Today's daily news update.

Lissa Harris reports for the Times Union how climate change is already transforming the Hudson Valley. The Hudson River Watershed Alliance held its annual regional conference on watershed science and policy last week in Kingston, Hyde Park, and on Zoom. Speakers presented the latest research on how climate change is driving erosion in the area, and listed other current results of global warming. In New York winters are warming faster than summers. Climate change is bringing more rainfall and more intense storms to the area, and also more episodes of short-term drought. And in Kingston, the Hudson River is encroaching on the city. The end of East Strand Street is often underwater, with high tide flowing across the roadway. “That is the river!” said Julie Noble, Kingston’s environmental education and sustainability coordinator. The tidal Hudson River has risen about a foot over the past century and could rise six more feet in the next century. “I think a lot of communities want to get ahead of this,” said Libby Zemaitis, a climate planner at the state Department of Environmental Conservation. “To do that, you have to plan now.” Read the full story in the Times Union.

Nick Reisman reports in New York State of Politics that after voting has already begun the New York League of Conservation Voters political action committee is starting a six-figure ad campaign for four Democratic incumbents in the state Senate, including Michelle Hinchey. Hinchey, an incumbent, is running for to stay in office against another incumbent, Republican Sue Serino, after redistricting threw them together in the 41st state Senate district. The New York League of Conservation Voters are also backing state Sens. John Brooks on Long Island, the Hudson Valley's James Skoufis, and John Mannion of central New York. “November’s elections are critical. We simply cannot hit pause on the progress we have made over the past four years and we cannot afford to roll back laws or investments. We need to maintain a strong, pro-environment majority in the state senate to continue our transition to a clean energy economy, safeguard the most vulnerable communities from the effects of climate change and pollution, and create green jobs,” said NYLCV PAC Senior Vice President Josh Klainberg. The group is also hoping voters back the $4.2 billion environmental bond act that is on the back of New York ballots this fall. Read more about this story in New York State of Politics.

Meg Britton-Mehlisch reports for The Berkshire Eagle that more than 3,000 staff members of the Berkshire Health System last week were notified by BHS management that the new COVID bivalent booster was being added to the system’s previous coronavirus vaccine mandate. That memo, leaked to the media, told all, “employees, caregivers, contractors, volunteers, and students working and learning” within the system that they had until December 15 to receive the booster and report their vaccination status to the health system. “It is now clear that adding the most recent bivalent booster will provide better protection against newer strains of the COVID-19 virus,” the statement to employees reads. The memo advised that while employees can apply for medical or religious exemptions, anyone without an exemption or booster shot by the deadline “will not be cleared to work and will therefore be suspended from employment without pay.” Employees may be fired if they do not receive the booster. Hundreds of employees and community members say they are against a new addition to the Berkshire Health Systems’ medical mandates for staff. Hundreds signed a letter to the hospital system over the weekend opposing the new vaccine requirements, calling the expanded vaccination mandate “nothing more than bullying by an employer for profit.” One Berkshire Medical Center nurse, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation, said that she is actively looking for other places to work because of the mandate. “I’m willing to leave this place of employment because of the way they’ve treated us and the way they say ‘get this booster or get terminated,’” she said. The nurse said she has her doubts about the boosters’ effectiveness. She and many of the co-signers to the letter say they’re asking BHS to grant them the same autonomy over their health care decisions they grant their own patients. A spokesperson for the health system said the vaccine requirements as a condition of employment are nothing new. The coronavirus vaccination regimen joins BHS’s requirement that all staff also receive the flu, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and Tdap vaccines. Scientific evidence shows that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective. Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle.

Today's daily news update.

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Kathleen Moore reports for the Times Union that North Colonie schools Superintendent D. Joseph Corr said, in an "act of hideous, overt racism," someone wrote racial slurs outside of the only school in the district led by a black administrator. The vandalism occurred at Forts Ferry Elementary School, in an area where there are no security cameras, Corr said. The vandal also shattered a window at a back entrance and drew obscene pictures on the exterior walls of the school. Maintenance workers discovered the damage on October 30, and they were able to remove the graffiti that evening. Police are investigating. Principal Casey Parker was at work, greeting students as usual on Oct. 31. Parker taught previously in the Albany schools, and served as a principal and building administrator in the Troy schools. He was appointed principal of Forts Ferry in July and is the only black principal in the district, where 62 percent of the students are white and seven percent are black. In a statement, Corr said the district "will not shy away from the fact that this act occurred at Forts Ferry where Dr. Parker, a Black man, became principal in July. We need to recognize the ugliness and pain of this moment and we must, in word and deed, stand up and say racism has no place in our schools." Corr asked the community to join with him and "denounce this hatred." Read the full story in the Times Union.

Pete DeMola reports in the Times Union that Albany police arrested a 24-year-old Gilboa man for first-degree aggravated harassment, a felony, on Oct. 28. The man, unnamed in the story, is accused of placing anti-Semitic and racist stickers at several University at Albany campus locations last week. The man took photos of his crime and then shared those images with a TV news station to draw attention to his hateful views. Campus police said last week that the stickers are associated with a group that is reported to have distributed hateful propaganda in several states. Campus officials said he had no ties to the school. Read the full story in the Times Union.

The Daily Freeman reports that a bill sponsored by state Sen. Michelle Hinchey requiring the presence of opioid medications on state college campuses has been signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Democrat Hinchey of Saugerties said the legislation will help increase access to life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications. The measure requires SUNY and CUNY schools to maintain a supply of opioid antagonists, such as Narcan, in all college-owned student housing as well as train resident assistants, who live in student residence halls, on how to administer the overdose antidote. Hinchey said in a statement, “Requiring Narcan in all SUNY and CUNY housing, with trained student RAs who live with their peers and are often in the best position to administer this life-saving medication, will save countless young lives and transform on-campus safety. . .” According to Hinchey’s office, more New Yorkers are dying of drug overdoses in a 12-month period than car accidents, suicide and homicide combined and she represents Hudson Valley communities with some of the highest rates of opioid overdose deaths in the state. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Today's daily news update.

Voting began on October 29, and continues every day except Nov. 7, through Nov. 8, with ballot decisions about governor, Congress, several judges, and an environmental bond act. After the first day of voting there was anecdotal talk of a large turnout. Dina LaRose, of Palenville, helped with the polls in Ulster County, and the 19-year-veteran of working elections said in the Daily Freeman, “I’ve never seen this many people for a midterm." Kelly A. Miller-Simmons, Republican commissioner of the Columbia County Board of Elections said in the Register Star “For the size of the county, we think we’ll get a large turnout,” Miller-Simmons said. “We’ve planned for a good turnout.” Mid-Hudson News reported that most of the ballots cast Oct. 29 and 30 in Columbia County were from Democrats. Two-thirds of all the votes were made by Democrats on the first day of voting, and nearly three-quarters of the votes on the second day were cast by Democrats. Democrats cast 1,290 votes to the Republicans’ 209 while Conservatives cast 18 votes, Independence Party voters cast 29, Working Families registrants seven, Green Party voters cast three, and Libertarians had one vote. “Our party has been working hard to get people to the polls early and the numbers were evidence of the enthusiasm Democrats are feeling for our candidates,” said Sam Hodge, chairman of the Columbia County Democratic Committee. On the first two days of voting, 261,735 votes were cast statewide, Spectrum News reports. Voting on more than one day in New York only began in 2019, so there is no mid-term election to compare turnout. In the more popular presidential election of 2020, during the beginning of the pandemic, 422,166 votes were cast on the first two days of voting. There was at least one local glitch with the first days of voting: Mid-Hudson News reported in the City of Middletown the internet went down and the printers that spit out the actual ballots were also not working. A poll watcher announced a repair person was on the way to fix the problems, but his arrival time was unknown, and most people lined up to vote left to return, or not, some other time.

Nick Reisman reports for Spectrum News that Republican Joe Pinion and Democrat Chuck Schumer debated Oct. 30, the day after voting began in their contest to be New York's senator. Schumer is the incumbent, and current Majority Leader in the Senate. "In the last two years under my leadership, the Senate has had the most productive session in decades," Schumer said. But Pinion argued Schumer has not been successful. "He's a failed senator," Pinion said. "He's failed the people of this state on multiple occasions." Even though inflation is a problem worldwide after the pandemic, Pinion blamed it on Schumer. "COVID did not cause the inflation," said Pinion, a former anchor on the radical right-wing cable channel Newsmax. "The response to COVID caused the inflation - the printing of money, $6 trillion worth to oppose that virus of foreign origin and we still have not held them accountable." Schumer pointed out bills passed that work to reduce inflation. "Starting next year, this coming year, the most a person can pay for prescription drugs is $2,000," Schumer said. "That's a real cap, it's going to reduce inflation." Voting continues through Nov. 8, and the winner will represent New York for six years. Read the full story at Spectrum News.

Lorna Cherot Littleway in the Columbia Paper reports about the issues voters face if they turn their ballots over this fall. There is one statewide Yes-or-No proposal on the back of all ballots in New York this year. The Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 would authorize the sale of $4.2 billion in state bonds to fund environmental protection, natural restoration, resiliency, and clean energy projects if voters approve. Locally, depending where you vote, there could be other issues on the back of the ballot. Voters in North Chatham, Claverack, Germantown, Valatie, and Hudson decide on proposed budget increases. In Hudson, there is more on the back of the ballot, as voters their make decisions on a proposal to redistrict the city's five wards. And in Catskill, voters decide whether to allow cannabis lounges in a permissive referendum that attempts to overturn the decision against the lounges by the town board. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

Today's daily news update.

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Jeanette Wolfberg reports for The Columbia Paper that the Columbia County Board of Supervisors has authorized the Solid Waste Department to increase the minimum charge for disposing of garbage at its transfer stations from $1 to $3 a bag, thereby eliminating the $1 tag from use. The increase was approved by the full board at its meeting on October 12. However, the price hike will not take effect until county officials work on accommodating those residents who regularly use the $1 bags. The “pay-as-you-throw” charge does not include the cost of the bags themselves, which are available from local stores. The tags are purchased from the county and are placed on each bag before the bag or bags are disposed of. The $1 tag is for bags that hold 10 gallons or less; $3 bag holds 13 to 30 gallons; and $5 bags contain 33 to 55 gallons of garbage. The county’s October 12 decision will eliminate the $1 tag. Since September 2021, anyone disposing of trash at transfer stations must buy both bags and tags, instead of bags alone, as was the practice for years. Other counties and places have also made this change, county officials said. At the October 12 Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Ron Knott of Stuyvesant said, “Solid waste gets funded with a lot of tax dollars and people complain.” He added that at budget meetings over the years, people spoke of the need to increase solid waste fees, “and we kept putting it off, because we didn’t want to impact our residents….We need to increase the fees or offset them with taxes.” But Canaan Supervisor Brenda Adams said the change “will have little or no impact. It’s symbolic.” Copake Supervisor Jeanne Mettler said the problem is that some people are “throwing in big garbage bags with a $1-tag or no tag,” while the measure penalizes people who generate only a small-bag amount of waste each week. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

Mid-Hudson News reports that the town of Red Hook's proposed 2023 budget lowers the tax rate by 17 percent, in an attempt to offset an increase in residential assessment rates, but the preliminary spending plan also includes a $25,000 raise for the town supervisor. Town Supervisor Robert McKeon’s budget memo stated that financial experts are warning of a recession in the near future while noting, “This budget includes additional increases for those staff not included in the collective bargaining agreement,” referencing the contract between the Dutchess County town and its union employees. At an October 13 town board workshop not attended by McKeon, Deputy Town Supervisor Bill Hamel discussed the increased workload and numerous responsibilities associated with the office of town supervisor. According to the minutes, board members talked about adjusting the position to full time with an increase in salary and the addition of benefits or a buy-out option for the supervisor. They used the towns of East Fishkill and Lagrange as comparisons for the increase in salary. The four board members in attendance suggested that increasing the salary could encourage future supervisors to take the position on as a regular job if it was full time. The board then voted unanimously to increase the supervisor's salary, from the current $32,575 to $58,466 per year.  The town clerk is scheduled to receive an increase of just under $1,800 next year. McKeon said the increases are an attempt to attract and retain valuable employees. The supervisor, now serving his second term, said, “The [town] budget is the seventh in a row with flat or lower taxes. The tax rate for the three main funds combined is proposed to be down 17 percent to $1.81 per $1,000 of assessed value,” and noted that it is among the lowest in the county. “In addition to holding the line, we’ve adopted programs, including our Community Solar, which is currently saving residents hundreds of dollars annually.” The board will hold a public hearing on the 2023 budget on Nov. 2 at town hall. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

The Daily Freeman reports that Democrat Jen Metzger and Republican Jim Quigley, the two candidates for Ulster County executive, will participate in a forum sponsored by the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 1, three days after voting began. Both candidates will be given an opportunity to introduce themselves to members of the local business community and then answer questions about issues of importance to chamber members. The League of Women Voters will assist at the event. Metzger and Quigley are looking to fill the unexpired term of former County Executive Pat Ryan, who resigned in September to serve as the representative of New York's 19th Congressional District. Quigley is a certified public accountant and former chief fiscal officer of Rothschild Realty Management, in New York City. He ran unsuccessfully for county comptroller in 2008 and has served as the town of Ulster supervisor since 2010. In addition to running as a Republican, he will appear on the Conservative line on the November ballot. Metzger is a former member of the Rosendale Town Board and served in the state Senate from 2019 to 2020. She is currently a member of the state Cannabis Control Board and of the Ulster County Land Bank. Metzger will hold the Democratic and Working Families party lines on the ballot. Voting takes place now through November 8, and the winner will serve through December 31, 2023. Read more in the Daily Freeman.

Today's daily news update.