Tiffany Greenwaldt-Simon reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Greene County had the highest gross regional product in New York State in 2022, according to a report from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. Greene County's gross regional product grew by 17.7 percent to $2.7 million in 2022, leading with the utilities sector, which increased the total GRP by 143.8 percent. James Hannahs, executive director of the Greene County Economic Development Corporation, said, Gross regional product is equivalent to gross domestic product, and measures newly created value through production. “It’s very positive news, and we’re very thrilled to be an industry leader in GPR..... This shows that Greene County is an excellent choice for companies to conduct business and shows that Greene County’s economy is diverse in growth and contributing industries.” And Greene County was not the only locality with higher numbers as the eight counties of the Capital Region experienced New York State’s second-fastest GRP growth. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Molly Burke reports in the Times Union that New York Senator Chuck Schumer was at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson on Dec. 18, completing his annual 62-county tour of the state. Schumer said in his first campaign for Senate in 1998 his Republican opponent Sen. Al D’Amato claimed New Yorkers would “never see him west of the Hudson.” So, Schumer said, “In response, I said, ‘If God willing, I win, I promise my first year I’ll visit every county, all 62.... I did. And I loved it. I learned so much.” Schumer send he is currently negotiating with House Republicans over a funding bill to address all the migrants coming to New York. Schumer said, “It doesn't solve the whole problem but it certainly takes a big bite out of it." Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that New Lebanon's community center opens Dec. 21 with the local free store and a game room. While the center is open a few days before the holidays, in January it will assume regular hours on Tuesdays 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursdays 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. New Lebanon Town Supervisor Tistrya Houghtling said the center cost $41,500, with some funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. Houghtling said, “It is an old firehouse.... It has been in the community for a long time. The fire company built a new truck bay and is in the process of building a new meeting hall in the back of their new truck bay. While they build their new meeting Hall, they still need to keep the current building so they can have their meetings and programming there. They are allowing us to come in and run a community center nine hours a week during the hours that they aren’t using it." Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Today's audio daily news update.

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

From WOOC: Danny Killion of Weathered Wood in Troy creates beautiful objects with collected materials from the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. Killion spoke with WOOC's Marshall Hildreth and Sina Basila Hickey about the process of collecting, his relationship with the rivers, and having a business in Troy. Learn more at www.weatheredwoodtroy.com/

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that a driver in Greene County was killed in flooding from the major storm that hit the area on Dec. 17 and 18. The driver's vehicle was was swept into the Catskill Creek the town of Catskill. The Greene County Sheriff's Office said the driver went around a barricade put up to close the flooded road. The driver of a vehicle went around a barricade on flooded Cauterskill Road near Route 23B before being swept into the Catskill Creek in the town of Catskill. The vehicle was overturned in the raging Catskill Creek waters. The body was recovered from the vehicle, which remains in the water, while the driver's identity was unknown on Monday afternoon. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Melanie Lekocevic reports for Capital Region Independent Media that so many Coeymans residents turned out to oppose a development proposal from Carver Companies that the crowd spilled out into the street. The company is expanding and altering properties to build off-shore wind turbines. The company claims it will bring 650 permanent jobs to the southern Albany County town if they can build a manufacturing facility north of the Port of Coeymans from Route 144 to south of Bronk Road. Local residents spoke at the public hearing, opposing an increase in truck traffic, noise, odors, reduced property values, and a change in the character of the community. Lisa Travis said, “I’m not saying that industry isn’t good. I’m just saying that we’re setting a precedent here of using this residential property for storage.... What happens when it starts creeping further and further because now that we did it once, we can do it again. That is my concern, that this is not going to stop and we’re just going to be dealing with this again down the road.” Local resident Zachary Assael said, “River Road is not an expressway, it is not the Northway, it’s not the Thruway.... It’s a two-lane road. It is not meant to accommodate over 500 vehicles and many semi-tractor trailers.” The Coeymans planning/zoning board of appeals is still considering the company's proposal. Read more about this story at TheUpstater.com.

Emilie Munson reports in the Times Union that federal data and Times Union research show that now nearly every public school classroom in New York now has Wi-Fi, or wireless internet access. Superintendent Joshua Meyer, from the Boquet Valley Central School District in the Adirondacks, said his students there will finally get Wi-Fi in every classroom next month. U.S. Department of Education information released last month showed about 96 percent of New York schools reported having Wi-Fi in every classroom in the 2020-21 school year, and more recent interviews show those numbers have increased since then. Mindy Fiscus, who serves on the board of the State Educational Technology Directors Association, says, “It’s refreshing to see, but that evolution took a lot of time because there was a lot of expense involved.... It did ramp up rather quickly during the pandemic. … It really stepped us into a new digital age.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's audio daily news update.

Diane Pineiro-Zucker reports in the Daily Freeman that heavy rains wreaked havoc on the area on Dec. 18, with flooding, power outages, and school closings. More than four inches of rain fell on parts of the region. A weather center in Tannersville recorded 4.3 inches of rain before 8 a.m. Monday, with much more falling after that. Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. said they were, “responding to emergencies and restoring customers impacted by today’s storm activity.” Saugerties’ schools closed due to “deteriorating road conditions” and the Onteora Central School District also closed. Catskill schools closed early, as water from the Catskill Creek overflowed into a neighboring parking lot next to the high school. Coxsackie-Athens schools also closed early. Saugerties police told residents to “Watch for heavy rain and flooded roadways in the area,” and said to expect and prepare for road closings. The National Weather Service put up a flood watch for the region, saying all the water from rain and snow runoff “will result in minor to moderate river flooding, as well as flooding of urban, low lying and poor drainage locations in all of eastern New York and western New England through Monday night." Mid-Hudson News reports that people were evacuated from homes and apartments in Dutchess County because of all the water. The Times Union reported that there were also evacuations in Ulster County. Gov. Kathy Hochul said about 5,000 utility crews were working on the storm and that, "this is basically hitting two-thirds of New York state.... So, you have to pinpoint with as much precision as you can where you send those crews in advance and monitor very, very closely and hope they can do their jobs safely as well.” After the rain stops Monday, none is forecast for several days. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Mid-Hudson News reports that about 100 people marched through Rhinebeck on Dec. 17, supporting an end to the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. Felice Gelman said she was there, “So that we can call attention to the fact that so many people are being killed and that our government should join with European governments that have already called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.” An estimated 19,000 Palestinians have been killed over the last two months, and over 1,000 Israeli citizens were killed in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. Palestinian journalist, filmmaker, and Rhinebeck resident Talal Jabari was also there, and said, “as tragic as 19,000 dead people is, what really breaks my heart are those that are still living; they’re cold; they’re sick or injured; they’re thirsty’; they’re hungry; they’re scared and absolutely nowhere is safe for them.” Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Mid-Hudson News reports that part of Dutchess County’s urban trail project in the City and Town of Poughkeepsie was named the Marcus J. Molinaro Northside Line at a ceremony celebrating its opening. Molinaro is currently Congressional representative in another part of the state and has moved to Catskill, but before his current term he served seven others as Dutchess County Executive. The current, but soon retiring, Dutchess County Executive Bill O’Neil said, "Thanks to the vision and dedication of our own former County Executive, Marc Molinaro, as well as community stakeholders, we are proud to bring this new kind of trail – which will be open, lit and monitored 24/7/365 – to fruition.” Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News reports.

Today's audio daily news update.

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

Liz Montgomery reports for Porcupine Soup that the Village of Athens is getting two grants totaling $1,087,787, and the Village of Coxsackie is getting one $1.4 grant for water infrastructure projects. The money comes from the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act that was approved by New York voters in 2022. Athens can use $288,984 for wastewater collection and mitigation, and another $798,803 for water treatment plant improvements, while Coxsackie gets $1,490,772 for a wastewater collection system plan. Gov. Kathy Hochul said, "No one in New York should ever fear that they don't have access to clean water.... This investment will make life saving improvements to our water infrastructure and safeguard drinking water for millions of people, in addition to saving New Yorkers money and creating tens of thousands of jobs." Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that Kleinkill Airport in Columbia County is for sale for $1.5 million. The 37-acre Chatham airport has a 4,000-foot grass landing strip and 10 hangers that currently keep 39 small planes. George Kerner, a former American Airlines pilot, and Peter Nelson are both 80, and have decided it is, “time to think about unloading some things that we own.” The Federal Aviation Administration reports 900 flights there between summer 2019 and summer 2020, the most recent year on record, with 100 of the flights non-local. This private facility opened in the 1980s, and a publicly accessible airport owned by the county in the town of Ghent, are the only airports in Columbia County. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Katherine Doyle and Megan Lebowitz report for NBC News that Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., filed another complaint about a judge who has ruled on several cases of protesters attempting to overthrow the government on Jan. 6, 2021. Stefanik alleged judicial misconduct because U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell, who has overseen various Jan. 6-related cases, spoke in favor of democracy and against authoritarianism. Accepting an award at a Women’s White Collar Defense Association gala, the judge said, “My D.C. judicial colleagues and I regularly see the impact of big lies at the sentencing of hundreds, hundreds of individuals who have been convicted for offense conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, when they disrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election at the U.S. Capitol.... As district court judges, we are all about the facts.” Stefanik calls that "highly inappropriate political speech.” Stefanik submitted a complaint to D.C. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan. Stefanik filed a different legal complaint on Nov. 10 against state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who is currently presiding over Donald J. Trump’s civil fraud trial. Stefanik represents Rensselaer County and the rest of the 21st Congressional District. Read more about this story at NBC News.

From WOOC: On December 14, 2023, at the NY State Capital, the Center for Community Alternatives organized a rally with lawmakers and advocates calling for prison sentencing reform. With the approach of the 2024 legislative session, New Yorkers are calling for The Second Look Act, The Eliminate Mandatory Minimums Act, and The Earned Time Act as top priority. Groups argue that mass incarceration is ineffective and costly and suggest that the billions of dollars spent on incarceration could go to education, housing, healthcare, community-based anti-violence and restorative justice programs. Find more info: communityalternatives.org. WOOC's Andrea Cunliffe reported from this event.

Here is this week's WGXC Congressional Report, tracking the votes, statements, positions, and campaigns of the representatives and candidates for the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Congressional seats in New York. Democrat Pat Ryan is representing the 18th Congressional District, Republican Marc Molinaro represents the 19th Congressional District, Democrat Rep. Paul Tonko represents the 20th District, and Republican Elise Stefanik represents the 21st District. Click here to listen to this report.

Paul Kirby reports for the Daily Freeman that Rep. Marc Molinaro and state Assemblyperson Chris Tague are complaining about a shortage of milk cartons. Molinaro, a Republican who represents the 19th Congressional District, said, “supply chain problems at one of the two major manufacturers of milk cartons in the United States.... has caused schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and other institutions in Upstate New York to forgo serving milk.” Molinaro wrote to the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, asking him to use “any means at his disposal to swiftly provide relief and prevent a disruption like this from happening again.” Molinaro also said, “We saw how disruptive the baby formula shortage was.... If this supply chain disruption persists, it’s going to cause real harm for young people and local farmers.” Tague, a Republican who represents Greene and Schoharie counties, said, “There are obvious solutions like opting for recyclable plastic bottles or dispensers and cups, but the anti-milk Democrats aren’t even attempting to implement these options. How we handle this shortage will set a precedent for the availability of milk in schools, and right now, it is not going in the right direction.” No Democrats have come out against milk. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Kevin Frey reports for New York State of Politics that Rep. Marc Molinaro says he will vote for an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Molinaro, a Republican, did not say why he wanted to start impeachment against the Democrat President. Molinaro said, “I think that the President needs to be held accountable and that there needs to be answers to some very serious questions regarding impropriety.” Top House Democrat, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn, said, “Why are extreme MAGA Republicans wasting so much time on these efforts? … It’s because the extreme MAGA Republicans have nothing to show for their narrow, fading and decreasing majority." The story does not speculate on why the Republicans are starting an impeachment inquiry into the president, or what, specifically, he may have done wrong. Republicans are expected to vote for the impeachment inquiry on Dec. 13. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Brendan J. Lyons and Joshua Solomon report in the Times Union the New York Court of Appeals ruled on Dec. 12 that the state's Congressional lines must be redrawn again. This time New York’s Independent Redistricting Commission will again attempt to draw the lines. A 4-3 majority of the court sided with the Democratic plaintiffs and ordered the Independent Redistricting Commission to submit new maps to the Democrat-controlled Legislature by the end of February. Congressional lines are redrawn every ten years after the census, but in New York they have been redrawn several times by a Special Master appointed by the court and by the Independent Redistricting Commission. New Yorkers flipped several Congressional districts from Democrats to Republicans in the 2022 election, and Democrats hope the new lines will help them win back those seats, and win back a majority in the House of Representatives. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Republicans Reps. Marc Molinaro and Elise Stefanik voted to begin an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Dec. 13, even though no Republicans could explain what, specifically, they were investigating. All 221 Republicans voted for the impeachment inquiry, and all 212 Democrats voted against. Stefanik released a statement that hinted that the investigation was because of Biden's son Hunter and his private business dealings. Molinaro would only say voting for the inquiry gives Republicans more subpoena power, but did not say what specifically the will investigate. President Biden called the inquiry a, “baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts."