Today's daily news update.

More information continues to come out about the proposal for Congressional redistricting from the New York legislature, including maps of what could be the new districts. The biggest changes locally include in Rensselaer County, which was previously entirely in the 19th Congressional District, but would now be split in half, with the everything above North Greenbush, Sand Lake, and Berlin switching to the 21st Congressional District, currently represented by Republican Elise Stefanik. Albany County was previously all in the 20th Congressional District, now represented by Democrat Paul Tonko. The new proposal moves Albany County towns Coeymans and Bethlehem from the 20th District, to the 19th District, currently represented by Antonio Delgado. Schoharie County moves entirely from the 19th to the 21st Congressional District under the proposal. And only the northwest corner of Dutchess County remains in the 19th Congressional District, with the rest of Dutchess County moving to the 18th Congressional District, now represented by Sean Maloney. Redistricting occurs every ten years after the Census, and an independent redistricting commission was supposed to do that work. But that body was designed by the legislature to be toothless, so when they failed to agree on new district maps, the legislature took over, proposing these maps. Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, who is running in the 19th Congressional election this year, called the the redistricting process led by Democratic state lawmakers "a scam to begin with.... The Democrats in the Legislature wanted to control the outcome," he told reporters Jan. 31. "At the end of the day, I'm hopeful the courts will step in because this is a blatant effort to gerrymander for no other purpose." The New York state constitution states, “Districts shall not be drawn to discourage competition or for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring incumbents or other particular candidates or political parties.” But the courts have never turned down a map approved by the Legislature. "The state courts are really going to be really reluctant to overturn a state legislatively enacted plan," said Jeffrey Wice, who heads the New York Census and Redistricting Institute. But even if the courts agree to the new maps, that does not mean they are fair. "The lines are so heavily gerrymandered they will be non-competitive," Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/NY, said in a statement. "It's a major disservice to the voters, who were first denied any hope of a truly independent process ten years ago when the so-called Independent Commission was conceived." The legislature plans to vote on the proposal later this week.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the toxic "forever chemical" PFOS has been found in the drinking water at New Lebanon Junior-Senior High School slightly above the state threshold. Test results from last spring found the chemical perfluorooctanesulfonic acid in the drinking water at the high school at 11 parts per trillion, higher than the state's acceptable level of 10 ppt. “New Lebanon High School is working with the Columbia County and New York State Departments of Health on a compliance schedule that includes steps to reduce the levels of PFOS,” New Lebanon School Superintendent Andrew Kourt wrote to parents. “The district will be setting up several water drinking stations around the junior-senior high school High School and posting signs on each water source reporting that the water is not drinkable.... The junior-senior high school kitchen staff will be cooking using a different water source.” Columbia County Department of Health Director Jack Mabb said the county is helping to clean up the water. “New Lebanon is working with an engineer who is working with our engineer in terms of filtration,” Mabb said. “The two alternatives are new filtration or to build another well. It appears they are moving in the direction of filtration.” New Lebanon is not the only local school with toxic drinking water. PFOS was found in the Town of Cairo's water in 2016 and 2017. The tests in 2016 found 13.3 parts per trillion in the town's well water, and 11.3 ppt in water treated with chlorine. Cairo's drinking water goes to the Cairo-Durham Elementary school. Little had been done to that situation, which was caused by a fire-fighting training center, that used foam containing PFOS to train in putting out fires. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Massarah Mikati and Kathleen Moore report in the Times Union that a number of books and signs in the Bethlehem Public Library were defaced with vulgar right-wing political stickers last weekend. Library Director Geoffrey Kirkpatrick said a handful of stickers critical of President Joe Biden were found on covers of former President Barack Obama's book "A Promised Land" and Robin DiAngelo's "White Fragility," and on a sign in the library's New York Times' Bestsellers section. The stickers read "FJB" and "Let's Go Brandon," both vulgar terms against the current president. The stickers were removed from the books in the southern Albany County library. "It's the first time we've seen it in quite a few years, probably a decade or more," said Tim Burke, executive director of the Upper Hudson Library System. "Not stickers so much, but flyers or pieces of paper advertising a particular radical viewpoint put in books about the Holocaust," he said. "There have been occasional instances of this over the country. Usually it’s driven by some political agenda. Many times it focuses on hate speech." Aside from the few stickers, no one is asking to ban any of the library's books yet. "We know that this current political climate has generated more material challenges across the country," Burke said. "We haven’t seen any in Upper Hudson at this point but we have been working with the libraries to be sure they’re prepared to respond to these challenges." Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's daily news update.

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Brendan J. Lyons is reporting for the Times Union the brother of the late Jason Jones has filed a wrongful death claim against the village of Catskill. The action taken by Justin Jones will preserve his ability to file a formal lawsuit on behalf of his brother's estate in the future. Jason Jones died on December 15, in a burn unit at a Syracuse hospital, 47 days after he was set alight when Catskill village police fired a Taser at him, causing critical lung damage. The state attorney general's office is investigating the incident, including the actions of the police officers who were captured on a police station video camera running away from Jones after he burst into flames. Jones, 29 years old, had doused himself with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer in full view of the officers, moments before the electrodes fired from a Taser struck his torso. "Jason Jones was unarmed and not a threat to himself or others, and circumstances did not exist at the time to reasonably justify the shooting of the [Taser] by the village police officer into Jason Jones," the claim, filed by the Jones family attorney Kevin A. Luibrand, reads. "Prior to the police officer's shooting of the (Taser) ... Jason Jones had applied onto his body flammable alcohol-based liquid hand sanitizer. The police officer knew or had reason to believe that the electrical current of the (Taser) would ignite the flammable alcohol on Jason Jones' body." On the police station video, the police can be seen abandoning Jones when the flames ignited. Jones fell to the ground and was left to use only his hands to put out the flames that engulfed his upper body and head. Jones died after spending nearly seven weeks on a ventilator in an intensive care unit at Upstate University Hospital. The Times Union consulted with a law enforcement official with extensive experience in police training who said the officers should have immediately tried to assist Jones when he caught fire, comparing it to the imperative to pull a suspect from a burning car if they crash during a vehicle pursuit. The attorney general's office investigation is ongoing. The Catskill Village Police have yet to reveal the identities of the officers involved. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Noah Eckstein is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Richard Wallace, the incumbent community representative on the Hudson Industrial Development Agency, was reappointed January 27, to serve another two years on that agency's board. Wallace and four other candidates for the seat made their appeals for support during a special meeting of the Hudson Common Council. The council members unanimously chose Wallace over former 2nd Ward representative Tiffany Garriga and 1st Ward representative Jane Trombley, Hudson Housing Authority Treasurer and former alderperson Rebecca Wolff, as well as attorney Julie Goldweitz. The IDA assists in the acquisition, construction, improvement and maintenance of Hudson’s industrial, commercial, renewable energy and recreational facilities. The first vote taken by the council was split four ways, but the second was unanimous for Wallace. Wallace currently serves as IDA Secretary. Goldweitz was the only candidate to not receive a vote, but Wallace encouraged her input and expertise at future IDA meetings. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

On Jan. 31, 47 representatives in New York's Assembly and Senate signed on to a letter asking Gov. Kathy Hochul for more money for child care. "47 of us in the New York legislature just released this joint statement that says Hochul’s budget is inadequate on child care spending, and we need $5 billion for Universal Child Care. This is the moment," New York State Senator Jabari Brisport Tweeted. Locally, State Senator Michelle Hinchey, a Democrat, was the only representative to sign on to the letter. Democrat Assemblymember Didi Barrett did not sign on to the letter, nor did local Republican representatives including State Senator Daphne Jordan, Assemblymember Chris Tague, and Assemblymember Jake Ashby. In her proposed budget, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that $70 million in federal money will be directed to "newly licensed, registered, or permitted child care programs in areas of the state without sufficient child care slots, known as child care deserts." But that $100 million program is part of last year's budget.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics Oswego County District Attorney Gregory Oakes on January 31, confirmed that he will not be filing criminal charges against former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. It had been alleged that Cuomo inappropriately touched a National Grid employee during a trip to Oswego County in May 2017. The former governor resigned in August after a report was released detailing inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment as alleged by 11 women. Oakes' office had been investigating the account by Virginia Limmiatis, a 55-year-old National Grid worker, who accused Cuomo of touching her chest during an event. "After a thorough review of the available evidence and applicable law, the Oswego County District Attorney’s Office has concluded that there is not a sufficient legal basis to bring criminal charges against former-Governor Andrew Cuomo based upon the allegations of unwanted physical contact made by Virginia Limmiatis," Oakes said in a statement. "To be clear, this decision is based solely upon an assessment of the law and whether the people can establish a legally sufficient case under controlling precedent." Oakes also praised Limmiatis for coming forward with the initial allegation. He found Limmiatis to be "reliable and reasonable," and seemingly "motivated only by an earnest desire to do the right thing,... I commend her bravery and respect her courage." Oakes is the latest county prosecutor to not pursue criminal charges against the former governor. The Manhattan district attorney's office dropped its investigation of Cuomo, while Albany County District Attorney David Soares backed the dismissal of a forcible touching charge against him. Marianne Wang, an attorney representing Limmiatis, said, "Not every violation of law results in a criminal prosecution. This decision does not mean Cuomo acted appropriately or lawfully...” Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

From The Sanctuary for Independent Media, who run our partner station WGXC: "More than one in seven New Yorkers has a record of a criminal conviction, which keeps many from accessing basic opportunities like employment and housing. The Clean Slate NY campaign is fighting for a new law (S1553A/A6399) that will automatically clear a New Yorker’s conviction record once they become eligible. The civil damage a conviction record can inflict is often wide-ranging and enduring—permanently barring many individuals from basic opportunities like stable jobs, licenses to practice trades, and safe, secure housing. WOOC's Corinne Carey spoke with Cedric Fulton, the civil rights manager for the Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition, a member of the Clean Slate New York Steering Committee about the campaign."

Today's daily news update.

Colby Itkowitz and Adrian Blanco report in the Washington Post that New York Democrats unveiled the redistricting maps for Congress on Jan. 30, and the proposal boosts the chances of Democrat Antonio Delgado in the 19th Congressional District. Democrats could win an additional three seats in Congress if the plan is voted on and signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul later this week as expected. Delgado's 19th Congressional District adds Binghamton and Utica under the plan, moving the district from one that President Joe Biden won by 1.5 percent, to one where Biden won by 10 points. That comes at a bit at the expense of Democrat Paul Tonko's 20th Congressional District, which moves from a Biden plus-20.5 district to one where Biden won by 17.3 points, as parts of Albany County switch to the 19th District. New York lost one Congressional seat in the latest Census count. A 10-member, supposedly independent commission where eight members were appointed by partisan legislative leaders, could not reach a decision on district lines, so the legislature has taken over the process. “This is not a good night for New York Republicans,” said Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, which opposes partisan gerrymandering from either party. Democrats and Republicans had differing opinions on the redistricting proposals. “I’m thrilled with the maps that have come down, they listened to the public input the commission received, and I think that’s reflected in these maps,” said David Imamura, the Democratic chairman of the redistricting advisory commission. Nick Langworthy, chairman of the New York state Republican committee, said, “These maps are the most brazen and outrageous attempt at rigging the election to keep Nancy Pelosi as Speaker.” Read more about this story in the Washington Post.

This is a bipartisan, bicameral effort that I am proud to be a part of. Members of Congress should work to represent their communities, not to turn a profit. https://t.co/DAdVy6TVZX

— Antonio Delgado (@DelgadoforNY19) January 30, 2022

Rep. Antonio Delgado on Jan. 30 joined those calling for a ban on members of Congress trading stocks while in office. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat from Virginia, and Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, last year introduced a measure to ban members of Congress from trading stocks after revelations that several Republicans used insider knowledge during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic to buy stocks in companies likely to do well through the outbreak. The bill got little traction until Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, came out against the proposal. That incited support, from both sides of the aisle. There is now a similar bill in the Senate, and momentum to pass something. The bills would require members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children, to place their stocks in a blind trust while the member is in office. Lawmakers often have access to privileged information, and these bills would attempt to quash efforts to make money on that insider knowledge. "This is a bipartisan, bicameral effort that I am proud to be a part of. Members of Congress should work to represent their communities, not to turn a profit," Delgado said in a Jan. 30 Tweet.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that Greene County businesses had $1.1 billion in sales in 2021, a large increase from the year before. That meant record sales tax revenue for the county, an 18 percent increase of about $6.5 million. Greene County Deputy County Administrator Warren Hart attributed the increase to changes in buying habits and an alteration in the tax code. In 2019 the state counted sales tax by where to item was purchased, but switched in 2020 to where the buyer is located. Since Greene County lacks large commercial centers, malls, or giant shopping districts, and since many people did more shopping at home during the pandemic, the increase was notable. Plus, Greene County has seen more second homeowners moving in, also increasing sales. The county's total value of all taxable property rose more than five percent between 2020 and 2021, according to figures from the state Comptroller's Office. Fueled by new home owners, Greene County also had the most municipalities in the Capital Region with highest income growth between 2018 and 2019, with Lexington in seeing a 36.2 increase in gross income. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's daily news update.

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

Noah Eckstein is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Hudson Common Council at a special meeting Jan. 27, unanimously approved a Tourism Board grant of $16,500 to support a monthly gallery crawl in the city. Ellen D’Arcy Simpson, Susan Eley, and Jeremy Bullis, all Hudson gallery owners, came up with an idea to have local businesses extend their hours on the second Saturday of each month as a way to stimulate the local economy. Some of the money will go toward minimizing the need for self-transportation for tourists who wish to stay in Hudson and ski at Windham Mountain. For the weekend of Feb. 12, the Wick Hotel in Hudson is offering a discounted stay rate to anyone interested in booking an integrated ski-and-stay package. The Common Council authorized Mayor Kamal Johnson to enter into a contract with Johnston Transportation to provide two school buses for tourists to visit Windham Mountain. It is hoped this initiative will drive added foot traffic to the Second Saturday Gallery Crawl, and to restaurants and shops throughout the city. “I don’t see any downside to this,” said 4th Ward Alderprson Theo Anthony. First Ward Alderperson Art Frick agreed the venture is important for the city, but he also said more could be done. “Moving forward with plans like this I would love to see us explore things that are more economically viable to a greater number of people,” Frick said. Simpson noted there are 25 art galleries in Hudson, giving the city the largest concentration of galleries on a single street in the Hudson Valley. “We’re pivoting and figuring things out as we go,” she said. Note: Johnson is a WGXC volunteer on-air programmer. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics the Farm Laborers Wage Board at the state Department of Labor January 28, backed a proposal to lower the overtime threshold for agriculture businesses from 60 hours to 40 hours a week. The decision in favor of a phased-in overtime plan was praised by labor advocates, but sharply opposed by organizations that represent farmers. Lowering the overtime threshold could benefit the workers on farms with higher pay. But the New York Farm Bureau and other agriculture-aligned business groups argue the move would hurt smaller producers, lead to higher food prices and out-of-state products while also reducing the number of people they can employ. "Changing the overtime threshold to 40 hours a week for farmworkers in New York means that these workers will be limited to 40 hours, due to simple farm economics," said Grow NY Farms, a coalition of organizations opposed to the change. "This is not a win for farmworkers that self-proclaimed worker advocates will claim." Labor advocates, on the other hand, say farm workers deserve to be paid the same way as everyone else, and get overtime wages after 40 hours of work in a week. The change will not take effect until 2024 and would be phased in over eight years. Some officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, are discussing ways of offsetting the cost of the overtime move through tax credits. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

The world is in its third year of a deadly virus that has taxed healthcare workers like no others. At the same time, some members of Congress, including Paul Tonko locally, have signed on to a letter to get the federal government to cap nurses pay. HealthAffairs.org reports that, "An unprecedented number of nurses are retiring early and exiting the workforce or quitting their hospital employment to return as employees of staffing agencies." Tonko and the other representatives see rising wages for nurses as a problem. "We are writing because of our concerns that certain nurse-staffing agencies are taking advantage of these difficult circumstances to increase their profits at the expense of patients and the hospitals that treat them," the letter to White House COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator Jeffrey Zients says. The almost 200 Congressional representatives signing on to the letter are a mixed lot, with far-right figures such as Elise Stefanik, conservative Republican Liz Cheney, centrist Democrat Tonko, and liberal Ilhan Omar all in favor. Nurses, however, mostly do not want their salaries capped. There is evidence that nursing wages are up, like in many other fields with high demand for workers. The American Health Care Association last year sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, urging the FTC to protect consumers from anti-competitive and unfair practices regarding agency staffing. Tonko, who represents all of Albany County and other parts of the Capital District, was not joined by Hudson Valley Democrats Antonio Delgado nor Sean Maloney in signing the letter.