Bill Williams is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media ten fire companies from Columbia and Rensselaer counties were involved in fighting a large brush fire on June 20, in Stuyvesant. More than 6.5 acres of land were blackened by the blaze, Stuyvesant Fire Chief Steve Montie said. At about 4:09 p.m., Columbia County 911 sent Stuyvesant Fire Company to Ridge Road after receiving reports of the fire. Upon arrival, fire officials requested mutual-aid assistance from neighboring fire companies and a request was also made for brush-fighting equipment. Smoke from the fire could be seen from miles away. Crews were able to get the fire under control after roughly an hour. The blaze started when the field was being brush hogged and the mower struck a rock which sparked the fire, Montie said. There were no reported injuries, the chief said. Fire companies from Stuyvesant Falls, Kinderhook, Niverville, Stockport, Valatie, Castleton, Schodack Landing, South Schodack and Stottville, as well as the Valatie Rescue Squad and state police, assisted. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

For years corporate radio officials have claimed the airplanes will fall from the sky because of the scourge of pirate radio. But no plane crashes have been attributed to an illegal broadcast. So when the Federal Aviation Administration and airline industry officials recently began saying airplanes could fall from the sky because of 5G signals, it sounded like another conspiracy theory. Airplane altimeters tell pilots plane altitudes, and rely on a spectrum from 4.2 GHz to 4.4 GHz. That is close to where 5G signals get sent, between 3.7 to 3.98 GHz. So, unlike FM transmissions which are not nearly as close, it is conceivable for faulty transmissions or receivers could cause problems. And, it turns out many planes have older altimeters that were designed before the age of so many cell phone signals. That led to the Federal Aviation Administration objecting to the Federal Communications Commission’s authorization of 5G networks near airports earlier this year. Now Jon Brodkin at ArsTechnica reports that the FAA has announced a plan to replace or retrofit airplane altimeters that can't filter out transmissions from outside their allotted frequencies. The FCC says interference in altimeters was unlikely to occur "under reasonable scenarios" and that the aviation industry should conduct more research "on why there may even be a potential for some interference given that well-designed equipment should not ordinarily receive any significant interference (let alone harmful interference) given these circumstances." The FAA seems to be conceding to the FCC that the problem really is not that large. "During initial negotiations in January, the wireless companies offered to keep mitigations in place until July 5, 2022, while they worked with the FAA to better understand the effects of 5G C-band signals on sensitive aviation instruments," the FAA said last week. "Based on progress achieved during a series of stakeholder roundtable meetings, the wireless companies offered Friday to continue with some level of voluntary mitigations for another year." But the airline industry is mad that they are being made responsible for the issue. "At today's FAA roundtable we were told that the vast majority of our fleet (approximately 4,800 aircraft) would need to be retrofitted by July 2023," Airlines for America, a trade group that represents the major U.S. airlines, said in a letter to the FAA. "Given that the FAA has not even approved solutions nor have manufacturers manufactured these products for most of this fleet, it is not at all clear that carriers can meet what appears to be an arbitrary deadline." Read more about this story at ArsTechnica.

Today's daily news update.

Zach Williams reports in the New York Post that only one of four Republican candidates for governor would admit that Joe Biden was fairly elected president at a debate June 20. “I believe that President Trump was reelected. And I think unfortunately, we’ve seen one of the greatest crimes in American history committed against our country,” said Andrew Giuliani, the son of one of the president's lawyers who has lied about who won the presidential election in 2020. There has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud. “Certainly Joe Biden was a duly elected president of the United States,” Harry Wilson said during the debate, the only candidate who clearly spoke the truth on this issue. The other two candidates, Rep. Lee Zeldin from Long Island, and former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, both gave non-answers, refusing to say the truth or lie about the election. But Zeldin is already on the record, as on Jan. 6 he voted against certifying the election results, and supported a lie on the historical record. Read more about this story in the New York Post.

Do you think the 2020 election was “stolen” from Donald Trump?

Zeldin: Says a lot of stuff, never says yes or no.
Astorino: Says a lot of stuff, never says yes or no.
A. Giuliani: “I believe that Donald Trump was re-elected.”
Wilson: “I believe Joe Biden was duly elected.”

— Jon Campbell (@JonCampbellNY) June 21, 2022

Robert Harding reports for Auburn Publications that U.S. District Judge Mae D'Agostino has dismissed a challenge to the state's Human Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act. The new rules, which went into effect April 1, limits a person in prison's time in segregated confinement housing, will remain in effect despite the lawsuit from the New York State Correctional Officers union. They claimed that eliminating solitary confinement removes disciplinary action and increases the likelihood of prison assaults and violent incidents. The court disagreed. D'Agostino said the court "recognizes the serious dangers corrections officers face." But she added that it "strains credulity to allege that the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee that no state shall 'deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law' imposes a constitutional obligation on the state of New York to use solitary confinement against individuals under 21 or over 55; or that New York state is constitutionally obligated to allow use of solitary confinement of prisoners for more than 15 days at a time." D'Agostino said the court "recognizes the serious dangers corrections officers face." But she added that it "strains credulity to allege that the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee that no state shall 'deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law' imposes a constitutional obligation on the state of New York to use solitary confinement against individuals under 21 or over 55; or that New York state is constitutionally obligated to allow use of solitary confinement of prisoners for more than 15 days at a time." NYSCOPBA President Michael Powers disagreed. "Despite the ruling, we will continue our campaign to repeal HALT by organizing our membership to vote out those in the legislature who supported the act," Powers said. "Once the legislature is back in session, we will focus our efforts on repealing HALT or amending HALT to strike out the dangerous portions. NYSCOPBA continues to strongly oppose any portions of HALT that limit DOCCS's ability to separate dangerous inmates from staff and other rule-following inmates." Read more about this story at the Auburn Publications website.

Olivia Beavers and Meridith McGraw report for Politico that there is now a full-on feud between Rep. Elise Stefanik and New York's Republican Party Chair Nick Langworthy. Stefanik quickly backed Carl Paladino, who has a history of racist statements, to fill a Buffalo-area Congressional seat. Then Langworthy announced he would run himself for the Congressional seat of resigning Republican Chris Jacobs. Then things got messy. "Langworthy’s political director for the state party restricted fundraising and voter contact data Stefanik’s team could access before the Republican National Committee intervened to restore it, according to one person familiar with the matter. Stefanik’s team suggested the RNC stop sending money to the New York GOP to pay for staff and instead hire New York-based RNC-paid staffers, this person added, insisting on anonymity to address the feud candidly," the story says. National Republicans are saying there is no problem. RNC spokesperson Emma Vaughn said in a statement that the national party committee “has a great partnership with NYGOP Chairman Langworthy and Republican Conference Chair Stefanik." Paladino, who Stefanik is backing, is seen in a 2021 video calling Adolf Hitler “the kind of leader we need.” Redistricting has Stefanik representing Rensselaer County if she is re-elected in November. Read more about this story at Politico.

Today's daily news update.

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WPDH-FM [dot] com is reporting the two Mid-Hudson counties with the largest population of black residents did not recognize Juneteenth as a holiday. Juneteenth commemorates the date enslaved African Americans in Texas were finally notified that the Civil War was over and they were free. New York and other states recognized Juneteenth as a holiday in 2020 and June 19 officially became a federal holiday in 2021. All state and federal employees had the day off, but employees of Dutchess and Orange counties still had to show up for work. Both counties have traditionally closed on all federal holidays, including Columbus Day, Veterans Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In addition, they are also closed to observe other non-federal holidays such as Lincoln's Birthday and Election Day. However, despite being both a federal and New York state holiday, Juneteenth was not recognized by either Orange or Dutchess counties. Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus' office confirmed the county was open on June 20. Duchess County Executive and congressional candidate Marc Molinaro did not initially respond to a request for comment, but his office eventually reached out saying Molinaro "supports Juneteenth being a county holiday and he has gone on the record supporting it." His office cited a 2020 quote in which Molinaro said Juneteenth "should be a national celebration of freedom." but noted the approval of Juneteenth as a county holiday is the work of the County Legislature. Read the full story at wpdh [dot] com.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk school district is asking for community input on a potential capital construction project that could bring widespread changes to school facilities. A survey was posted on the district website last week asking community members to respond to questions about what changes they would like to see in district facilities. Survey responses will be used to inform a future construction project that could go to a referendum this fall. The district has brought together a Facilities Planning Committee of teachers, support staff, parents and guardians, board of education members, high school students and building and district leaders to come up with a proposed construction project. The committee held its first meeting June 9 and will hold subsequent meetings on June 30, July 28, August 11, and September 1 and 22, according to the district. The most recent capital project, which began during the 2015-16 academic year, has just been finished. Another smaller project, with a $2.3 million price tag, was approved by voters in the May budget vote. The committee will gather community input, look at past projects, and then come up with a five-year plan for facilities improvements, Superintendent Brian Bailey said. “We worked on the survey that went out to the entire community — questions about what our community priorities are, related to programs and outcomes for students, both in maintaining our existing facilities and doing repairs, and what do we dream about in the future,” Bailey said. The cost of the capital project is not yet known. The survey will close June 28 at 6 p.m. Read the full story at TheUpStater [dot] com.

Maura Rosner is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media six years after developers made their initial proposal, the Flint Mine Solar Project has been given the green light. The project is located at the southern end of the town of Coxsackie and the northern section of the town of Athens. Flint Mine will advance New York’s emissions goals, according to Athens Town Supervisor Michael Pirrone. “This will help reduce the community’s reliance on fossil fuels," he said. Hudson Solar and Amber Infrastructure are the current investors in the Flint Mine Solar project. The project will supply 175,000-megawatt hours of renewable energy equivalent to the average annual electricity of 21,000 Greene County homes. The project will include the construction of internal infrastructure including transformers, inverters, voltage cable collection systems, an onsite substation, access roads, a temporary laydown area and security fencing, Pirrone said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Matt Burgess reports for Wired that for an hour on May 30, there was no internet service in the city of Kherson in south Ukraine. There was not a bombing of a cell tower, or a warehouse of servers that day. Russia was taking over the internet then, switching to its service providers and online censorship, moving from KhersonTelecom to Miranda Media, a Crimea-based company. "Multiple Ukrainian ISPs are now forced to switch their services to Russian providers and expose their customers to the country’s vast surveillance and censorship network, according to senior Ukrainian officials and technical analysis viewed by Wired," Burgess wrote. Internet companies are being given a choice: reroute their connections under Russian control or shut down entirely. “We understand this is a gross violation of human rights,” Victor Zhora, the deputy head of Ukraine’s cybersecurity agency, said. “Since all traffic will be controlled by Russian special services, it will be monitored, and Russian invaders will restrict the access to information resources that share true information.” There are many media reports that Ukraine is doing well, holding off Russian invaders, but this story says the Russians are taking over not just land but infrastructure. In occupied regions of Ukraine around most of the 1,200 ISPs have been switched to Russian control. “We understand that most of them are forced to connect to Russian telecom infrastructure and reroute traffic,” Zhora said. The war in Ukraine has been fought on the radio waves, with Russia bombing Ukraine TV stations, using satellites for cyberattacks, and sending out misinformation on all sorts of frequencies. And Russia's System for Operative Investigative Activities is used to read people’s emails, intercept text messages, and surveil other communications. “They are afraid that the news about the progress of the Ukrainian army will encourage resistance in the Kherson region and facilitate real activities,” Zhora claims. Read more about this story at Wired.

New York 19 Congressional Candidate Forum with candidates Jamie Cheney, Josh Riley, and Osun Zotique on June 20, 2022, hosted by the Tompkins County Democratic Committee.

Today's daily news update.

Maysoon Khan reports in the Troy Record that New York legislators rushed to pass legislation after the mass murder of grocery shoppers in Buffalo recently. But the ban on sales of bullet-resistant vests to most civilians that legislators enacted does not cover the type of armor worn by the gunman who killed 10 people at that Buffalo supermarket. The shooter there wore a steel-plated vest, while the new law restricts sales of vests defined as “bullet-resistant soft body armor.” The soft vests, now banned in New York, stop pistol shots, while a steel-plated vest will stop most rifle rounds. “I’m not convinced that this legislation is very meaningful,” said Warren Eller, a public policy professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Brad Pedell runs 221B Tactical, a tactical gear and body armor store in New York City, and said his store sells more hard-plated armor than the soft type being banned. Gov. Kathy Hochul seems to realize she signed an inadequate bill, putting out a statement that said: “Governor Hochul was proud to sign the groundbreaking new law passed by the legislature to restrict sales of body armor, and will work with the legislature to expand the definitions in the law at the first available opportunity.” Assemblymember Jonathon Jacobson admits the legislation he was the lead sponsor on is flawed. “We wanted to get things done as quickly as possible, and not let the perfect get in the way of the good,” said Jacobson. “Like all laws in New York State, we always try to make them better in the future. Of course we’ll try to make this law better.” Read more about this story in the Troy Record.

Gothamist reports that on June 20 Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the "John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York" into law. “As always, when the federal government fails to act, you can count on New York to punch back and fight even harder,” Hochul said. “No state in the nation has stood up with the courage and the conviction and the power that we have by protecting these important rights.” The new law prohibits local election administrators from taking actions that could suppress votes based on race and requires election administrators in jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination to seek an authorization before a change is made, from the state attorney general’s office or a local court. Hochul signed the bill on the federal Juneteenth holiday, which commemorates when the last enslaved Africans were told they were freed two years after the end of the Civil War. Read more about this story at Gothamist.

Bill Mahoney reports for Politico that Antonio Delgado resigned as a Congressperson, leaving citizens in the 19th Congressional District without a vote in Washington, D.C., and with the possibility he may lose his bid to become lieutenant governor. “This is a race with question marks and not exclamation points,” said Democratic consultant Bruce Gyory, about the election that includes Delgado, progressive activist Ana Maria Archila, and former New York City Council Member Diana Reyna. Delgado explains what his role would be if elected: “My job as a partner is to make sure that in our shared capacities — we bring to the table different outlooks different perspectives, different experiences — that we try our best to complement each other for the betterment of the state,” Delgado said in an interview. “That is our shared objective, that is our shared goal, and that is certainly my orientation to this role.” Archila sees the job differently. “The lieutenant governor’s role is an elected role, but it’s used as if it were an appointed role by the governor, just as a surrogate,” Archila said. “It could be an office that actually is used to make sure that the people who actually need government to work, the people whose lives are most at stake … that those folks actually have the ear of somebody in the executive branch.” There has not been public polling on this election. Early voting is going on now and the polls close on June 28. Read more about this story at Politico.

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

Today's daily news update.

JeanneTyler Moodee Lockman is reporting for CNY Central the New York State Attorney General's Office has made its Election Protection Hotline available for the June 28 primary election during the early voting period, which runs from June 18 through June 26. The hotline is available to troubleshoot and resolve a range of issues encountered by voters, including voting by absentee ballot because of COVID or in-person at a polling location. Voters experiencing problems can report their situation to the AG's office by calling the hotline number at 866-390-2992, submitting a complaint online at ag [dot] ny [dot] gov, or emailing election [dot] hotline [at] ag [dot] ny [dot] gov. The hotline is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on early voting days, and between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Election Day, June 28. “As states throughout the country try to strip communities of their fundamental right to vote, we are continuing to make sure that the polls remain accessible for voters across New York,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “For years, New Yorkers have relied on our election protection hotline to address any challenges they face across the state and to provide guidance for those casting a ballot.” Read the full story at CBS6Albany [dot] com.