Maura Rosner reports for Columbia-Greene Media that some Athens town officials want to build a new town hall but are being secretive about the process. The story says almost 100 people attended a public hearing July 18 on an eminent domain proposal, but does not say what property the town would be taking over. The story also says that "Attempts to speak with council members in favor of the eminent domain proposal were unsuccessful. Multiple voicemails and emails were left unanswered." The story does not say why the town wants to build a new town hall. The story also says that a resolution to hire an engineer for the project was "seemingly approved" but not recorded in board meeting minutes. Mary Beth Bianconi of Delaware Engineering in Albany was said to have presented a concept plan to the board for the project, but asked to keep it secret. “I cannot discuss those details,” Bianconi said. “You have to talk to the town. The town has that information.” So, there is talk about a new town hall for the town of Athens, but the public is not privy to many details about how taxpayer money is being spent on the project. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Joshua Solomon reports for the Times Union that the district attorney who only charged the man who attacked Lee Zeldin with attempting to assault, which allowed him to be released on bail, also spoke at a campaign event for the candidate for governor. Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley may have broken ethics guidelines for the prosecutors' association that say a district attorney shall not "speak at a political/social function, publicize their attendance at such functions," or "act in a manner which could be interpreted as lending the prestige and weight of their office to the political party or function." Doorley notes that those ethics guidelines also say, "However, this shall not prohibit normal political activity during the course of a campaign year." "The district attorney does not think she violated the guidelines in her participation at this event," Calli Marianetti, a spokesperson for Doorley. The DA had also briefly been named co-chair of Zeldin's campaign before stepping down. Doorley released the man who attacked Zeldin without bail on a minor charge, setting up Zeldin to criticize Democrats for allowing a accused-but-not convicted criminal to be released on bail. Zeldin is the Republican nominee for governor, who, as a member of the House of Representatives, voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results even though there was no proven fraud. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

New York State of Politics reports on two new television ads in the 19th Congressional District special election to replace Democrat Antonio Delgado. Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro is focusing on public safety and inflation, while Democrat Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan is talking about his battle with Central Hudson over high rates and billing issues. “For too long, big corporations have had too much power and too much say at the expense of New York families," County Executive Pat Ryan said. "It’s outrageous and unacceptable – while most of us are struggling to pay our bills, put food on the table, and keep the lights on, big corporations like Central Hudson are making record profits. Now more than ever, we need champions in Congress who will fight for us, not sell out to corporate interests. From day one, I’ve fought to hold big corporations accountable, ensuring they pay their fair share; and I’ll bring that same fight to Washington.” Molinaro talks about different consumer costs. “The failed policies of the Biden Administration and one-party rule in Washington and Albany has brought about the highest inflation rates on record which is crushing families who are forced to choose between buying gas and putting food on the table," Molinaro said in a statement. The two candidates square off in a special election Aug. 23 to fill out the remaining weeks of Delgado's term before redistricting changes the area represented. Different candidates face off in an Aug. 23 primary election to represent the new 19th Congressional District beginning in January.

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Liz Montgomery is reporting for Porcupine Soup state officials announced July 25, that $387 million is being passed on to 1,452 local governments across New York as the second half of pandemic recovery funds. The money is from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, part of the American Rescue Plan Act. The fund provides relief for smaller local governments who shared in the public health response. Last summer, localities collected half of their designated funding and are now receiving an identical amount. Greene County received a total of around $4.8 million ― roughly $2.4 million in 2021, with another $2.4 million scheduled to be received in late July and early August. Under the legislation, larger municipalities received their funding directly from the U.S. Treasury Department, while the state is responsible for distributing allocations to non-entitled units of government that did not receive a direct payment. The funds can be used to support public health expenditures; address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency; replace the revenue lost due to the pandemic; provide premium pay for essential workers; and invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure. Allocations for Greene County municipalities were made on a per capita basis, ranging from a grant of $771, 300 to the town of Catskill to just under $49,000 to the village of Hunter. The town of Walcott declined funding. Read the full story at porcupine soup [dot] com.

MidHudson News is reporting the State Division of Consumer Protection has warned residents of a text phishing scheme targeting cell phone users as part of an attempt to steal data. Scam artists are impersonating financial institutions claiming that a customer’s account is compromised as the result of unusual activity. In truth, the message is an attempt to trick the recipient into sharing personal information such as a credit card, bank account or Social Security numbers. The state is offering the following advice:
- Inspect the sender’s information to confirm that the message was generated from a legitimate source, without clicking on the link or calling the number on the text.
- Do not respond to the text, not even by writing STOP to the sender.
- Always remember that banks will never ask you to provide confidential information through text.
- If you are suspicious, call the bank or financial institution directly to understand the protocols for alerting customers to potential fraud.
- Do not post sensitive information online.
- Be alert for misspelled words, which are used to bypass a phone carrier’s filter system for fraud.
- Block unknown senders from your cell phone.
Read more at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Greta Jochem is reporting for The Berkshire Eagle the city of North Adams, Mass., has been looking for a buyer for the historic Mohawk Theater all summer, but no one submitted a bid to redevelop the long-empty venue by the July 26 deadline, according to Mike Nuvallie, director of the city’s Office of Community Development. The theater originally opened in 1938 and closed in 1991. “While it’s a little discouraging, it’s not the end of the road for the Mohawk Theater,” Mayor Jennifer Macksey said at a city council meeting this week. The city got a “slew of questions” after tours of the building, Macksey said. “We’re to regroup and we’re a little disappointed, but we’re going to take pulses on all the people that did tours and try to figure out why there were no applications.” Last year, the building was almost sold to a developer who proposed an event and performance space. However, Macksey turned down the plan, saying more community input was needed. Plus, she discovered the city still owed about $52,000 on an existing loan on the building. The mayor solicited more public comment in early 2022, and in June the city put out a call to redevelop the building. “We might have out-priced ourselves,” Macksey said. “But again, I’m not going to give that building away.” The required minimum bid was $100,000. Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle.

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Columbia-Greene Media reports that there are only a few weeks more with construction on the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, and that the traffic lanes have been altered. The construction, by A. Colarusso & Son, Inc., based in Hudson, has eliminated toll booths and installed monitors that read EZ Passes or license plates for automated toll charges. And that work has redirected the westbound lane on the bridge approach straight, instead of bearing right on the Catskill side of the bridge. There may now be alternating traffic lanes during the final weeks of work on an as-needed basis between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., said Chris Steber, public information officer for the New York State Bridge Authority. The work is expected to be complete by the end of September. “Once the project is finished, drivers will not only have a more timely ride across the bridge, but a more seamless one as well,” Steber said.

On July 26, the House of Representatives approved a bipartisan cannabis research bill. The Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act passed 325-to-95, with all the no votes coming from Republicans. But more Republicans, 109, voted for the bill than against. Locally, though, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik voted against the bill, while Democrats Paul Tonko, from the 20th District, and Sean Maloney, from the 18th District, voted for the bill. There was no vote cast from the 19th Congressional District, as Democrat Antonio Delgado resigned earlier in the year to become New York's Lt. Gov. "The bill allows certain registered entities (including institutions of higher education, practitioners, and manufacturers) to manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess marijuana," H.R.8454 says. Some observers expect the bipartisanship to continue when the Senate votes, which would make this the first-ever standalone cannabis reform bill to reach a president's desk.

Jeanette Wolfberg reports in the Columbia Paper that the Hudson Housing Authority's new executive director, Jeffrey Dodson, led his first meeting of the board July 18. The authority sets policy for 135-units of income-restricted residences, in the high-rise Bliss Tower and three low-rise buildings in Hudson. Dodson moved the public comment portion of the meeting to the start, and heard from a resident complaining about drug selling and a community room they said was locked up 90 percent of the time. Dodson directed the resident to come talk to him about the issues in his office. The new business at the meeting was working on scheduling and arranging elections to fill two open seats on the board. The next Hudson Housing Authority meeting is at 6 p.m., August 15 in the Bliss community room, if it is unlocked. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

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Clarence Fanto is reporting for The Berkshire Eagle descendants of the first settlers of Stockbridge, Mass. want to reclaim land on a quiet, forested nook overlooking the Stockbridge Golf Course. Dating back nearly 300 years, the location is a burial site for ancestors who lived in the community then known as “Indian Town.” The Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians is seeking reclamation of the Burial Ground site off Main Street. According to a tribal history, “it is highly likely that tribal members were buried here long before the colonial period, and that this burial ground was in fact a continuation.” In a letter to the Select Board, Bonney Hartley, the historic preservation manager for the tribe, cites the “official and sacred responsibility for our Nation to preserve our ancestral burial grounds and other cultural sites such as these in our Mohican homelands.” The town took possession of the land in 1809 as European colonialists forced remaining members of the tribe to escape westward, a migration that began in 1783. “It would be very meaningful and significant to, more than 200 years later, be able to restore this burial ground to our people,” Hartley wrote. She noted the land agreement between five Stockbridge-Munsee sachems [chiefs] and local resident Dr. Oliver Partridge sought to protect the burial grounds and prevent “the soil from being removed so that the bones [of] our Ancestors may there lie undisturbed.” A monument at the site includes a barely legible, weather-beaten inscription: “The ancient burial place of the Stockbridge Indians 1734, the friends of our fathers.” The Select Board will discuss the appeal on July 28, board Chairman Patrick White said. If the board okays the return of the burial site, the property transfer likely would be submitted to residents during a special town meeting in the fall. “These folks want their ancestors’ bones back, who can argue with that?” White said. “It’s a small parcel with a lot of history and meaning to everybody, especially since it’s an ancestral homeland. I think symbols matter, it’s important that we continue to recognize our shared history in this space. ...” Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle.

The Daily Freeman is reporting county unemployment rates in the Mid-Hudson Valley and Catskills were generally higher in June from what they were the month before and much lower than the rates of June 2021, the state Department of Labor reported July 26. The June 2022 unemployment rate in Greene County was 3.3 percent, up from 3.1 percent in May and down from 5.2 percent in June 2021. In Columbia County the jobless rate decreased from 3.1 percent in May to 2.6 percent in June, and down from 4 percent the year before. In other parts of the region, according to the state labor office, jobless rates in June 2022 were:

• 3.1 percent in Ulster County, up from 2.8 percent in May and down from 5 percent in June 2021.
• 3.1 percent in Dutchess County, up from 2.8 percent in May and down from 4.9 percent in June 2021.
• 3.2 percent in Orange County, up from 3.2 percent in May and down from 5.2 percent in June 2021.
• 3 percent in Sullivan County, unchanged from May and down from 5.2 percent in June 2021.
• 3.5 percent in Delaware County, the same as in May and down from 5 percent in June 2021.

The state’s highest jobless rate in June was 8.4 percent in the Bronx. The lowest rate was 2.6 percent in Saratoga, Yates and Columbia counties. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Maura Rosner is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Coxsackie town officials have adopted a zoning amendment to regulate the sale of cannabis. A hearing was held to receive public comment on the proposal and four members of the public attended. “There’s a lot of money to be made [from the sale of cannabis],” town board member Patrick Kennedy said. The Coxsackie zoning amendment outlines aspects of the retail process, such as cultivation, distribution, laboratory testing facilities, New York State Control Board and licensing. The growing, cloning, harvesting, drying, curing, grading and trimming of cannabis plants for sale is permissible to individuals who hold a cannabis license or are permit-holders. Distributors are required to obtain a cannabis license from the New York State Office of Cannabis Management. At the public hearing Coxsackie resident Carol Metz voiced her opposition to the zoning amendment. “Do we still have the right to say we don’t want it? It worries me, and don’t you remember how much the cigarette companies made? Then we learned about how much harm they caused,” Metz said. The Cannabis Control Board on June 23 approved the opening of the application window for conditional processors beginning July 28, and continuing through August 31. Applicants must pay a non-refundable $2,000 application and licensing fee to complete the submission. Applicants are encouraged to read program guidance before applying and submitting payment. Information is available at cannabis [dot] ny [dot] gov. Read more at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

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John Cropley reports in the Daily Gazette that Capital Region housing prices were up over the previous year for the 27th straight month in a 12 percent year-over-year jump in June, the median sale price of a single-family home has now risen 27 months in a row in the Capital Region, according to the Greater Capital Region Association of Realtors. That rise coincides with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Despite the increase in home prices, insurance rates, and slowing sales, eager buyers continue to keep demand high on existing inventory,” GCAR President Kendal Baker said in a press release. The median price of a house sold in June was $295,000, with sellers getting on average 103.5 percent of their original asking price with average time on the market just 21 days. The region surveyed includes Albany, Fulton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Schoharie counties. Nationally, the story is similar. “In the near term, I do not expect the situation to change appreciably,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs last week. “Historic undersupply in the market, combined with continued demand, will likely drive ongoing issues with affordability for many Americans.” In Albany County the media price of homes sold in June was $277,000, up 10 percent. In Rensselaer County, the median price was $250,000, up 9 percent. Read more about this story in the Daily Gazette.

E.J. Conzola II reports for the Adirondack Explorer that in 2021 Rep. Elise Stefanik earned her lowest rating from the League of Conservation Voters since 2015, after several years of better scores. “It is incredibly disappointing to see Rep. Stefanik has joined the extreme anti-environment House Republican leadership to turn her back on protecting Upstate New York communities from the devastating impacts of the climate crisis and to allow special interests to continue to pollute our air, water, and public lands,” said Craig Auster, vice president of political affairs, League of Conservation Voters. Stefanik's 2021 score of 13 out of 100. Why so low? This year the League of Conservation Voters did not track just environmental bills, but also followed a few other issues as “health of our democracy and our environment are deeply intertwined,” according to the group. So Stefanik's poisitions on the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol pulled her score lower. The league “has made it clear that it would rather push a Far-Left, politicized agenda over considering serious pieces of legislation,” said Stefanik spokesperson Palmer Brigham. Stefanik also voted against the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act, which became incorporated into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Stefanik also voted against bills to limit in methane emissions and to stop PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination that has been found across the nation and in the water supply of Hoosick Falls, a town she would represent if elected again in November. Read more about this story in the Adirondack Explorer.