pamela Badila
WGXC's Kaya Weidman interviews Goonga Badila
If you attend any musical, cultural, or artistic event or opening in Hudson these days, you have probably run into a Badila. The family includes Pamela (pictured) and Andre Badila, who run the International Folkloric Theater in Hudson; Ngonda Badilla of Lady Moon and the Eclipse (playing at Club Helsinki in Great Barrington on Aug. 13) and four other Hudson-based bands including Nobody Parts (playing at The Spotty Dog Books & Ale on Aug. 21); and Milandou Badila, or Young Paris, who has a mixtape release party Sat. Aug. 29 at Jason's Upstairs Bar. This Saturday in the Henry Hudson Riverfront Park, the entire family will be performing, including Diata Diata (African Ensemble), Lady Mood & The Eclipse, and Young Paris. The gathering starts at 2 p.m., with drums at 7 p.m., and is sponsored in part by the City of Hudson, and WGXC. We will be recording the event and playing it back on WGXC Online Radio next week. Listen to the links to the mp3 interviews with various Badilas above to get an idea how important the family is to the local cultural community. Watch the Young Paris "Euro Swag" video below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDfHStLOImE&hl=en&fs=1&]

Gypsy Kings perform in Catskill
Reported by Paul Smart
CATSKILL - Folks in the High Falls area of Catskill, adjacent to the town's Ulster County border with Saugerties, found themselves faced with weekend parking problems a few weeks back when new owners of the falls themselves threw a summer bash for 170 or so of their friends. Several complaints were made to the local police, and a number of cars were then reportedly towed from the area. According to those who attended the party from the area, much of the creekside brush below the falls was cleared around the site of the old Civil War-era munitions mill plant there, and a bandstand was erected where the renowned Gypsy Kings played for partygoers' pleasure. The new owners of the falls are said to be partners in a series of restaurants based out of Miami Beach, who moved to the area after visiting other designer and architect friends making homes throughout Catskill.

Court nixes Republican, Independence petitions
From The Daily Mail

CATSKILL - The New York State Supreme Court has invalidated petitions by the Republican and Independence parties seeking “Opportunities to Ballot,” a procedure that would have allowed write-in candidates for a Sept. 15 primary and making Linda Overbaugh's bid to join the Greene County Legislature more unlikely. All four of the petitions — the GOP’s for Catskill and Independence petitions for Catskill, Athens, and Durham — failed to include names for a “Committee to Receive Notices,” and the three Independence ones also failed to name a “Contact Person to Correct Deficiencies.” Tuesday Supreme Court Justice Roger D. McDonough ruled that not designating a Committee to Receive Notices was, “a fatal defect in the four petitions,” and declared them invalid. The Republicans were trying to add write-in names to the primary after they initially petitioned to nominate Linda Overbaugh for a Catskill seat on the legislature, but listed the wrong Linda Overbaugh on the petitions (Catskill has two). Overbaugh, was expected to win a seat, perhaps at the expense of incumbent Democrat Forest Cotton, who was a party to the suits keeping Overbaugh and write-in candidates off the ballot. The Democrats say any candidate who can't get the filing paperwork correct, might not be able to get the county's business correct, while Greene County Republican Party Chairman Brent Bogardus counters that they let the Democrats' filing mistakes slide. “Republicans discovered in [Democratic District No. 1 candidate] Forest Cotten’s petition filing for this year,” said Bogardus, “that there were inadvertently papers for [Democratic District No. 7 candidate] Larry Gardner included. I suppose we could have chosen to challenge Forest Cotten’s petition in court because of that error,” he said. “Instead we advised the Democrats of what we discovered,” said Bogardus, “and allowed them to remedy it.” Catskill Republican Committeeman Peter Markou said the case would continue on appeal in the court system.

Ulster-Greene ARC workers choose SEIU
From Mid-Hudson News

KINGSTON – Direct care professionals, nurses and service workers from the Ulster-Greene ARC have voted to join Service Employees International Union Local 200 United in a National Labor Relations board supervised election last Friday. Two-thirds of the 600 employees eligible to vote cast ballots at polling places in Kingston, Ellenville, and Catskill. The new union group will now enter contract negotiations with ARC.

The son also rises
From The New York Post

ALBANY - New York State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. secured a newly-created $120,000-a-year Senate job for his son as "deputy director of intergovernmental relations." The Senate Democrat and another, Hiram Monserrate of Queens, switched to the Republican side in early June, putting the Legislature's upper house under GOP control, and into a prolonged state of paralysis. Espada is under all sorts of investigations, while Monserrate is under investigation for beating up a woman.

Budget hole forces Copake to trim its police department
From The Columbia Paper

COPAKE - Councilman Bob Sacks proposes suspending the town's police force for six months, to partially close the $200,000 deficit Copake faces. The article also says that, "If the town has to borrow $200,000 this year, it would cost property owners an additional 30 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to cover the shortfall. If the town has to raise $450,000 to cover shortfalls of 2009 and 2010, it would cost taxpayers an additional 60 cents/$1,000 assessed value, or $120 for a home assessed at $200,000."

Serrano won't challenge Gillibrand
From The Daily Politics

Rep. Jose Serrano won't challenge NY Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the 2010 Democratic primary, reports Elizabeth Benjamin.

WGXC sets meetings for local journalists
From WGXC
New community radio station WGXC will host a meeting of local journalists Thu Aug. 20. One meeting will be at 10 a.m. in Hudson and one at 6 p.m. in Catskill. There are two purposes for the meetings:
1) Introduce local journalists to WGXC, and talk about ideas to work together. Erin Roberts, who is working with WGXC and used to work with KBUT in Colorado will be there. She will explain a system her community radio station used that trained print journalists to become audio reporters, and then paid them an additional fee for their audio work. This might be one model we use at WGXC. But we also want to hear your ideas, and see how you think the new community radio station might work with your newspaper, blog, or media outlet.
2) See if we can form a loose alliance of all local newspapers, radio stations, writers, blogs, etc. to co-sponsor candidate forums and debates. Again, we are looking for your ideas.
For both of these topics, we will not lecture to you, or tell you how things have to be. WGXC is interested in working with the local journalism industry, just like all other industries, so that all parties benefit. For this meeting we will listen to your ideas. Many local journalists have already contacted us and seem very interested in being involved somehow in the new community radio station. We hope this meeting can be the first step toward making that happen. WGXC will certainly be reporting news on its own, and DJs and hosts will undoubtedly be talking about your stories on the air too.

Morning meeting
Parlour coffeeshop (formerly The Muddy Cup)
724 Warren St., Hudson
10 a.m.

evening meeting
Catskill Community Center
344 Main St.
http://www.catskillcommunitycenter.org/
6 p.m.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP to news(at)wgxc(dot)org.

(Rebecca Wolf reading at The Spotty Dog Books & Ale in Hudson Saturday night on WGXC.)

Wolf and Sher read in Hudson
Click here to download or listen to Rebecca Wolf mp3 file
Local authors Rebecca Wolf and Ira Sher read from their new books Saturday night in Hudson at The Spotty Dog. Sher read from his second novel, The Singer, and Wolff, the driving force behind literary magazine Fence, read works from her latest collection of poetry, The King. Both live in Athens, in Greene County.

Officials: Flood damage preliminary total is $4.3M
From The Register-Star

Columbia County officials estimate the Aug. 3-5 flooding caused an estimated $4,833,000 in damage, with the hardest hit areas in the northern parts of the county including New Lebanon, Canaan, and the village of Chatham’s waste water treatment plant. Officials have requested state and federal aid to pay for the repairs and clean up.

Seeking justice against police harassment
From The Greenvilee Press (no web site)

WESTERLO - Robert Meringlo of Westerlo filed a a civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court against State Police Seargant Patrick Cullen, his wife Cynthia, and State Police Investigators Lane J. Aguirar and Mario Restivo over repeated harassment over a number of incidents around the Freehold Country Pub. Cullen lives a few doors down from the pub, so it appears to be some sort of neighbor dispute. The Press reports that the officers have arrested Meringlo and others, but the charges usually end up being dropped. Meringlo is seeking $350,000 for lost wages, attorney fees, and other expenses.

John Esposito interviewed by Dharma Dailey
Click here to listen or download the interview
Dharma Dailey interviews Germantown-based jazz musician John Esposito about Sonny Rollins,and what he would like to hear on the radio.

Ex-accountant's history garners regional attention
From The Register-Star

Francesca Olsen connects the dots in an excellent story in The Register-Star about how fired Copake accountant Brian Fitzgerald also worked in Cairo, Germantown, and Clermont. Olsen references a YouTube video from last year (see below) with this caption: "Councilwoman Carol Lent drives the town accountant out of the room while the world watches. She is up for re-election in 2009." Lent tells The Register-Star that Fitzgerald's work is being looked at by the comptroller's office. In Cairo, the comptroller's office already has released a report about Fitzgerald's lax work and the lack of oversight from Town of Cairo officials. The comptroller's report says, “There has been a general lack of financial oversight by both the Board and the Supervisor.... Town officials and the general public have not been able to adequately monitor the town’s fiscal affairs, and the financial condition of the water, sewer, hydrant and lighting district funds has decreased significantly.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE4ZQR4RoCY&hl=en&fs=1&]

Maloney's out
From Capitol Confidential

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney said Friday she won’t take on U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand next year in a Democratic primary, opting to stay in the House of Representatives, where she has served for nine terms. Jonathan Tasini continues to challenge Gillibrand for the seat, but is not expected to raise the money or win the media coverage that Maloney would have.

(Scott Murphy at his town hall meeting at The Golden Harvest Farm in Valatie Sat. Aug. 8, 2009. Photo by Tom Roe.)

Murphy speaks locally about health care
Listen to U.S. Representative Murphy's entire town hall meeting:
Part One of Town Meeting
Part Two of Town Meeting
Murphy interview with Albany Times-Union reporter and WGXC reporter after the meeting
Several hundred local residents and others from outside the area turned up this morning at 11 a.m. at The Golden Harvest Farm in Valatie to hear U.S. Representative Scott Murphy (D-20) talk about and answer questions about the health care before Congress. While similar meetings in other Congressional districts have turned into shouting matches and even brawls, this debate was mostly civil, with just a bit of shouting, and mostly respectful questions from all sides of the political spectrum from the crowd of around 400.

There seemed to be as many people who did not want the government providing any health care at all as there were folks who favored a single-payer system, judging by Murphy's poll of the crowd at the end. Of course, by then, after over an hour in the hot sun, the group was much smaller then at the beginning, and perhaps only folks with very passionate political positions remained. Listen to the links above to hear the entire meeting (in two parts), and an interview Murphy gave afterwards with a reporter from the Albany Times-Union and WGXC.

Judge rules against Overbaugh ballot bid
From Seeing Greene

Linda L. Overbaugh's name will not appear on the Republican primary ballot next month for one of the four Catskill seats on the Greene County Legislature, a judge ruled Thursday. Dick May from the Seeing Greene blog scooped everyone, reporting Thursday that Supreme Court Judge Richard M. Platkin ordered the Executive Director of the Heart of Catskill Association off the ballot, after her name was listed incorrectly on petitions. She was listed as Linda H. Overbaugh, her former cousin-in-law, who also lives in Catskill. For the lawsuit, Patricia J. Ruck, who chairs the Town of Catskill’s Democratic Party Committee, adopted the Citizen Objector role, while Forest Cotten, past Catskill Democratic chairman and present candidate for re-election to the county legislature, was designated as Aggrieved Candidate. Overbaugh was expected to win a slot in the legislature, perhaps costing incumbent Cotten his seat. Overbaugh told Seeing Greene “it’s not over," perhaps hinting she will start a write-in campaign for the September primary, where voters would have to write in "Linda L. Overbaugh" exactly. Where was The Daily Mail on this story? They were bested by The Greenville Press for a week before the ruling, and then only mentioned this story for the first time today, two days after May's story.

Town & County magazine writes about Hudson
The September 2009 issue of Town & Country magazine (with actress Jane Krakowski on the cover) features a large story about Hudson's antique stores called "A Hudson River Renaissance." Hopefully, the story will help merchants there struggling during this recession -- one antique store owner told me in Febraury he did not make a single sale.

(At right, Ngonda Badilla and Dan Udell. Photo by Galen Joseph-Hunter.)

Ngonda Badilla interview
Click here to download or listen to wav file
Ngonda Badilla of Lady Moon and the Eclipse (playing at Club Helsinki in Great Barrington on Aug. 13) and four other Hudson-based bands including Nobody Parts (playing at The Spotty Dog Books & Ale on Aug. 21) is interviewed by Dan Udell in the link above. Udell is President of Udell Productions, multimedia company: writing, editing, videos, animation, and records community events that sometimes air on Mid-Hudson's public access channel. Below, Lady Moon's YouTube video "Mirror."
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv112m0dPAQ&hl=en&fs=1&]

New problems from an old accountant
From The Register-Star

COPAKE - Town Supervisor Reggie Crowley now says Copake is $200,000 in the hole, and won't pay recently fired town accountant Brian Fitzgerald, who is yet to return the town's records. Crowley is now suggesting a “Negative Fund Balance Elimination Tax” on each of the 2931 taxable parcels in Copake, charging each land-owner a one-time payment of about $68, to fill the deficit. Some town residents wanted a town referendum on the idea, and were told they'd need to collect 300 signatures to put that in motion.

Murphy to face protesters
The protesters who have been disrupting Congressional town hall meetings this summer are coming to U.S. Representative Scott Murphy's gathering in Valatie Saturday. The Campaign for Liberty, Reboot Our Democracy, and the New York Liberty Council are all organizing their constituencies. Murphy (D-20) will also have supporters there, as Moveon.org is also rallying their supporters to attend the 11 a.m. meeting at The Golden Harvest Farm at 3074 US 9.

Gillibrand, Schumer vote for 'cash for clunkers' and Sotomayor
From The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate joined the House and passed the popular "cash for clunkers" bill Thursday 60-37, with New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand both voting for the bill which President Barack Obama is expected to sign soon. Both New York Senators also voted to add Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

WGXC interview with Erica Nance
AlanSkerrett_interviewwithEricaNanceofDogsofHudsonon_080109_WGXC.mp3
WGXC's Alan Skerrett interviews Erica Nance, owner of Dogs of Hudson on Warren St. in Hudson. Interview took place Sat. Aug. 1, during WGXC in Hudson broadcast on WGXC Online Radio.

Seward calls DEC to extend comment period on natural gas drilling
NYSen.JamesSeward_NaturalGasDrilling_080409.mp3
In the audio clip linked above, Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I- Oneonta) calls on the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to extend the public comment period on the draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for natural gas drilling applications. In a letter to DEC Commissioner Alexander “Pete” Grannis, Seward requests an update on the draft regulations that were scheduled to be unveiled this past spring. Seward also says extending the comment period will guarantee all interested parties a chance to express their concerns, resulting in the best possible final product.

Local releases in rotation on WGXC Online Radio
CDs/MP3s currently featured on WGXC:
Alexander Turnquist, "As the Twilight Crane Dreams in Color" (VHF)
Alexander Turnquist, "faint at the loudest hour" (VHF)
Young Paris, "EuroWave"
Hudson City Ramblers, "Helvetica Blue" (Rattlesnake Records)
John Esposito, "down blue marlin road" (Sun Jump Records)
Saber Coup, "Comes With Scissors"
Ron Truesdell, "WGXC Station Identifications"
Lex Grey and the Urban Pioneers, "Va Va Voom" (Lexgreymusic)
Sheri Bauer-Mayorga + Lincoln Mayorga, "American Snapshots" (Town Hall)
The Felice Brothers, "Tonight at the Arizona" (Loosemusic)
Oded Ben-Ami, "Beyond" Loni Pont, "Pieces" (Planet She Music)
Chrissy Budzinski, "Taking Chances"
Bunny Brains, "Box The Bunny" (Narnack)
United States of Belt, "Ping Pong Holiday" (Chloe)
Evidence, "Receiver" (free103point9)
Way Out West, "Nothin' Left to Lose" (OverIt)
Tuba Skinny, "15 songs"
Tuba Skinny, "12 songs"
various artists, "A Raga for Peter Walker" (Tompkins Square)
Elizabeth Mitchell, "You Are My Little Bird" (Folkways)
John Kirk and Trish Miller, "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (A Gentle Wind)
Loni Pont, "Pieces" (Planet She)
Tom Roe, "The Worst Hour of the Year" (free103point9)

Comprehensive planners extend survey deadline, meet with special interest groups
From The Columbia Paper

COPAKE - The Copake Comprehensive Plan Committee has extended the deadline for completing the Comprehensive Plan survey until Labor Day, and is scheduling several public meetings for further input. Copake realtors and the public are invited to a meeting Tuesday, August 11 at 7:30 p.m. (the article does not say where), and town officials and the public are invited to another meeting Thursday August 20 (no mention of where or when). E-mail Committee Chair Jeanne Mettler at copakecompplan@aol.com for more information.

Another growth spurt for Valatie
From CCScoop

VALATIE - The Valatie Planning Board could take action tomorrow on a proposed 87-unit development on Route 203, called Kinderkill Meadows, with both town houses and single-family dwellings.

Local Luminaries: Stephanie Monseu & Keith Nelson
From Chronogram Magazine

HUDSON - The August issue of Chronogram profiles the founders of the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, who moved from Brooklyn to Hudson a few years ago and have taken the town by storm, producing many shows for kids and adults.

Mistaken identity muddles Catskill candidacy
The Greenville Press (no web site)

CATSKILL - Linda Fenoff scoops everyone with the story of Linda Overbaugh's now potentially failed candidacy for Greene County Legislator. It seems there are two Linda Overbaughs in Catskill, and local Republicans claim a Board of Elections official put the wrong Overbaugh on the petitions to add her to the ballot. Overbaugh, who most political observers deemed a favorite in the race, now may not be on the ballot at all, since all the signatures she received were for someone else, and incumbent Democrat Forest Cotten, who challenged the petition, has a much better chance. (Overbaugh is executive director of Heart of Catskill Association, and full disclosure, was on the WGXC Radio Council for a few months before she said she was too busy and withdrew.) In the story, local GOP officials hilariously seem to say they wouldn't have challenged a Democrat if they would have made a similar mistake. No one believes that. But if a Board of Elections official made the error, perhaps a State Supreme Court judge will rule in her favor on the petitions, as the GOP is petitioning to get her on the ballot. Otherwise, if enough voters write in her name exactly on Sept. 15's primary, she can get back on the ballot.

Greene County OKs new tax on mortgages
From The Daily Freeman

CATSKILL - The Greene County Legislature voted to raise taxes Thursday on new home buyers in Greene County. Voting to raise taxes were Catskill's Karen Deyo (R), Dorothy Prest (R), Keith Valentine (R); Coxsackie's Charles A. Martinez (R) and Wayne Speenburgh (R); Greenville's Kenneth E. Dudley (R); Prattsville, Ashland, Windham, and Jewett's James Hitchcock (R), and Halcott, Lexington, and Hunter's Larry Gardner (D). Legislators Forest Cotten, D-Catskill, and Sean Frey, D-Durham, voted against the tax, while William Lawrence, R-Cairo; Harry Lennon, D-Cairo; James Van Slyke, D-New Baltimore; and Ray Brooks, R-Athens, were absent. Beginning Oct. 1, home buyers in Greene County will be required to pay an additional 50 cents per $100 on new mortgages. This new tax will be on top of the current 75-cents-per-$100 surcharge assessed on all new mortgages, of which 25 cents is paid to the state by the mortgage lender and 50 cents is paid by the borrower to the municipality where the property is located. The total mortgage recording tax will increase to $1.25 per $100, with 50 cents per $100 being paid to the county.

New accountant faces old budget deficit
From The Register-Star

COPAKE - The Town Board fired accountant Brian Fitzgerald Wednesday night after he told them last month they are facing a $175,000 budget deficit at the end of the year. The Town Board did not believe his numbers and fired him for mishandling funds, acting disrespectfully at public meetings to Board members and residents, and sending internal town business e-mails to the Register-Star. They hired accountant Michael Torchia, who told them the deficit was about the same, just slighty more.

Columbia and Greene pork
From The Albany Times-Union
The Times-Union is tracking the pork projects approved by New York legislators for Columbia and Greene counties:
Columbia County:
STUYVESANT FIRE DISTRICT ONE $10,000 GORDON-T STUYVESANT
VALATIE FIRE DEPARTMENT $6,000 GORDON-T VALATIE
NORTH CHATHAM FREE LIBRARY $5,000 GORDON-T NORTH CHATHAM
KINDERHOOK MEMORIAL LIBRARY $4,000 GORDON-T KINDERHOOK
TOWN OF NEW LEBANON $3,000 GORDON-T NEW LEBANON
AIDS COUNCIL OF NORTHEASTERN NEW YORK, INC. FAIRVIEW PLAZA - $2,500 GORDON-T HUDSON
LEBANON VALLEY BUSINESS ASSOCIATION $2,500 GORDON-T NEW LEBANON
COLUMBIA GREENE COMMUNITY COLLEGE $10,000 MOLINARO HUDSON
WEST GHENT FIRE COMPANY $7,500 MOLINARO GHENT
PHILMONT FIRE COMPANY $5,500 MOLINARO PHILMONT
GREENPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT $4,800 MOLINARO HUDSON
HUDSON VALLEY AGRI-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORP. $4,000 MOLINARO HUDSON
GREENPORT PUMPER COMPANY NO. 1 $3,600 MOLINARO HUDSON
CITY OF HUDSON $3,500 MOLINARO HUDSON
CITY OF HUDSON YOUTH DEPARTMENT $3,000 MOLINARO HUDSON
COLUMBIA COUNTY RIDE PROGRAM $3,000 MOLINARO HUDSON
HUDSON VALLEY AGRI-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORP. $3,000 MOLINARO HUDSON
HUDSON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT $2,500 MOLINARO HUDSON
VFW POST 1314-HUDSON $2,500 MOLINARO HUDSON
HUDSON POLICE DEPARTMENT $2,000 MOLINARO HUDSON
THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP $1,300 MOLINARO HUDSON
CHATHAM HIGH SCHOOL NEWSPAPER $500 MOLINARO CHATHAM
Columbia-Greene Community College $50,000 Saland Hudson
R.I.D.E. Program $9,000 Saland Hudson
West Ghent Volunteer Fire Company $7,500 Saland Ghent
North Chatham Free Library $5,000 Saland North Chatham
Greenport Pumper Co. No. 1, Inc. $3,600 Saland Hudson
Greene County:
TOWN OF NEW BALTIMORE TOWN HALL - $7,500 GORDON-T HANNACROIX
VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY $5,000 GORDON-T COXSACKIE
HEERMANCE MEMORIAL LIBRARY $2,500 GORDON-T COXSACKIE
Greene County Industrial Development Agency $18,500 Seward Coxsackie
Greene County Pop Warner Football Association, Inc. $5,000 Seward South Cairo

(Kaya Weidman, left, and Alex Malmude of WGXC host a broadcast on Warren St. Saturday, interviewing local youth, musicians, artists, officials, and other passers-by. See www.WGXC.org for more information.)

Disgruntled residents go postal about Claverack office
From The Register-Star

CLAVERACK - Local residents are up in arms about the poor condition of the Claverack post office, and have enlisted Congressman Scott Murphy, (D-20th), to write to the facilities manager of the United States Postal Service to fix the problem. Watch the YouTube video outlining the problems with the post office below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5vWEOu32ks&hl=en&fs=1&]

Congressman Murphy to appear in area
With Congress on vacation, U.S. Representative Scott Murphy (D-NY20) will make several public appearances this month. Here are the stops announced in our area this week:
Wednesday, August 5: Groundbreaking for Harrier Hill Park at Rod & Gun Club Road, Hudson, NY, 11 a.m.; Local Ocean Site Visit and Press Conference, Local Ocean, 4269 US Route 9, Hudson, NY, 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, August 8: Valatie Congress-On-Your-Corner; The Golden Harvest Farm, 3074 US Highway 9, Valatie, NY; 11 a.m.

The Migliorelli Farm store opened this week in Hudson, on the corner of Warren St. and Third St. They also have farm stands at Rt. 199 and River Road in Rhinebeck (the bridge approach) and Rt. 9 in Red Hook across from Rhinebeck Savings Bank.

Seward calls on Paterson to spend stimulus funds on dairy farmers
NY%20State%20Sen.%20Jim%20Seward%20Dairy%20Stimulus%20-%2007-31.MP3
Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I- Oneonta) calls on the governor to release $60 million in federal stimulus funds to save New York farms in the above mp3 audio clip. Seward has written the governor asking him to appropriate $60 million in unclaimed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) money to assist farmers in the short term.

Murphy: No more clunker cash just yet
From Capitol Confidential

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 316 to 109 on Friday to provide emergency funds for the so-called "cash-for-clunkers" car-rebate program after the original funding was quickly snapped up. Local representative Scott Murphy (D-NY20) voted against the measure. "Earlier this year, I voted for $1 billion for the Cash for Clunkers program, but before we spend another $2 billion, we should take the time to assess what worked and what didn’t," Murphy said. "I am committed to carefully evaluating these programs to ensure that we are good stewards of your tax dollars."

WGXC will be in Hudson this weekend, with two live broadcasts. Tonight, WGXC Online Radio will have a live web stream with performances from Kyle "Golden Delicious" Clements (Saber Coup), Cyrus Gengras, and Mikey Corcoran (formerly Luxury Flats, Saber Coup). Saturday Kaya Weidman, Alex Malmude, Suzanne Snider, Dan Udell, Jordan Smith, Michael Davis, Tom Roe, and others will set up a live broadcast on the sidewalk next to Dogs of Hudson (near the John Doe Books & Records store) on Warren St. (between 3rd and 4th Sts.). The public is welcome to come by and get interviewed on the air, and learn more about the area's new community radio station. Tune in either broadcast at www.WGXC.org.

Deluge causes states of emergency in 4 towns
From The Columbia Paper

The Columbia County towns of Kinderhook, New Lebanon, Stuyvesant and Chatham all declared States of Emergency after a long downpour late Wednesday and early Thursday. Travel within those townships is restricted, and the rain returned on Friday which will cause more problems. About 40 roads in Columbia County have been closed due to flooding or other rain-related problems. The Daily Mail reports Coxsackie saw the worst of the rain in Greene County.

NYCLU blasts Cairo for seeking fees from plaintiffs
From The Daily Mail

CAIRO - In May, The New York Civil Liberties Union decried a resolution passed by the Cairo Town Board as “chilling.” The Cairo Town Board passed a resolution April 15 to try to recover more than $13,000 in attorney fees from plaintiffs in a recent Article 78 lawsuit against the Town Ellsworth “Unk” Slater, the Cairo Township Taxpayers Association and Cairo First. The lawsuit was dismissed in March but is currently being appealed. Councilman Richard Lorenz, who offered the resolution, Councilman Raymond Suttmeier and Town Supervisor John Coyne voted for the resolution. Councilwoman Janet Schwarzenegger voted against the resolution. Councilwoman Alice Tunison abstained from the vote because she wanted to discuss the matter with Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea before making a decision. “We believe that there is no legal provision for the recovery of the fees from the plaintiffs, and efforts to recover fees from them would be illegal,” wrote Melanie Trimble, of the NYCLU.

WRIP celebrates a decade of broadcasting on the mountaintop and beyond
From Windham Journal

WINDHAM - Excellent Windham radio station WRIP (97.9-FM) celebrates its 10-year anniversary in and old airport hangar that had been converted into a bowling alley.

CSEA endorses Gillibrand
From The Albany Project

The largest public employees union in New York, CSEA, endorsed New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for Senate in the 2010 elections. "Senator Gillibrand is an important ally for CSEA members and other working people," CSEA President Danny Donohue said. "She understands the pressures that our members experience on and off the job and she has consistently worked with us.

‘Taking Woodstock’ premieres in Chatham
From The Register-Star

CHATHAM - Oscar winning director Ang Lee’s new film "Taking Woodstock" premiered Thursday at the Crandall Theater in a fundraiser for the Chatham Film Club and the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

Paterson calls for disaster declaration
From The Columbia Paper

Governor David Paterson requested the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) designate Columbia and 16 other counties as agricultural disaster areas. Local farmers report problems with tomato, cherry, strawberry, rye, oats, and other crops this summer.

Is Scott Murphy in the clear?
From The In Box

The North Country Public Radio blog reports that national Republicans are not running ads in U.S. Representative (D-20) Scott Murphy's district, and do not seem to be targeting the new Congressman. The Albany Times-Union's Capitol Confidential reported in mid-July that the Democrat hauled in $567,000 from April 1-June 30.

Town Board finally sets public hearing for Comprehensive Plan
From Chatham Courier

CHATHAM — A public hearing has been set for the revised draft of the town’s Comprehensive Plan Aug. 20, after the public hearing for the Leash Law.

Man and Nature: Aurum, an installation by Laetitia Hussain
From The Register-Star

CATSKILL - Andrew Amelinckx's blog reviews Laetitia Hussain's show "Aurum" at Terenchin Fine Art. The Hudson-baes artist, "uses cast-off items, both natural and man-made to talk about the relationship between humanity and nature in its positive and negative aspects," writes Amelinckx. "The work’s gilding helps to integrate the pieces internally and as a whole, they suffer from a loss of the individual color characteristics of the materials used."

LIVE TONIGHT

Mother Fletcher perform at Bard College's Spiegeltent at 7 p.m.

Committee in possible violation of state open meetings law
From The Register Star

I don't understand the word "possible" in that headline: The Columbia County Building and Facilities and Public Works/Waste Board of Supervisors committees met July 22 at Kozel’s restaurant in Ghent without public notice. That is a violation of the Open Meetings Law. They met after a tour of county facilities -- which was announced -- but no mention of the meeting appeared on the county's web site or in the Public Notices section of The Register-Star. No one in the article contradicts those facts.

Ethics panel to investigate allegations against supervisor
From The Daily Mail

JEWETT - The Ethics Committee will investigate Town Supervisor Michael Flaherty, who is accused by Jewett highway superintendent Robert Mallory of for failing to secure a building permit for a project at his home. “I have attended board meetings in this room for 15-plus years. Anyone attending only a few meetings would know that a building permit is required for anything outside of a four-foot fence," said Mallory. “Supervisor Flaherty knew a permit was needed and [for] whatever reason failed to obtain one."

'Twenty tires, three batteries and a ton of scrap metal'
From Unmuffled

HUDSON - The good news: there are not two fuel dumps buried next to M.C. Smith Intermediate School in Hudson. The bad news: it cost $10,000 to find a lot of junk. George Keeler, the Hudson City School District Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, told to the Board of Education about the buried treasure at the Board's meeting Monday.

Kinderhook GOP loses line on Conservative ballot
From The Register-Star

KINDERHOOK - Four candidates the Columbia County Conservative party endorsed to run for Kinderhook town offices will not be appearing on the Conservative line on the ballot at the November Election for failing to to file a certificate of authorization. The candidates are Patrick Grattan, nominated to head the slate as town supervisor, and newcomers Patsy Leader and Glenn Smith for seats on the Town Board, and Incumbent Highway Superintendent John Ruchel, Jr. for a second term in office. Lisa Mills, the Republican candidate for town justice will still be listed on the Conservative line, as candidates for the justice position are not required to fill out the authorization forms.

(Erin Roberts and Jordan Smith at the WGXC booth at the Greene County Youth Fair. Photo by Michael Davis.)

WGXC has added new audio. Click on the links, and then click on the triangle next to the word "audio" on the right, to download and/or listen to the files:

NY State Senator James Seward interviewed by WGXC's Michael Davis and Jordan Smith at Greene County Youth Fair., July 23, 2009. In Cairo, NY.

Alexander Turnquist at Spotty Dog in Hudson, 072609., July 26, 2009. Live performance. 192 kbps mp3.

John Madden and the Deep Sea Divers perform at Spotty Dog in Hudson 072609, July 26, 2009. Live performance. 192 kbps mp3.

DJ Mr. Chips and Eclectic Method at Jason's Upstairs Bar in Hudson_071709, July 17, 2009. Live webstream for community radio station WGXC.

Armstrong literally outside the tent
From The Greenville Press (no web site)

CAIRO - Les Armstrong was literally outside the tent at the Greene County Youth Fair in Cairo last weekend. While the Greene County Republicans and Democrats both staffed booths with signs promoting local candidates under a big top, Armstrong had his own sign propped up against his truck at one of the tent's entrances. At one point, this reporter watched as a dog sniffed the sign and...well, we won't go into details on this family blog. Armstrong's candidacy, as recounted in The Press, has had some trouble. He turned in his nominating petitions to run as a Republican for the Durham seat in the Greene County Legislature. Republican Elsie Allen got his in to challenge Democratic incumbent Sean Frey. The day Armstrong turned in his nominations, there were no Republicans in the election office, as they were all attending the funeral of longtime Republican Election Commissioner Frank DeBenedictus. So Democratic Town Commissioner Tom Burker didn't warn Armstrong that he lacked witness statements, a cover page, and numbered pages. So James Karcheck, who lost the Republican nomination to Armstrong in 2006 but remained on the ballot, challenged his petitions, which were disqualified. Frey has to be hoping Armstrong somehow gets on the ballot, perhaps by collecting 40 signatures on an independent nominating petition by Aug. 18.

Wounded soldier returns home from Iraq
From The Daily Mail

NEW BALTIMORE - Sgt. First Class James T. Rundberg returned home to New Baltimore Sunday after being wounded in Iraq by a roadside bomb June 25. Rundberg earlier received a Purple Heart and Sunday took home proclamations and resolutions from the New Baltimore Town Board, NY State Sen. James L. Seward, R-Oneonta, and U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy (D, NY-20).

Catskill Village Board does not meet
CATSKILL - The Catskill Village Board failed to meet Monday night for lack of a quorum. At least five cars turned up at 7 p.m. at the Senior Center for the meeting to see signs announcing that news, while the town's web site continued to proclaim the meeting was on.

Natalie Merchant live and local
From Tivoli Type

Former 10,000 Maniacs singer Natalie Merchant performed unannounced Saturday at Bard College's Spiegeltent with, "a piano, a little red notebook of music she compiled in the wee hours the night before, and a pen. She sang, played, joked, and made notes in the margins as she worked through the material. It was as much a songwriter's workshop as a performance, and aren't we lucky to have been there."

Gillibrand leads charge to keep gays in the military
From The Daily Beast

WASHINGTON - New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has secured an agreement from the Senate Armed Services Committee to hold hearings on “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” gays-in-the-military policy this fall. It would be the first formal re-assessment of the policy since Congress passed it into law in 1993. Recently, Gillibrand tried to add an amendment to the Military Reauthorization Act that would have temporarily suspended the policy, but withdrew it when she determined the amendment would not pass. This is her latest attempt to solidify support from her left for her 2010 primary election to retain her seat.

Greenway announces $75,000 trail grant program
From The Register-Star

The Hudson River Valley Greenway has applications available for the 2009 Greenway Conservancy Small Grant Program, with $75,000 in matching grants for funding for trail planning and design, construction and rehabilitation, and education and interpretation.

NOTES
Fred Dicker reports in The New York Post that former MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow, a major Republican fund-raiser and activist, is endorsing Democratic Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for governor....The Daily Mail and The Register-Star recently completed a wonderful redesign of their web sites. Unfortunately, they are charging readers to look at articles more than a few days old. Good luck with that....Columbia County's CCScoop says it is changing to a non-profit web site, and asking for donations. Good luck with that.