Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that a Democratic candidate for governor cited politics, not science, when he said he would put an end to mandatory masking on public transit systems in New York state. Long Island Democrat Tom Suozzi is running for governor, and in an interview with WNYC on April 21 talked about political concerns, rather than mentioning scientific studies, when saying the mask mandate should end. "I would remove the mandates, I would leave it up to personal responsibility and I would do a lot better job of educating people about why they need to get vaccines and boosters and educating people about why masks are effective and if you're afraid, you should wear a mask," Suozzi said. "Nobody's listening, it's just based on your party.... We should get back to educating people." Currently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people, "Wear a mask in public places where there are a lot of people around." There is currently a large outbreak of new variants of COVID-19 in Central New York. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who Suozzi wants to replace, said the mask mandate will remain for now. "So we're going to continue, in the short term, again, for public transit, our correctional facilities, our nursing homes, health care settings, domestic violence centers, buses and train stations, let's just be smart about it," Hochul said. "You know, I think people do feel better when they're in public transit, sitting really close to somebody, to know that people are protected themselves. And again this is very much in the short term." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics

MidHudson News reports that Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro delivered his 2022 State of the County address on April 20 in Pine Plains, with eyes from throughout New York's 19th Congressional District looking in. Molinaro spoke about a Dutchess County future he hopes not to be a part of, as he is currently the Republican candidate for Congress, hoping to replace Democrat Antonio Delgado. “Today we are poised for more growth and prosperity because of our decade-long commitment to smart, fiscally conservative and compassionate government. To continue along this path, we must redouble our efforts to keep Dutchess County safe and affordable, creating opportunities and optimism for every County resident,” Molinaro said. He spoke about expanding mental health services, tackling the opioid crisis, funding first responders, and housing needs in the community. Molinaro previously backed off his plan to give $12.5 million in taxpayer money for a minor league baseball stadium, switching $9.5 million of the stadium money for housing needs. Molinaro plans three public forums to give residents a chance to address the needs of the community. The first is 12:30 p.m. May 3 at Office for the Aging Tri-Town Senior Friendship Center in Pleasant Valley, the second is at 5:30 p.m., May 10 at the Red Hook Community Center, and the last is 5:30 p.m. May 17 at the American Legion Post 427 in Wappingers Falls. Read more about this story at MidHudson News.

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John Crople is reporting for The Daily Gazette the state Attorney General’s Office April 19, announced the first round of funding for Capital Region counties to assist in combating opioid abuse. The local share of $5.78 million is the first portion of funding from the settlement of state lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors of opioids. Subsequent payouts will bring $32 million to the Capital Region. “This is the result of our litigation against Big Pharma for the destruction and devastation they caused as a result of opioids, the devastation and destruction that unfortunately claimed so many lives and impacted so many families,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said at a news conference. All 62 counties and the five largest cities in New York are receiving money this week. The local awards in the eight-county Capital Region include $473,000 to Greene County; $392,000 to Columbia County; $1,665,000 to Albany County; $758,000 to Rensselaer County; and $726,000 to Schenectady County. James’ office said the first payments are from settlements with AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Cardinal Health and McKesson Corporation. Later this year, the Capital Region counties will receive additional payments from settlements with Endo Health Solutions, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Allergan. Read the full story in The Daily Gazette.

MidHudson News is reporting on a vote of 14 to 9, the Ulster County Legislature April 19, chose to give up some tax revenue, doing away with their share of the gasoline tax at the same time the state does. Democratic Legislator Manna Jo Greene voted against the measure because, she said, the world is facing a climate emergency and should move away from fossil fuels. Others, like Republican Ken Ronk said every penny helps and not everyone has access to mass transit as an alternative to driving to work. Legislative Chair Tracey Bartels, a Democrat, supported the tax reduction but has some ideas on how to manage the estimated $3 million revenue loss to the county. “...I propose a split of spending in three sectors — public transportation, food security, and green energy,” she said. County Executive Pat Ryan said after the legislative vote he was proud that the county is meeting the urgency of the moment, providing desperately needed relief for residents. The new gas tax structure will end at the end of the year. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics Democratic officials in New York are searching for ways to remove ex-Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin's name from the June primary ballot. Benjamin is facing a five-count felony indictment based on allegations of fraud and bribery. He has suspended his campaign and resigned from office, but he will continue to appear on the June ballot for the Democratic primary contest, facing former New York City Councilmember Diana Reyna and activist Ana Maria Archila. The good government organization Common Cause New York said this week that state election laws for removing candidates from the ballot are too strict and should be changed. "This is a huge problem for the 6.4 million registered voters in the Democratic primary who will confront a ballot that does not reflect the reality of the field, and may end up throwing away their vote on a candidate who is not running for office," said Susan Lerner, Common Cause New York's executive director. Benjamin's name can be removed from the ballot if he moves out of state and is disqualified for holding elected office in New York. A bill that would address the issue would remove a candidate from the ballot if the person has received a life-threatening illness, faces criminal charges or if they have resigned from the office they are running for on the ballot, but it is unlikely to be approved in time for when voting begins in June. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who faces the prospect of running without a preferred running mate, has acknowledged that the time for removing Benjamin is limited, but said in a radio interview this week it is being reviewed. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Common internet tracking technology using radio waves is proving in real-time that Russian soldiers are stealing phones, AirPods, and farm equipment from Ukrainians during their invasion of the European country. Forbes reports, for instance, that an advisor to the Belarusian democratic movement said, “Ukrainians are locating their devices on the territory of the Homiel region, Belarus, where part of the Russian army retreated.” For iPhones, the FindMy app connects with hundreds of millions of Apple devices to create a shadow network, enabling a lost or stolen phone to connect to other devices via Bluetooth, and then report its location back to its owner. Ukrainians who left their homes are now posting on social media accounts maps that show their iPhones or AirPods are now in Belarus or Russia. The New York Post reported that Vitaliy Semenets of Hostomel, about 17 miles northwest of Kyiv, had his AirPods stolen near the beginning of the war, and has watched online as they move around the region. “Thanks to technology, I know where my AirPods [are] now,” he wrote online.

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Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer Support Program is coming to Greene County. Greene County Veterans Service Agency Director Michelle Romalin Deyo says the program has had success treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. “PTSD claims account for the majority of all claims we file here at Greene County Veterans Service Agency and most of those claims are combat-related. Additionally, PTSD often goes hand in hand with other mental health conditions, such as generalized anxiety and major depressive disorder. This is a major concern for us,” said Deyo. The program will help some of the 3,500 veterans in Greene County, where the total population is about 47,000. Ulster County's Hudson Valley National Center for Veterans Reintegration will run the program as soon as the group hires a part-time veteran peer mentor and a full-time veteran peer support program manager. “We want to make sure everyone who served has the resources available to them, to help make them whole again and keep them safe,” Deyo said. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Danielle Muoio Dunn reports at Politico that New York's Attorney General Letitia James is now investigating whether oil companies are taking advantage of inflation and the Russian invasion in Ukraine to raise prices. “Soaring gas prices are forcing working New Yorkers and low-income families to make difficult decisions on whether to pay bills or put food on the table,” James said. “Price gouging is unfair and illegal and my office is determined to make sure it doesn’t happen in our state,” she said. The investigation will only look at companies supplying gas and diesel to New York. As the pandemic waned, and Russia invaded Ukraine, energy prices have skyrocketed, much higher than the rate of inflation. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul just reduced the state gas tax in the recently passed budget, to give consumers some relief from the high prices. Read more about this story at Politico.

Two political prognosticators moved the re-election of Democrat Antonio Delgado to the 19th Congressional District from “Likely Democratic” to “Leans Democratic” on April 20. Both Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report downgraded Delgado’s chances of beating Republican Marc Molinaro, currently the Dutchess County Executive, in November's election. Both analysts said the move was because of a national wave moving towards Republicans, and not about the specifics of the Delgado/Molinaro campaigns. "In a Republican wave scenario, these are the kinds of districts that could get swept up," Sabato's Crystal Ball website said about the five Democrats they were moving from likely winners, to leaning toward predicting a win. "Republicans appear to have credible recruits in these districts that are raising enough money to be competitive." National Republican Congressional Committee Spokesperson Samantha Bullock crowed about the political predictions. “Everyone can see the writing on the wall that this will be Antonio Delgado’s last term in Congress,” she said.

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Nick Reisman is reporting at State of Politics a judge in Steuben County April 18, appointed a special master to draw new congressional district boundaries as the legal challenge to the legislative maps drawn by the state Legislature continues to make its way through the courts. Judge Patrick McCalluster named Jonathan Cervas of the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon University to draw the new lines. The same judge last month ruled the maps should be redrawn after ruling they violated the state's constitutional amendment against partisan gerrymandering. Ryan Whalen is reporting former U.S. Rep. John Faso, a Republican, said the appointment was a good sign. "I looked at his bio, his resume, and he appears to have the requisite experience and knowledge to be able to undertake this task so again, we're really encouraged by this," Faso said. Michael Li, a redistricting expert for the nonpartisan organization Brennan Center for Justice, also believes Cervas looks like a good choice. "He is, I think, very qualified and well-positioned to do this, assuming that he gets cooperation from the parties and he gets access to all the data and the like," Li said. Democrats have argued the lines were drawn fairly and will be upheld. Both sides have indicated the matter will likely go to the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, regardless of the outcome of the appellate division arguments this week. Read more at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Alex Weprin is reporting for the Hollywood Reporter Stockport resident and international counterterrorism intelligence expert Malcolm Nance is now fighting Russians in Ukraine. Nance has also been a longtime MSNBC on-air terrorism and national security analyst since 2007. In an appearance on Joy Reid’s program on April 18, from a “secure location,” Nance announced that he had joined the “International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine,” a Ukrainian version of the French Foreign Legion. For 15 years, Nance has appeared on a number of shows to discuss intelligence-, insurgency- and national security-related topics. An MSNBC spokesperson this week denied that Nance is a contributor, though it is not clear when he parted ways with the network. He was identified as an MSNBC analyst on-air as recently as February 28, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had already begun. Nance said on Reid's show this week, “The more I saw of the war going on, the more I thought, ‘I’m done talking, all right? It’s time to take action here.” He said, “I am here to help this country fight what essentially is a war of extermination. This is an existential war and Russia has brought it to these people and they are mass-murdering civilians, and there are people here like me who are here to do something about it.” Read more at hollywoodreporter [dot] com.

Jeanette Wolfberg is reporting for The Columbia Paper Hudson Junior-Senior High School went into shelter-in-place for roughly two hours the morning of March 29, as the result of a fight between two students. Jacob Hromada, the student representative to the Hudson Board of Education, reported on the incident to the Board of Education, on April 5. A fight between two students in a classroom spilled over into the hallway, Hromada said. “I was right in the hall when it happened. It was really scary.” As one of the students was being restrained by Sheriff's Deputy Brian McSween, a pocket knife fell from the student’s pocket. According to Superintendent Lisamarie Spindle “at no time was the pocket knife purposefully or threateningly pulled on any individuals.” But the knife was confiscated, and the building went into shelter-in-place mode “to keep hallways and common areas clear while the situation was addressed,” Spindler said in a March 29, message to district parents and guardians. “Additional law enforcement officers arrived at the school to assist the investigation” and to determine when it was safe to resume the normal school day. While officials waited for the student's parent to arrive, everyone else had to stay in one place until they got the clear sign, Hromada reported. “It was the right thing to do, but it put a lot of fear into everybody,” he said. “They thought it involved more than a pocket knife,” he added. Spindler said the district is looking into ways to prevent similar situations in the future, including camera upgrades and a mobile app that would allow students to immediately and anonymously report possible threats. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

Business Insider predicts bad solar weather this week, after a solar flare knocked out radio signals in parts of Asia and Australia. The U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center reported the solar flare peaked on April 17, followed minutes later by a massive sun eruption known as a coronal mass ejection, Space.com reported. "A pulse of X-rays from the flare produced a strong shortwave radio blackout over southeast Asia and Australia," said NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which recorded the X1-class solar flare, the strongest types of storms on the sun. "Mariners, aviators, and ham radio operators may have noticed unusual propagation effects at frequencies below 30 MHz." The good news is that the coronal mass ejection's trajectory will miss Earth, passing behind our planet in its orbit around the sun, Spaceweather.com reported. Powerful solar storms can alter the Earth's northern lights displays and wreak havoc on satellites and astronauts in orbit, as well as radio transmissions. The sun is currently in an increasingly active phase of its 11-year solar weather cycle.

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Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge reports for Columbia-Greene Media that an April 9 town meeting led to at least three positive COVID-19 tests. At least ten people attended the meeting. “The meeting was the ninth. One person tested positive and advised everybody else. We all tested and three people tested positive in total. I haven’t heard of any serious complications; it all was very mild. I believe people are quarantining, and just following protocol," Ancram Town Supervisor Art Bassin said. Ancram had stopped requiring masks in the town hall, but now does after the outbreak. The Columbia County Department of Health reported 41 new positive COVID cases on April 18. “We’re elevated but I don’t necessary see anything continuing to spike,” Department of Health Director Jack Mabb said. “We know flu cases have spiked in the state, and why have they spiked, because we stopped wearing masks. I think the masks do work to ward things off. If people want to wear them they should be encouraged to wear them.” Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.