Emilie Munson in the Times Union profiles the candidates who all lack political experience running to take the 20th Congressional District away from Rep. Paul Tonko. Democrat Riley Seaburg is the first primary challenger Tonko has had since he first won the district in 2008. Seaburg is a 27-year-old disabled veteran who served in Afghanistan, and has also worked as an insurance agent, a National Guard equipment repairer, a tool attendant and an office assistant. Seaburg would not consent to an interview with the newspaper, but claims on Facebook that he "is a staunch progressive and understands the need to take money out of politics and also the need for intelligent aware progressives to serve in Congress.” The winner of the Tonko/Seaburg primary faces the winner of the Republican primary between Liz Joy and Michael Seney. Like Seaburg, both Republican candidates have never held public office before. Joy worked for the campaign of former State Senator George Amedore in 2014 and volunteered for him 2016. She is a real estate agent who served a term as president of the Republican Women of Schenectady County. Seney is a Rensselaer County sheriff's deputy who lives in Averill Park. He is a former marine who served three terms in Iraq. Both Republicans are big fans of President Donald Trump. The winners of the June primary elections face off in November. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Emilia Teasdale reports in the Columbia Paper that the Chatham Village Board tabled a proposal for a Police Department comfort dog January 13. The dog would be a therapy or comfort dog for crime victims and other people who come to the police station. “The first mission is for the public,” Chatham Police Chief Peter Volkmann said and added that “the dog is there for the officers too.” Trustee Melony Spock said “I just can’t wrap my mind around it,” referring to the proposal. “Can we just have a little more time?” So the board tabled the issue until its next meeting, at 7 p.m., Feb. 10 at the Tracy Memorial/Village Hall. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

Mid-Hudson News reports that traffic increased slightly but toll revenue decreased a bit in 2019 on the five bridges crossing the Hudson River south of Albany. The Rip Van Winkle Bridge, connecting Catskill and Greenport, was the only bridge were traffic fell in 2019, down 0.19 percent with just under six million crossings. Overall, traffic was up 0.45 percent in 2019 on the five bridges to 63.8 million crossings. Toll revenue fell on the Rip Van Winkle and Newburgh-Beacon bridge, while it rose on the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge, the Mid-Hudson Bridge, and the Bear Mountain bridge. Read more about this story at the Mid-Hudson News website.

Today's local news update.

Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson has announced the city of Hudson is one of 10 cities statewide chosen to participate in the New York State Anti-displacement Learning Network program to assistant in the effort to prevent displacement of low-income residents. The announcement was made on the city's website and via social media, Fri., Jan. 24. The program is conducted by the Enterprise Community Partners in partnership with the office of the state Attorney General. Mayor's aide Michael Chameides posted on Facebook: the city "will receive peer learning opportunities and one-on-one technical support. After designing a high-impact strategy, we can apply for an additional $1 million to fund and implement it." Johnson called the award "...an important step in addressing our housing crisis." The grant application was put together in 2019 by newly elected 1st Ward Alderperson Rebecca Wolff, and Chameides; Dan Kent from the Galvan Foundation provided technical support. Other locations chosen to participate in the program include Broome County, the cities of Buffalo, Elmira, Ithaca, Kingston, Newburgh, Rochester, Syracuse and New York. Read the full press release at cityofhudson [dot] org.

The Times Union is reporting the Niskayuna Central School District, in Schenectady County, has temporarily closed one of its elementary schools in the wake of an unusual number of absences this week attributed to students sickened by the flu. Birchwood Elementary School was closed on Fri., Jan. 24, to give the janitorial staff the time needed to complete a significant cleaning of the building. In a post on its website, the district said, "It is our hope that this day and the weekend will provide time to help stop the spread of illness. We plan to open on our regular schedule on Monday." Classes will be held as usual on Friday at the district's other schools. The illnesses reported at Birchwood have occurred in the midst of a flu outbreak statewide. As of January 18, there were 13,483 laboratory-confirmed influenza reports, a 22 percent increase over the previous week. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Jon Campbell is reporting for the Times Herald-Record under a proposal put forward by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo this week, the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, along with four other Hudson River bridges as well as the Walkway Over the Hudson, could soon have a new owner. Cuomo January 21, announced a plan to abolish the state Bridge Authority as part of his $178 billion budget plan. If Cuomo gets his way, the state Thruway Authority would then assume ownership of the Rip Van Winkle, Kingston-Rhinecliff, Mid-Hudson, Bear Mountain and Newburgh-Beacon bridges, as well as the walkway. The governor's proposal would allow the operation of the state’s toll bridges north of New York City to be consolidated and, in theory, could save the state money, particularly as the authorities move ahead with cashless-tolling projects. Freeman Klopott, a spokesman for Cuomo’s budget division, said the merger makes sense. “Both authorities have overlapping roles and combining them will create the opportunity for efficiencies and an alignment of resources particularly as they both establish cashless tolling,” he said. Richard Gerentine, the chairman of the Bridge Authority’s board, said he only learned Tuesday that Cuomo was going ahead with the merger proposal. He expressed concern over the plan, and called for a study of the potential merger’s impact before going ahead with anything. Read the full story at record online [dot] com.

The Daily Freeman is reporting employment totals in December were higher than a year earlier in most local counties, according to the monthly employment report issued January 23, by the state Department of Labor. The data released showed Greene County saw an increase nonfarm jobs of 1.9 percent since December 2018, while Columbia County's nonfarm job total remained unchanged. The report showed an increase of nonfarm jobs of 0.9 percent in Ulster County; and a gain of 0.7 in Dutchess and Putnam counties. In Sullivan County, where employment has grown steadily since the Resorts World Catskills casino opened in 2018, nonfarm employment increased by 5.9 percent during a one-year period. The department said nonfarm jobs were lost in Delaware, Orange, Rockland and Westchester counties. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Click above to download or play the audio version of the local news for Fri., Jan. 24. Produced by Philip Grant.

Click above to download or play today's "Better Weather." Produced by Joe Demanso of the Catskill Makers Syndicate.

Debby Mayer reports for the Columbia Paper that Virginia Martin is still working as the Democratic elections commissioner in Columbia County, as the party is still coming up with a new nominee after the Board of Supervisors voted down Martin's re-appointment to the position. Republicans have replaced Jason Nastke of Valatie with Kelly Miller-Simmons of Copake, who lost the election for Copake supervisor in November. Democrats are choosing between Mark Young of Stuyvesant, who was co-owner of Mexican Radio in Hudson before the restaurant closed last year, and Erin Stamper of Chatham, the vice chairperson of the county Democratic Committee. Stamper tied Martin in a vote for the position among the Democratic Committee earlier this year, and other candidates may emerge. Democrats plan to ask the Board of Supervisors to approve some candidate at their February 12 meeting. “I hope the committee will decide on a candidate on January 30,” said Keith Kanaga, the CCDC chairperson. After that, he said, “We expect that the Board of Supervisors will appoint the person that we recommend.” Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

Chad Arnold reports in the Democrat and Chronicle that if the legislature approves Andrew Cuomo's budget proposal, the governor would be able to close as many state prisons as he wants. Cuomo would have to give 90 days notice, but could close prisons “as he determines to be necessary for the cost-effective and efficient operation of the correctional system,” the proposal reads. "We have consistently said that prisons are not an economic development program and by right-sizing the system as the prison population drastically declines, we’re already saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year," said Jason Conwall, a Cuomo spokesperson. The state's Corrections Officers and Police Benevolent Association opposes the measure. “We will fight tirelessly for our members to preserve their livelihood and make sure our prison system is as safe as possible," Michael Powers, the union's president, said in a statement. Read more about this story in the Democrat and Chronicle.

Mid-Hudson News reports that Rep. Antonio Delgado did not list his appearance Jan. 23 at the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce’s annual Congressional Update Breakfast meeting on his website. Delgado only lists events that his staff organizes on his website. And while the impeachment trial of the President of the United States was going on in Washington D.C., Delgado did not want to talk about that. Instead he spoke about visiting local farms. “I made a point to connect with these individuals, organizations and business owners to understand the needs of communities on the ground,” he said. He would only make a vague reference to the impeachment trial. “I bring the heart of this place with me to D.C. I am not sure there is a lot heart, to be honest with you, in D.C,” he said. “Democratic norms, like mutual toleration, are eroding. We are treating our partisan rivals like enemies and traitors. I can’t engage in that.” Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Ariél Zangla reports for the Daily Freeman that the Kingston Planning Board approved plans for WKNY to convert a former auto business garage into a community media center and performance space. The station, heard on 1490-AM and 107.9-FM in Ulster County, will move across Broadway to the new space sometime this year, then build out the performance space. "This is intended to be a community media center, performance space, workshop space," Kristen Thorne, Radio Kingston's director of finance and administration, told the Planning Board. The radio station's performance space will be for 66 people, with bathrooms, a green room, storage, and a video and control room. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Jan. 22, 2020 City of Hudson Legal Committee Meeting.

Jan. 22, 2020 City of Hudson Public Works and Parks Committee Meeting.

Click above to download or play the audio version of the local news update for Thu., Jan. 23. (Produced by Philip Grant.)

Nick Reisman is reporting for Spectrum local news [dot] com Democrat Aaron Gladd has announced he will not challenge incumbent Republican state Senator Daphne Jordan this year. “After a lot of conversation and reflection, my family and I have decided that I will not campaign in 2020 for the New York State Senate," Gladd said. "We have been humbled and overwhelmed by encouragement over the last year across the 43rd district, across upstate, and from both sides of the aisle.” Gladd, a combat veteran, worked in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration and ran a competitive race against Jordan in 2018. In his announcement, Gladd said his daughter will be starting kindergarten and knowing what it would take to win the state Senate seat, he has chosen instead to take some time to focus on his family. Gladd may not be done with politics, however. According to Reisman's sources, Gladd is being encouraged by Democratic officials to challenge Republican Steve McLaughlin for the Rensselaer County executive job. Read the full story at Spectrum local news [dot] com.

Emilia Teasdale is reporting for The Columbia Paper the Kinderhook Village Board January 8, approved a resolution and passed a local law to join a Community Choice Aggregation, or CCA program. The village joins a group of cities, towns and villages consisting of about 90,000 households in the Capital Region that will bid together on electricity suppliers. The group works with Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance, or MEGA, to find a price for an energy supplier that will remain stable over a two- or three-year contract. The village board will be presented with bids by MEGA in the spring and the board will either agree to participate or choose to opt-out at that time, depending on the price and energy options available. At that time, the board will also decide on the sources for the energy it plans to purchase. “I’m very excited. I think it’s great,” said village Trustee Rich Phillips following the vote. He stressed the importance of having a green energy option available. MEGA is expected to continue providing outreach as the program moves forward, according to the resolution passed last week. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

Denis Slattery is reporting for the New York Daily News two state lawmakers have announced a proposal to create a public fund to give New Yorkers the ability to cover their abortion care expenses. Bronx Democrats, Sen. Alessandra Biaggi and Assemblymember Karines Reyes unveiled the measure on January 22, the 47th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade. Under their proposal, individual New York taxpayers would be able to voluntarily contribute to the fund on their personal income tax returns. The funds would go to support organizations that provide assistance to those facing barriers accessing abortion care. “It’s not enough to have a right to an abortion in name if you do not have the resources to access it,” Biaggi said. “Far too many low-income New Yorkers, young people, and people of color face financial and logistical barriers to accessing abortion care, and are unable to exercise their right to choose.” During the previous legislative session, state lawmakers passed the Reproductive Health Act, codifying the abortion rights affirmed in the Roe decision into New York law. Last year, New York City made history when it allocated $250,000 of the city’s 2020 budget to the New York Abortion Access Fund. That non-profit fund provides support to patients with limited resources. Read the full story in the Daily News.