Mid-Hudson News reports that the Ulster County legislature voted Aug. 16 to eliminate fares on its bus service. The Ulster County Area Transit system will now be free to riders. Democrats voted to eliminate the fares, Republicans voted to keep them. “This gives us the opportunity to actually increase ridership in a way that we never really considered before, and I do believe that the increase of ridership will result in an increase in routes,” said Eve Walter, a New Paltz Democrat, to a Republican colleague complaining about a lack of bus service in his area. “We’re all feeling the pressure due to rising costs, especially our lower income communities, vulnerable populations, and seniors on fixed incomes. At a time when every bill and receipt is higher, Ulster County is stepping up and taking aggressive action to provide urgent relief to our residents. Reducing transportation costs will allow people to have one less thing to worry about,” said County Executive Pat Ryan. Read the full story at Mid-Hudson News.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that the political ads currently running for the special election to fill out the final weeks of Antonio Delgado's 19th District Congressional term are not always truthful. One National Republican Congressional Committee advertisment shows Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan walking across the Mid-Hudson Bridge during a peaceful protest in June 2020 in wake of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police. The ad is on behalf of Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, and attempts to paint his opponent, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan as a radical left-wing Democrat. The truth of video image is that Molinaro was walking right next to Ryan at the rally. Then the ad shows video footage of riots not from Ulster County or other areas in the 19th Congressional district, but from other parts of the country. Ryan said that the ad “accuses me of — because I marched in a peaceful protest, which Marc was at, literally next to me and invited me to, actually, in Poughkeepsie — that I somehow am some radical whatever mumbo jumbo they came up with.” Ryan asked Molinaro to disavow the ad, but he refused. “I appreciate the fact that in trying to suggest we all get along you yet again attacked,” Molinaro said. “That is not my ad. It isn’t. But Pat, you and I both know that we have a different view of public safety.” A Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee advertisement in support of Ryan’s campaign also misrepresents Molinaro's stated take on abortion. In the ad, a narrator says that “the sad truth is that Marc Molinaro and Republicans oppose a woman’s right to choose,” which is true, but then says that, “In Congress, they will vote for a nationwide abortion ban. . .The sad truth is Marc Molinaro and the Republicans are too extreme on women’s ’rights." Molinaro has said that he would not support a nationwide ban on abortion. “I don’t believe that after the Supreme Court decision that the Federal Government or Congress has much of a role at all, and that is, in fact, the decision of the Supreme Court,” Molinaro said. “I have always said this, and I am personally pro-life. Like most Americans, however, I have accepted that the law has provided access to what is a very sensitive and difficult decision for women. I understand it.” Voting in the special election between the two candidates continues now through Aug. 23. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Andrea Macko in Porcupine Soup wonders if there are more bears around this year, as their seem to be more social media posts showing evidence of bear visits. The area's dry weather is to blame. “Bear conflicts and sightings by the public have recently occurred with a high-low pattern―the high occurring on even years,” said Jeremy Hurst, DEC Division of Fish and Wildlife biologist. “Likely this is driven primarily by fluctuations in natural food availability, with bears moving around more to find food during years when natural foods are less abundant.” Bears are largely vegetarian, eating mostly succulent plants, grasses, sedges, clover, insects (especially ants and bees), berries, fruits, nuts, acorns, and plant roots. But the bears have easy access they will eat amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, fish, carrion, garbage, and occasionally livestock. All the vegetation on that list is in less supply this year because of a lack of water. On Aug. 16 New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation expanded a drought watch to most of the state, including the Hudson Valley. “The perception of increased bear observations may also be influenced by factors such as social media and the increasing popularity of doorbell cameras. This can result in a few bears gaining a significant amount of attention as pictures spread quickly in a community, generating a lot of public interest,” said Hurst. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

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The Daily Freeman is reporting the state Cannabis Control Board has awarded another 19 farms a conditional license to grow adult recreational-use cannabis, including one in Columbia County and one in Greene, according to board member Jen Metzger. Approvals were granted on August 15, to HV Agricultural Corp. in Columbia County and Hiddenview Family Farm in Greene County under the state’s “Seeding Opportunity Initiative.” The conditional licenses allow the farms to cultivate products that will be sold in dispensaries owned by justice-involved New Yorkers by the end of this year. The Cannabis Control Board also approved 15 adult-use processor license applications, including one from Jenny’s Baked at Home Company in Columbia County. Those licenses are available to already licensed hemp processors, allowing the development of products such as tinctures and edibles from THC extracted from the plants. The application period for those licenses will continue through August 31. “To date, the total number of farms approved, statewide, for conditional adult use cultivation licenses is 242,” Metzger said. “We have received over 300 applications.” The conditional licenses issued are valid for two years and allow cultivators to grow up to one acre (43,560 square feet) of cannabis outdoors or 25,000 square feet in a greenhouse.Read more in the Daily Freeman.

Sara Rizzo is reporting for News10 [dot] com the New York State Supreme Court August 16, ruled in favor of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his lawsuit against the now-defunct Joint Commission on Public Ethics, or JCOPE. Cuomo sued after the ethics commission ordered him to repay the $5.1 million earned from the book deal in March. “JCOPE issued the approval for the outside activity, then unilaterally determined wrongdoing, then withdrew the approval, and finally imposed the disgorgement penalty — all without the opportunity for a due process hearing explicitly provided for under the procedures set forth in Executive Law,” according to court documents. In November 2021, JCOPE voted to rescind its approval for the former governor’s book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The book was reportedly written at least in part by state employees. Cuomo accused the ethics commission of violating his constitutional rights. In its ruling, the court granted the former governor's motion for voluntary discontinuance, meaning he does not have to repay the book deal. His motions to dismiss JCOPE’s counterclaims were also granted. JCOPE held its final meeting in July and officials are now nominating members for the new Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government. Read the full story at News10 [dot] com.

Elisha Fieldstadt is reporting for NBCNews [dot] com Kraft Heinz announced August 12, it is recalling thousands of cases of Capri Sun, saying the drink pouches might be contaminated with cleaning solution. In a statement, the company said a diluted cleaning solution used on food processing equipment was inadvertently introduced into a production line at one of its factories. Kraft Heinz is recalling about 5,760 cases of the drink, saying the only variety affected was the Wild Cherry Flavored Juice Drink Blend. Cases contain four cartons, which usually have 10 pouches, meaning more than 230,000 individual drink pouches could have been affected. The “Best When Used By” date on the contaminated cases is June 25, 2023. The issue was discovered after customers complained about the taste of the Wild Cherry Capri Suns. Customers are urged to return the drinks if they think they were tainted with the cleaning solution. Read more at NBCNews [dot] com.

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ABC News reports that the New York prison system is no longer allowing anyone to send, or bring, inmates care packages. Instead, only items purchased through third-party vendors are allowed. So no home-cooked meals or homemade cookies are allowed in prisons anymore, only items purchased from a few select companies. “When I first started bringing him packages, he said he loved avocados. He hadn’t had them in about 20 years,” said Caroline Hansen, a single mother of two who works as a waitress in Long Island with a husband serving a life sentence. “What breaks my heart is, I take for granted having a banana with my yogurt. Imagine never being able to eat a banana?” she added, saying her husband’s prison cafeteria serves bananas once a month, at most. The new rule went into effect this month. Prisons in New York are also blocking most letters sent on paper. Instead, they are scanned by a computer, with prisoners getting copies. Authorities say a few letters were soaked in drugs. Wanda Bertram, a communications strategist at the Prison Policy Initiative, said prison food is a “nutritional nightmare,” and said some incarcerated people rely on care packages to keep a healthy diet. Read more about this story at the ABC News website.

Paul Kirby reports for the Daily Freeman that Pat Ryan has raised more campaign funds at a faster pace then his Congressional opponent, but Marc Molinaro has more cash on hand, the latest campaign filings show. Democrat Ulster County Executive Ryan and Republican Dutchess County Executive Molinaro are competing in a special election now through Aug. 23 to fill the final few weeks of Antonio Delgado's 19th Congressional District seat. Delgado resigned to become lieutenant governor. Overall, Ryan has raised $1,608,964 in four months. while Molinaro has raised $1,593,761 for his campaign that started in the middle of 2021. After spending, Ryan currently has $316,522, while Molinaro has $600,136. Both Molinaro and Ryan are in the middle of two campaigns. Ryan is also in a primary election Ryan now through AUg. 23 against Moses Mugulusi and Aisha Mills for the newly-drawn 18th Congressional District. Mugulusi has not posted any campaign finance information, while Mills has raised $40,167 and has $6,704 left. Molinaro already has the Republican nomination for the new 19th Congressional District election in November, where he will face the winner of the current Democrat primary election between Jamie Cheney and Josh Riley. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

News10 reports that New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation has expanded a drought watch to most of the state, encouraging residents to conserve water during the coming weeks. The Adirondacks are the only part of the state left out of the drought watch. There are no mandatory restrictions yet, but a further lack of rain would change that. “While recent rains have helped, severe dry conditions continue to persist across the state,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “New Yorkers should take steps to conserve water whenever possible in the areas now under a designated drought watch. Simple steps to reduce water consumption will be crucial to our efforts to help prevent any increased drought levels.” Officials also warn that wildfire risk is high, and to be careful with any outdoor fires. The City of Kingston is under a locally declared drought emergency with unnecessary water usage prohibited. Pittsfield, in western Massachusetts, announced mandatory water restrictions beginning Aug. 8. And the Village of Catskill is now under a Drought Emergency Ban, with no washing cars, sidewalks, watering lawns, or filling swimming pools allowed. Read more about this story at the News10 website.

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MidHudson News is reporting representatives of Bard College have filed a complaint with the enforcement division of the New York State Board of Elections against the Dutchess County Board of Elections. The action was taken to protest “the repeated violations of the New York state and federal constitutions, and state and federal statutes and regulations related to equal protection, the right to vote, youth voting rights, disability accessibility, and election law, that have occurred and continue to take place in District 5 in the town of Red Hook.” In its complaint the college outlines what it says is a pattern of discrimination and malfeasance by the county board that includes understaffing and under-equipping the polling site at the Bertelsmann Campus Center at Bard, as well as repeated alleged actions that violate the rights of voters with disabilities. The college specifically named Republican Elections Commissioner Erik Haight, whose “actions represent everything that is wrong with how elections are carried out in many parts of the United States.” Haight said, “The Bard complaint is without merit. The Board of Elections complies with the election law, especially as it relates to minimum inspector requirements per election district.” Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Chris Bragg is reporting for the Times Union state Republican Party headquarters in Albany served as the center of a questionable petitioning effort that has sparked a call for a criminal investigation. The petitioning focused on statewide Republican candidates looking to run on an additional ballot line in the November election by reviving the state Independence Party. This spring, the GOP attempted a massive petitioning effort, spearheaded in part by the Republican gubernatorial campaign of U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island. A spokesperson for the state Republican Party, Jessica Proud, confirmed that signed Independence Party petitions were dropped at their party headquarters on State Street in Albany — and bound in volumes at the party office — before being submitted to the state Board of Elections by the May 31 deadline. Of the 52,000 photocopied signatures submitted, more than 11,000 were found by the Board of Elections to be xeroxed copies of other, original signatures within those same records. The copied pages were interspersed in a way that led some election experts to conclude their inclusion may have been intentional, possibly to inflate the number of signatures to exceed the new threshold of 45,000 valid signatures for state parties to gain ballot access. Proud claimed the inclusion of the copied signatures was inadvertent. She confirmed signatures were bound into volumes at GOP headquarters in Albany, where she said more than 20 volunteers, interns and staff were "frantically pulling together the hundreds of pages of signatures" at the last minute. Proud said, "...The mistake was acknowledged and the [Board of Elections] decision to rule the petitions invalid was accepted with no further action taken." She declined to identify the specific individuals involved in binding the petitions at GOP headquarters. In July, the state Board of Elections found that more than 12,800 signatures submitted were invalid, including more than 11,000 that had been photocopied. With about 39,000 remaining, Zeldin and other statewide Republicans fell roughly 6,000 short of gaining an Independence Party ballot line. In the past, the Independence line has helped sway some close elections for GOP candidates. Democratic state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, chair of the Senate's Elections Committee, recently wrote a letter asking Albany County District Attorney David Soares to investigate the Independence Party petitioning effort. "It is clear the Zeldin campaign perpetrated a fraud," Myrie alleged. Soares' office said they are reviewing the matter. Read the full story at times union [dot] com.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics New York state law enforcement officials this week will increase patrols in an effort to reduce speeding and other traffic safety violations. The crackdown on speeding began Sun., Aug. 14, and will continue through the 21st, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office said. "There are countless risks and tragic consequences to speeding, and I want all New Yorkers to be mindful of the speed limits in your area," Hochul said. "This enforcement campaign will be crucial not only to catch speeders but also to encourage all drivers to maintain safe speeds on our roadways, and I encourage all New Yorkers to take your time and get to your destination safely." During Speed Awareness Week in 2021, law enforcement issued 23,087 tickets for speeding as well as 32,170 tickets for other violations such as impaired or distracted driving. A report from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research at the Rockefeller College at the University at Albany found unsafe speed was a factor in 353 fatal crashes in 2021 and 317 crashes in 2020. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

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Andrea Macko reports in Porcupine Soup that a Denver company has withdrawn a proposal for a solar farm on the State Route 32 Freehold Flats. Stella Solar, under the name East Durham Solar, LLC, submitted a proposal on May 25 for a special use permit and site plan approval application to the Town of Greenville Planning Board for construction of a 493.8 kilowatt solar energy generating facility on 5.9 acres of a 42.2-acre parcel at 9139 State Route 32. Just over a month later, in an email to the Planning Board dated June 29, the company said it was not proceeding. “Our client, Stella Solar, very recently shared that due to various project obstacles, including equipment supply-chain issues, the project has been canceled and will not be moving forward,” wrote Carol Zimberlin, senior associate environmental scientist/project manager for Tetra Tech of Rochester. The story says that price increases and supply chain constraints have slowed the solar industry across the country recently. And most solar module manufacturers have halted shipments to the United States since the U.S. Department of Commerce opened an investigation into whether Chinese manufacturers are dodging U.S. duty rules on solar imports by funneling parts through Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Voting began Aug. 13 and continues locally now through Aug. 23 for the 19th Congressional special election and a Congressional primary election for Democrats. Democrat Ulster County Executive and Republican Dutchess County Executive are on the special election ballot to finish out the final weeks of Antonio Delgado's term in office. Democrats Jamie Cheney and Josh Riley are competing for the nomination to run for the new 19th Congressional District in November. Counties have one or more locations to vote before Aug. 22, and regular local precincts to vote at on Aug. 23. In Greene County vote before Aug. 22 on the 4th floor of the Greene County Office Building on Main St. in Catskill. In Columbia County there is voting before Aug. 22 at 401 State St. in Hudson, and at the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building, 3211 Church St. in Valatie.