Today's audio daily news update.

Click above to download or play the "Better Weather." Produced by Joe Demanso of the Catskill Makers Syndicate.

Tiffany Greenwaldt-Simon reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Hudson Common Council passed a resolution Dec. 19 asking Gov. Kathy Hochul to block the expansion of the Iroquois natural gas pipeline in Athens. Food and Water Watch, a non-governmental group that advocates for safe food, clean water and a livable climate, authored the resoultion. Emily Skydel, the Hudson Valley organizer for the group, said, “This resolution represents that municipalities as a whole do not support this expansion.... There’s a real concern that pollution from the proposed project could hurt local communities in Hudson.” Iroquois wants to expand their pipeline to allow an additional 125 million cubic feet of natural gas to pass through the pipeline per day. That would mean changes to the Athens station, including the addition of 12,000 horsepower of compression and gas cooling by November 2025. In December, more than 60 local elected officials, including state Sen. Michelle Hinchey and state Assemblymember Didi Barrett sent a letter to Hochul demanding she deny the proposed expansion. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Kevin Frey reports in New York State of Politics that Rep. Marc Molinaro surprised no one by formally announcing on Jan. 12 his campaign for a second term in the U.S. House. Molinaro released a campaign ad saying, “Every day in Washington, I put politics aside and work for everyone of every party who calls Upstate New York home.... It’s about the middle ground - where most of us live.” Molinaro regularly votes with very conservative members of Congress on issues such as who should be House Speaker. Molinaro beat Democrat Josh Riley in 2022, after now Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado resigned from his term in the 19th Congressional District. Molinaro's win, and a few other flipped districts in New York, gave Republicans control of the House, and this election may also determine who controls the legislative body. Riley is running again for Molinaro's seat, as is Democrat Dan Buttermann, who previously ran for the state Assembly. Read more about this story in New York State of Politics.

Andrea Macko reports in Porcupine Soup that Wesley Schultz, guitarist and singer for The Lumineers is performing a benefit concert Jan. 12 in Palenville to help the Circle W general store which opened in 1908. The store closed in the 1990s, but was reopened by Patti Harvey. Since 2015 it has been run by her son, songwriter, author and poet Simone Felice and his wife Jessica Walsh. Because of state regulations they moved the Circle W food service across the street to Griffin House, where there is a Department of Health-approved water source. An social media post by Harvey and Walsh said, “Everybody misses the old W, and this new setup is not only confusing to our customers, but unsustainable.... We are actively working with the DOH in hopes of finding a solution and securing an acceptable water source, but it will be a major financial commitment.” So Schultz and others will perform at the Griffin House at 7 p.m. on Friday, January 12. The Lumineers featured the Palenville Firehouse siren on their 2022 song “Remington." Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Today's audio daily news update.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union former District Attorney Paul Czajka (pronounced chi-kah) improperly withheld key evidence, and that revelation has led to a judge dismissing a case against a 75-year-old Chatham man who had been charged with sexually abusing a girl. Lawrence R. Thomas of Chatham had been indicted in July 2021 on the 31 felony counts for child sex abuse crimes, including seven charges that carried the maximum sentence. Those charges have now been dismissed. Shane Hug, an attorney for Thomas called the actions of prosecutors “deplorable” and “well below the acceptable standards that prosecutors should be held to.” Czajka, who is now retired, said, “I am solely responsible for that error and not disclosing (the material) if (the defendant) already knew anyway.... Any adverse decisions to the people were solely a result of my acts or omissions, no one else’s.” Czajka district attorney for six terms, but did not seek reelection last year. Chris Liberati-Contant, a Democrat, beat Czajka’s former chief assistant district attorney, Ryan M. Carty, in the election. Liberati-Conant said he is looking at the dismissal by state Supreme Court Justice Meagan K. Galligan to decide whether to appeal the decision. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Raymond Pignone reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Department of Labor says that Rep. Marc Molinaro's claim that Gov. Kathy Hochul directed it to identify job openings for illegal immigrants statewide is false. Beau Duffy, deputy commissioner of strategic communications for the Labor Department, said, “The New York state Department of Labor initiative is only available to individuals who have attained legal work status.... It is illegal under federal law to employ individuals without legal work status, and we follow federal law in all cases.” The Labor Department did create a portal on its website where employers can tell them if they would be willing to hire asylum seekers once they have federal work authorization. The story says that the Department of Labor does not place workers in jobs, but gets them in touch with employment opportunities. Hochul did authorize a survey to that found more than 18,000 private sector job openings at 379 companies who have identified roles that could be filled by immigrants with legal work status. Molinaro complained about those policies, saying, “Upstate New York job seekers should come first.... If Gov. Hochul can have a campaign that identified thousands of job openings for illegal immigrants, then it’s within her authority to launch a similar campaign with just as much resources and effort to help upstate New Yorkers land jobs.” Read moore about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Steve LeBlanc reports in the Berkshire Eagle the Massachusetts House unanimously passed a bill outlawing so-called 'revenge porn' on Jan. 10. Massachusetts is currently among just a few states without a law prohibiting image-based sexual assault. The bill now moves to the Senate. Democratic House Speaker Ronald Mariano said, “This legislation modernizes our criminal laws by ensuring that those who share explicit images of others without their consent face punishment, while also educating minors on the dangers of sharing explicit images of themselves.” Read more about this story in the Berkshire Eagle.

Today's audio daily news update.

Click above to download or play the "Better Weather." Produced by Joe Demanso of the Catskill Makers Syndicate.

Michael Ryan reports for the Mountain Eagle that the Greene County Legislature reappointed Brent Bogardus as the county’s Board of Elections Republican Party commissioner, after several Republicans voted against him because of political reasons. As an election commissioner, Bogardus is there to make sure there is a fair election that follows the rules, but Bogardus is also chair of the Greene County’s Republican Party, where his job is to get Republicans elected. Three legislators voted against him in a committee vote for the first job because of how he did the second job. Patty Handel from Durham, legislature Chair Patrick Linger from New Baltimore, and Sherry True of Cairo voted against Bogardus in the Dec. 11 committee vote for political reasons. Handel said, “While I ran unopposed, I never got an email or a phone call, asking if there was anything they could do to help me with the process. In my opinion, Brent does not do anything for small, local elections. Many Republicans did not get assistance. We need to push hard to keep Republicans in office.” As election commissioner, voters, not candidates, should be his focus. By the full legislature vote on Dec. 20, the three Republicans had changed their vote to support Bogardus. Read the full story in Porcupine Soup.

Luke Parsnow reports for New York State of Politics that many of New York's 2024 Congressional elections will be reruns from the 2022 elections with the same candidates. In the Hudson Valley, Democrat Josh Riley is running again in the 19th District primary after losing to Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro in the 2022 general election. Democrat Steven Holden, who ran against Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney in in the 24th District in 2022, is now running against Rep. Elise Stefanik in the 21st District. In a new contest, Republican Alison Esposito is challenging Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan in the 18th Congressional District. Esposito was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in 2022 with Lee Zeldin, losing to Democrats Kathy Hochul and Antonio Delgado. Another local election that will be different is the 20th Congressional District, where Democrat Paul Tonko has long served. Republican Liz Joy has said she will not try a third time to unseat Tonko, and Ballotpedia says Alexander Dubois and Jonathon Locke are competing in the Republican primary there to take on Tonko. The filing deadline in New York for congressional bids is April 4, so other candidates could emerge. Primary elections are held over two weeks in June. Read more about this story in New York State of Politics.

Mid-Hudson News reports that the construction work that was scheduled to close down part of the New York State Thruway last weekend will be attempted this weekend. A snowstorm last weekend postponed work on the damaged Brookside Road overpass on the Thruway in New Paltz. So the New York State Thruway Authority has rescheduled the work for at 8 p.m. Saturday, January. 13, which will close northbound lanes of the Thruway from exit 17 in Newburgh to exit 18 in New Paltz for at least 12 hours. Vehicles will be detoured around the road work, if forecast storms this weekend don't cause a second delay in the work. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Today's audio daily news update.

Lana Bellamy reports in the Times Union that New York's Office of Renewable Energy Siting on Jan. 9 postponed public hearings about a large solar project in Copake just hours before they were set to begin because of an effort by the town to have the project application dismissed. Last weekm an LLC purchased part of the property where the solar array was planned, putting the entire project in doubt. On Jan. 4, a judge denied the Town of Copake’s motion to dismiss Hecate Energy’s solar proposal after that sale. On Jan. 5, lawyers for Copake filed a request for appeal, which was granted on Jan. 9, which led to the postponement of the public hearings. Copake Supervisor Richard Wolf said about 150 chairs had been moved into a courtroom at Town Hall for the first hearing at 1:30 p.m. when they were told just after 10 a.m. that the public meeting was off. Wolf said, “This is the first inkling of a ruling in our favor since I’ve been doing this.” The original proposal was for solar arrays on 220 acres of an 880-acre plot in Copake and Craryville in Columbia County. Hecate Energy's Project Developer Matt Levine said, “We are steadfast in helping New York accomplish its renewable energy goals.” The state has special siting rules to speed approval of needed renewable energy projects, but this one has seen much local opposition. Opponents focus on falling property values and interrupted scenic views, while the company and the state hope to provide cheaper electricity that does less harm to the planet. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Nick Reisman reports for Politico that with a rise in Islamophobia and anti-semitism, Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to expand the number of offenses eligible for hate crimes in New York. Hochul announced her proposal as part of a package of measures in her State of the State address meant to address public safety in New York. Hochul said hate crimes have more than doubled between 2018 and 2022, and there have been many incidents since Hamas started a war with Israel on Oct. 7. Hochul, though, was short on specifics, besides saying she wants more offenses to count as hate crimes which receive harsher punishments. Read more about this story in Politico.

Andrea Macko reports in Porcupine Soup that the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA said on Jan. 9 that a donkey, a regular-sized horse and a mini horse that were removed from the former Friar Tuck Inn and Resort in Catskill in bad shape are getting better. On Dec. 4 The organization assisted State Police seizing the animals from the Route 32 property along with a peacock, turkey, goats, and chickens. The Humane Society said of the donkey and horses, “All three equines were underweight and dehydrated. The donkey, named Donny, had two lacerations, one to his neck, and one to his ‘coronary band,’ or top of his hoof. They have been sent to Oats’ Country Acres in Hannacroix and are expected to make a full recovery. Li Binghui, 57, of Elmhurst, NY, was arrested on Dec. 4 and charged with five misdemeanor counts of torturing or injuring animals/failure to provide sustenance. He reportedly worked for the property's owners, and could face up to a year in jail. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Today's audio daily news update.

Click above to download or play the "Better Weather." Produced by Joe Demanso of the Catskill Makers Syndicate.