On Aug. 5 Hecate Energy sent the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment their Preliminary Scoping Statement for an industrial-sized, 60-megawatt solar facility with 200,000 solar panels on 500 acres near the intersection of State Route 23 and County Route 7 in Copake. The project is called Shepherd’s Run Solar. The document released Aug. 5 includes 361 pages of information about the construction of the proposed project, as well as its environmental impact. Hecate Energy had promised two open house meetings with residents before the documents were released, but only appeared at a July 9 Copake Town Board meeting. Project Developer Alex Campbell said at that meeting that he would think about how to schedule public online meetings along with an in-person meeting in the fall. Public comments can be submitted at www.shepherdsrunsolar.com/open-house, by email at openhouse@shepherdsrunsolar.com or via phone at 877-772-0822. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

On Aug. 5, in Executive Order 202.55, Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended the authority for towns and villages to hold virtual meetings through September 4 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Large indoor gatherings are not recommended by health officials during the pandemic. The previous March 7 Executive Order expired on Aug. 5. The order says that municipalities can hold meetings "remotely by conference call or similar service, provided that the public has the ability to view or listen to such proceeding and that such meetings are recorded and later transcribed." Public meetings are not allowed in email where the public cannot attend. In June, the Village of Catskill said they voted unanimously by email on whether or not to have a "Black Lives Matter" mural on Main Street there. Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley later said it was a decision, not a vote. The Village Board also released a detailed explanation that they created through email, and not at a public meeting, on that issue on June 30.

Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media a Greene County public defender is facing felony charges following a serious assault on an unnamed victim that occurred in the village of Athens, according to police. Anthony Pastel, 36, of Catskill, was arrested and charged August 4, by state police following an investigation. The unidentified victim was transported by Catskill Ambulance to Albany Medical Center on an unspecified date. The person is in stable condition with serious injuries, state police Public Information Officer Steven Nevel said. Pastel was charged with second-degree assault, second-degree strangulation and endangering the welfare of a child, as well as driving while intoxicated. Nevel said, “[Pastel] left the scene of the assault, the victim gave a description of the vehicle, Catskill police recognized the vehicle and Pastel was taken into custody.” A child was present at the time of the assault, but was not injured. Pastel has been placed on administrative leave, Greene County Legislature Chairman Patrick Linger said. Linger was unsure if the leave is paid. Pastel was formerly employed by the Columbia County Public Defender’s Office. He was arraigned before Catskill Town Justice William Jacobs and released on $250 cash bail. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

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Nora Mishanec is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the New York State Police confirmed August 5 the department is now in charge of investigating the alleged assault of Harold Handy over the July 4 weekend at the home of Valatie business owner Alex Rosenstrach and his wife, Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy Kelly Briscoe Rosenstrach. The Columbia Paper first reported over the weekend that District Attorney Paul Czajka had requested the case be investigated by state officials after new information came to light. Columbia County Sheriff David Bartlett said in a statement August 5, that on the day after the alleged assault, he wanted to turn this case over to state police, citing concerns about a potential conflict. However, according to Bartlett, the state police declined the request. “At that time, the New York State Police declined to take the case, but agreed to assist sheriff’s investigators, and work side by side with them,” Bartlett said. “Since that day, the investigation has been ongoing and very active. The state police have now agreed to handle this investigation in its entirety.” Barrett said his office will continue to cooperate with state police investigators. “I asked for the state police to handle this investigation right away, and I support the decision for them to take this over,” he said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Columbia-Greene Media is reporting a state of emergency declaration issued Wed., Aug. 5 in the wake of Tropical Storm Isaias, will cover Columbia County. The state of emergency makes local governments eligible for additional clean-up and operational support. The counties included in the declaration are: Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester. The declaration also applies to the counties bordering the named 11 counties, as is standard practice; thereby covering Columbia, Ulster and Sullivan counties. “We’re taking an all-hands-on-deck approach and activating every resource at our disposal to expedite communities’ recovery from the impacts of Tropical Storm Isaias,” Cuomo said. “The state is working closely with local governments to help ensure they have the help they need to get back on their feet. We’re far too familiar with severe weather, but New Yorkers show their true spirit in times of crisis and we’ll prove it once more.” As Isaias moved through the eastern portion of the state, it produced numerous downed trees, localized flash flooding and caused a peak of more than 920,000 power outages, including more than 8,000 in Columbia County. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Joseph Spector is reporting for the Democrat and Chronicle that visitations have resumed in New York's 52 state prisons, as of August 5. The weekly practice was ended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Visits started Wednesday in maximum security facilities and will be allowed Saturday in all other state-run prisons, according to the state Department of Corrections and Community Services. The state has imposed a series of safety precautions and restrictions in the hope of avoiding a spread of COVID-19 in facilities, where about 2,000 people have tested positive. Twenty-six people out of the 54,000 locked up by the state of New York, have died of the virus, according to the agency. Under the new rules, visiting rooms will be re-configured to reduce the capacity by 50 percent to allow for social distancing; outside visiting areas will first be used for visits; everyone is now required to wear a mask during processing and for the duration of the visit. If a visitor does not have a mask, the visit may be denied. Visitors will be required to complete a questionnaire to enter a prison, and temperature checks will be taken prior to any visit. Physical contact will be limited to a brief embrace at the beginning and the end of a visit. Each visit will be limited to three visitors, unless the facility policy specifies fewer. One child, under the age of five, can also be allowed, but the child must sit on an adult’s lap. Read the full story in the Democrat and Chronicle.

Kenneth C. Crowe II reports in the Times Union that in Albany County on Aug. 6 census counters begin door-to-door canvassing for the 2020 Census. That begins as the administration of Donald Trump announced it will stop the census count early, on Sept. 30. Local officials are now worried an undercount will result in the loss of federal and state aid. “It’s another example of an attempt to get an undercount,” David Galin, head of Albany’s census effort and Mayor Kathy Sheehan’s chief of staff, said. So far, only 40.6 percent of Greene County residents have self-reported, according to the Census Bureau. In Columbia County, 49.5 have reported; in Albany County 62.3 percent; in Rensselaer County 60.2 percent; in Ulster County 56.7 percent; and in Dutchess County 61.9 percent. Those numbers are all below the final census in 2010. Beginning this week 362 enumerators with smartphones are contacting households who have not filled out the survey. And local officials, who want those federal funds, are doing anything they can to get residents to fill out the census. “We’re putting a lot of stuff out on social media. So much rides on a complete count,” said Nassau Supervisor David Fleming. His Rensselaer County town has had 59.1 percent of households respond so far, less than the 61.5 percent that answered before the enumerators came out in 2010. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

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Melisssa Hale-Spencer is reporting for the Altamont Enterprise half of the food pantries in the Capital District are experiencing an extreme increase in need, according to Natasha Pernicka, executive director of The Food Pantries for the Capital District. Food security affects more than one in 10 people in the Capital District, she said. “It doesn’t mean they’re starving. It means they don’t have access to healthy food or the resources for it on a regular basis,” Pernicka said August 5. Pernicka oversees a network of 65 food pantries, half of them in Albany County. She said the pandemic, “...is exacerbating the struggles a number of people are already dealing with. This year, year to date, a third of the pantries in Albany County are seeing an increase in service … We’re seeing a lot of new people,” she said. More than 20 percent of the food distributed by food pantries goes to children and more than 10 percent goes to seniors. Pernicka wants to get the word out that the pantries are there to help everyone; service is not income-based. “It’s based on your need,” she said. “So for individuals who  … are temporarily laid off … you go home with a minimum of three days of grocery items. Some pantries have household products. We also carry diapers and formula.” Homebound residents in need of food to call The Food Pantries for the Capital District at 518-458-1167. In Greene and Columbia counties, food pantries are located in Catskill, Chatham, Ghent, Greenville, Hudson, Round Top and Valatie. Read the full story in the Altamont Enterprise.

David Lim is reporting for Politico [dot] com only 14 percent of American voters said they would get a coronavirus vaccine based on the recommendation of President Donald Trump, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. Respondents were far more likely to take the advice of their family (46 percent), the CDC (43 percent) and/or Dr. Anthony Fauci (43 percent). Thirty percent said they would be more likely to get vaccinated if the World Health Organization recommended it. More voters said they would get vaccinated on the advice of presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden (20 percent) or former president Barack Obama (24 percent) than Trump. The White House recently disclosed to Politico its plan to enlist the help of sports and entertainment celebrities to encourage Americans be vaccinated, when the time comes. But few respondents to the Politico poll said they would find an endorsement by Lebron James, Oprah Winfrey or Tom Brady a compelling argument in favor of the vaccine. The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll was conducted online from July 31 to August 2 of a national sample of 1,991 registered voters. Read the full story at politico [dot] com.

Massarah Mikati is reporting for the Times Union a group of attorneys, led by the New York Civil Liberties Union and Prisoner Legal Services of New York, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought against the government over detainee living conditions at the Buffalo Federal Detention Center during the coronavirus pandemic. Under the settlement, medically vulnerable individuals being held at the Batavia detention center will now receive a number of accommodations to prevent contracting the virus. “The foundational piece is what we’ve been pushing for all along: protections for every vulnerable individual,” said John Peng, one of the attorneys behind the case. “Along with these protections, we want to make sure that people within the facility know what their rights are.” The settlement was filed last week and authorized by U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo August 3. It established that vulnerable people must be housed alone in their own cells, have the ability to eat their meals in those cells and receive biweekly COVID-19 testing. They also have the option to shower in isolation and have access to shower disinfectant, masks and soap. Batavia staff and officers have also been ordered to wear masks when interacting with medically at-risk individuals, as well. Each detainee must be provided with notification of these new rights. The lawsuit was filed in May, and claimed the facility had not been enforcing guidelines to protect individuals under their supervision from COVID-19, in violation of a federal judge's April order. In a statement, the ICE Buffalo Field Office Director commended the facility’s response to the pandemic as "exemplary.” He said, “There are currently no active cases of COVID-19 at the facility. ... The settlement reached has affirmed the value of the proactive measures previously undertaken, which has protected both staff and detainees.” Read the full story in the Times Union.

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Michael Goot reports for the Post Star that the Saratoga Springs Police Department shot pepper projectiles at a group of protesters that they said were blocking traffic on July 30. The incident began with a “Back the Blue” rally in support of law enforcement that was soon met with counter protesters. Protesters from the groups Black Lives Matters and All of Us protested in the street in front of City Hall. Police claim these protesters may have had a gun, and some were wearing bulletproof vests and belts with pepper spray, though YouTube videos of the incident do not show any of that. "We were peacefully protesting and there was no instance where we were putting ourselves or anybody else in danger and they showed up and put us in danger in an immense way,” said protester Tyler Gundrom. “They started firing them at the ground around us, and all of a sudden this white powder started to rise up and after that I remember feeling my throat starting to burn and my eyes started to water.” Saratoga Springs Police Chief Shane Crooks originally told CBS 6 that no tear gas or rubber bullets were used at the demonstration. But on Aug. 4 Crooks said the police used of pepper projectiles on citizens protesting. Bergen County, New Jersey Chief of Police Brian Higgins, who is also a use-of-force expert who is an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, said these projectiles can be "extremely dangerous." Victoria Snelgrove died after being shot in the eye with a pepper ball as Boston police sought to clear a crowd following the World Series in 2004. Meanwhile, in Pleasant Valley on July 18 there was a clash between Black Lives Matter protesters, and counter protesters. The Dutchess County Sheriff's Office will release the findings of its investigation into the incident on August 6, with a live webstream through the Dutchess County Legislature's Public Safety Committee.

Nora Mishanec is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media a spike of COVID-19 cases in Columbia County have been tracked back to two golf events held outside of the county, health officials announced August 4. The county has confirmed 15 new cases, Columbia County Public Health Director Jack Mabb said in a statement. The number of people on mandatory quarantine jumped by 18 over the past weekend as officials tracked those who may have been in contact with the infected golfers. Of the 102 county residents under mandatory quarantine many are connected to the golf gatherings, including employees at four retail stores and two private day cares in the county, officials said. Asked about a rumored "high number of cases" originating from the Walmart Supercenter on Fairview Avenue in Greenport, Mabb said those rumors are "untrue as far as we know at this time.” However, “there is one confirmed case, although as its employees get tested, there may wind up being more,” he said. Anyone who has been in contact with an infected person will hear from the county Department of Health. One of the golf gatherings was held July 10 and 11 and another was held July 24. Neither event was an organized tournament, Mabb said. Officials believe that the golfers who spread the COVID-19 virus were not wearing masks or social distancing during the outdoor gatherings. PROGRAM NOTE: Mabb will be a guest on the WGXC Morning Show, Wed., Aug. 5 at 10 a.m. to provide listeners with the latest updates. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Larry Rulison is reporting for the Times Union the Federal Trade Commission said it received more complaints about online shopping during April and May than any other months on record. And the state Division of Consumer Protection has also reported a rise in consumer complaints over online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic. More than half of those who complained said they never received the products they ordered. During the second quarter, the FTC said it received 4,400 complaints from New Yorkers; 75 percent of those reporting they never received their orders. New York Secretary of State Rossana Rosado said, “Online shopping offers convenience and keeps us safe at home during these trying times, but we must be careful to whom we give our hard-earned money, especially online.” She suggested that consumers shop with retailers they already know and to beware of third-party vendors. She also said to comparison shop. Ted Potrikus, CEO of the Retail Council of New York State, said the pandemic has "brought out the worst" in online thieves. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Bill Williams is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media six weeks have passed since the death of a 1-year-old boy at his home in Greenport. The investigation by the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation is ongoing and remains active, said Aaron Hicks, Public Information Officer for Troop K, on August 4. The boy died June 23 after he was transported to Columbia Memorial Health by the Greenport Rescue Squad. Police continue to examine physical evidence collected at 156 Ten Broeck Lane that day and are following up with interviews, Hicks said. Medical cases take a long time to investigate, he said. Apartment No. 1, where the boy lived, remains boarded up. The residence was condemned by Greenport Code Enforcement Officer Vincent Concra after police left the scene that day. The results of the autopsy performed the next day at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady have not been released. Those results are part of the continuing investigation by state police, Columbia County Coroner Michael Blasl said. The Department of Social Services did not respond to queries concerning other family members that may have been at the home on the day the boy died. Read the full story at HudsonValey360 [dot] com.

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