Larry Rulison is reporting for the Times Union National Grid is predicting home heating bills in upstate New York will increase 39 percent this winter, a hike of roughly $50 more per month than last year. "These prices are significantly higher than they were last year," said Melanie Littlejohn, National Grid's regional vice president for customer and community management. National Grid said the increase is the result of record natural gas prices, as well as the increased gas delivery rates recently approved by the state Public Service Commission. Customers are charged for both supply and delivery. The supply charge is set using wholesale gas prices, while the delivery rate is set by the PSC. National Grid said the average five-month home heating bill will be approximately $943 for the period from November through March, $263 higher than the cost over the same five-month period last year. About $231 of the increase is due to wholesale gas costs. National Grid further noted that monthly electricity bills will also go up about $23, or 22 percent, each month this winter since most electricity in New York is made burning natural gas. All told, the average National Grid combined gas-and-electric bill will be $75 higher this winter compared to last. Littlejohn said, "National Grid has many assistance programs available, as well as energy-saving strategies, resources and tips. We are encouraging our customers to take action now before the cold weather arrives.” Read more in the Times Union.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media a monument and flagpole are being erected at Greenville's Veterans' Memorial Park, in honor of local fallen troops who served in the Vietnam War. The dedication ceremony will take place in the park on September 17, and will honor the 17 troops with ties to Greene County who lost their lives in the war. Work at the site is ongoing, with the installation of the Bronze Battlefield Cross, granite monument and flagpole expected to be completed in time for the dedication. Tim Broder from the Northeast USA Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the group spearheading the project, said, “It’s just a matter of getting it installed now and we will do it — there is no doubt in my mind about that.” On the day of the dedication, the group will also set up a temporary museum in the community room of the Greenville Public Library, honoring the 17 fallen Greene County troops. The group will pay homage to 19 troops from Columbia County, as well. The memorial project cost nearly $103,000 and there is still a substantial shortfall in the amount of money the group has been able to raise. “We are still behind,” Broder said. “We have probably $25,000 in outstanding loans that have to be paid back ... And we also need about another $40,000 to finish up so we are behind the 8-ball by about $60,000.” Broder said word about the dedication has spread and is expected to draw visitors from all over, including people from Texas and California. “We survived to make sure nobody forgets the fallen. That’s why we are doing this,” Broder said. Read the full story at the upstater [dot] com.

WNYT-TV is reporting that Siena College President Chris Gibson has announced his retirement. The former Congressperson said on September 6, that he will step down at the end of the 2022-23 academic year. Gibson was appointed Siena president in 2020, after serving three two-year terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Before being elected to Congress, he served for 29 years in the U.S. Army. Gibson said in a statement, “...I am focused on leading Siena to provide a first-rate college experience, both in and beyond the classroom, and advancing and resourcing our strategic plan as we prepare our students to serve as leaders, inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi, to help make the world become more just, peaceful, and humane.” Siena Board Chair Thomas Baldwin praised Gibson for his work, saying the college has flourished under his leadership. Read more at wnyt [dot] com.

The Fivethirtyeight.com website looks at which politicians on the ballot this fall are falsely denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election. In New York, the candidate for governor and several Congressional candidates in the Hudson Valley are on the list. There has been no proof that there was fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The website says the Republican Lee Zeldin, who is running for governor, "accepted with reservations" the results of the 2020 election, even though he voted not to accept the results of the election hours after the attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2021. Michael Henry, a Republican running for Attorney General, is listed as having "no comment" on the issue. Joe Pinion, the Republican challenging incumbent Democrat Chuck Schumer for a U.S. Senate seat, is listed as "fully accepted" the election results. Republicans Liz Joy and Elise Stefanik, though, are listed as having "fully denied" the election results. Joy, who is running against incumbent Democrat Paul Tonko in the 20th Congressional District, attended the rally at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Stefanik, the incumbent in the 21st District, is one of former President Donald Trump's biggest backers, and voted against certifying the election results on the night of Jan. 6, 2021. The website says that Colin Schmitt, the Republican candidate in the 18th Congressional District has "avoided answering" the question. And the website says Marc Molinaro, running in the 19th Congressional District, has had "no comment" on who is legally the president of the country. Go to fivethirtyeight.com for more information.

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that while COVID-19 deaths and cases continue locally and worldwide, Gov. Kathy Hochul is talking about ending mask mandates on mass transit in the state. "It's absolutely in conversation right now and we'll be making some announcements on that very shortly," she said on Sept. 6. As of now, masks are still required on Amtrak trains and New York City subway cars. Masks are also still required in health care facilities, nursing homes, jails, prisons, and domestic violence shelters. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Mid-Hudson News reports that Pat Ryan will not endorse a candidate to replace him as Ulster County Executive. Ryan recently won a special election to fill the 19th Congressional District seat for a few weeks in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ryan is also, at the same time, running for election on the new 18th Congressional district this fall. Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher, former State Senator Jennifer Metzger, and Deputy County Executive Mark Rider, so far, have expressed interest in taking over as Ulster County Executive. Ryan, is not choosing between them. “We’ll leave that to the folks wiser than me – the voters and residents of the county, to decide who’s next. But, it’s a phenomenal job and opportunity to serve as county executive and it’s definitely bittersweet to have the outcome and think about leaving behind the great team we built and have here in Ulster County,” Ryan said. Republicans, so far, have not put forth any names as possible candidates to run for Ulster County Executive. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

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Jeanette Wolfberg is reporting for The Columbia Paper on the August 10 meeting of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors. The meeting began with a public hearing on the Columbia-Greene Community College 2022-23 operating budget, which the board subsequently approved. During the hearing, college President Carlee Drummer noted that the waiting list to get into the school’s nursing program this fall had 45 people. Following the hearing, county Comptroller Jim Breig and Treasurer P.J. Keeler summarized preliminary financial indicators for the year so far. Breig and Keeler shared that the county is starting to work on property foreclosures since 2016. During the COVID crisis, the county could not do foreclosures. Asked if the county could do four years to catch up, Keeler said it all depends on the availability of staff. Each foreclosure takes time and requires sending out notices and waiting 90 days for a response. Keeler also reported that according to some real estate brokers, 20 to 30 percent of all homes for sale in the county are listed for more than $1 million, and that “they’ve never seen anything like it.” Despite this trend, brokers report that home sales are dropping and the county’s mortgage tax revenue has been “flat.” The Board adopted 59 resolutions, including authorizing agreements with each of Columbia County’s six public school districts, to assign a school resource deputy from September 1, through June 24, 2023, at a cost of $40,000 per district. The full Board of Supervisors will next meet at 7 p.m. on Sept. 14. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

Raymond Pignone is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that more than 190 names were placed into consideration for the final list nominees to be recognized in October for Columbia County’s inaugural list 40 Under 40. Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson, who is behind the initiative, said of those, 40 finalists were chosen by a committee of event sponsors. “I wanted to put this event together to honor those in our county doing amazing work,” Johnson said. The mayor will host the 40 Under 40 event on October 28 at Helsinki Hudson. The celebration will include an awards ceremony, presentations, speeches and live musical performances. The top 10 finalists on the 40 Under 40 list include: Joan Hunt, Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood; Bryan Vandernburgh, New York State Police; Conor O’Neil, Greenport Rescue Squad, Alex Chevalier, Scribner’s Lodge; Michael Hofmann, Johnson’s aide; Claire Cousin, Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition; Jennifer Crawford, Crawford and Associates; Michelle Tullo, Hudson Housing Director; Mark Taylor, Concra Appraisals; Sharece Johnson, Kite’s Nest. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Sarah Minkewicz is reporting for WIVB-TV that a new gun law now in effect in New York, requiring that a person be at least 21 years of age to buy a semi-automatic weapon. If a resident is under 21 and already owns a semi-automatic weapon, they can keep it without getting a license. The measure was adopted in direct response to the May 14 Tops Market mass shooting in Buffalo when 10 people were killed and three others were injured, when an 18-year-old male walked into the supermarket with a semi-automatic gun and began shooting. “There is no one immune from the pain of gun violence,” stated Governor Kathy Hochul in a press conference last week. “I believe in the second amendment rights, I’m just saying it’s too many of our people that’s dying, white, black, Latino, on our streets and we need to get a control on it so it’s not affecting my generation of grandchildren. …” said Murray Holman, executive director of the Stop the Violence Coalition. Holman says the new law is a start, but more needs to be done. Buffalo area attorney James Ostrowski said, “... think there’s serious questions about the legality of what the state legislature has done and what the governor has done and hopefully the federal courts will come in and slap these laws down.” Read more at wivb [dot] com.

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Raga Justin reports in the Times Union that Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Sept. 4 that the Napanoch Point wild fire in Minnewaska State Park Preserve in Ulster County has been contained after eight days, The fire began Aug. 27 after a suspected lightning strike and burnt over more than 140 acres of parkland, with more than 200 firefighters working to end the blaze. “We took swift action, launched a coordinated response and devoted every resource possible to help the first responders complete their mission,” Hochul said. “The emphasis over the coming days will be to address the areas of heat to achieve full control,” Hochul said. Rain on Sept. 4 and 5 should aid that process. The two other Ulster County fires that also broke out last week, Stony Kill and Wurtsboro, are now also fully contained. Minnewaska State Park Preserve will reopen on Sept. 7, although some trails will remain closed indefinitely. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Patricia R. Doxsey reports in the Daily Freeman looks back at Pat Ryan's time as Ulster County Executive as he leaves to represent the 19th Congressional District for a few weeks in Congress. Most of his time as executive came during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s kind of the ‘fire-sharpened-steel’ kind of thing, where we were forced to really just step up,” Ryan said. “We had this moment where people turned to us and I think we did step up and largely meet the need and meet the moment. I actually think it forced us to get better and rise to the occasion, and I’m super proud we did.” COVID-19, he said, did not change his original goals too much. “I think in a lot of ways, the pandemic just upped the urgency on all those goals because we started to see all those inequities come to the surface even more, and the needs come to the surface even more,” Ryan said. The county’s suicide and fatal overdose rates increased dramatically during the pandemic, for instance. Now, he will tackle the same issues in Washington. “I genuinely feel our democracy is at an existential moment and we need people in Washington who are really going to stand up and fight for democracy, for choice, for freedom,” Ryan said. “I love this country so much, I felt just felt like I had to be part of standing up for it.” Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that the Centers for Disease Control last week approved new booster shots for the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID-19, and New York will distribute the vaccines through pharmacies, clinics, and health care networks. "We already have orders placed," State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said. "We don't expect the state will administer these through mass vaccination sites.... "We have a very robust network of pharmacies and clinics and private practitioners and there will be any number of places for people to go to get vaccinated," Bassett said. Samantha Penta, an assistant professor at UAlbany's Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, said the lack of mass vaccination sites won't be the only difference for this round of vaccinations. "What's changing is how people are thinking about it -- how they feel about it -- whether that's your everyday person going about their lives to the people working in government agencies," Penta said. "COVID-19 is still here.... It continues to be contagious to spread from person to person. It's still causing severe health consequences, it's still causing death for some folks." Read the full story at New York State of Politics.

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Raga Justin is reporting for the Times Union that Gov. Kathy Hochul now has a five-point lead over the Republican challenger, Lee Zeldin, in the upcoming statewide general election, according to a new poll of likely voters. Hochul is the incumbent governor, having succeeded Andrew Cuomo following his resignation. Zeldin represents New York's 1st district in the U.S. Congress. He is a staunch ally of former Pres. Donald Trump, and voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results. Recent polling from the Trafalgar Group found that 47.8 percent were in favor of Hochul, while 43.4 percent of voters said they were likely to vote for Zeldin. An early August poll from Siena College gave Hochul at a 14-point advantage over Zeldin. More than half of the voters polled by Trafalgar identified as Democrat, while Republicans made up 27.5 percent and unidentified voters another 19 percent. A clear majority of voters surveyed were white, or 65 percent of respondents; black voters made up 14.9 percent of those surveyed. In the Trafalgar poll, more than half of respondents were women, with men representing 45.7 percent. The Trafalgar Group polled 1,091 respondents from August 31 to September 1. Zeldin raised $1.5 million for his campaign Sept. 4 with former President Donald Trump at a fundraiser in New Jersey. Trump talked about himself when praising Zeldin. Trump said Zeldin helped him survive “impeachment hoax number one and impeachment hoax number two and a lot of scams.... I had these maniacs against me. He was one of those great voices,” Trump said on Sept. 4. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Paul Kirby is reporting for the Daily Freeman that there may be no Republican candidate in the upcoming special election to succeed Pat Ryan as Ulster County Executive. So far, no one in the GOP has surfaced as a potential opponent to one of the three Democrats running to fill out Ryan's term. While Democrats have set a nominating convention for September 17, at Kingston City Hall, Republicans have yet to schedule a convention of their own. A date for the special election will not be set until Ryan, the incumbent executive, resigns to take his seat as a representative of the 19th Congressional District. Ryan defeated Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, a Republican, on August 23, to complete the term previously held by Democrat Antonio Delgado of Rhinebeck, who resigned to become New York state’s lieutenant governor in May. Ulster County Board of Elections Commissioner John Quigley, a Republican, said, “The clock only gets set once the vacancy occurs. Republicans are waiting for that clock to be set to determine their next steps. Setting up a nominating convention now would be premature, to know exactly when things will occur." Ulster County Legislature Minority Leader Ken Ronk said recently he was “unaware” of any specific GOP candidate seeking the Republican line on the ballot for county executive. Three Democrats, Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher, former state Sen. Jen Metzger and Deputy County Executive Marc Rider, have declared their interest in the party's endorsement for executive. The August 23 election results are expected to be certified in the coming week, according to Democratic Elections Commissioner Ashley Dittus. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Emma Ryan is reporting for The Berkshire Eagle that despite attempts to adapt to the post-pandemic era with reduced budgets, discounts, or streaming performances, data from the Berkshires' largest performing arts venues indicate a 30 percent decline, on average, in ticket sales and attendance from 2019. Even when ticket sales were high this season, last-minute cancellations or no-shows left venues such as the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, and Barrington Stage Company with smaller audiences than hoped for. “The arts are [unfortunately] a luxury, not a necessity,” said Chelsea Gaia, director of marketing and communications at Barrington Stage Company. “And we are not in a luxury economy.” Past summers have been hard on the performing arts. The pandemic shutdown hit in March 2020 with concerts canceled, refunds issued and new pandemic protocols had to be created for when audiences would return. Even once COVID-19 vaccines became available, the summer of 2021 was as unpredictable as the one before. This was supposed to be a rebound year, the first normal season for arts venues that could be measured against pre-pandemic years. The rebound did not fully materialize. Ticket sales and attendance are still down. Tanglewood is selling an average of 6,900 tickets per performance, a rate 10 percent better than 2019, but only filling, on average, 4,800 seats, 16 percent lower than pre-2019. Jacob’s Pillow and Shakespeare and Company say the omicron variant of COVID-19 hit just as they were planning their seasons, forcing them to reevaluate expectations. The Theater Barn in New Lebanon ended its 38th season early, then shut down for good. “Sadly, the combined effects of COVID and wage and price inflation have rendered the continued operation ... unsustainable,” according to its website. The Bousquet Folk Festival in August sold almost 400 tickets but was only attended by 150 people. Gaia, marketing director at Barrington Stage Company, said even a rave review from The New York Times for its production of "Ain’t Misbehavin" failed to get the production to its sales goal. Given the challenges, performing arts organizations are learning to adapt. “Audience habits are changing,” said Jared Fine, chief marketing officer of Jacob’s Pillow. “... As we look to strategize for the future, I would say the Pillow is continuing to explore and expand our online offerings, as well as the data that we're gathering this year to inform next summer's in-person programming.” Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle.