Noah Eckstein is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that the Hudson Industrial Development Agency has decided it will withhold approval of any prospective hotel applications for the next 90 days. This will allow the IDA time to compose evaluation criteria on how to decide whether a prospective hotel or business is appropriate for the city of Hudson. The agency’s board voted unanimously to extend the time period for applications at a public workshop last week. Ryan Wallace, IDA chairperson and Third Ward councilmember said, “...[W]e want to ensure that the IDA Board has the opportunity to discuss, refine and hopefully approve the new criteria so that we can use it to fairly evaluate these hotel projects that are coming before us while doing right by the immediate and neighboring communities.” The IDA promotes, encourages, attracts and develops job opportunities and economically advantageous commerce and industry in the city of Hudson. The agency also offers businesses needs assessment, site selection, financial incentives and access to other public-sector programs. The IDA will continue to accept applications, but they will not be voted on officially until after the 90-day window closes. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

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Luke Parsnow reports in New York State of Politics that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now considers Columbia, Albany, and Rensselaer counties as having "high" community levels of the coronavirus. The CDC now recommends citizens now wear masks inside in public. In all, New York has 36 counties as having "high" community levels of COVID-19. The rest of the Hudson Valley's are considered at medium risk right now, with only three New York counties considered low risk. Albany County reported May 6 its highest COVID-19 hospitalization rate since mid-February. “This is one of the most concerning updates I’ve provided in a long time," said Albany County Executive Dan McCoy. "The daily average of new COVID infections continues to increase and has now trended above 200; the number of residents currently in the hospital with the virus is now the highest it’s been since Feb. 17; and sadly, individuals continue to succumb to COVID complications.” Read more about this story in New York State of Politics.

Ted Remsnyder reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Greene County Legislature’s Public Safety Committee approved $250,000 in funding for body and car cameras for Greene County Sheriffs during its meeting May 4. Next, the full Legislature is expected to vote for them. “It started two years ago when we had the police reform committee,” Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said. “It was a recommendation that came out of the police reform committee and then during the next year’s budget cycle, the board turned down the request to go to body cams. Now (Sheriff) Pete Kusminsky has brought it back up because there’s a general assumption that any accredited agency will pretty much be mandated to have them now. So that’s pretty much being forced.” Groden was pitching the cameras as police helpers. “I think more often than not it exonerates an officer versus not. Particularly with the car cameras, because we’ll have one that actually shoots to the back seat. So if you try to bang your head against the back window and they say, ‘Hey, I got beat up.’ It’s going to be filmed,” he said. It will cost Greene County the county, under the proposal, $29,940 for 60 body cameras, $106,650 for 27 police car camera kits, and $25,299 installation in 38 police vehicles, the story says. Groden says Greene County will hire someone to edit and process the camera recordings. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Rebekah F. Ward reports in the Times Union that since former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned, the state has been moving at a similar pace to begin recreational cannabis sales. The New York legislature voted for legalizing cannabis, and Cuomo signed the measure, a year ago. But then the Cuomo administration did little to build the state infrastructure to begin retail sales. Cuomo never appointed regulators to begin the process, which Gov. Kathy Hochul did after she took over last August. "They are taking time to be intentional," said Imani Dawson, an activist who pushed for legalization. "States that move really quickly tend to overlook things that they have to then go back and fix in hindsight, or they are dealing with unintended consequences." Arizona only took three months from legalization to sales, while Maine took four years. There, Gov.Paul LePage opposed legalization. "Gov. LePage vetoed a lot of things, because he didn't want it to happen," said Heather Trela, a marijuana policy researcher at the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government. "And then the pandemic hit, and that certainly delayed their initial plan." Officials have predicted that retail sales will begin in 2023 in New York. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

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Larry Parnass is reporting for The Berkshire Eagle that the Pittsfield, Mass. chapter of the NAACP is calling on the city's elected officials to overhaul who responds to people in the throes of a mental health crisis and shifting that responsibility away from police. The group is making the appeal in the wake of the fatal police shooting of Miguel Estrella on March 25. “Change cannot wait. Our communities of color continue to experience trauma as a result of law-enforcement officers' actions and the inaction of our elected leaders. It is irresponsible and dangerous to allow these circumstances to persist,” the NAACP said in a statement May 5. Dennis Powell, chapter president, said in an interview the group's leaders believe much more can be done to prevent violence. “We never thought this would happen in our community, but it has. We have to come to some solution,” he said. The group has asked public officials, both municipal and state, to take specific steps, including conducting an assessment of the police department's functions, led by people named to an advisory commission who represent the city’s diversity and have lived experience of the issue. The NAACP argues that city officials should not rely mainly on police to respond to mental-health calls and points to programs elsewhere in Massachusetts and in Eugene, Oregon as examples of successful alternative programs. “There are many [alternatives in] responding to non-violent emergency calls every day in this country,” the group said. Powell recently joined the city’s Police Advisory and Review Board. He said that group also intends to consider reform in how Pittsfield responds to people in crisis. Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle.

Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that two months after the Cairo Town Board approved the dispersal of almost $62,000 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant funding, town board member Tim Powers called for the board to amend the resolution it passed on March 7. Powers presented that amended resolution during a public meeting May 2, claiming the measure would correct the public record on the board’s decision to grant $50,000 to the Cairo Development Foundation and $5,930 apiece to Mountainview Enterprises and Emmy Cross as part of the HUD Residential Rehabilitation Grant. As Powers began to read the amended resolution, Town Supervisor Jason Watts interjected. “We’ve talked about this every meeting so far, Tim,” Watts said “We’re going to until I get a vote on it,” Powers replied. Powers voting yes on the resolution and the rest of the board abstained. After the meeting, Watts said that legal action has been taken against the town as a result of the HUD funding. He said each of the parties involved is suing the town. Powers said he will wait to see the minutes from the May 2 meeting before deciding if he will present his amended resolution to the board again. In the original March 7 resolution, Delaware Engineering was authorized by the town to act as a residential specialist for the HUD funding so it could determine the appropriateness of the various applications the town received for the money. Powers did not attend the meeting where Watts and board members Debra Bogins, Michael Flaherty, and MaryJo Cords voted unanimously to approve the dispersal of the HUD funding. “Delaware Engineering made their recommendations to this board and the numbers were all changed, but the resolution itself wasn’t,” Powers said. Under Delaware Engineering’s recommendation, the Cairo Development Foundation would have received $22,680, Emmy Cross would have received just over $18,500 and $17,000 would have gone to Mountainview Enterprises. The original HUD grant dates back to 1998, and the town collected almost $12,000 in interest on the original $50,000 grant over the past 24 years. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Rick Karlin reports for the Times Union that a state appeals court on May 5 ruled in favor of the town of Guilderland and Crossgates Mall in a case brought by an environmental group in its attempt to stop the construction of the first Costco Wholesale store in the Albany region. The five-judge panel of the state Appellate Division, Third Department ruled unanimously that the Guilderland Planning Board took the required "hard look" at the environmental impacts of the project, which includes building a 160,000-square-foot store on Western Avenue and a large apartment complex on Rapp Road. The judges also rejected the procedural challenges raised by nonprofit Save the Pine Bush Inc. along with claims about the lack of a quorum when the planning board met in 2020 to vote on the environmental impacts and site plan approval. Town Supervisor Peter Barber said the next step will be special use permit review by the zoning board of appeals. The Syracuse-based owner of Crossgates, Pyramid Management Group, has emphasized how important the Costco store and the apartment complex are to the continued success and viability of the mall. Save the Pine Bush Inc. is a volunteer group dedicated to saving the rare pine bush ecosystem in New York, a habitat for the endangered Karner Blue butterfly. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

On May 6, 1937 one of radio's most famous broadcasts was recorded. The hydrogen in the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg burst into flames as the new airship attempted to land in Manchester Township, New Jersey, killing 36 people. Herbert Morrison's eyewitness report for radio station WLS in Chicago of the Hindenburg disaster was not broadcast live, but recorded for a report that was broadcast the next day, and has lived through the ages. It aired on other radio stations, and the audio was dubbed onto newsreel footage and shown in theaters. While the scale of the sinking of the Titanic was slightly larger, this was the first major disaster with a narrator calling the play-by-play, with a visual recording synched. Few people at the time had ever witnessed or listened to 36 people die at once in a terrifying scene that rivals today's Hollywood special effects. And Morrison's radio narration was the first time listeners heard someone in real time explaining what was happening during a deadly disaster, not explaining it afterwards. Watching the Challenger space shuttle disaster, or the World Trade Center fall, are modern day broadcast comparisons. While today's anchors and correspondents can keep calm in most any circumstance, Morrison's call of the accident is more human, as he is clearly overwhelmed by what he is seeing, making the "oh the humanity" phrase ring through the years.

Here is the transcript from Wikipedia:
"It's practically standing still now they've dropped ropes out of the nose of the ship; and (uh) they've been taken ahold of down on the field by a number of men. It's starting to rain again; it's... the rain had (uh) slacked up a little bit. The back motors of the ship are just holding it (uh) just enough to keep it from...It's burst into flames! Get this, Charlie; get this, Charlie! It's fire... and it's crashing! It's crashing terrible! Oh, my! Get out of the way, please! It's burning and bursting into flames and the... and it's falling on the mooring mast and all the folks between it. This is terrible; this is one of the worst of the worst catastrophes in the world. Oh it's... [unintelligible] its flames... Crashing, oh! oh, four or five hundred feet into the sky, and it's a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen. There's smoke, and there's flames, now, and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring mast. Oh, the humanity, and all the passengers screaming around here! I told you; it – I can't even talk to people, their friends are on there! Ah! It's... it... it's a... ah! I... I can't talk, ladies and gentlemen. Honest: it's just laying there, a mass of smoking wreckage. Ah! And everybody can hardly breathe and talk and the screaming. I... I... I'm sorry. Honest: I... I can hardly breathe. I... I'm going to step inside, where I cannot see it. Charlie, that's terrible. Ah, ah... I can't. Listen, folks; I... I'm gonna have to stop for a minute because I've lost my voice. This is the worst thing I've ever witnessed."
— Herbert Morrison, Transcription of WLS radio broadcast describing the Hindenburg disaster.

Today's daily news update.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge reports for Columbia-Greene Media that COVID-19 has come roaring back in Columbia County, with 67 new cases announced May 2, 57 new cases May 3, and 34 more on May 4. “It’s twice what we would have on a Wednesday two weeks ago,” Columbia County Department of Health director Jack Mabb said. “So it’s way up there right now.” The positive tests results are from testing facilities and pharmacies, not from home tests. “We have clusters everywhere right now,” Mabb said. “It’s safe to say there are clusters everywhere. It’s not endemic to one segment of the population. It’s popping up all over and I think it’s because we’re out in public, we’re doing our thing, and I think people have moved on and said whatever it is going to be what it is.” Mabb reports that 17 county residents are currently hospitalized with the virus, and two of them are in the intensive care unit. Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chair Matt Murell said that the county is taking no action because of the outbreak. “At this time were monitoring the situation,” Murell said. “We’re not prepared to take any action as of yet. Obviously, we’re hoping it is a spike and it will go back down. We are monitoring this on a daily basis.” The county is vaccinating every Thursday from 3-5:30 p.m. at Columbia-Greene Community College, and also from 9-11 a.m. May 7 at the Hudson Firehouse. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

MidHudson News reports that Ana Maria Archila, who is running for lieutenant governor, was in Kingston on May 5, two days after Gov. Kathy Hochul tapped local Congressional representative Antonio Delgado for that role. Appearing at a rally calling on the state to adopt good cause eviction legislation, which has been adopted locally in Newburgh, Beacon, and Kingston. Hudson passed its own good cause law, but Mayor Kamal Johnson then vetoed the legislation, and then the Common Council failed to pass a replacement bill. Archila is the co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, a progressive advocacy group, and is running mate for Jumaane Williams in the 2022 New York gubernatorial election. A week ago, with former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin indicted for corruption and not running, but with his name on the ballot, her prospects for winning seemed brighter. Since then, though, the legislature passed a law to allow Benjamin's name to be taken off the ballot, and Hochul appointed Delgado as Lt. Gov. “When the governor, instead of using her power to address the needs of New Yorkers who are facing an affordability crisis, she uses her power to change election law at the last minute so that she can announce a new running-mate after failing to vet her first original lieutenant governor,” Archila said. “It is clear that the game is stacked against other candidates who do not have the power to change the rules of the game.” Read more about this story at MidHudson News.

Bill Conners reports in the Poughkeepsie Journal that the Department of Environmental Conservation is considering expanding turkey hunting. The proposed changes include changing the minimum shot size from No. 8 to No. 9, and starting a spring turkey season in Suffolk County on Long Island in spring 2023. "Wild turkey restoration is one of the greatest success stories of modern wildlife conservation," DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said. "In New York, DEC's management and protection of wild turkeys has allowed the birds to maintain self-sustaining populations in all suitable habitats of the state. This regulation change would expand hunting downstate, ensuring New York remains a premiere destination for turkey hunters in the northeast." Recent advances in shotshell technology that use heavier metals such as tungsten alloy, tungsten-iron, or bismuth are said to be more humane, and allow for smaller shot size. This month is the spring turkey hunting season north of New York City. Public comments on proposed changes to turkey hunting rules can be made through June 5 by email to wildliferegs@dec.ny.gov with "Proposed Turkey Regulations" in the subject line or by mail to Joshua Stiller, NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754. Read more about this story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

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Patricia Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman more than 50 people attended the May 4, forum hosted by Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan, state Sen. Michelle Hinchey and Assemblymember Kevin Cahill, in response to the growing outcry from Ulster County residents who have experienced billing problems with the utility Central Hudson Gas and Electric. “Frankly … it’s absolutely ridiculous that we even have to be here doing this whatsoever,” Ryan said. He said his office has received thousands of “heartbreaking calls about bank accounts being emptied by Central Hudson’s autopay program, of business owners sent electric bills for tens of thousands of dollars and of residents on fixed incomes who have seen their electric bills skyrocket for no apparent reason. Speaker after speaker during the forum shared stories of being sent bills for outrageous amounts of money, most based on “estimated” bills that, they said, presumed electric usage far in excess of what they had ever used before. “I think it’s intentional,” said Kingston resident Dante Martin. “Stop the pirate billing and stop the nonsense.” Several speakers called the utility’s billing practice “predatory” and called for the energy system to be taken out of the hands of a for-profit company and replaced with a public utility. Ryan said all of the comments recorded during the forum would be submitted to the New York State Public Service Commission for its investigation into Central Hudson’s customer information system implementation and subsequent billing errors. As of early May 4, more than 3,600 comments had been posted on the Public Service Commission portal set up as part of the Central Hudson billing investigation. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics students in the state of New York can no longer be labeled incorrigible" under legislation signed into law May 4, by Gov. Kathy Hochul. The measure was intended to address the racial bias and stigma associated with the term. Hochul also approved a law that bans discrimination, intimidation and retaliation against any student that files a complaint or exercises their right of private action against for-profit schools. Both measures are meant to address and protect against discrimination in the state's schools, especially for students of color. Hochul said. "In New York, our diversity is our strength, and this legislation will help ensure that young women, especially young women of color, are not stigmatized by this outdated term and are protected from abuses of power." The new law will remove the term "incorrigible" from New York education law. The term has been defined as students who are "incapable of being corrected" or unreformable and has been applied to students of color, especially girls, who are not considered stereotypically feminine. State Sen. Julia Salazar, a sponsor of the bill, said, "This term has been used historically, in particular, to punish girls and young women of color who resist or do not fit in to sexist expectations of how girls should behave. Last year we deleted this word from the Family Court Act and now we are finishing the task by removing it from the Education Law." Read the full story af nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

The Times Union is reporting Sidney Albert Albany Jewish Community Center was evacuated early May 4, after the facility received a bomb threat. Staff urged people to leave at about 6:45 a.m., telling them the JCC had received an unspecified threat. Police later confirmed it was a bomb threat. Albany police spokesperson Officer Steve Smith said, an "employee came into work and had an email in their inbox." Smith there were no specific details provided, so the police evacuated the building and then investigated. The incident May 4 was at least the fifth time since 2017, that a threat has been made against the center located on Whitehall Road. Previous incidents have been unfounded, but the evacuations unnerved members of the center. On Feb. 23, 2020, the JCC was one of almost 20 Jewish community centers to receive a bomb threat. The building was evacuated, but again authorities found no actual bombs or other dangerous devices. Read the full story in the Times Union.