Today's daily news update.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media just two months into the new year Columbia County has already reported 13 drug overdoses and three fatalities, statistics that worry addiction recovery advocates. During the same period in 2021, the county reported 16 overdoses but no fatalities. In 2021 altogether, the county had 93 overdoses and 14 fatalities, or an average of slightly more than one death per month. “When we look at our overdose numbers, Philmont statistically has incidents of overdose,” Greener Pathways Program Director Carl Quinn said. “So we wanted to target that as a way to get in touch with the most at-risk population that we’re working with.” As a result, Greener Pathways, or the Mobile Outreach Program of Twin County Recovery Services, Inc., will be available at the Philmont Community Center every Thursday from noon to 2 p.m. Quinn said the organizations' greatest hope is "...that people will come in and say they know someone who needs help or say I want to get help myself.” Mayor Brian Johnson said, “When I got elected mayor, one of my goals was to curb some of the drug use in Philmont. So we asked Greener Pathways to come in and set up at the community center.” Narcan and Fentanyl test strips will be available at the center for anyone who wants or needs them, Quinn said. “Really, this is just another way for us to try and connect with people in the community, who maybe won’t want to come to our office or don’t want to go to the Twin Counties Clinic in Hudson,” Quinn said. Fentanyl test strips allow a person to determine if their supply contains the synthetic opioid used for treating severe pain. Johnson said, “What we’re actually trying to do is instead of getting these people arrested or in trouble, we’re trying to get them some help.” The village wants it known that help is available, he said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Noah Eckstein is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that Neannette “Nea” McKinney was chosen February 28, as Hudson’s Senior Services commissioner for the 2022-23 term. McKinney will oversee the department to serve as the city’s main resource for residents ages 62 or older. “Seniors are the backbone of our community,” McKinney said. “If it wasn’t for them and all they had to go through, we wouldn’t be here.” McKinney, in her 50s, has lived in Hudson for three years and has five years’ experience as a leader of a senior assistance program in California. She was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, and grew up in Playa del Rey, Los Angeles. McKinney studied radio and television broadcasting and business management at Elizabeth Seton College in Yonkers. She has an eclectic range of interests and a track record for bringing people together. Roughly 14 percent of Hudson’s 5,894 residents are senior citizens, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. “Nea’s experience, skills and dedication to the well-being of seniors will be a boon to the city of Hudson,” Mayor Kamal Johnson said. McKinney plans to bring in a nutritionist to help seniors form a more balanced and healthy diet. She also plans on helping coordinate rides for seniors to and from different locations. Her main duty right now is getting to know Hudson’s senior communities. “I plan to hit the pavement, knock on doors, and get my face out there,” she said. An estimated 25 percent of all New Yorkers will be over the age of 60 by the year 2030. The appointment of a commissioner of Senior Services is a first step to put the needs of seniors at the forefront of community discussions, officials said. McKinney's professional experience is expansive, including work in business development and international television, film, and concert production. The Hudson Senior Center is located on the second floor of the Hudson Area Library at 51 N. Fifth Street. Information about the center and its programs is available at hudsonnyseniorcenter [dot] com or 518-828-3200. Note: Johnson is a volunteer WGXC on-air programmer. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Jane Wester is reporting for the New York Law Journal that a Manhattan judge on March 2, dismissed New York Attorney General Letitia James’ effort to dissolve the National Rifle Association. The court found the gun-rights advocacy group’s alleged failures can be addressed through “targeted, less intrusive relief” instead. James’ office is now considering its legal options, according to a statement released Wednesday. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen wrote the AG’s allegations, “if proven, tell a grim story of greed, self-dealing, and lax financial oversight at the highest levels of the National Rifle Association.” Cohen determined the allegations involve mostly “private harm” to the NRA and its members and donors, noting that the AG portrayed the organization as a “victim of its executives’ schemes” despite moving for dissolution. “The complaint does not allege that any financial misconduct benefited the NRA, or that the NRA exists primarily to carry out such activity, or that the NRA is incapable of continuing its legitimate activities on behalf of its millions of members. In short, the complaint does not allege the type of public harm that is the legal linchpin for imposing the ‘corporate death penalty,’” Cohen found. The NRA’s lead attorney, Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors partner William A. Brewer III, he applauds Cohen’s ruling on dissolution and looks forward to continuing to defend the organization as the suit moves ahead. “...[S]ince taking office in 2019, the Attorney General has pushed a contrived narrative about the NRA in her attempt to support a dissolution claim that is improper. This is a victory for not only the NRA, but all who believe in the right to free speech and association,” Brewer said. James’ office sued the NRA and four of its current or former executives in 2020, arguing that they had failed to properly manage the organization’s funds. A legal battle, including an effort by the NRA to move the case out of Manhattan, followed. The NRA also filed for bankruptcy and announced it would move to Texas; in May 2021, a Texas bankruptcy judge dismissed the NRA’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, finding that it was not filed in good faith. Read more at law [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Liz Montgomery reports for Porcupine Soup that a Cairo woman has been in Ukraine for a month trying to get her mother out, and is stuck there. Svetlana, whose last name is being withheld for security reasons, left Cairo on Feb. 3 to get her mother, who suffers from dementia, out of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Now she is in the middle of a war. “I started to hear explosions,” Svetlana told the CBS6 TV station in Albany. “Our walls started to shake. Our windows.... You just cannot leave the house, otherwise you will be shot because there are a lot of Russian spies that penetrated into Kyiv,” Svetlana added. Her family is in contact with Congressman Antonio Delgado’s office to try and get the American and her mother out of the war-torn capital. Locally, there is a Ukranian population in Jewett in Greene County, and there will be a special prayer service at 2 p.m., March 6 at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church on Route 23A in Jewett. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

CBS News reports that New York's Attorney General Letitia James has taken on Donald Trump and Andrew Cuomo. Now she's taking on the National Weather Service. James wants weather warnings to be in more languages than just English and Spanish. James is doing it mostly because last September 18 New Yorkers died during the September storm caused by Hurricane Ida. Most of them were of Asian descent and had limited proficiency in English or Spanish. And throughout New York, there are pockets with many immigrants who speak a different language. Hudson, in Columbia County, for instance, has a large population that speaks Bengali. James sent a letter this week to the to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Acting Director of the National Weather Service Mary C. Erickson calling for weather alerts from the National Weather Service to broadcast alerts in multiple languages. Read more about this story at CBS News.

Robert Gavin reports in the Times Union that Anthony Pastel, 38, a former public defender in Greene County who fractured his girlfriend's skull, was formally disbarred March 3. The Catskill-based Pastel faced automatic disbarment after he pleaded guilty in January to second-degree assault, a felony, in Greene County Court after initially being indicted with attempted murder. Pastel was arrested on Aug. 4, 2020, after attacking his girlfriend in the village of Athens. Besides disbarment, Pastel faces two to seven years in prison. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's daily news update.

Closings and delays for Thu., Mar. 2:

Greene County
Catskill Central School District | Delayed two hours. No morning BOCES. No breakfast.
Hunter-Tannersville Central School District | Delayed two hours. No morning BOCES.
Questar III Catskill Academy | Delayed two hours.
Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School District | Delayed two hours.

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

Roger Hannigan Gilson is reporting for the Times Union the price of homes in the Hudson Valley continued to increase through 2021, according to a new report from Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress. People are moving to the Hudson Valley in extraordinary numbers, especially from the New York metropolitan area, and there are not enough homes for sale to meet the demand. Every county in the region except Sullivan was considered a seller's market in 2021, according to the report. The total inventory in the Hudson Valley in 2021 was about half of what it was in 2019, according to the report. Pattern for Progress reported that Columbia County had 4.1 months of inventory at the end of 2021, a year in which the average sales price jumped nearly 18 percent. In Greene County, there was only 3.9 months of inventory, with home prices rising almost 20 percent. Home prices in Ulster County jumped nearly 20 percent, with only 2.8 months of inventory. In Dutchess County, prices rose 15 percent with 2.1 months of inventory. The report notes that the average home price rose nearly $50,000 in the last year in the nine counties in the Hudson Valley; sales prices in the mid and upper-Hudson Valley were far above the peak during the mid-2000s housing bubble. According to the report, rising mortgage interest rates could weaken the surge. In December 2020, the rate for a 30-year loan was 2.65 percent, but it has since risen to 3.56 percent. The report asserts that housing prices in the region will continue to rise in 2022, but at a slower rate than in 2021. Read the full story in the Times Union.

MidHudson News is reporting a group of citizens gathered early February 28, in the parking lot of the Silk Factory in Newburgh demanding answers to state Assemblymember Colin Schmitt’s motivation and thoughts during the insurrection on January 6, 2021. The group was looking to have Schmitt release video footage of his speech to protestors that day before they headed to Washington D.C. where the U.S. Capitol was attacked by a mob made up of people who did not accept the results of the 2020 Presidential election. “Colin Schmitt had a role in the January 6th insurrection. Early morning he dispatched a busload of people from the Hudson Valley down to Washington,” said Matt Rettig, who helped organize the protest. “We want to know what he said to that crowd, why he was encouraging them, and what role he had at egging them [on] to do the horrible things they ended up doing. We know a few people on that bus have already been arrested.” Three months after the insurrection, Schmitt, 31, a Republican representing the 99th Assembly District from New Windsor, announced his bid to unseat incumbent Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney in the 18th Congressional District. “We already have too many people in Congress denying and playing games with the January 6 insurrection, and we don’t need another from the Hudson Valley,” said Rettig. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media utility prices are expected to increase in March, for the second time in two months. In February, Central Hudson warned customers to expect higher electricity and natural gas prices because of a variety of factors. On March 1, the company issued a second statement saying prices will go even higher and customers can can expect them to remain that way for much of 2022. The higher rates are due to strong demand for energy worldwide and global events, particularly the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In a statement the company said the supply price for natural gas has risen 24 percent since February. The impact on individual customers’ bills will vary depending on the weather, their energy usage, and the billing cycle, according to the company. Prices for other forms of energy have also been affected. Heating oil and gasoline prices are also about 40 percent higher than one year ago. Gov. Kathy Hochul on March 1 announced the state’s Public Service Commission is requiring New York’s major electric and gas utilities to increase their outreach and education efforts to notify customers of the impact on utility bills. There are also state programs to assist residents with paying their utility bills, such as the Home Energy Assistance Program, or HEAP. HEAP can provide up to $751 to eligible homeowners and renters depending on income, household size, and how they heat their home, according to the governor’s office. Read the full story at the upstater [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports that New York's Republicans endorsed Rep. Lee Zeldin as their candidate for governor March 1 at a convention on Long Island. Businessperson Harry Wilson, of Johnstown; Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; and Rob Astorino, the two-term Westchester County executive, have also announced they are running for the Republican nomination, but were not endorsed at the party convention. “I’m not running to be an emperor or governor, I’m running so the people feel they are back in control of their government again,” said Zeldin, who voted against certifying last year’s presidential election results hours after rioters attempted to overthrow the government. Whichever Republican wins the June primary will take on either Gov. Kathy Hochul, or Rep. Tom Suozzi , or New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who will face off in the Democratic primary election. Read more about this story in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

MidHudson News reports that Putnam Hospital is the latest Hudson Valley hospital to give up birthing services. In 2019, Columbia Memorial hospital in Hudson stopped doing deliveries. The Putnam County hospital, unlike the Hudson hospital, says they want to start birthing services back up as soon as possible. “We recognize the value of these services to residents of Putnam County, and we are dedicated to making this suspension as short-lived as possible, supporting all affected patients and staff throughout this transition,” said Dr. Mark Hirko, President of Putnam Hospital. Columbia Memorial has not announced any plans to resume deliveries in Hudson. Previously, the Hudson hospital had been bringing 300 new humans into the world before they stopped birthing services.

Porcupine Soup reports that Mary Lou Nahas of Oak Hill was named the 2022 senior citizen of the year and Linda Sutton of Cornwallville the outstanding contribution by a senior citizen award from the Greene County Legislature. Nahas has worked with the Greene County Historic Society since 1998 and, in 2000, organized the Durham Historical Preservation Committee and served as secretary for 20 years. Also, since 2004, she has worked with the Oak Hill Preservation Association. Sutton helped create the Patrick Kellegher Field at the Irish Cultural Center in Durham, and, since 1989, has been a member of the Association of the Preservation of the Durham Valley. Sutton also organized the Durham Historic Preservation Commission in 1990. Both women have a long list of other local works. Nahas and Sutton will be recognized at a Greene County Legislature meeting in May and later this year, they will be recognized by New York State at a special ceremony as part of the 2022 Older New Yorkers Day celebration in Albany. Porcupine Soup reports

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 the Mountain Jam music festival will return in the summer of 2023, but not at the festival's original location at Hunter Mountain. In a one-sentence update on the Mountain Jam website, festival organizers have announced the event will return to the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Sullivan County, in 2023. The festival was founded in 2005, by Radio Woodstock President Gary Chetkof in partnership with Gov’t Mule singer and guitarist Warren Haynes. The event then ran for 14 consecutive years at Hunter Mountain. The 2018 festival, the last to be held in Hunter, was headlined by alternative country artist Sturgill Simpson, contemporary British rock act alt-J and Hawaiian folk singer Jack Johnson. The 2020 edition of the event was canceled due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. After declining to present festivals in 2021 and 2022, Mountain Jam will now return during the summer of 2023. Hunter Town Supervisor Sean Mahoney said February 28, there is still uncertainty about holding q largescale gathering like Mountain Jam due to COVID. “Given the pandemic, we didn’t really know whether or not live events of that scale were going to come back in general,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s not coming to Hunter, but that’s a Vail Resorts decision. ...” Vail Resorts is the owner of Hunter Mountain. Mahoney said, “Hunter Mountain was an amazing venue for Mountain Jam and Taste of Country. So we’re holding out hope for the future that events of that style and type come back to the area. The town of Hunter will be willing to support them anyway we can.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.