Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer explain in The Washington Post the possible reasons why Rep. Elise Stefanik announced last week she would run again for the position of House Republican conference chair position. That would be giving herself a demotion if Republicans retake the House of Representatives, as they expect to. Stefanik would move down from the Number Three spot in House GOP leadership to Number Four in the hierarchy if Republicans are in the majority. Why? Three other Republicans recently announced they would run for the Number Three spot, as House Whip. So she would face more competition than for Conference Chair, the position she now has, with Rep. Byron Donalds from Florida as the only competition. And being whip means you have to build consensus between moderate and conservative Republicans, which is not Stefanik's specialty these days. “It's going to be a really, really difficult job,” one senior Republican aide said of the whip position. As conference chair, “you're just lobbing bombs at the administration.” And just lobbing bombs at the administration is what Stefanik is doing now, and makes her better suited to become a vice-presidential candidate for someone such as former President Donald Trump if he runs again in 2024. “Trump has encouraged Stefanik to run again, and he is very happy with the job she's done,” said a source close to Stefanik. Read the full story in The Washington Post.

News10 in Albany reports that incumbent Democrat Paul Tonko has proposed a WMHT debate in the 20th Congressional District election this fall, and Republican challenger Liz Joy wants multiple debates. “I’m looking forward to debating Paul and our campaign is currently in discussions with multiple organizations that have proposed debates, including WMHT," Joy said. “Unlike Paul Tonko, who in 2020 refused to debate me when over 100 business owners requested a forum. We need to hear directly from Paul as to why he supports policies that are making New York unaffordable and unsafe with skyrocketing crime and weak borders allowing deadly fentanyl to flow into the country.” Because of Joy's participation in the rally in Washington D.C. Jan. 6, 2021, Tonko seems eager to debate this fall. “Those running for the people’s house should be held to account and open to public scrutiny,” said Tonko last week. “My opponent organized a bus trip to the Capitol on January 6th where police officers died, and insurrectionists tried to overturn an election. She has also expressed support for total abortion bans, even in cases of rape and incest. These are extreme views that are well out of touch with Capital Region voters, and they deserve to be scrutinized." So far, their are no specifics, except possibly using the local public television station, WHMT, as a venue. See the News10 website for more details on this story.

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Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media that Coeymans Town Supervisor George McHugh was at odds with the public and other elected officials during the September 8 town board meeting about his decision to censor public comment over a Facebook post by the Coeymans Conservatives group. The comments were made on the “What’s Up, Coeymans” Facebook page about the arrest of a man charged with forcible touching of four underage girls at the Mosher Park Pool. “The supervision and accountability lies with the parents and those hired to operate the public pool and look out for the safety and welfare of the pool patrons,” according to one statement from Coeymans Conservatives. “And the victims are children and deserve to be protected from sexual predators.” Several similar comments were posted on the Coeymans Conservatives and the Town of Coeymans Republican Committee Facebook pages. McHugh leads the Conservative committee. He denied posting the statements and claimed he does not know who did. Numerous town and village residents were angered by the comments. Ravena resident Melissa Ashby attempted to bring the subject up during the public comments portion of the meeting, but McHugh would not allow Ashby to speak, cutting her off almost immediately, claiming the subject was forbidden because it was not town business. "...Facebook comments are not legitimate town business,” he said. Town board member Marissa Tutay, a candidate on the Republican and Conservative lines in the November town election, said, “...It saddens me tremendously that what happened to those children was brought into a political game between two entities. I will tell you that the page you are mentioning was not the Conservative Party so whoever did say that, it was not representing those of us who are in the Conservative Party. I want that to be very clear.” McHugh cut her off as well. Village Trustee Caitlin Appleby, a Republican who also attempted to discuss the topic at the meeting, was likewise not permitted to speak. She later argued the issue is town business because of where the Facebook comments originated from. “...He [McHugh] is the face of both of those committees, and yet he doesn’t want to talk about it,” Appleby said. There is no proof who wrote the Facebook post in question, and Appleby said that is part of the problem. “There is no transparency,” Appleby said. “If he [McHugh] didn’t write it, then he knows who did.” Read the full story at TheUpStater [dot] com.

Lauren Mulvey is reporting for the Times Union the Woodstock Film Festival returns, beginning September 28 and continuing through October 2, for its 23rd year of films, special guests and more. After two years of a pandemic-constricted event, attendees and filmmakers this year can expect a “full-blown festival again,” said festival co-founder Meira Blaustein, with a lineup of 48 feature films and 98 short films. The festival opens with the world premiere of Joshua Caldwell’s “Mending the Line,” in which a young wounded Marine (Sinqua Walls) forms a bond with a Vietnam vet (Brian Cox) over fly-fishing. The closing night film is “Empire of Light,” a love story set in a seaside English town in the 1980s, directed by Sam Mendes and starring Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward and Colin Firth. Other headliners include the New York premieres of “Raymond and Ray;" “The Banshee of Inisherin;” and “Triangle of Sadness.” The attendee list includes Ethan Hawke, Awkwafina and Amanda Seyfried. And short films that win in the animation, documentary and narrative categories are immediately eligible for Academy Award nominations. The nonprofit Woodstock Film Festival has been celebrating independent film from both local and international filmmakers since 2000, when Blaustein and co-founder Laurent Retjo planned their first festival. With Blaustein now running the festival on her own, the organization also acts as a launchpad for aspiring filmmakers. Films will be screened at the Tinker Street Cinema, Bearsville Theater, Saugerties’ Orpheum Theater, the Woodstock Playhouse, Rosendale Theatre and more. Information is available at Woodstock Film Festival [dot] org. Read the full story in the Times Union.

This year's general election in New York begins Oct. 29 and ends Nov. 8. Oct. 14 is the last day to register to vote, and to postmark an application to vote in the general election. Those mailed-in applications to vote must also be received by the board of elections by Oct. 19. Anyone honorably discharged from the military or who became a naturalized citizen after October 14, may register in-person at their county board of elections office up until October 29. Applications to vote by absentee ballot must be received by mail by Oct. 24, although military absentee ballot applications are accepted through Oct. 29. Anyone can apply for an absentee ballot in person through Nov. 7. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 8 and received by the county board of elections no later than Nov. 15. Go to the website for your counties board of elections for more details.

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In an interview that aired on "60 Minutes" Sept. 18, President Joe Biden said, "The pandemic is over. If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing.” Facts do not bear this out. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.report nearly 400 people a day continue to die from COVID-19 in the United States. That's just about the equivalent of the deaths from the Sept. 11, 2001 attack every week. Biden himself, in July, had two bouts of COVID-19. In New York, though, the Times Union reports, officials will now no longer release COVID-19 case numbers by school district. "Local health departments and schools will work together to determine if and when action in a school needs to be taken or if there is a risk posed to the general public," Depertment of Health spokesperson Cadence Acquaviva said about the closing down of the COVID-19 School Report Card. "New York State continues to provide an unprecedented amount of data in real-time on cases, hospitalizations, and fatalities from COVID-19. We are constantly evaluating the utility and presentation of data and will continue to update and change our data pages as necessary." On Sept. 15, Greene County officials reported another local death from COVID-19. On Sept. 16, Greene County officials announced 13 new cases, and 83 total cases. On Sept. 12, Columbia County reported another COVID-19 death, and on Sept. 15, officials there reported 18 new cases, and 73 total cases.

Brendan J. Lyons and Chris Bragg report in the Times Union that investigators with the Albany County District Attorney's office and the state Board of Elections are continuing an investigation into thousands of duplicate signatures submitted in nominating petitions to try to get Republican Lee Zeldin an extra ballot line with the Independence Party for his current run for governor. The state Republican party submitted the petitions with the duplicate signatures, not Zeldin's campaign. The roughly 11,000 duplicate signatures were photocopied at the state Republican Party headquarters in Albany. A source with knowledge of the investigation told the Times Union that criminal charges are now being considered because it appears the duplicate signatures were deliberately mixed into the petitions. The petition effort was headed by John F. Haggerty, Jr., a longtime Republican operative from Queens who serves in a leadership role for the state party. "Nothing could've gone out the door without his knowledge," a Republican Party source told the newspaper. Haggerty has previously had troubles with the law during an election, convicted in 2011 of stealing roughly $750,000 from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg during his 2009 re-election campaign. He did not respond to a reporter's query for comment. Jessica Proud, a spokesperson for the state Republican Party, all but refused to comment, saying, "It's nonsense. We've said all we're going to say on the matter.... It's election season. This is all political." Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Democrat running against Zeldin, released a campaign statement claiming Zeldin is "now implicated in an actual case of alleged election fraud, and this time it's real." Read more about this story in the Times Union.

While a major affordable housing crisis in the Hudson Valley now is common knowledge, there has been no affordable housing built in the WGXC listening area in recent memory. Only Hudson officials are even talking about building anything, though no shovels are in the ground there, nor anywhere else. Now Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that federal housing funding in some cases has been too slowly distributed and could put future funding at risk, according to an audit released by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office. “We need every dollar available for housing needs in our state, particularly those that can help bolster affordable housing. HCR must work more efficiently to ensure the unprecedented federal relief funds help New Yorkers in need and are not lost because of unnecessary delays and miscommunications,” DiNapoli said. New York has received $244 million in community development block grants for affordable housing. The money must be spent in a certain time frame. DiNapoli's audit recommended improving internal controls over the administration of community development block grants and better monitoring of contractors. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

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Patricia Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman that Jen Metzger will be the Democratic candidate for Ulster County Executive in the upcoming special election in November. Metzger, a former state senator, received 64.4 percent of the weighted vote at the Democratic Committee Convention on September 17. Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher received 29.7 percent of the vote, while Deputy County Executive Marc Rider came in third with six percent. Metzger was nominated by Sheriff Juan Figueroa, who called her ” a true leader” with a talent for “bringing people together and working with others.” Metzger served on the Rosendale Town Board before she was elected to the state Senate in 2018. In 2020, she was defeated by Republican Michael Martucci. She was appointed in 2022 to the Ulster County Land Bank and to the state’s Cannabis Control Board. William J. Kemble is reporting for the Daily Freeman that Republican town of Ulster Supervisor James Quigley will face off against Metzger in the race for county executive. Quigley said he was chosen by Republican and Conservative Party leaders in private sessions during the past week. He said the decision came after realizing that some of the county’s largest problems should be addressed by someone who has a track record of working cooperatively with people who have significantly varied environmental, economic, and political views. Quigley has been town supervisor since 2010 after running unsuccessfully in 2008 for Ulster County Comptroller. He was a Coleman Catholic High School graduate who worked in New York City as a partner in a real estate investment firm and then returned to put that experience to work resolving Ulster town debt problems. Quigley said the idea of having a county executive’s position decided at the polls without a Republican challenger was abhorrent. “For too long the office of County Executive has been viewed as a birthright and used as a stepping stone for higher office,” Quigley said. “With the support of Ulster County voters, those days will end under my watch.” The special election on November 8 is to fill the unexpired term of Pat Ryan, who was elected to the 19th Congressional District on August 23. Ryan resigned as county executive on September 9. The special election for county executive is taking place on the same date as the general election. The winner will serve through the end of 2023. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Columbia County Board of Supervisors September 14, approved a resolution in opposition to lowering the state’s overtime threshold for farm laborers. The state Farm Laborers Wage Board has recommended to state Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon that the minimum be decreased from 60 to 40 hours per week ten years from now. That would pay farmworkers the same way that grocery workers, and other employees, are paid. Reardon has until October 21 to make a decision on the proposal. According to the resolution approved by the supervisors, farmers “face a tremendous number of challenges outside of their control, including obtaining labor, climate change, land management policies, foreign market competition and livestock and crop disease.” The resolution argues that local farmers will not be able to handle the increased costs they believe a lower overtime minimum would create. Board Minority Leader Tistrya Houghtling of New Lebanon expressed reservations about the initial draft of the resolution and wanted to table it. She suggested holding a special meeting to hear from local farmers and farm workers. Chatham Town Supervisor Donal Collins supported Houghtling’s motion to table the resolution, saying the county should support the farm labor workforce. Houghtling subsequently made a motion to amend the proposed resolution to state the board acknowledges the overtime changes would harm farmers in Columbia County and the board would “commit to a process of hearing from all involved parties to come up with alternative solutions.” Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chair Matt Murell said discussions with local farmers led to the introduction of the resolution. “We had heard from people in the agriculture business that felt it was going to hurt farms,” Murell said. "...[W]e felt that we would do a resolution prior to the governor signing it to let her know how we feel.” He said nothing about meeting with farm workers, who are paid less than all other employees in the state. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

MidHudson News is reporting that the State Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control has tested two weeks of sample wastewater taken from Kingston and New Paltz, and the results were negative for poliovirus. The testing will now continue to be a regular part of wastewater surveillance in Kingston and New Paltz. “Polio is preventable through safe and effective vaccination, and I strongly encourage all residents who are not vaccinated for polio to call their doctor and get vaccinated without delay,” said Acting Ulster County Executive Johanna Contreras. County Health Commissioner Dr. Carol Smith said, “While the polio testing results for Ulster County are negative, it doesn’t mean that our community is immune from polio in the long term. Getting all of your children vaccinated is the best and only way to protect them from this serious disease.” She urged every person to check with their physician’s office, to make sure that everyone in the family is up to date with polio, and all other essential vaccinations. In New York State, wastewater is now being tested for the presence of the virus that causes polio. Unvaccinated residents or those not up to date with immunizations who live, work, go to school in, or visit Rockland County, Orange County, Sullivan County, New York City, and Nassau County are at the highest risk of contracting the paralytic disease. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Columbia County Board of Supervisors approved Sept. 14, a resolution in opposition to new state gun legislation over the protestations of the board's Democrats who argued that the voting process was rushed. The new gun laws were signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul on July 1 in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling June 23 that struck down a century-old New York concealed carry law. The new legislation restricts the carrying of concealed weapons in designated sensitive locations, including government buildings, hospitals, bars, restaurants, and public transportation. The laws also expanded on eligibility requirements under the state's concealed carry permitting process, including mandated firearm training courses for all applicants. The Columbia County resolution calls on municipalities throughout the state, and organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, to contest the state laws in court. Board of Supervisors Chair Matt Murell voted in favor of the resolution. “I believe honest people who have done everything according to the law in getting a pistol permit and a concealed carry permit, they’ve dotted their Is and crossed their Ts and then all of a sudden everything changes for them,” Murell said. “They could accidentally walk into an establishment with his concealed weapon and then be convicted of a felony when they really haven’t done anything is wrong.” New Lebanon Town Supervisor and Board Minority Leader Tistrya Houghtling, a self-described gun owner from a "...responsible gun-owning family,..," said she had questions about the board’s proposed resolution. Houghtling said she could not take a stand on the resolution either way because she had not been given enough time to read the state legislation. Hudson 3rd Ward Supervisor Michael Chameides was the only supervisor to oppose the resolution. “We don’t want to rush through this legislation. We want to be thorough, we want to be careful and we want to do things not based on political motivations, but based on real solutions. I’m not convinced we’re doing that,” Chameides said. Houghtling was among the supervisors to abstain from the vote based on a lack of time to study the state legislation that was the subject of the measure. The resolution is just an opinion, and Columbia County officials will take no action. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Liz Montgomery is reporting for Porcupine Soup the sheriff's offices in Albany and Greene counties, as well as the New York State Police, responded September 15 to a call from a Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk School District school bus. The bus had pulled over on the side of the road in West Coxsackie after a student allegedly claimed to have a weapon. According to the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, an eight-year-old student said he had a gun and was going to shoot someone on the bus. Another student on the bus told the driver about it, authorities said. RCS Superintendent Brian Bailey said the driver immediately notified transportation dispatch. “Our school resource officers and emergency services were also notified. Police arrived on the scene and investigated. There were no weapons found on or around the school bus,” Bailey said. He said the school will address this issue through the student code of conduct. Bailey acknowledged the large police presence that responded to the threat and noted that such incidents are taken seriously. The student involved will not be immediately returning to class. Read the full story at porcupine soup [dot] com.

Chris Bragg is reporting for the Times Union that U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for governor from Long Island, on September 16 called for an investigation into $637 million in spending by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration to buy rapid coronavirus tests last winter. The Times Union reported the same day that California paid 45 percent less per test for the same brand purchased by New York. If New York had paid the same price as California, it would have saved $286 million. "This needs to be investigated," Zeldin said at a press conference in Manhattan. "I would love to know what the attorney general of New York thinks about this case. What does the New York state comptroller think about this?" California bought directly from the manufacturer of the tests, but New York purchased through a third-party distributor that took an unspecified cut. The third-party distributor, Digital Gadgets, is owned by a New York City family that has given nearly $300,000 to Hochul’s campaign. Zeldin said Friday, "I would love for the Hochul administration to tell you about how they tried to go directly to that company to get it from them directly — to cut out the middle man — as was their duty, as stewards of tax dollars." A Hochul spokesperson did not immediately answer a question about whether the administration sought to buy the tests directly from the manufacturer, and a health department spokesperson has declined comment on the matter. Records show that when Digital Gadgets made an initial offer to sell the state 26 million tests for $13 each, Hochul’s office approved the deal the same day. The governor’s office argues it needed to quickly acquire a significant number of tests before schools reopened after the holidays on January 3, and that Digital Gadgets was uniquely able to supply a large quantity of tests before then. Republican state Sen. Sue Serino on Sept. 16 called for Attorney General Letitia James and Albany County District Attorney David Soares to investigate the matter, a call echoed by Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt. Read the full story at timesunion [dot] com.

Here is a roundup of the biggest environmental stories locally this week from the WGXC Newsroom. Click here to download or play this week's environmental news from WGXC.

Marie J. French reports at Politico how efforts to build offshore wind turbines at the Port of Coeymans and Port of Albany are being opposed by environmentalists. The Port of Coeymans recently has been a maritime hub for construction debris from New York City, so it would seem environmentalists would support a shift to building offshore wind turbines. But environmentalists see the expansion of the ports as risky to the health of the Hudson River. “We’ve had 20 years of this creeping expansion,” Barbara Heinzen, a Coeymans resident, said. The 125-acre Port of Coeymans is about 15 miles south of Albany and is owned by Carver Companies, recently added an industrial park to the dismay of some neighbors. The Carver Companies businesses have been fined several times by the DEC for environmental violations, including a 2018 fine for illegally stored road salt at the port. The current expansion plans there would require dredging to increase the depth of the Hudson River and allow bigger ships to load and unload. That dredging will eliminate the potential habitat for the endangered sturgeon in the Hudson River. Carver wants to mitigate that loss by funding 1.8 acres of habitat restoration at the Schodack Island State Park across the river. On Aug. 8, the Department of Environmental Conservation concluded that all negative environmental impacts had been minimized and mitigated “to the maximum extent practicable.” At the Port of Albany, the complaints are about the number of trees cut down for the port's expansion. John Lipscomb, Riverkeeper’s boat captain, said, “We seem to compromise our values. It’s not about wind. It’s about politically popular projects." Read more about this story at Politico.

Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that on Sept. 12, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office announced that the New York Power Authority was giving an Israeli firm a $1 million grant to help develop fast-charging battery capabilities for electric vehicles. To phase-out gas-fueled vehicles in New York, the state will need to have many fast-charging stations for cars and trucks throughout the state. "Through key strategic partnerships, New York is driving the advancement of cutting-edge clean energy technologies that will have a global impact in the fight against climate change," Hochul said. "New York's collaboration with the state of Israel, a hub for innovative, clean energy technologies, will deliver forward-thinking solutions that will strengthen New York's EV infrastructure." While California has mandated that no more fossil fuel-powered cars will be sold there after 2035, New York has yet to announce a similar mandate. Read the full story at New York State of Politics.

Rick Karlin is reporting for the Times Union that General Electric Co. has agreed to conduct a study of possible PCB and other contamination in the lower Hudson River from the Troy Dam to New York Harbor. The agreement was announced by the federal Environmental Protection Agency on September 13. New York parties, led by Department of Environmental Commissioner Basil Seggos as well as the Hudson Riverkeeper group, have maintained that more studies, as well as additional dredging, will likely have to be done. GE has taken the position that its dredging was completed in 2015 when, following an agreement with the EPA, they removed approximately 2.5 million cubic yards of PCB-laden sediment from a 40-mile stretch of the river between Fort Edward and Troy. The contamination dates from the 1940s to the 1970s, when GE regularly discharged PCBs into the Hudson from its capacitor plants in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls. While it was legal to do so at the time, the dumping sparked worries about pollution since PCB is now considered a probable carcinogen. Under the new agreement, GE will develop a plan for “extensive water, sediment, and fish sampling between the Troy Dam and the mouth of the New York Harbor.” The organization will look for evidence of PCBs and other contaminants as well. New data is needed to determine the best path forward, according to the EPA. This is being done in advance of what could be formal studies that could come before a cleanup plan. EPA Regional Administrator Lisa Garcia in a statement, “The information will help us determine whether and how to prioritize investigations in each portion of the lower Hudson and how to best address contamination.” Read the full story in the Times Union.

Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that the New York State Department of Public Service will hold a series of public meetings on a proposed New York State Electric and Gas Corporation rate hike. NYSEG [NIGH-SEGG], which provides electric service to portions of Greene and Columbia counties, has requested the PSC to approve changes to annual electric and natural gas delivery rates. NYSEG is proposing to increase its electric delivery revenue by approximately $274 million, a 31 percent hike in base delivery revenues for the company. If approved, the rate increases would take effect on May 1, 2023. The Department of Public Service will host a series of virtual public statement hearings on the rate hikes beginning Sept. 15, with hearings scheduled at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. State residents are able to provide their comments to the PSC about rate changes. Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said the county is encouraging NYSEG customers to express their opinions about the rate changes to the state agency. “I think when people see those numbers, they’re going to say, ‘What?’” Groden said. “Why are these things going up so much? I don’t know if there’s a correlation between the fact that we’re pushing to more green energy, which is more expensive. There’s a benefit to green energy but now we’re going to agree to pay 50 percent more because we’re going to use solar?” Additional virtual Department of Public Service hearings on the NYSEG proposal will take place on September 28 and October 18, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. each day. Last week National Grid announced its residential natural gas customers should expect to pay an estimated $263 more on their heating bills, beginning in November and continuing through the end of March. National Grid electric customers will pay approximately 22 percent more than last winter. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Andrea Macko is reporting for Porcupine Soup that Central Hudson Gas and Electric is once more warning customers to prepare for higher energy supply prices as electric and natural gas prices increase again, the company announced September 13. The residential price for electric supply will increase from 8.32 cents per kilowatt hour in August to 13.06 cents per kilowatt hour as of September 13. Natural gas prices that went into effect on September 1 also increased from 87.1 cents per hundred cubic feet in August to 97.8 cents per hundred cubic feet. According to Central Hudson, the utility purchases electricity and gas from “third-party suppliers on behalf of customers. These costs are not marked up and Central Hudson does not profit from them, meaning customers pay the same rates as Central Hudson for the energy they use.” Several international, national, and regional factors are contributing to this market volatility, Central Hudson says. For instance, inflation is plaguing the entire planet since the pandemic, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine has wreaked havoc on energy markets. Read the full story at porcupine soup [dot] com.