William J. Kemble reports in the Daily Freeman that one Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency employee bought nearly 30 percent of the agency's compost in a 28-month period that began in January 2019. Besides working for the county William “Willy” Whittaker runs a private company, Affordable Dump. Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher conducted an audit after receiving complaints about the amounts of compost being taken by Whittaker, who is the brother of agency Operations Director Charlie Whittaker. The complaints alleged that outside customers with no employment or family connections with the agency were unable to purchase compost. Of the 4,875.64 tons of compost sold for $146,875.10 during the 28-month period, 1,418.22 tons for $42,522.60 were put into Whittaker’s vehicle, according to .scale logs. “It’s a percentage (of sales) that … seems overly substantial for somebody who is an employee of the organization,” said Gallagher. But Ulster County did not have a rule about employees purchasing compost. That. changed in August 2021 when the county set daily limits of two loads per day for a maximum of 20 tons purchased per customer. The new rules also state that “no individual, business or customer will be allowed to purchase more than 500 tons of compost within a calendar year” unless approved by the board. Whittaker defended his purchases. “I paid for every single one. I’m a legitimate business. I have a legitimate accounting firm,” he said, then added that Gallagher was hurting his business and that “she can go f*** herself.” Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

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Paul Kirby is reporting for the Daily Freeman that Central Hudson Gas and Electric announced April 11 that electric bills will likely increase again this month as supply costs have continued to climb, according to the utility. Central Hudson's announcement comes at a complicated time for the company — it is nearly two weeks after it was reported that natural gas prices were up, and as investigations by the Public Service Commission and a state Senate committee continue into the company, all while thousands of complaints from customers concerned with their rapidly increasing bills continue to arrive in mailboxes. As of April 11, the PSC had received more than 2,700 comments via an online portal. In its statement, the utility said that “regional and global market forces continue to edge electricity and natural gas prices higher for April.” Central Hudson’s residential price for electric supply has gone from 11.6 cents in March to 13.6 cents, effective April 11. “As previously announced, natural gas prices rose from 91.6 cents per hundred-cubic-feet in March to 97.1 cents per cubic feet in April, beginning April 1,” the company said. Central Hudson officials said the impacts of the supply bills will vary for customers depending on their billing cycle and energy usage. Central Hudson denied that it marks up the price of the energy supply. “Higher prices are attributed to a recovering economy, energy supply constraints, strong energy demands and global events.” the utility said. In addition, delivery charges will also go up in July. The increases in delivery charges received approval from the PSC in November. That plan includes a subsequent increase in delivery charges in July 2023. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

MidHudson News is reporting that seven years have passed since the toxins PFOS and PFOA were found in Washington Lake, the now-former primary source for drinking water in the city of Newburgh. Subsequent investigations determined the cause was firefighting foam leaching from the nearby Stewart Air National Guard Base. The lake was terminated as the city water source when the chemicals were discovered and since then Newburgh has been getting its water from the New York City aqueduct system. U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney now says city residents should feel secure in knowing the water they are drinking is safe. “The fact is that you have had a pretty comprehensive solution, an expensive one, but a comprehensive solution that kept the people safe,” he said. “In the federal legislation that Senator [Charles] Schumer and I secured last year, you are going to have the Department of Defense bear the cost of the remediation of cleaning up the contaminated areas because it shouldn’t fall on local taxpayers. We’ve got that well under control and residents are safe in drinking clean water,” Maloney said. The state installed a carbon filtration system for the lake, but it has never been used. And the federal government has yet to move forward with the actual remediation of the contamination from the Air National Guard base. The Hudson Valley has poisonous drinking water from these chemicals in several sites. The Columbia County Health Department in February reported that the water supplies for the village of Valatie and New Lebanon High School have tested at PFOS levels above New York state’s maximum contaminant level. In Cairo, the drinking water at the elementary school and in the town are contaminated after years of firefighters testing foam to put out blazes that was made with the chemicals. Likewise with the water in Hoosick Falls in Rensselaer County. Read the full story at midhudsonnews [dot] com.

https://nystateofpolitics.com/state-of-politics/new-york/ny-state-of-politics/2022/04/11/want-a-to-go-drink--here-s-how-ny-is-defining--substantial-food-

https://www.dailyfreeman.com/2022/04/11/central-hudson-to-customers-electric-supply-costs-to-rise-again/

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/central_berkshires/family-friends-supporters-march-and-rally-for-miguel-estrella-shot-and-killed-by-police/article_7c509e2a-b8d2-11ec-81e0-bfdfd52473db.html

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics according to the guidance issued April 11, by the State Liquor Authority, sandwiches, soups, and salads are "substantial food items," but a bag of chips or a bowl of nuts, not so much. The guidance was issued days after state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul completed work on a $220 billion state spending plan that allows to-go drinks with takeout food orders. The policy will remain in place for up to three years. As part of the guidance from state regulators, sandwiches, soups, wings, and hotdogs are among the food items that must also be ordered with to-go cocktails. But "a bag of chips, bowl of nuts, or candy alone" do not qualify, according to the guidance. Patrons are also restricted from purchasing large bottles, such as wine or liquor in "a bottle, box, can, or other similar container" that was purchased by the retailer from a wholesaler. The rules issued by the state are similar to those put in place during the early weeks of the COVID pandemic, when restaurants and taverns were permitted to offer alcoholic beverages to go with takeout orders. The provision was seen as a lifeline for struggling restaurants, which were shut down during the first months of the pandemic. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

WBEZ reports that a Chicago man who ran an AM pirate station while in high school in Milwaukee during the Vietnam War, now is running an FM pirate radio station in Chicago playing audio noir radio dramas from the 1940s. "Bill," last name only to avoid the wrath of the Federal Communications Commission, has a 50-watt transmitter in his upstairs apartment with an antenna on the roof. “People on the lakefront up in the high rises can hear it,” said Bill. “And they used to listen at Lane Tech somewhere on an upper floor. So it gets out a little ways, but not that far.” The clandestine DJ plays old audio dramas not because of his love for old-time radio, but because he suffers from insomnia, and the old radio plays help put him to sleep. In 2006 he started an internet station, audionoir.com, and now the former audio engineer simulcasts on 87.9-FM. “I already had equipment,” said Bill, 68. “And I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got nothing else to do with this stuff— I’ll transmit this.' I guess I do enjoy [being] the bad-boy nerd, broadcasting illegally." His high school AM station get a visit from Federal Communications Commission officials to his parents’ home. Later, in college in Wisconsin, "Bill" helped found WORT. That background has him currently broadcasting on a frequency that is not being used in that part of Chicago. "Bill" says he will stop his FM transmissions if the FCC shuts him down, but he would not mind more pirate broadcasters in Chicago. “I think it would be exciting….You would have a lot of different content, from religious to political to old time radio to music,” he said. Read more about this story at WBEZ.

Today's daily news update.

Cloey Callahan reports in the Times Union that Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro has backed off, for now, his plan to give $12.5 million in taxpayer money for a minor league baseball stadium. This comes after the state was going to give almost a billion dollars in taxpayer money to the billionaire owners of the Buffalo Bills for a new stadium. Gov. Kathy Hochul eventually lowered that number somewhat, but still gave the billionaires a lot of taxpayer money. In Dutchess County, Molinaro backed off and redirected $9.5 million of the stadium money for housing needs. Molinaro, a Republican, is running for Congress, trying to unseat Democrat Antonio Delgado, and likely did not want the stadium money criticism lingering over his campaign. “This should have been the case from the get-go,” Dutchess County Minority Leader Yvette Valdés Smith said. “Our county needs so much assistance. Our housing market has really boomed, but it has really hit us hard as communities. There are a lot of renters in my own district … trying to buy their first home and simply cannot. Prices have really gone up.” Last month, Molinaro was defending the money for the stadium. “If there was one industry impacted the most by the closures of the economy, it was tourism,” Molinaro said. “In the case of Dutchess Stadium, it’s the tourism destination for thousands and thousands of people every night for most of the year.” Now, though, he is talking about the housing shortage. “It’s a real crisis for ordinary families. Compound that with highest rate of inflation in years, high mortgage rates, it’s a challenge," he said. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

MidHudson News reports that the state legislature made two changes to voting rights in the budget it passed last week. New York will now provide postage-paid envelopes for voters asking for absentee ballots. And the legislature created a new rule that institutions of higher education with over 300 residents must host a polling place on their campus beginning with the 2022 general election. Locally, that will affect Bard College students, because Dutchess County Republicans have been trying to keep a polling place off that campus. Jonathan Becker, executive vice president of Bard College, said the legislation is “critical, because it will stop practices designed to suppress student voting, including situating polling in locations that are difficult to access and dividing campuses into multiple districts.” Read more about this story at MidHudson News.

Valerie White reports for Porcupine Soup that a new farmers market will be open May 2 at Shinglekill Falls Bed & Breakfast in Purling. “This is something Cairo needs,” said Jill Lamanec, proprietor of the B&B. “Somewhere we can go to get fresh fruits and vegetables.” The market will run 4 to 7 p.m. Mondays May through October and will accept SNAP benefits. Vendors announced so far include See & Be Kitchen of Cairo, Old Factory Brewing Company of Cairo, La Casa Latina of Catskill, and Left Bank Cider of Catskill. To contact the market email shinglekillmarket@gmail.com and find out more about the Shinglekill Falls Bed & Breakfast at www.shinglekill.com. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Bloomberg News reports that AT&T's DirectTV will drop the propaganda channel "One America News Network" this week, while local outlet Mid-Hudson Cable continues to include the channel. Mid-Hudson Cable, based in Catskill, added the network last year and another from owner Herring Networks Inc., a lifestyle channel AWE that stands for “A Wealth of Entertainment.” Mid-Hudson Cable already carries Newsmax, another propaganda network masquerading as a news channel, and Fox News, where a judge ruled recently that Tucker Carlson's show could not be considered news. OAN, though, has been repeatedly lying about who won the 2020 presidential election, about how serious the COVID-19 pandemic is, and now about Russia's war in Ukraine. Here is one OAN host recently lying about Russia on air. Click here to download or play an excerpt of an OAN telecast on Mid-Hudson Cable.

Today's daily news update.

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

Lauren Stanforth is reporting for the Times Union that the number lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in New York are on the increase, with the percentage of tests coming back positive more than doubling from 1.4 percent as of March 8, to 3.7 percent on April 8. The state was last at that level on February 10, when 3.6 percent of tests came back positive based on a seven-day average. In the Capital Region, positive tests doubled, from 2.5 percent last month, to 5 percent as of the data reported on April 8. Albany County has the highest positivity in the region, at 6.5 percent. The infection rate in Central New York is much higher than in the rest of the state, with more than 10 percent of lab tests coming back positive, based on a seven-day average. According to the Times Union, infection rates are likely higher than in other states because New York only uses lab-based PCR tests for its data. As the initial omicron surge began to wane in February, its variant, BA-2, became the dominant variant in the U.S. and worldwide. While experts say it is more contagious, it appears that being fully vaccinated and boosted works well to combat the BA-2 variant. Hospitalizations statewide remain low, fewer than it was a month ago. The CDC also has most of the state still at low risk of COVID-19, but Onondaga, Oswego and Cayuga counties remain among fewer than 20 counties nationwide at high risk as of April 10. The state Health Department urged indoor mask-wearing in those counties, as well as in Madison and Cortland counties. The Southern Tier, as well as Delaware and Essex counties, are at "medium" risk. Last month the CDC approved a second booster shot for people over 50 and the immunocompromised. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Chatham Town board April 7, on a 3 to 2 vote, approved a local law to allow members to meet virtually from outside the town limits. The vote came after a public hearing on the proposal that same night. Under the measure, members of the board and its committees will be permitted to participate in meetings through video conferencing from locations outside of Chatham. Some residents did speak during the public hearing, expressing concerns about the proposed law. Former town board member John Wapner said that, in his opinion, the law was problematic because it opens up the possibility that a board member could be out of town for an unlimited amount of time and still keep their seat as an elected official. He suggested adding some kind of restriction limiting the number of times a board member could attend virtually from out of town. Resident Tom Ehrich said of the decision "...to stay within the virtual meeting environment is not a healthy one, ...In my opinion, democracy requires engagement." Cindy Bobseine, also a resident, said that while she liked the option of allowing the public to dial into town meetings, she feels strongly about town board members meeting together in person. New York State Public Officers law permits members to participate in meetings using video conferencing, but the existing Chatham town law requires board meetings to take place within the town limits. The new law will take effect after it has been filed with the New York Secretary of State. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Andrea Macko is reporting for Porcupine Soup 21 organizations in Greene County have received a combined $27,575 in donations from Stewart’s Shops Holiday Match program. Checks were issued in March to the Athens Cultural Arts Center, Cairo Food Pantry, Catskill Little League, Catskill Public Library, Common Ground Dispute Resolution, Greene County Agricultural Society, Greenville Central Schools Robotics, Kiskatom Volunteer Fire Department, Thomas Cole Historic Site, and others. The funds awarded come from the change customers toss into jars at the 350 Stewart’s Shops locations statewide during the period from Thanksgiving to Christmas. For 35 years, Stewart’s has matched each donation, penny for penny, dollar for dollar. All of the money is donated and there are no administrative fees. This year’s campaign was one of the most successful yet, the company announced. Customers raised just over $1 million. With Stewart’s match, more than $2 million was distributed to local organizations to support local children. Read the full story at porcupinesoup [dot] com.

Matthew Yglesias reports for Bloomberg that in September 2020, political scientists David Broockman of the University of California at Berkeley and Joshua Kalla of Yale paid viewers of Fox News to watch CNN for a month, and found the change altered their political views. The folks switching from Fox to CNN were then surveyed, and were found to be five percentage points more likely to believe that people suffer from long COVID-19 and six points more likely to believe that many foreign countries did a better job than America in controlling the virus. Those paid to watch CNN instead of Fox were seven points more likely to support voting by mail than the regular Fox-viewing control group. And those paid to watch CNN instead of Fox News were 13 points less likely to agree that if Biden were elected, “we’ll see many more police get shot by Black Lives Matter activists,” than the regular Fox News viewers. A seven-point increase in supporting voting by mail may seem like a lot, but only 24 percent of the CNN switchers in total said they supported voting by mail. Of course, the viewers only watched CNN for one month, so there could have been greater deviations if the channels stayed changed. Read more about this story at Bloomberg News.

Here is this week's Hudson Valley Congressional Report from WGXC, tracking the votes, statements, positions, and campaigns of the representatives of the Hudson Valley in Congress and the candidates who want to replace them. Current Democrat Reps. Antonio Delgado, Paul Tonko, and Sean Maloney vote with the positions of President Joe Biden 100 percent of the time, according to the fivethirtyeight.com website. Republican Elise Stefanik voted with Biden's positions 18 percent of the time. Click here to listen to this report.

Maury Thompson reports in the Post Star that on April 4 Ezra Watson dropped his Democrat election bid for the 21st Congressional District after failing to collect enough signatures on nominating petitions to get on the ballot. That leaves two Democrats attempting to unseat Republican Elise Stefanik. Another Democrat, Bridie Farrell, dropped out of the race in February. But Watson said he will attempt to run in the general election as an independent. “I have had Republicans that wanted to sign my (Democratic) nominating petitions — strange enough,” he said in a telephone interview on April 4. “It’s the way I’m going to proceed.” That made the Stefanik camp happy. “We welcome self-declared socialist Ezra Watson to the race as an independent,” said Alex Degrasse, senior adviser to Stefanik. But it will be harder for Watson. Just 1,250 valid signatures of members of the party are required to get on the primary ballot, but to run as an independent, 3,500 valid signatures are required. Meanwhile in the 19th Congressional District, MidHudson News reports that Rep. Antonio Delgado filed petitions with 11,131 signatures on April 4, to run for re-election. Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro is also running in that election.

MidHudson News is reporting Colin Schmitt, the Republican and Conservative candidate for New York’s 18th Congressional District, April 4, filed designating petitions with the State Board of Elections. He will face incumbent Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney in the November election. Schmitt filed 6,188 signatures, five times the required number, for a spot on the Republican ballot line. He submitted 1,445 signatures, three times the required number, for Conservative Party access. He currently serves as a state assemblymember representing portions of Orange and Rockland counties. The new 18th Congressional District, if it withstands a court challenge, will represent portions of Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, Putnam, and Westchester counties The State Board of Elections has declared that the March 31 order of the State Supreme Court, which determined the 2022 Congressional, Senate and Assembly lines to be unconstitutional, has been stayed pending appeal. That means the filing period for candidate petitions will remain in place, from April 4 to April 7. Plus, all other deadlines set by law are still in effect pending further court action. Schmitt vowed to fight for residents of the Hudson Valley if elected to the House of Representatives. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Kate Lisa is reporting for State of Politics the state's upcoming primary elections will proceed as scheduled, an appellate judge ruled April 8. In addition, the maps defining new congressional, Senate and Assembly districts will stay in place for the next several weeks until the next phase of the legal challenge to the state's redistricting process is adjudicated. State Supreme Court Appellate Division Justice Stephen Lindley Friday, issued a stay to allow New York candidates to continue to canvas, keeping the current general primary election scheduled for June 28. The state Board of Elections deadline for filing petitions is April 11. A judge with the Fourth Department of the state's Appellate Division is expected to issue a decision on the appeal on April 20. Steuben County Supreme Court Justice Patrick McAllister on March 31, struck down the new maps drawn by the Legislature after finding that lawmakers failed to comply with the state Constitution and amendments that established the Independent Redistricting Commission in 2014. The Legislature and state Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment could immediately start redrawing the new elective district maps, or take no action before then, and possibly be at the mercy of maps crafted by a neutral expert chosen by McAllister if the defendants lose their Court of Appeals challenge this month. Former congressperson John Faso has accused Democrats of gerrymandering and advocated for the maps to be overturned since they were first drafted in February. “We are pleased with the decision today, partially lifting the stay," Faso said in a statement April 8. "This will allow Judge McAllister to appoint a special master to redraw the congressional districts in a fair and nonpartisan way, as called for in the New York Constitution. ...Ultimately, the decision will rest with the NYS Court of Appeals, but we’re encouraged that the direct language in the Constitution prohibiting partisan gerrymandering will guide their ruling.” Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

MidHudson News reports that on April 8 Rep. Antonio Delgado signed on to a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking to prioritize legislation to suspend the gas tax. “As New Yorkers continue to feel the strain of higher prices at the pump and on their home heating bills, we must use every tool available to lower these costs,” said Delgado. “That’s why I am calling on Congress to immediately consider legislation to suspend the federal gas tax and take other steps to lower energy prices.” The same day, New York state announced a gas tax holiday beginning this summer. a href="https://midhudsonnews.com/2022/04/09/delgado-calls-for-immediate-suspension-of-federal-gas-tax/">Read more about this story at MidHudson News.

Kevin Frey reports at Spectrum News about the earmarks Hudson Valley members of Congress put into the $1.5 trillion federal budget for local projects. Rep. Paul Tonko, who represents the 20th Congressional District, crowed about one of the pork projects he secured for the Capital Region. “Three million in Cohoes for their reservoir floating solar project. I think that will be an example for the country,” Tonko said. He also mentioned the, "$450 million for ReConnect rural broadband, $382 million for the Federal Communications Commission, and funding for the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth—established under my Access Broadband Act.” Delgado crowed about $829,594 for broadband projects in the Towns of Ghent, Canaan, New Lebanon, and Austerlitz and $82,000 for the Village of Philmont Fire Station. And he also mentioned $75,000 for the Greater Cobleskill Community Center in Schoharie County. Republican Elise Stefanik attempted to brag about projects she got funding, but she voted against the budget, so she won't get credit here. Read more about this story at Spectrum News.

Kate Lisa is reporting for State of Politics the state's upcoming primary elections will proceed as scheduled, an appellate judge ruled April 8. In addition, the maps defining new congressional, Senate and Assembly districts will stay in place for the next several weeks until the next phase of the legal challenge to the state's redistricting process is adjudicated. State Supreme Court Appellate Division Justice Stephen Lindley Friday, issued a stay to allow New York candidates to continue to canvas, keeping the current general primary election scheduled for June 28. The state Board of Elections deadline for filing petitions is April 11. A judge with the Fourth Department of the state's Appellate Division is expected to issue a decision on the appeal on April 20. Steuben County Supreme Court Justice Patrick McAllister on March 31, struck down the new maps drawn by the Legislature after finding that lawmakers failed to comply with the state Constitution and amendments that established the Independent Redistricting Commission in 2014. The Legislature and state Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment could immediately start redrawing the new elective district maps, or take no action before then, and possibly be at the mercy of maps crafted by a neutral expert chosen by McAllister if the defendants lose their Court of Appeals challenge this month. Former congressperson John Faso has accused Democrats of gerrymandering and advocated for the maps to be overturned since they were first drafted in February. “We are pleased with the decision today, partially lifting the stay," Faso said in a statement April 8. "This will allow Judge McAllister to appoint a special master to redraw the congressional districts in a fair and nonpartisan way, as called for in the New York Constitution. ...Ultimately, the decision will rest with the NYS Court of Appeals, but we’re encouraged that the direct language in the Constitution prohibiting partisan gerrymandering will guide their ruling.” Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.