Patricia Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman that the Ulster County Legislature on March 17 voted 19 to 4 to create two new full-time positions in the county's Public Defender's Office. Each position will carry an annual salary of $85,000 plus benefits. The county will be reimbursed for the positions through a Hurrell-Harring grant from the New York State Office of Indigent Services. Minority Leader Ken Ronk expressed the concern that the cost of the new positions will eventually fall to county taxpayers. “The problem is, grant funding is all well and good until it goes away,” he said. Ronk was one of four representatives that voted against the measure. He said he is concerned about the number of new positions created since the pandemic ended, including positions that were vacated as part of the county’s retirement incentive program. “Eventually somebody’s got to stand up and say ‘no,'” said the Wallkill Republican. The Public Defender’s Office provides legal representation to indigent clients in the criminal and family courts, as well as at the appellate level. In addition to Ronk, Dean Fabiano, Herbert Litts, and Kevin Roberts, all Republicans, voted "no" on the resolution. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Nick Reisman reports for State of Politics that the statewide organization that represents local district attorneys in New York has announced its support of a measure to extend the Tuition Assistance Program to people in prison. The announcement comes as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are looking at a range of criminal justice and public safety measures as part of the annual state budget negotiations. The District Attorneys Association of the State of New York said in a statement that an extension of the program for people in prisons could boost public safety. “...Limiting educational opportunities to individuals who are incarcerated does not make our communities safer," according to an association statement. "In fact, correctional education can make our communities safer by reducing recidivism and improving public safety." Hochul this week proposed allowing people in prisons access to tuition assistance with the intention of reducing recidivism and helping people obtain employment after their period of incarceration ends. State lawmakers and Hochul are currently debating a proposed $216 billion spending plan for the coming year. The budget is expected to be approved by next week. Read the full story in nystateofpolitics.com.

Today's daily news update.

Ted Remsnyder reports for Columbia-Greene Media that a student brought a toy gun to Catskill Middle School on March 17. “No one was ever in any danger, and no threat or criminal intent was involved,” Catskill Central School District Superintendent Ronel Cook wrote in a letter to parents. “I would like to remind our families that students should not bring toys or other items to school that could cause a distraction from their learning.” Catskill police were contacted and investigated the incident. Cook said that in recent weeks Catskill schools have seen an increase in student behavior that violates of the district’s code of conduct. Catskill is not the only district confronted with troubling student behavior in recent weeks. Germantown school officials are dealing with bathroom vandalism. On March 16 the Times Union reported swastikas drawn on wall at Shaker High School. On March 21, a social media threat led to a remote day for Poughkeepsie High School and Middle School. There was also a physical altercation March 21 at Bethlehem Central High School allegedly followed a verbal threat by one student to another, The Upstater reported. National Public Radio recently reported, "Recent studies show that the pandemic exacerbated an already growing crisis in youth mental health. CDC data shows that the proportion of mental health emergency visits for kids started going up early on in the pandemic. In the fall of 2020, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children's Hospital Association and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry declared an emergency in child and adolescent mental health."

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that more than 500 local leaders, residents, groups ,and businesses signed a letter asking the state to include the Hudson Valley in a series of public hearings around the state about New York's climate plan. The state will hold 10 public hearings about the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, but none in the Hudson Valley. The plan hopes to decrease carbon emissions 40 percent statewide by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050. The Hudson Valley, "deserves the opportunity to directly share our perspectives and concerns as part of the public comment process," according to the letter, which was sent to the Climate Action Committee, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the state's energy regulator. Hearings in Albany and the Bronx are the closest to the Hudson Valley. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

William J. Kemble reports for the Daily Freeman that the Woodstock Town Board is being asked to support a grant application for a study on whether a geothermal system environmental system could heat and cool the town's business district. The town courthouse and police station building … (have) a ground source heat pump,” said Dermot McGuigan, a member of the civic organization Woodstock Transition “Just imagine a system like that’s expanded for an entire block … where the buildings are networked,” he said. “Instead of each building having to go through the cost and expense of having to put in deep boreholes for the ground source heat pump, … there would be an interconnected and shared system.” Supervisor Bill McKenna said the proposal was a possibility. “It’s something that’s worth looking into,” he said. “RUPCO had the advantage of totally new construction so it made it easier to implement. So … this study will tell us (if it) is feasible to do this in other areas.” Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Today's daily news update.

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

Andrea Macko is reporting for Porcupine Soup that according to Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione, the now-former county coroner Paul Seney failed to disclose a previous criminal conviction when he applied for a pistol permit. That is why Seney was arrested on March 11, by the county Sheriff's Office and charged with first-degree offering a false instrument for filing. “Seney was charged with filing a false Instrument with respect to a pistol permit application that resulted in a permit being issued to him a few years ago...,” said Stanzione. A story in The Royal Gazette, a Bermuda newspaper, shows Seney is a convicted felon stemming from a case there more than 30 years ago. Seney, who was 22 at the time, “was sentenced in September 1991 to 71 years in prison for his part in the drug ring that brought nearly $1.5 million worth of cocaine to Bermuda,” according to the newspaper. But that sentence was reduced to five years in exchange for Seney’s testimony against a drug cartel. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to import more than 1,000 grams of cocaine from July to September of 1990, according to the paper. Seney, a Republican, was elected in 2019 and took office as a county coroner in January 2020. He resigned without explanation on February 17. A question on the state pistol permit application asks, “Have you ever been arrested, summoned, charged or indicted anywhere for any offense, including DWI (except traffic infractions)?” The applicant is advised that knowingly providing false information is sufficient cause to deny the application and constitutes a crime. Following his arrest, Seney was arraigned and released on his own recognizance. Seney is the president and owner of Richards Funeral Home in Cairo and Athens, and W.C. Brady’s Sons in Coxsackie. Read the full story at porcupine soup [dot] com.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that incidents of vandalism centered on two boys' bathrooms in the Germantown Junior-Senior High School have recently taken place and school district officials have decided to address the problem by keeping those bathrooms open. There have been no incidents of vandalism or vaping in the girls’ restrooms. “It was stuffing toilets with paper towels, writing graffiti, vaping in the bathrooms, congregation of students while they’re supposed to be in class,” Superintendent Benjamin Bragg said. The vandalism has required the staff to put in extra time to clean the rooms, Bragg said. Since high school principal James DiDonna made the decision to keep the doors open, the vandalism and vaping have stopped. “It has been brought to our attention that some individuals have an issue with the junior-senior high school boys’ bathrooms being permanently opened,” DiDonna wrote in a letter to district parents last week. “Just for everyone’s information, the elementary bathrooms are permanently opened as well. We have had two ongoing issues with these particular bathrooms.” Bragg said keeping the doors open does not present any privacy issues. "The bathroom stalls and the urinals are not visible from outside the bathroom with the doors open," he said. “We’re doing the best we can until we find the culprit.... Unfortunately,...we can’t pinpoint who it is. In other districts I’ve been in, kids do the same thing and I was able to afford monitors. This district is very tight with [its] budget and it’s not affordable for us,” Bragg said. There are no cameras trained on the bathrooms, DiDonna said. “If privacy is an issue, we have other single-person-use bathrooms available to all our students,” he wrote. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Capital Tonight reports that Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced that New York is distributing nearly $24 million in federal funding to domestic violence programs and shelters, sexual assault programs, and rape crisis centers statewide. According to Leah Feldman, chief program officer at Family Services in Dutchess County, the grant will help domestic violence and rape crisis programs expand on-site COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, offset fiscal challenges caused by the pandemic, help reach underserved communities, and support the recent increase in survivors seeking help. The funding comes via the Family Violence Prevention Services Act in the federal American Rescue Plan. Feldman calls the funding a critical relief to programs that have been underfunded since the pandemic. “In the early days of the lockdown, we noted a decrease in reported domestic violence incidents. Not that we don’t believe it was happening, but there was far less access to support or the ability to report,” Feldman said. “If anything, what we did see was an increase in the severity and complexities of reported cases of domestic violence.” Feldman said this trend was due to a number of reasons, including stay-at-home orders and isolation. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that Democrats are split: progressives do not want to jail people who are considered innocent by the courts, and conservative Democrats do. Gov. Kathy Hochul is trying to find a middle ground. "I have 10 days to work that out," Hochul said on March 21. "I didn't sign up for this job because I thought it was easy." Anyone arrested for a crime is innocent until proven guilty, but Republicans, and some Democrats, want to lock most arrestees up before their trials. Progressive Democrats recently overturned that system, but now conservative Democrats are backpedaling in the face of attack ads from Republicans. So far, Hochul has said she wants to strengthen Kendra's Law, which requires people who have mental health issues receive treatment. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has said a "national Republican campaign of fear" is behind the efforts to lock up innocent New Yorkers. Progressives are hosting rallies to keep the innocent from being held with bail, while Republicans hold press conference denouncing the policy. Hochul is stuck between the two sides. "The public is aware that I share their concerns about public safety and that's why we're working with my team and working with the legislators to craft a position and a policy and work toward getting it in the budget that I believe is working to respond to the needs right now," Hochul said. The resolution will come in the state budget, which lawmakers need to approve by April 1. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Melanie Lekocevic reports for Capital Region Independent Media that the town of Greenville is creating a Scenic Viewshed Committee to define and identify areas and views the community would like to preserve. “In the process of going through one of the solar projects, we definitely encountered that there was some real vagueness and some lack of clerical organization in understanding what in town is seen as a viewshed,” planning board member William Bardel said at the March 21 meeting of the town board. “In the planning board report there is a recommendation that there be a Scenic Viewshed Committee established to do a comprehensive review of scenic destinations in town. It’s not specific to addressing solar — it’s more a matter of there needs to be a review in general, just to see what has been identified as scenic in town.” The town already has two areas designated by the state years ago as protected viewsheds. “One of them is up off Plattekill Road, that area on top of the hill, and East Red Mill Road off Route 32,” Greenville supervisor Paul Macko said. “Those are the two areas that we know about right now and they were designated by New York state.” Anyone interested in serving on Greenville's Scenic Viewshed Committee should call the town offices at 518-966-5055. Read more about this story at TheUpstater.com.

On March 22 New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that New York is now first in the nation with more than one gigawatt of community solar installed and operational. That is enough to power 209,000 homes across the state. And Hochul says there is enough community solar under construction to serve an additional 401,000 homes. “Reaching this nation-leading milestone – with more than one gigawatt of community solar installed – is a testament to New York’s aggressive pursuit of clean-energy alternatives that will supercharge our economy and bring us one step closer to a carbon-neutral future,” Hochul said. The governor's plan calls for New York to reach ten gigawatts by 2030. "Currently, many residents who want to transition to solar are barred because they cannot afford the cost of panels, they live in rented properties, or their rooftops simply don’t support solar. Community solar is a game changer for overcoming these barriers, allowing more New Yorkers to be part of the clean energy transition," said Rep. Paul Tonko, who represents the 20th District, including Albany County. WGXC recently added solar panels, and will flip the switch to become a solar-powered radio station later this week.

Today's daily news update.

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

Valerie White is reporting for Porcupine Soup that the Cairo Town Board on March 16 once again focused its attention on allowing recreational cannabis dispensaries and consumption lounges in the town. New York legalized recreational cannabis in March 2021, and municipalities had until December 31 of that year, to opt-out of allowing the businesses within their borders. Under the rules, localities that did not opt out were permitted to opt back in at a later date. On December 16, the Cairo board voted 3 to 2 to opt-out. The vote followed a standing-room only public hearing where the vast majority of residents in attendance wanted the town to opt in. Last week, Cairo Supervisor Jason Watts brought up the subject again, saying he wanted to schedule another public hearing to consider opting back in, but comments from the floor that night were opposed to the idea. “This needs to go to a referendum,” said board member Tim Powers, who voted against cannabis sales in December. “Every person who is of voting age in this town should have a say in it… I’m not going to make a decision for 6,700 people and I don’t think you should either.” Watts said he had "no problem putting it on the ballot.” Cannabis sales are not expected to begin in New York until 2023. When sales begin in Greene County, the Catskill Town Board has agreed to allow dispensaries, but not on-site consumption lounges. The village of Catskill will allow both types of businesses, as will the towns of Coxsackie and Athens. Read the full story at porcupinesoup [dot] com.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics Democratic New York state Assemblymember Angelo Santabarbara March 21, called for a suspension of tolls on the state Thruway system during the summer months. The proposal was put forward as gas prices and inflation are pushing consumer prices upward for the foreseeable future. The bill backed by Santabarbara would set a toll holiday during the months of June, July, and August. “Typically the summer months are when most people make their travel plans and this savings will encourage tourism in our upstate areas,” he said. “These active months are important for local businesses and we must do all we can to encourage economic activity when they need it the most.” Santabarbara is urging state officials to use New York's surplus of federal aid to help cover the lost revenue from any suspension.  In response, the Thruway Authority said the proposed toll holiday would deprive the authority of much-needed revenue. In a separate measure, Santabarbara and state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for taxes on gasoline sales to be suspended. New York collects about $2 billion in gas tax revenue. A different proposal advanced last week by state Senate Democrats would suspend the gas tax from May 1 through the end of the year. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

John Cropley reports for the Daily Gazette that Schoharie County officials are looking for someone to buy their former jail building. The building was made unusable more than ten years ago by flooding from the storms associated with Hurricane Irene. Buyers would get 30-year-old buildings with 80,000 square feet on 6.7 acres that might flood again with the Schoharie Creek just 100 yards away. “They did do some cleanup post-flood,” said Julie Pacatte, executive director of the Schoharie Economic Enterprise Corp., which is leading the marketing effort to sell the land. “Some of the ground floor of the two-story administrative office building is essentially gutted. The upper floor is in great shape. It’s as though folks were working there yesterday.” Earlier this month the Schoharie Economic Enterprise Corp. issued a request for proposals for the site without a minimum bid. Ulster County is attempting to turn its former jail site into housing, and Greene County is expanding its court at the site of its former jail in Catskill. Read more about this story in the Daily Gazette.