Today's daily news update.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Columbia County Board of Supervisors has announced a $500,000 initiative to aid small businesses. The board launched Columbia Forward, designed to strengthen the business community as it emerges from the pandemic and encourage local economic development activities. Under Columbia Forward, the Columbia Economic Development Corporation and the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce will partner to implement and manage a three-year, $450,000 program intended to assist county-based small business and local economic development committees, Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chair Matt Murell said. The county will give the CEDC an additional $50,000 in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to support a new small business grant program to which the corporation has committed $500,000 in new loan funds. Loans up to $25,000 will be made available to credit-eligible borrowers. There are approximately 1,750 businesses in Columbia County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, with more than 78 percent employing 10 or fewer people. The program will target these small businesses disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, including businesses in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industries, Murell said. The program will also focus on Main Street retail, small manufacturing, and service businesses. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Vaughn Golden is reporting for WSKG-TV after a New York appellate court invalidated the lines for the state Assembly districts last month, a lower court is now moving forward with drawing new boundaries in preparation for the 2024 elections. However, the judge overseeing the matter has not decided on an exact process for doing so. In an order last week, Judge Laurence Love directed the attorneys who brought the original case challenging the Assembly lines to submit briefs on how to proceed. Aaron Foldenauer, an attorney for one of the petitioners, said one option available is to engage the services of a special master, as was done when the maps for congressional and state Senate districts were redrawn earlier this year. “Or there are other options to the court and we’ll be going through that in detail with the court in the next month or two,” Foldenauer said. In the same order, the judge cited a section of law suggesting the court may consider trying to revive the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission. To that, Foldenauer said, “... I do see a lot of practical problems as far as trying to get the IRC together again. I’m not even sure that the commission can be forced to reconvene or to work.” The judge is asking the attorneys to submit briefs on the issue by August 8. How the process will move forward from there is unclear. Read more at wskg [dot] org.

Liz Montgomery is reporting for Porcupine Soup Greene County Solid Waste Management will hold its annual household hazardous waste collection event on July 9, this year at the Windham Highway Facility at 83 County Route 21, also known as Mitchell Hollow Road. A second event is being planned for Athens in the fall. County residents are being directed to come to the site during the time period specified based on the first letter of their last name. The time periods are as follows: A to F, from 8 to 9 a.m.; G to K, 9 to 10 a.m.; L to P, 10 to 11 a.m.; Q to U, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.; and V through Z, 12 to 1 p.m. Participants are urged to separate and package the hazardous waste to prevent leakage during transportation. The county also asks that there be only one occupant per vehicle — and no children or pets — while transporting hazardous waste. Documentation of Greene County residency, such as a driver's license or utility bill, will be required. This event is for household hazardous waste only. Commercial or agricultural waste will not be accepted. Details are available at 518-943-4600 or solidwaste [at] discovergreene.com. The county is also reminding residents that beginning July 12, the Coxsackie Transfer Station will be temporarily relocated to 370 Mansion Street in Coxsackie while the existing transfer station is renovated. Only bagged garbage and recyclable paper, cardboard, cans and glass, will be accepted. Read the full story at porcupinesoup [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Ted Remsnyder reports for Columbia-Greene Media about the different views of State Sen. Michelle Hinchey and Assemblyperson Chris Tague on the gun legislation passed last week in an extraordinary session of the state Legislature. Hinchey, a Democrat, voted for the bills, while Tague, a Republican, voted against the measures that came after the Supreme Court struck down the state's concealed carry law. “As the Supreme Court continues to send a strong message that they do not care about the future of our country, our children, and our communities, it is incumbent that New York picks up the pieces and leads during this time of failure and abdication at the federal level,” Hinchey said in a statement. “I am proud of the work we have done during this extraordinary session to protect people in all facets of life, including advancing common-sense safety measures on concealed carry, and, after generations of advocacy, taking landmark action to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, our first step toward enshrining the right to abortion access and establishing women and our LGBTQIA community as equal citizens in our State Constitution.” Tague had a different view. “It is incredibly disappointing that the majority has decided to respond to a Supreme Court ruling making our unconstitutional gun laws even more blatantly unconstitutional,” Tague said in a statement. “As well- intended as some of these proposals may be, it doesn’t take a lawyer from Harvard to be able to see that this bill won’t survive an ounce of legal scrutiny.” The new laws allow the state to regulate and standardize training for license applicants, and restricts the carrying of concealed weapons in sensitive locations, such as schools, government buildings, and mass transit sites. Private property owners must now expressly allow a person to possess a firearm, rifle, or shotgun on their property and the state now has oversight over background checks for firearms and regular checks on license holders for criminal convictions. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Noah Zweifel reports in the Altamont Enterprise that voters in the East Berne Volunteer Fire Company district will vote July 12 on a $2.7 million bond to build a new fire station. Firefighters show off the hole in the slant ceiling as proof they need a new building. It came when a someone from another fire company backed a truck up in the station and its rear light went through the plaster. “Things are a little tight in here,” said Fire Chief Scott Duncan. Because the property the current fire station is at is also small, the company would put the new station at 792 Helderberg Trail, which they have already purchased. The new building could house all of the company's trucks, plus would be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, unlike the current space. “We had to stop [hosting] the board of elections because we can’t get handicapped people in here,” Duncan said. If the bond is approved in the southern Albany County town, the estimated tax impact would be less than $100 per year for an average homeowner, but Fire Commissioner Mary Alice Molgard said they, “don’t know for sure yet.” Voters can see the current building for themselves when they cast their votes there at the Main Street station on July 12 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Read more about this story in the Altamont Enterprise.

WRIP, the commercial rock radio station that broadcasts out of Windham, has moved their studio, the station announced on social media. On June 29, WRIP left their former studio at 134 South St., and moved to what they are calling the Broadcast House (formerly the Bentley house), at 265 South St. The station broadcasts on 97.9-FM in Windham and Hunter, 97.5-FM in Durham and Greenville, 103.7-FM in Catskill and Hudson, and 104.5-FM in Stamford and Delaware County. The station WRIP was founded in August 1999, broadcasting just to the mountaintop.

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

Dick Lindsay is reporting for The Berkshire Eagle a leading opponent of the planned PCB disposal site in Lee, Mass. wants the town's Board of Health to intervene in the matter. The Housatonic River Initiative has formally asked the three-person panel to hold a public hearing and then vote on whether to block the Upland Disposal Facility from being built in a former quarry just south of Woods Pond. That facility is now planned to be the burial location for roughly a million cubic yards of soil and sediment with relatively lower levels of PCB contamination."The Lee Board of Health has the right to assess if the dump is unhealthy to the town," HRI Executive Director Timothy Gray said. "It would terrible if the dump goes through, as it will come back to haunt us forever." The health board has indicated it may not have the power to prevent the landfill from being part of the Rest of River cleanup, as spelled out by the federal Environmental Protection Agency,. The chair has advised Gray that it may be unable to intervene. In early 2020 Lee and four other river communities approved a river cleanup deal with the EPA and GE that includes the installation of a lined, in-ground waste facility to accept some of the PCB-tainted sediment dredged from the river. But throughout the cleanup debate, residents have opposed putting a PCB landfill in Lee. Voters backed a non-binding resolution this year directing the town to pull out of the agreement that would allow sediments containing the probable carcinogen to be buried in an engineered landfill in a former quarry. The HRI has been fighting to stop the landfill since it was announced and the group is now appealing the current cleanup plan. Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle.

Bill Williams is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that Hudson police on July 3 were called in to investigate the city’s first shooting incident of 2022, after an unidentified 19-year-old city man was shot in the leg. The incident occurred at the Hudson Terrace Apartments, Police Chief L. Edward Moore said. Hudson police responded just before 8:30 p.m. to multiple reports of shots fired near building No. 6 of the apartment complex located at 15 N. Front Street. After they arrived, police discovered that a Volkswagen SUV had been struck by a bullet, secured the area and began collecting evidence, Moore said. Then Columbia Memorial Health notified law enforcement at 9:40 p.m. that a young man had walked into the emergency department with a gunshot wound to the leg. The chief said additional police patrols were brought in following the incident. Officials from the State Police and Columbia County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the investigation. Hudson detectives are working with investigators from the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Police are asking that anyone with information call the police at (518) 828-3388. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Catalina Gonella is reporting for Gothamist the Queens nurse who was the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in America will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Joe Biden announced last week. Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at Northwell Health and a native of Jamaica, was one of the 17 recipients chosen for the honor. She received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on December 14, 2020, and her second on January 4, 2021. Lindsay was the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials. In Biden’s announcement, Lindsay was also described as a prominent advocate for vaccines and mental health for health care workers. After the president's announcement, Lindsey wrote in a LinkedIn post, “This recognition is significant for me and my loved ones. It is also a huge recognition for my Northwell Health family, nurses and healthcare workers around the world, women, women of color, Jamaicans, minorities and immigrants to name a few!” A Medal of Freedom ceremony will be held at the White House on July 7. Read the full story at gothamist [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

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

Steve Hughes is reporting for the Times Union. a new proposal by the Albany Common Council calls for revenues from recreational cannabis sales in the city to be used as reparations for communities of color harmed by the war on drugs. Data shows that black and brown residents of Albany have long been disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of laws against the sale and use of marijuana. Sixth Ward Councilmember Gabriella Romero and Tenth Ward Councilmember Owusu Anane want to create a nine-member commission to formulate a series of recommendations for the city and the council to consider as the retail sale of cannabis is expected to start in the near future. The recommendations would advise who should receive compensation, how much they should receive and what form the compensation would take, but those recommendations would not be legally binding. The ordinance is modeled on a similar proposal at the state level that has already passed the Assembly. “I’m hoping to go one step further,” Romero said. “Why not have Albany at the forefront?” The commission would also be assigned to study federal, state and local policies that criminalized and disproportionately impacted residents in communities of color who were involved in the sale of marijuana. Anane said he viewed the future revenues as a way for the city to change the economics of its poorest neighborhoods. “I think for this city to move forward we have a duty to lift people out of poverty,” he said. The commission would submit a report within six months of its creation. The members would not be compensated for their work. The city is in the process of establishing a separate commission of city residents charged with creating cannabis regulations in the city, including rules for dispensaries and on-site consumption. The deadline to apply for the committee was June 15; the city has not yet announced who is on the commission. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Patricia Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman a review of records provided by the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office to the Daily Freeman found that there were more cases dismissed as a result of speedy trial violations than the five cases previously reported by that office. Records obtained through a Freedom of Information request show that since Feb. 1, 2020, 27 felony charges against 10 people have been dismissed due to a failure of the DA's office to prosecute within the time frames required by law. That total includes five cases dismissed on June 15 by Ulster County Judge Bryan Rounds. DA David Clegg said in three instances charges that were dismissed were the result of circumstances beyond his office’s control. One case involved the possession and sale of narcotics and it pre-dated his tenure as DA. In a case involving an armed robbery, he said, the speedy trial clock ran out when a key witness repeatedly refused to testify during a grand jury proceeding. In the third case, Clegg said, one of several charges was dismissed because of what he called “complications” with plea negotiations, but he said other charges against that person remain. The two newly discovered cases were dismissed for speedy trial violations. Clegg said the newly identified cases as well as the first five reported happened because of the conduct of one assistant district attorney. Clegg did not identify the ADA citing confidentiality concerns, but he confirmed that the person is still working in the office. “It’s being addressed,” he said. “I have reinforced and re-emphasized and read the riot act to everyone in this office that this cannot happen again." He said attorneys are conducting a thorough audit of the cases in every unit to ensure no additional cases are dismissed due to failures in the office. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Bill Williams is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media three teenagers from Red Hook are being celebrated after they saved the life of a drowning boy in Massachusetts last week. At about 2:30 p.m. on July 28, Will Anagnos, Kyle Richardson and Colby Denassutti were fishing off a bridge on the Centerville River near Craigville Beach on Cape Cod, when a 15-year-old boy jumped from the bridge into the river and went under the water. “We saw him bobbing up and down, and struggling to stay afloat. I couldn’t see him,” Anagnos said. Anagnos and Richardson jumped in the water to rescue the boy and were able to pull him to shore with Denassutti's help. Others in the area called 911 and emergency responders arrived shortly after the unconscious boy was pulled from the water. The 15-year-old was rushed to Cape Cod Hospital with serious injuries, fire officials said. Anagnos, who is an Eagle Scout, said he considers himself a good swimmer. “He’s had some training in swimming and knows what to do when there’s an emergency,” his mother Gidget Anagnos, said. When news of the trio's heroic response reached Red Hook, local organizations, including the Red Hook Police, Tivoli Fire Department and Red Hook school district, all announced the news on social media. The report included no word on the extent of the jumper's injuries or his current condition. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Columbia-Greene Community College has been granted $500,000 by the Hudson River Bank and Trust Company Foundation to cover tuition costs for students who do not qualify for financial aid. The grant will be used to create the HRBT Foundation Education Matters Scholarship for those ineligible for federal and state assistance, or who are only receiving partial federal and state aid. The funds will be disbursed beginning in September for the 2022-23 school year, with the grant money targeted at expanding the pool of residents who can attend the community college. HRBT Foundation President Carl Florio said the organization was looking for an effective avenue to expand educational opportunities for residents in the region. “The HRBT Foundation approached us and said they were going to help students from Columbia and Greene counties,” Joan Koweek, executive director of the Columbia-Greene Community College Foundation, said last week. Koweek said the grant should cover, if not everything, almost everything. She also said the college does not yet have an estimate of how many students the grant could help in the upcoming school year. “It’s really hard to say because it’s based on how many credits a student takes,” she said. Koweek said the college was grateful to receive the foundation’s grant. “It was very generous and thoughtful of them to allow us to do this,” she said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Denis Slattery is reporting for the Daily News New York lawmakers on July 1 passed sweeping new restrictions that bar carrying concealed weapons in a variety of locations including subways, buses, bars, government buildings, houses of worship, schools, libraries, playgrounds, parks, homeless shelters and more. The measures were signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday night. Guns will be banned from “sensitive places” such as Times Square and mass transit systems and in private businesses unless business owners explicitly grant permission to bring them on their property. Businesses will be required to post a sign indicating that armed patrons are welcome. The new law also overhauls the state’s permitting process by requiring that applicants undergo 15 hours of in-person training at a firing range and an in-person interview. They must also provide their social media accounts as well as contact information for household members. Applicants will have to show they have “the essential character, temperament and judgment necessary to be entrusted with a weapon and to use it only in a manner that does not endanger oneself and others,” according to the law. Licenses will have to be renewed after three years. Hochul called the Legislature back to Albany for an “extraordinary session” last week to respond to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a longstanding law limiting who can carry a handgun in public. State GOP chair Nick Langworthy slammed the Legislature for tightening restrictions for legal gun owners. “Only under the insanity of New York Democrats can you get out of jail free for possessing an illegal firearm, but be targeted by the government for being a law-abiding citizen exercising your constitutional rights,” he said. Aaron Dorr, the executive director of the New York State Firearms Association, said, “This will never survive a court challenge." Read the full story in the Daily News.

Cloey Callahan has a rundown in the Times Union of some of the best fireworks displays in the Hudson Valley. Many local events are returning after the coronavirus pandemic impeded celebrations the last two summers.

• The village of Coxsackie will host a fireworks display at the high school by the baseball field at 9 p.m. on Sun., Jul. 3. Parking will be available in school parking lots and the surrounding area. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating. Information at 518-731-2718.
• Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular on the Walkway Over the Hudson. Food and beverage concessions will be available. Organizers suggest bringing a flashlight to assist with exiting the event. The event begins at 9 p.m. on July 4.
• The town of Cairo’s 4th of July Celebration will be held Mon., Jul. 4, at Angelo Canna Park on Mountain Avenue. The festivities begin at 5 p.m. with food, craft vendors and live music. Children’s fireworks at dusk.
• The Town of Ellenville will hold its annual parade in the hamlet of Napanoch this year, starting at 11 a.m. on the 4th, and fireworks will follow at dusk at the Resnick airport, located at 199 Airport Road in Naponach.
• The annual Independence Day celebration at Clermont is a full day of events and ends with a special firework show. The afternoon kicks off at 1 p.m. with historic re-enactors demonstrating skills such as sewing, weaving and blacksmithing. Later, Members of the 34th Regiment of Foot will demonstrate British Army camp life. The evening features music performances in advance of a fireworks display at dusk. The Clermont State Historic Site is located in Germantown.
• The Kingston July Fourth Celebration includes food, music and activities at T.R. Gallo Waterfront Park, 30 Rondout Landing in Kingston at 9:30 p.m.
• The Saugerties July 4th Fireworks and Parade begins with a parade at 11 a.m. and fireworks at dusk at Cantine Field, Pavilion Street
• Windham’s Good Old Fashioned 4th of July Celebration has sidewalk sales, live music and children’s entertainment all day long along Main Street on July 4. Events begin at 2 p.m., fireworks are at dusk on Main Street and at Windham Mountain Resort.

Read the details at timesunion [dot] com.