Sahil Kapur reports for NBC News that the U.S. House voted July 21 for legislation to codify the right to contraception nationwide, but Republican Elise Stefanik voted against the Right to Contraception Act, which passed 228-195. Only eight Republicans voted with the Democrats for the law that would establish a right in federal law for individuals to obtain and use contraceptives. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in his decision allowing states to ban abortion, wrote that the same logic would overturn the current national right women have to birth control. The bill would need ten Republicans to vote for it in the Senate, which seems unlikely. Most Republicans across the country are now on record as against women having abortions and access to birth control. Read more about this story at the NBC News website..

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media for the time being, the Coeymans Planning/Zoning Board of Appeals has declined to decide on whether an August concert and camping event at Magic Forest Farm can take place, until the property owner meets certain conditions for approval. Property owner Joan Mahony and farm operator Jason Ball originally planned a series of concerts and camping events at the agritourism site on Bucks Ranch Road, for between 250 and 1,000 attendees. Town Supervisor George McHugh filed an appeal requesting the property owner be required to apply for a use variance rather than a special-use permit for the events, claiming the concerts were the focus of the property owner’s application, rather than the camping, which would be allowed. The board granted McHugh’s appeal in May and Ball and Mahony decided to apply for a permit for a temporary campground and hold a single concert and weekend camping event from August 5 to 8. Town attorney Andrew Brick said the board requested more information, including an insurance policy, and required Ball to meet with the police chief, town supervisor and others to determine what needs to be done to ensure the temporary campground and concert is in compliance with town codes. “The other recommendations from the working group, they fall into two categories,” Brick said. “One is a recommendation that two EMTs be on site at all times. I think you want to follow that recommendation — those are the experts. And then there are some construction or renovations of the road.” Board chairman Robert Nolan said the biggest sticking points will be the sound levels of the event and camping activities. The board decided music could begin starting at 10:30 a.m. and continue through 11 p.m. The exception would be on Sunday, when it would have to stop at 9 p.m. Brick said he would draft a list of conditions for the event by July 27, when the board is next scheduled to meet and expected to make a decision. In the meantime, he directed Ball to meet with the EMTs and the highway superintendent to talk safety precautions and improvements to the emergency access road. Read more at The UpStater [dot] com.

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Victoria Albert reports for CBS News that Republican candidate for governor Lee Zeldin was not seriously injured after a man attempted to attack him at a campaign event July 21 in Fairport, New York. "The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is aware of an incident at the speech of gubernatorial candidate Zeldin this evening. A suspect is in custody and Major Crimes is investigating," Deputy Brendan Hurley, a spokesperson for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, said in a statement reported by the Democrat and Chronicle. Zeldin continued his speech after law enforcement took the man into custody, a spokesperson reported. "Unfortunately, Congressman Zeldin is just the latest New Yorker whose life has been affected by the out of control crime and violence in New York. This needs to stop!" the spokesperson for Zeldin said in a statement released to the media. His opponent in November, Gov. Kathy Hochul, released her own statement on Twitter saying she was "relieved to hear" Zeldin was not hurt. "I condemn this violent behavior in the strongest terms possible – it has no place in New York," Hochul wrote. Zeldin voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results, even though there has been no credibly proven fraud found in the campaigns. Read more about this story for CBS News.

Andrea Macko is reporting for Porcupine Soup the members of the Cairo Town Board have been sued alleging they each acted illegally in awarding a $50,000 grant to the Cairo Development Foundation. At the July 20 town board meeting, attorney Monica Kenny-Keff served the town supervisor and individual members of the board on behalf of her clients, plaintiffs Emmy Cross and Mountainview Enterprises, a company owned by Keff’s husband, Chris Keff. The matter was filed in response to the town board's vote on March 7, to disburse U.S. Housing and Urban Development Residential Rehabilitation Grant funds that had been sitting idle in the town coffers for decades. Three applicants, Cross, Mountainview Enterprises and the Cairo Development Foundation, were awarded money, but not in the amounts recommended by Delaware Engineering. Delaware had advised town officials that Cross should receive $18,576, Mountainview Enterprises $17,118 and the CDF, $22,680. But the board opted instead to give Cross and Mountainview Enterprises each slightly less than $6,000, and $50,000 to the development foundation. The lawsuit alleges the funds were given to the CDF based on "...personal conflicts of interest, and personal and political interests ..." According to court papers, the plaintiffs allege, “CDF publicly endorsed and campaigned” for Town Supervisor Jason Watts, and board members Michael Flaherty, and Mary Jo Cords in their runs for public office, alleging the board's action was illegal. The town of Cairo and the CDF were also named in the case filed in the State Supreme Court in Greene County on July 18. The original HUD grant, in the amount of $400,000, was awarded to the town in 1998 and was to be distributed under HUD guidelines to low-income residents for home improvements. Property owners who rent to low-income tenants were also eligible to apply. It was discovered in 2015, by then-Supervisor Ted Banta, that roughly $60,000 of grant funds remained unspent. The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction against the town, Watts, Flaherty, Debra Bogins, and Cords to prohibit "the release or disbursement of the grant funds at issue pending [the] order of the court.” They also request that the court order the town to disburse the funds following the recommendations made by Delaware Engineering. Read the full story at porcupinesoup [dot] com.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics child care providers in New York state can apply for $30 million in federal grant funding to support and expand programs where there are not enough open slots, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on July 20. The money was made available through the federal pandemic relief sent to states and meant to address areas where child care services are lacking. New York is spending $100 million in order to expand child care offerings. The pandemic and the workplace disruptions caused by the crisis have heightened policy questions around child care. Many parents struggled to find adequate care programs even before the pandemic, and a worker shortage has added to frustrations. Officials want to expand child care in existing daycare centers and school-age child programs by funding more slots designated for infants and toddlers or children with special needs. There is also a push to expand specific child care programs for small centers, family child care programs and group family child care programs where enrollment is under capacity. The money can be used for employee payroll or benefits, as well as supporting staff for COVID vaccine expenses, rent, mortgage or utility payments, or helping pay for training and professional development. Applications are being accepted through August 24. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

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Helen Branswell reports at Stat News that on July 21 New York State reported the first case of vaccine-derived polio in a person since 2013. The patient with a type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus is in Rockland County. “With Covid having disrupted immunization (even in the U.S.) and travel now having resumed and much more type 2 poliovirus transmission happening … it’s been only a matter of time before we’d have some detection of polioviruses in sewage, as happened recently in the U.K, or more tragically, a case,” said Kimberly Thompson, a polio expert who is president of the non-profit organization Kid Risk. “There’s just a lot more polio going around than there should be.” Mary Bassett, New York's health commissioner, said those vaccinated against polio are not at risk. “Based on what we know about this case, and polio in general, the Department of Health strongly recommends that unvaccinated individuals get vaccinated or boosted with the FDA-approved IPV polio vaccine as soon as possible,” Bassett said. Read more about this story at Stat News.

The 2020 presidential election was not decided by fraud, even though several New York politicians voted against certifying the election results, and others attended or cheered the riot attempting to overthrow the government on Jan. 6, 2021. New York Reps. Chris Jacobs, Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, and Lee Zeldin all voted hours after the riot not to certify the election results. Stefanik is running locally for re-election, with her district now including Rensselaer County. Zeldin is the Republican nominee for governor. several other local politicians either went to Washington D.C. that day, cheered those attending, and continue to embrace the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Liz Joy, the Republican again running against Rep. Paul Tonko in New York's 20th Congressional District, Tweeted the day before that she was attending the DC riot, and Tweeted during the disturbance that, "Hundreds of thousands of people attended today’s rally to stand for Election Integrity." Joy said that if she had been in office on Jan. 6, 2021, she would have voted against certifying the election. “Joe Biden is the president — period,” Joy said. “But I do believe there was massive voter fraud in our 2020 elections. And we have to get it right before we have the 2022 election.” Stefanik continues to support the coup and overturning a fair and free election, even after the violence. She posted on Twitter after the riot that, "Americans have a Constitutional right to protest and freedom of speech, but violence in any form is absolutely unacceptable and anti-American." But Stefanik's Senior Advisor Alex deGrasse retweeted a message during the riot claiming the rioters were undercover leftists, without any evidence. Farther south, MidHudson News reported that state Assemblymember Colin Schmitt, a New Windsor Republican, was photographed the morning of Jan. 6, speaking maskless to a busload of people departing for the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Schmitt is running for the 18th Congressional seat this year. But before the photo of Schmitt talking to the busload of people en route to Washington surfaced, he issued a statement saying, “I am deeply disturbed by the assault on the United States Capitol today. There is absolutely no justification for any form of violence against the pillars of our democracy.” Elsewhere, Andrea Macko reports at Porcupine Soup that Coeymans Town Supervisor George McHugh, Westerlo Republican Chair Lisa DeGroff, and Westerlo Town Councilperson Amie Burnsidewas wrote to a judge urging leniency for William Tryon, 71, of Selkirk. who pleaded guilty to his part of the riot in the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. Chris McKenna from the Times Herald-Record reports that authorities know about at least 13 people from the Hudson Valley who were part of a violent attempt to overthrow the U.S. government on Jan. 6, 2021.

Mid-Hudson News reports that work is under way on the Stony Clove Creek in Lanesville in Greene County. The stream restoration project is about a mile north of Lanesville along State Route 214. The Stony Clove Creek is the largest tributary to the upper Esopus Creek, which feeds the Ashokan Reservoir, which supplies drinking water to New York City. The site has become the largest producer of fine sediment in the Stony Clove Creek subbasin, which is not good for drinking water. The $2 million restoration project started in June and should be complete in September. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

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Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Greene County officials are moving forward with the planned construction of a combined office building and parking garage structure behind the county courthouse on Main Street in Catskill. During a special Public Works Committee meeting July 18, legislators unanimously approved a resolution to award a construction management services contract in the amount of $565,000 to Freeman Project Services of Cairo. The full legislature will vote on the contract resolution this week. In April, the county hired the Lacey Thaler Reilly Wilson architectural firm of Albany to provide architectural, design and engineering services for the project. Under the current plan for the facility, the ground floor of the building would house a secure parking garage, the state Office of Court of Administration would rent the second floor of the building, and the third floor would be shared by the Greene County District Attorney’s Office and the county Public Defender’s Office. The new building would be connected to the courthouse by an elevated pedestrian walkway. The objective is to have construction plans in place by the end of the year, with bids sent out to contractors early in 2023, county administrator Shaun Groden said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Diane Pineiro-Zucker is reporting for the Daily Freeman the Ulster County Health Department is awaiting confirmation of its first case of monkeypox, county Health Commissioner Carol Smith said Wed., Jul. 20. Earlier that same day, state health officials announced that Orange and Greene counties had identified their first confirmed cases of the virus. Monkeypox is a viral infection that is extremely rare, authorities said. It often does not cause serious illness, but can lead to hospitalization and death, especially if left untreated, according to a press release. Smith said, to her knowledge, there have been no deaths from the virus in New York state. As of Wednesday afternoon, additional cases had been identified statewide, with 711 in New York City, 18 in Westchester County, nine in Suffolk, four in Nassau, four in Monroe, two in Erie, and one each in Chemung, Rockland, St. Lawrence, Tompkins and Albany counties, Smith said. Monkeypox is spread through direct physical contact with someone who has monkeypox sores, via respiratory droplets (from lesions in the mouth), and also through contact with objects like clothing or bedding or towels that had been used by an infected person, Smith said. The state Health Department advises that anyone can get monkeypox, but based on the current outbreak, certain populations are being affected by monkeypox more than others, including men who have sex with men. Vaccines are currently available through health departments in New York City and in Sullivan, Nassau, Rockland, Saratoga, Suffolk and Westchester counties. Information on the vaccine is available at CDC [dot] gov. Information on monkeypox is available at the state Health Department website. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Lori Todd is reporting for the Times Union as summer temperatures peak, cooling centers — the air-conditioned facilities where the public can cool off during extreme heat — offer protection from heat-related illness and death. A partial list of centers follows. A link to the full list of Hudson Valley cooling centers can be found on the WGXC Newsroom page at WGXC [dot] org.

Columbia Count
Call each location for operating hours.
- Town of Copake Park Building
- Copake Town Hall
Dutchess County
Call each location for operating hours.
- Adriance Memorial Library
- Beekman Library
- Blodgett Memorial Library
- Boardman Branch Library
- Dover Plains Library
- East Fishkill Community Library
- Grinnell Library
- LaGrange Association Library
- Millbrook Library
- Morton Memorial Library
- Northeast-Millerton Library
- Pleasant Valley Library
- Red Hook Public Library
- Staatsburg Library
- Stanford Free Library
- Starr Library Rhinebecks
Greene County
No cooling centers were reported to the state. Contact local municipalities for information.
Ulster County
2nda Iglesia La Mision Church
80 Elmendorf St., Kingston
Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., July 19 to 27

Today's daily news update.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that Congressional candidate Jamie Cheney released a campaign video July 18 in which she discusses her reasons for previously having an abortion. Cheney has a specific antibody deficiency, a rare immune disease makes any infection potentially major, and she got a severe infection while pregnant. Cheney went through three or four different antibiotics to fight off the infection and eventually a doctor recommended a new medication, but one that would have "substantial health impacts on the fetus," Cheney said. So she decided to terminate the nine-week pregnancy before taking the medication. "The decision to have a termination is an incredibly hard choice that no woman takes lightly," Cheney said. "It's also a traumatic physical procedure, even in the first trimester, so when I hear language around the idea that women are making this decision casually, or treating this as a form of birth control — no woman who has actually been through this decision-making process or this physical procedure could ever validate that." Cheney is running in an Aug. 23 primary election against Josh Riley, with the winner taking on Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro in November for the new 19th Congressional District. As someone who is married, financially stable, and had chosen to get pregnant, she tells an abortion story that's not easily conveyed in slogans. "Being able to speak to that personal story makes someone a much stronger advocate, and while I think many people ... can advocate for this from a policy perspective, being able to advocate for a policy with an intuitive understanding of the impact on the lives of women is a key piece ... in protecting this right going forward," Cheney said. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Rep. Elise Stefanik was one of 47 Republicans voting with all Democrats on July 19 in the U.S. House for the Respect for Marriage Act. All 220 Democrats voted for the bill, which would require the U.S. government to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages and interracial marriages. In his opinion in the Supreme Court's recent ruling letting states ban abortions, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested the same logic would make the court also allow states to ban gay marriage. Local Democrats Paul Tonko and Sean Maloney voted for the bill, and there was no vote cast for the 19th Congressional District, as Antonio Delgado resigned months ago to become New York's lieutenant governor. Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney was the only New Yorker to vote against the bill. It would take at least ten Republican Senators to pass the bill and get it to President Joe Biden's desk to sign.

Mid-Hudson News reports that the Ulster County legislators voted July 19 to demolish the former Ulster County Jail on Golden Hill in Kingston to build affordable housing on the site. It will cost just under $1.4 million to tear down the old building. The vote to hire Gorick Construction Co. to take down the building was 19 to four, with county Legislator Joe Maloney among the opposed. “The people of this county including us were told that this demo was going t be done by Penrose, the developer who now we are trying to push through some bizarre multi-million grant as well. Nothing about this project has gone according to what we were told,” Maloney said. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.