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

Today's daily news update.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics Republican Lee Zeldin Wed., Feb. 23, announced the selection of New York City Police Department Deputy Inspector Alison Esposito as his preferred candidate for lieutenant governor. The state GOP convention will take place next week. Zeldin made the announcement in Manhattan, outside of One Police Plaza, saying Esposito's decision to run for lieutenant governor is "bad news for the criminals who think these streets belong to them." Zeldin's choice comes as public safety issues are a priority for anyone seeking statewide office this year. A Siena College poll this week found 91 percent of voters polled believe crime and public safety are serious or very serious concerns. Democrat Tom Suozzi (SWah-zee), who is challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul in a Democratic primary for governor, has also called for changes to the state's bail reform legislation, as has Mayor Eric Adams in New York City.  Esposito's bid for lieutenant governor makes her the latest candidate for the job. Suozzi last week selected former New York City Councilmember Diana Reyna as his preferred running mate. "I will fight for the future of our state, the future of my niece and nephews and the future of all New York's children," Esposito said. In New York, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in party primaries and the winners are later joined on a ticket in the general election. Mismatches can occur. The GOP field for governor in recent days has grown in the days leading up to the Republican convention. Zeldin faces former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, former Trump administration official Andrew Giuliani and businessman Harry Wilson for the Republican nomination. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

MidHudson News is reporting as of Tue., Mar. 1, all five of the New York State Bridge Authority's bridges will be cashless. Beginning at midnight on March 1, the Mid-Hudson Bridge over the Hudson River, connecting Highland to Poughkeepsie, will transition to a cashless toll system. The system is already in use on the Bear Mountain, Newburgh-Beacon, Kingston-Rhinecliff, and Rip Van Winkle bridges. Motorists will no longer have to stop at a toll booth but will instead drive non-stop under gantries with sensors and cameras that read E-ZPass tags and take license plate images. Vehicles with E-ZPass tags are automatically charged to their accounts and vehicles without those tags have their license plate images captured and a toll bill is mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the planned relocation of the Catskill Academy, a Questar III program, to Durham will allow the Catskill Central School District to open up a half-dozen classrooms for district programs. The academy's current home is a wing of Catskill High School that was built 11 years ago. That space will be available for district use for the first time starting in the fall. With the recent donation of the Durham Elementary School to Questar by the Cairo-Durham school district, the academy program will have a new home. The academy is a program for students with special needs and is open to students enrolled in any school district located in Greene and Columbia counties, said Questar III District Superintendent Gladys I. Cruz. The superintendent said that moving the program should be beneficial to both Questar and the Catskill district. On February 10, Catskill launched an online community survey for feedback from district residents on how to best utilize the free space the district now has available. The survey asks respondents if they would support using the space to develop an alternative or credit recovery program for struggling students; and if they would support using the newly open space to develop a more supportive program for students who could excel in a smaller learning environment. The survey finishes up by inviting residents to submit their ideas for use of the space. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

MidHudson News reports that Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan gave his "State of the County" address Feb. 23, saying the county is in a strong position to grow and prosper in the years to come. Click here to download or play an excerpt of Ryan's speech. Ryan also said the county would make “bold, generational investments” in housing, mental health, and addiction recovery services. Read more about this story at MidHudson News.

Massarah Mikati reports in the Times Union that 2021 was the safest-ever hunting season for New Yorkers, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC reported Feb. 22 that the 2021 hunting season included nine hunting-related shooting incidents, and one human fatality. That's the lowest number of shooting incidents since record-keeping began in 1949. All nine shooting incidents involved experienced hunters, with an average of 40 years of experience. One was a 69-year-old Greene County man with 50 years hunting experience who on Dec. 10 who was injured after his gun was leaning against an ATV and started to fall. He reached for it and was shot in the foot. The DEC said the shooting incidents could have been avoided if the hunters followed safety protocol. The single human fatality involved a hunter who was not wearing any fluorescent orange or pink and was killed by a hunting partner. This year the DEC mandated hunters wear more fluorescent orange or pink to avoid such incidents. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that 22.2 percent of wage and salary earners in New York are enrolled in a union, the second highest rate in the country. The U.S. Department of Labor reported union membership in New York grew from 22 percent in 2020 to 22.2 percent last year. The national average is 10.3 percent of wage and salary workers enrolled with a labor organization. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a Winter Storm Watch from 10 p.m. February 24 through 10 p.m. February 25 for areas south of Albany and Rensselaer counties.. Six to 12 inches of snow are expected. "Snowfall rates could exceed an inch per hour at times from 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday," according to the National Weather Service. "Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute."

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

Today's daily news update.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media that a mass food distribution event will take place at the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk campus, at 2025 Route 9W in Ravena, on Feb. 24. Catholic Charities, the event organizer, is asking for volunteers to help out. The distribution will be hosted by the district's unions. Volunteers are needed to help with the packing and distribution of food items. Volunteers are asked to arrive at the school campus at 8:45 a.m. the morning of the giveaway, February 24. Foods to be handed out include fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as other food items. The event will begin at 10 a.m. and will run while supplies last. Organizers ask that food recipients not arrive before 10 a.m. to lessen traffic. Recipients who are driving are asked to stay in their vehicle. Those who are walking should practice physical distancing. Everyone is asked to please wear a mask. Potential volunteers as asked to email volunteer [at[ CCRDA [dot] org. Read the full story at TheUpStater [dot] com.

Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that the town of Cairo has qualified for $1.6 million in state-financed, interest-free loans for water infrastructure projects for the town’s completed well water project. Gov. Kathy Hochul on February 15, announced the Environmental Facilities Corporation Board of Directors had approved $41 million in funding that includes low-cost loans and previously awarded grants for municipalities, including the funds set aside for Cairo. The town qualified for more than $1.6 million in long-term, interest-free financing to develop additional groundwater source capacity, to improve the park well site and existing finished water storage tank, and more. Town Supervisor Jason Watts noted the funding was not a new source of revenue. “We already received that money and we just finally got the 2019 report done,” he said. Watts said the town now has a payment schedule in place to pay off the interest-free loan. In January 2019, the town awarded a water infrastructure bid to FP Kane Construction in Vestal, Broome County, and the firm was paid $2.9 million. In May of that year, Kane began work on the town’s water main, water tower and hydrants. In total, the price tag for the project was more than $3.7 million. Watts said since the money for the project has already been spent, he wasn’t sure how the town would fund potential repairs to the well, which he said is not working. “It was never put in properly,” the supervisor said. “Someone’s got to fix this. Someone’s got to explain to me why it’s not working. ..." The story does not mention the PFOS "forever chemical" found in the town's drinking water recently. The PFAS, or per- and polyfluroalkyl substances, form a group of contaminants, including PFOA and PFOS, that accumulate in the human body and cause cancer and thyroid problems. Firefighting foam was used for many years at a training center near Cairo's town water well in the Angelo Canna Park, and is blamed for the PFOS contamination. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Melissa Hale-Spencer is reporting for The Altamont Enterprise Guilderland is looking to follow the lead of its neighbor, Bethlehem, in giving tax breaks to residents who commit to leaving their land open. The town board will hold a hearing on the local law on March 15. “We want to make sure we have as many tools as possible to preserve open space ...,” Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber said. He told the town board last week that Guilderland is the third or fourth municipality in New York to get this legislation. He noted that the local law, once passed, would apply just to town tax breaks, not to county or school taxes; school taxes are the most significant. Once the law is adopted Guilderland's five school districts will be asked to provide the same tax relief. “But they don’t have to,... It’s going to take a little bit of effort to reach out to these school districts and get them to understand the importance of the open space,” he said. Guilderland’s bill includes four levels of commitment, each with a different percentage of tax exemption; the longer the time commitment to keeping the land open, the greater the tax break, from a 50 percent tax break for a commitment of 15 to 29 years to a 90 percent tax break for a perpetual commitment. Some believe the proposal would shift the tax burden to other residents, but Barber asserted, “It is not." He said this is because land values typically increase. Board member Laurel Bohl said, “This is a great plan that could help a lot of residents and lower your tax bill.” Read the full story in The Altamont Enterprise.

Today's daily news update.

Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that businessperson Harry Wilson is the latest Republican announcing a campaign to become governor. Wilson made his announcement Feb. 22, a week before Republicans meet to formally designate their preferred candidates at their convention. "I’m running for Governor to turn around New York," Wilson wrote on Twitter. "Our state is totally broken. Rising crime, sky-high taxes, closed schools, corrupt politicians. I've spent my career turning around failing organizations. Let's get this done." So far, Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin has amassed more endorsements from Republican county chairs in New York state than other candidates. Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and former Trump administration official Andrew Giuliani are also running in the June 28 primary to take on a Democrat. In 2010, Wilson lost to Democratic Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

The Times Union reports that despite relentless media coverage of anyone against wearing a mask to protect others during a global pandemic, a majority of New Yorkers do want the state to wait for early-March data on COVID-19 before lifting the mask mandate for schools. In the poll of registered New York voters released Feb. 22 by the Siena Research Institute, 58 percent want to wait before lifting the mask mandate. That's the position of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who said she will revisit the scientific evidence in early March before deciding whether to remove masks from schools. The survey also found 45 percent of New Yorkers in favor of preserving the indoor mask mandate, while 31 percent said it should have ended earlier than it did, and 20 percent said it was lifted at the right time. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

After a week with temperatures in the 50s, the Hudson Valley is getting a major snow storm on Feb. 25. "The details of that potential winter storm are still very fuzzy, but some combination of snow, sleet and freezing rain appear possible for our Friday," Hudson Valley Weather writes on Facebook. “We are going to be getting a winter storm later Thursday night and pretty much continuing through the day on Friday. … Basically, the system is going to start out as a period of snow late Thursday night, and pretty much continue through much of the day on Friday,” said Brett Rathbun, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albany. Meteoroglist Ben Noll is currently predicting three to six inches of snow for the lower Hudson Valley, with Dutchess and Ulster Counties possibly getting over six inches. The National Weather Service was not making snowfall amount predictions yet. "Heavy snow accumulations are possible," the weather service reported Feb. 22. "Mixed precipitation including sleet and freezing rain is likely south of the heavy snow."

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