Phillip Pantuso reports in the Times Union that a new vacancy study says Kingston is now qualified to become the first municipality north of the New York City suburbs to opt into the state Emergency Tenant Protection Act. The study conducted by the city found a rental vacancy rate of 1.57 percent, and home values have increased nearly 50 percent since the start of the pandemic. So Kingston now could adopt rent stabilization on buildings constructed before 1974 with six or more units, under guidelines set forth by the state’s Emergency Tenant Protection Act. In 2021, an Ulster County Rental Housing Survey showed a vacancy rate of 1.81 percent for non-subsidized housing in the county. The housing problem -- not enough houses or apartments are available, and they are too expensive -- is prevalent throughout the Hudson Valley. “My hope is that this evidence validates the experiences of Kingston residents, and that action can be taken quickly to help those who are being priced out of their homes every day by speculatory rent increases,” said Rashida Tyler, a housing organizer who helps run the Ulster County Coalition for Housing Justice. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Emilia Teasdale reports for the Columbia Paper that the proposed $11 million visitor welcome facility at Olana State Historic Site is currently in the State Environmental Quality Review Act process, and was unveiled to the public at a virtual meeting recently. “No red flags that have been raised so far” in the SEQR document, said Linda Cooper, regional director of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The new visitor entry and orientation facility, if approved, will be off Route 9G, and would include a 45-spot parking lot, bathrooms, and a cafe. About three-and-a-half acres of trees would be cleared for the 4,500 square feet building. The building will be made from sustainable materials, is all electric, and carbon neutral with an Electric Car charging station. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

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Bill Williams and Ted Remsnyder are reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Coxsackie-Athens School District went into lock-out mode on June 2, after a suspicious person was seen on school grounds. The incident began around 10:45 a.m., after a male former student drove onto school property, parked his car and walked into the woods near the school, according to Greene County 911. “When there’s something outside of the schools that we’re not sure of, we lock out until we can ascertain if there’s any type of threat to anybody in the school,” said Coxsackie-Athens Superintendent Randall Squier. Coxsackie Police, Greene County Sheriff’s Office and state police were called to the school and immediately began searching the wooded area and the nearby village streets in an attempt to locate the subject. The person police were looking for was found within the hour said Coxsackie Police Chief Samuel Mento. The man was running late for a funeral and he decided to park at the school and cut through the woods to Mansion Street in order to catch a ride. He was dressed in black because he was on his way to the memorial service being held that morning for Coxsackie-Athens alumnus, Lance Cpl. Colby R. Lord, Mento said. “There was never a threat to anybody in the school or anything like that. It was not that type of situation at all. We just wanted to be cautious and make sure what the reasoning was for why the person came to the campus,” Squier said. In hindsight, Mento said the incident was a useful drill for the police officers involved. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Heather Bellow is reporting for The Berkshire Eagle a Pittsfield man has been indicted for allegedly bilking customers in the Berkshires and across five states in a construction scam. Fred Lewis Senter Jr., 40, allegedly stole more than $400,000 through false pretenses, according to a statement from Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington’s Office. The scam allegedly took place between February 2020 and September 2021, through his company, Northern Steel Buildings and Structures LLC. “Mr. Senter is accused of contracting and accepting payments from more than 40 victims across five different states to build steel structures with no intent of completing the work,” the DA said in a Facebook post. She noted that Senter was first arrested and investigated by Pittsfield Police before state police detectives attached to the DA’s office began their probe. Among the victims was the Richmond, Mass. Volunteer Fire Department, which paid Senter a deposit of almost $53,000 to build a steel structure, according to the statement. Harrington asks that any other potential victims contact local police or state police detectives in her office. Senter’s alleged victims stretch across Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania and include multiple residents, businesses and a church. In 2019, Senter was arraigned in Pittsfield for being a fugitive from justice without a warrant after he was charged with grand larceny in Columbia County. That charge was dismissed. Senter’s company was dissolved by court order in June 2021. Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle.

Steve Barnes is reporting for the Times Union John DeLucie, a chef and restaurateur on June 4 is opening the farm-to-table restaurant Merchants Social in Hudson. DeLucie has described it as being focused on Hudson Valley ingredients with an approach grounded in the simplicity of Italian home cooking. DeLucie's 20-year culinary career in New York included The Waverly Inn and King Cole Bar at the St. Regis Hotel. Merchant Social is located in the 300 block of Warren Street at City Hall Place, in the space formerly occupied by Ca'Mea, which has moved down the street. The inside space has a casual bar/lounge area and a separate dining room with a rear courtyard that seats more than 70. The restaurant will be open for service Tuesday to Saturday for dinner, and brunch on the weekends. In 2005, DeLucie co-founded, with then-Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, the Waverly Inn in Manhattan's West Village. By 2014 he was running five restaurants that grossed $40 million annually, but a collapse soon began, according to press reports. DeLucie currently owns Ainslie, a 10,000-square-foot Italian restaurant in Brooklyn, as well as the Empire Diner, on 10th Avenue in Manhattan. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Karl Bode reports in Techdirt that 5G streaming technology has barely been installed in the United States and the hype for 6G technology has already begun. First, the story reports that the rollout of 5G technology in the United States has been slower than elsewhere. And even when 5G has been built out in the U.S. it is "actually slower than existing 4G networks" often. On the plus side, there is no evidence that 5G causes cancer or COVID-19, as some conspiracy theorists claim. Bode writes, "it’s pretty clear that the technology is more of a modest evolution than a revolution, and 5G hype overkill (largely driven by a desperate desire to rekindle lagging smartphone sales) is a far cry from reality." So take that all into account as you listen to corporate shills hype the 6G technology coming in 2030. "By the time quantum computing is maturing for commercial applications, we’re going to be talking about 6G,” Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark said. “By then, [2030], definitely the smartphone as we know it today will not anymore be the most common interface.” Read more about this story in Techdirt.

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Liz Montgomery reports for Porcupine Soup that the Republicans in control of the Greene County Legislature are not giving consumers back their share of the gasoline tax like the state of New York and other counties such as Dutchess County. “Asking counties to give up the revenue they need to better the lives of residents so the State can take credit for short term savings at the pump makes no sense on a local level.” says Patrick Linger, chair of the Greene County Legislature. “The overly aggressive State and federal policies attempting to end the use of fossil fuels without affordable energy alternatives is at fault here and saving 25 cents on a five-dollar gallon of gas is like putting a band aid on a broken leg.” New York State legislators are giving up their 16 cents per gallon share of the gas tax, but Greene County officials will not. Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Monroe, Putnam, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Ulster, Wayne, and Yates counties are all only collecting tax only on the first $2 charged per gallon of gas and diesel. Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Jefferson, Livingston, Nassau, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Suffolk, and Westchester counties will collect tax only on the first $3 charged per gallon of gas and diesel. Greene County will charge consumers the full amount for gas locally. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Rebekah F. Ward reports for the Times Union that New York's cannabis board on June 1 started passing regulations to allow retail sales of cannabis, after state legislators legalized the drug last year. The new board voted for standards for drug testing facilities and to ban cartoonish branding of cannabis. Tremaine Wright, chair of the Cannabis Control Board, said said the board started with these regulations to ensure recreational cannabis is labeled, packaged, and tested for safety. "We also recognize the need to expand our cannabis laboratory testing capacity within the state to ensure we have enough third party labs online and ready to properly test regulated cannabis products," Wright said. The board, for instance, mandated child-safe containers and standard warning labels on all cannabis products sold in the state. Cannabis sales are expected to begin later this year or next year, when the board completes setting up all regulations. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

The Daily Freeman reports that the Phoenicia Elementary School was locked down on June 1, the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office said. A man parked in the school parking lot and then ran towards a wooded area behind the building, sparking alarm after a spate of mass shootings around the country. Brandon G. Norton Jr., 21, of Woodstock, was arrested by Shandaken police and charged with reckless endangerment at about 10:45 a.m. June 1. One man running into the woods got a response from the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, Shandaken and Olive police, state police, and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection Police. The school was put on lockdown during the search for Norton. He had been involved in a verbal altercation with another person on Main Street in Phoenicia earlier in the day, and parked in the school parking lot to hide, police said. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

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Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that the Catskill Housing Authority has received a $274,598 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for renovations in its public housing units. The money will be used by the Catskill Housing Authority to upgrade the Hop-O-Nose public housing development in Catskill. The grant is part of HUD’s Public Housing Capital Fund Program, which offers annual support to all public housing authorities to make capital investments in their public housing properties. “It is essential for public housing authorities to preserve existing affordable housing and this HUD funding will go a long way to assist with major improvements,” said Alicka Ampry-Samuel, HUD Regional Administrator for New York and New York Jersey, in a statement. The public housing authorities are able to use the grant funds to complete large-scale renovations including roof replacements or making energy-efficient improvements to heating systems or installing water conservation measures in public housing properties. The grant received by the authority is part of a new round of funding from the federal housing agency that provides more than $795 million in funding to 71 public housing authorities in New York. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics that Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple announced June 1 that he is ending his bid for state Senate. Apple's decision to withdraw leaves Republican state Assemblymember Jake Ashby and Democratic candidate Andrea Smythe as the two candidates in the newly drawn 43rd state Senate District election. In a post on Facebook, Apple, a Democrat, wrote he loves his job as the county sheriff and he will not make an endorsement going forward. "I never had aspirations for higher office, but with the support and encouragement I received from residents across the district I tried to convince myself this was the next step for me," Apple wrote "I hoped to be a voice for moderate voters who had felt they needed a stronger voice in New York. However, after exploring this opportunity, I’m drawn back to the goal I have always set for myself and my kids which is 'find a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life.'" Apple rose to statewide stature last year after his office filed a forcible touching charge against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo denied the accusation, and Albany County District Attorney David Soares moved to have the case dismissed citing a lack of evidence. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media that the Coeymans planning and zoning board of appeals on June 1 granted an appeal filed by Town Supervisor George McHugh over a proposed series of music events at Magic Forest Farm. The board’s decision likely means the full concert series will not take place, but the farm’s operator is hoping to stage one of the events slated to take place in August with 250 people booked to attend. McHugh filed the appeal on April 12, requesting that the property owner be required to apply for a use variance rather than a special-use permit for the full series, which would include on-site camping at the farm located on Bucks Ranch Road. The farm’s operator, Jason Ball, and property owner, Joan Mahony, had applied to the town for a special-use permit to hold five concerts beginning in mid-June and continuing through October. This is the first time the farm owner and operator have applied to the planning and zoning board of appeals for a special-use permit for such an event. Ball asked if they would be allowed to hold the smallest concert. “The big guys, they are able to go and get another venue easily, but the 250-person event where it’s the band throwing it, it’s very difficult for them and they will be out $5,000 or $6,000,” Ball said. “I am asking if I move forward with one event and abide by the sound ordinance, do I pay a fine or will the event be shut down? What can I do to proceed with one August event?” The town attorney and code enforcement officer agreed to meet with Ball and Mahony to review the code and see what would be permissible under town law. Read more at TheUpStater [dot] com.

Inside Radio guesses at what will become this year's song of the summer, the song endlessly heard on radios at street parties, around pools, and on vacations. Currently, Harry Styles' “As It Was” and Lizzo's “About Damn Time” are the song's most likely to become the song of the summer of 2022, according to radio industry experts. But the 2022 song of the summer might come from a previous year, "As catalog music has shown an increase in streaming since COVID, accounting for 70 percent of listening according to Luminate, streaming of current titles has fallen another 3.5 percent in 2022 to date," the story reports. Two songs of last year's summer, Dua Lipa's “Levitating” and Olivia Rodrigo's “Good 4 U,” rank number 24 and number 29, respectively, on the current Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart. “A combination of older streamers tuning in, younger listeners discovering decades-old hits through the explosion of social-video platforms like TikTok, and listeners turning to familiar tunes for comfort during the pandemic lockdowns all led to a rise in such nostalgia listening,” The Wall Street Journal's Anne Steele writes. So Billboard's Gary Trust says, “It’s hard for any one song or one sound to dominate streaming like it used to be.” Read more about this story at Inside Radio.

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Andrew Waite reports for the Daily Gazette that Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik made a rare appearance at a press conference about milk in Albany May 31. It was the first time Stefanik faced reporters since 19 children and two adults were murdered at an elementary school in Texas. “I do not support gun control. But there is work that we need to do, and that is increasing mental health funding,” Stefanik said. “We need to increase school resource officers and make sure that we’re working with our county sheriffs to protect our schools that are most vulnerable.” Matt Castelli, who is one of two Democrats, pointed out Stefanik was not addressing her constituents, which will not include all Rensselaer County residents, because of redistricting. “She’s not in her district. She’s in Albany talking about something that is not related to the job of representing the 21st Congressional District,” said Castelli. “There should be no more compelling issue facing our country right now than addressing the insecurity that our parents and our kids and our teachers are facing with this threat of gun violence in our schools.” Stefanik did say she supported the Fix NICS Act, which strengthened the federal background check system – the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. But Castelli pointed out Stefanik voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. “I would just highlight that she has been in Congress for (nearly) eight years and hasn’t been able to solve this problem,” Castelli said. “It’s not surprising to hear Congresswoman Stefanik’s remarks. She’s got a pattern of behavior where every one of her actions is all about service to herself. In this instance, it’s about putting the needs of her special-interest donors and her gun [advocating] husband above the lives of our kids and the safety of our communities.” Last week, the Times Union reported that Stefanik’s husband, Matthew Manda, manages the public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, based in Newtown, Conn. Read more about this story in the Daily Gazette.