Danny Jin is reporting for The Berkshire Eagle the Pittsfield City Council and School Committee each have voted to endorse a November ballot question that would raise funds for education and transportation through an income surtax on top earners. Under the proposal, known as the Fair Share Amendment, Massachusetts residents that make more than $1 million in annual income would pay an additional 4 percent in taxes on income above $1 million. Roughly 21,000 taxpayers or [point] 6 percent of the Commonwealth's residents, would pay 5 percent in taxes on the first $1 million and 9 percent on income above that level. Frank Farkas, a member of the local committee, told the City Council last week that the ballot initiative provides a unique opportunity to support local schools, bring down tuition in community colleges and improve public transportation. Council Vice President Pete White said that he supports the initiative as a way to bring in revenue beyond property taxes or local fees. "This is a way we can bring in more money for education, for infrastructure, for transportation without directly taxing most of our citizens,” White said. Ward 2 City Council member Charles Kronick was the only member to vote against the resolution. Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle.

Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that an outbreak of COVID-19 at the Greene Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Catskill has caused a spike in coronavirus cases in Greene County, according to Greene County Public Health. The agency announced March 24, there were currently 76 active positive coronavirus cases countywide, an increase from the 26 cases reported on March 21. Greene County Public Health said the dramatic increase was the result of a reporting lag from an outbreak that actually occurred the week before. “I don’t know if it was driven by staff or driven by clients,” Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said of the outbreak. Greene Meadows Director of Nursing Eric Vedder did not immediately return calls for comment. The county identified 35 new COVID cases on March 24, with five county residents hospitalized due to COVID-related illness. There have been 10,174 confirmed cases in Greene County since the pandemic began in March 2020 and 122 deaths. The county has not recorded a coronavirus-related death since March 7. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Emilia Teasdale reports in the Columbia Paper that on March 7 the Kinderhook Town Board unanimously voted Yes on a Resolution Against Hate, joining many other Columbia County communities. The Town of New Lebanon, the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, and the Town of Chatham passed the anti-hate resolution last year, and the Village of Chatham and the Village of Kinderhook passed a Resolution Against Hate this year. The towns of Clermont, Stuyvesant, and Copake have also enacted anti-hate/anti-violence resolutions. But the towns of Claverack, Greenport, and Stockport, and the villages of Philmont and Valatie have not passed resolutions of this kind. The Town of Kinderhook resolution reads, in part, that “our position [is] that violence of any kind is unacceptable and [we] condemn any act of aggression, hostility or violence against any member of our community based upon race, religion, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, economic status or political affiliation.” Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

Ashley Onion is reporting for The Daily Gazette officials in the city of Amsterdam, Montgomery County, were outraged to learn last week that a new business owner used a racial slur about the city in a post on social media. Corwin Hendy of Ravena, posted on his Facebook page last week asking for prayers as he sought planning board approval for his proposed nightclub on E. Main Street. In the post, he referred to the city as “Amsterrico,” a derogatory reference to the city's Hispanic population. Screenshots of the post were subsequently shared on social media, drawing backlash from community members who called out the term as disparaging. Hendy later apologized for using the term. “I would like to truly apologize for the name-calling of the city of Amsterdam, NY I meant no disrespect [n]or did I mean this in any racial way,” Hendy wrote. “This won’t ever be something I have to be warned about.” In the response, he did not address why he initially used the term. Amsterdam Mayor Michael Cinquanti said the post from the incoming business owner was upsetting. “It’s a very hurtful term for our city,” Cinquanti said. “I consider ourselves lucky to have the community we have and the diversity we have.” Cinquanti intends to meet with Hendy to explain why the use of the term is unacceptable in a city where 31.1 percent of its residents identify as Latino or Hispanic. Amsterdam Fourth Ward Alderman Stephen Gomula said, “It’s definitely a racial slur and it shouldn’t be used in any context. I don’t use it. When someone says that I correct them.” Read the full story in The Daily Gazette.

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Noah Eckstein reports for Columbia-Greene Media that activists from the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement nonprofit were among more than 1,000 workers, community members, and elected officials protesting in Albany March 23 for funding for undocumented immigrants, and self-employed workers in this year's state budget. “The Excluded Workers Fund was life-changing for those who received it, but in upstate New York, too many were left out,” said Iridian Lucas-Garcias, Excluded Workers Fund regional implementation coordinator of the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement. “It was heartbreaking to call community members to inform them that funds were closed and there would be no relief for them this year.” The Excluded Workers Fund was created in last year's state budget, and 130,000 New Yorkers received $2.1 billion in benefits. But that's all gone, and unless state legislators reup the program, those workers are out of luck. The state budget should be set up April 1. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Spectrum News reports that legal retail sales of cannabis have begun in New York, even before all the regulations are set. Native Americans have opened stores on Mohawk territory straddling the Canadian border, and on Seneca territory in western New York. The Cayuga Nation has two stores in the Finger Lakes. “We have been stepped on for so long and to have something like this happen, it’s almost liberating," said William Roger Jock, a partner in Good Leaf Dispensary on the land the Mohawks call Akwesasne. New York legalized recreational cannabis a year ago, but stores are not expected to be open for another year, as no licenses have been issued yet. “We know that there’s a big market for cannabis,” said Ryan White, who is opening a store on Mohawk land. “We see people as far as 50 miles away coming in. They come in for gas and for tobacco products, and we’re going to be targeting them too.” Read more about this story at Spectrum News.

The Daily Freeman reports that New York's Department of Agriculture and Markets is shutting down all live fowl shows and exhibitions until further notice because of the highly pathogenic avian influenza. Commissioner Richard A. Ball issued the order March 25 because of the outbreak in 17 states. “Avian influenza is a very serious threat to all poultry and breeds of fowl, and is continuing to spread in the United States,” Ball said in a statement. “By banning fowl shows and exhibitions in New York until further notice, we are taking a commonsense step to limit the co-mingling of birds to slow the spread of this disease in New York state and help keep our birds safe. Our poultry industry is a significant part of New York’s agricultural industry and steps like these are our best line of defense against the disease.” Four flocks of birds in New York have tested positive for HPAI so far. Last month a pheasant flock in Dutchess County and a backyard flock in Ulster County tested positive for HPAI. The ban may impact fair season later in the year. Animal health experts recommend poultry owners keep their birds away from wild ducks and geese and their droppings, and outdoor access for poultry should be limited at this time. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

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Noah Zweifel is reporting for The Altamont Enterprise with the COVID-19 pandemic in a more manageable stage, many local governments continue to stream their meetings online, allowing residents to attend from the comfort and safety of their homes. But not all towns in Albany County have retained the remote option. Currently, the Voorheesville Board of Trustees and the Knox, Berne, and Westerlo town boards have stopped live streaming public meetings. However, Westerlo is investigating the possibility and Knox Supervisor Russell Pokorny said he would bring the issue up at the next town board meeting. Berne Supervisor Dennis Palow did not respond when asked about live streaming Berne meetings and Voorheesville Mayor Richard Straut could not be reached. Paul Wolf, the president of the New York State Coalition for Open Government, a non-profit that advocates for government transparency, says that remote access during the pandemic increased the number of people who would watch meetings. Wolf said, “The New York Coalition For Open Government supports hybrid meetings, where the public can attend in person or participate remotely through a live stream. In addition to the live stream, meeting videos should be posted afterward so that people who missed the meeting can watch it at any time." A bill introduced in 2020 that would mandate meeting live streams is currently in committee in the New York State Legislature. Read the full story in The Altamont Enterprise.

Paul Kirby is reporting for the Daily Freeman.the New York state Assembly has approved a law that would require utilities to submit weather event emergency plans to the Public Service Commission within 24 hours. Assemblymember Kevin Cahill said the legislation has made its way through the Assembly and a Senate version is currently pending. According to Cahill’s office, the law requires “electric utilities to develop and submit emergency weather event response plans to the Public Service Commission, including staffing procedures as well as catalog restoration after 24-hour periods.“ Cahill said in a statement that storm preparedness has become a significant concern for many. “When a utility provides power to consumers, it is the responsibility of that company to take every measure to ensure that those services are maintained through extreme weather to the best of their ability and reconnected as early as possible in the event of an outage,” he said. According to Cahill's office, the ice storm that struck on February 4, caused nearly 50,000 Ulster County outages and some of those outages lasted for five days. Central Hudson spokesperson Joseph Jenkins said this week the company already submits plans to state regulators. “Central Hudson has developed and follows an electric emergency plan that is reviewed, updated and approved annually by state regulators, then shared with county officials." He said the plan includes a storm classification system that details staffing levels, preparations, operations, the process by which the company acquires mutual aid. Read more in the Daily Freeman.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics that the statewide unemployment rate declined to below five percent in February, as the state economy slowly recovers the jobs lost during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago. The state Department of Labor, on March 24, announced the private-sector unemployment rate fell from 5.3 percent to 4.9 percent statewide. The private-sector job count increased in the state by [point] 5 percent and added 39,800 jobs. New York City has struggled with an unemployment rate far higher than the rest of the state and in February, some improvements were made. The city's unemployment rate dropped from 7.6 percent to 7 percent last month. Outside of New York City, the jobless rate is approaching a record low since 1976, declining from 3.6 percent to 3.4 percent, according to the Department of Labor. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Melanie Lekocevic reports for Capital Region Independent Media that Democrats swept the Ravena village elections last week by voting for Republicans. The candidates running as Democrats got more than 70 percent of the vote there, even though two of the candidates were Republicans. Incumbent Mayor Bill Misuraca, Trustee Linda Muller, and Trustee-elect Caitlin Appleby will be sworn into office at the village board’s April 5 meeting. In January at the Republican caucus, Dominic Ruggeri got 24 votes to beat the incumbent Republican Misuraca's 12 to get the GOP nomination for mayor. The next day, all 42 Democrats at their caucus backed Misuraca. In the March election, the Republican Misuraca, running as a Democrat, won 81.5 percent of the vote. Caitlin Appleby was nominated by Republicans for trustee at the caucus, and the next day was also nominated by Democrats. Appleby appeared on both ballot lines at the March election, but after getting the Democratic nomination Republicans withdrew their support and did not include her in any campaigning or promotional materials. Appleby got 85.7 percent of the vote March 15. Linda Muller, the only true Democrat in the contest, got 76.7 percent of the vote. “The big number is the actual voter turnout — to have 665 people, which is much higher than we normally get — I was very happy to see the turnout. It means that people care,” Misuraca said. Read more about this story at TheUpstater.com.

The Troy Record reports that New York Senator Chuck Schumer was in Albany March 21 to crow about local projects getting more than $22 million from an omnibus spending package for Fiscal Year 2022 that passed recently. He listed the many projects getting money in the cities of Albany and Troy, but also a few in the WGXC listening area:

• $829,594 to provide broadband for unserved homes and businesses in the Towns of Ghent, Canaan, New Lebanon, and Austerlitz.

• $1,687,500 for the Town of Westerlo to extend its existing fiber routes to make fiber-delivered internet fast, reliable, and available to all residents of and businesses in town.

• $500,000 for Hunter Foundation Inc. in Tannersville towards the development of an incubator kitchen, the Food & Agriculture Culinary Hub.

• $500,000 for the Albany County Sheriff’s Office to expand its Sheriff Homeless Improvement Program (SHIP) from the current size of 50 beds to a 100-bed facility.

“The over $22 million that I have secured in the bipartisan spending package means jobs, new economic opportunity, and progress on these long-desired, critical community projects," Schumer said. Read more about this story in the Troy Record.

The Columbia Paper reports that the St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church has for three weekends held pierogi sales. So far the church has raised $9,000 that goes directly to the Ukrainian Government in Kyiv through the National Bank of Ukraine. St. Michael's is collaborating with the Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church around the corner in Hudson, which held a bake sale March 20. “We are grateful to the Columbia County community and Hudsonians,” said one of the organizers, Iryna Johnson. “We did not expect so many people and were short of inventory, but people were patient, standing in line and sometimes settled for one dozen pierogies instead of their order of three.” The sale will be conducted again this weekend on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

Today's daily news update.

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

Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that Catskill town officials are ready to approve zoning regulations for short-term rental properties. With an increase in the use of short-term rental properties that began with the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, local officials have decided to put rules in place to identify the owners and renters of a given property. Officials want property owners to be required to register with the town in the event something happens at the residence that requires an emergency response. “The owner or also knowing who is there so they can get in touch with them also,” said town board member Jared Giordiano on March 22. “So they can figure out who’s there and how many people are there.” The town board, zoning board, and town code enforcement officer crafted the zoning regulations that have now been sent to the state for review. Following the state review, the town will schedule a public hearing. Under the proposed regulations, a property owner would be required to acquire a short-term rental permit to list a property for rent. The property would also have to be inspected by the town code enforcement officer. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.