Today's daily news update.

MidHudson News reported 17 new deaths from COVID-19 were reported in the Hudson Valley by the State Health Department on Jan. 18. Nine of those were in Dutchess County and one in Greene County. Columbia County reported 178 more cases on Jan. 18. Albany County reported two more deaths on Jan. 20, and over 600 new positive coronavirus cases. A man in his 60s and a woman in her 80s were the latest fatalities there. “This is now the fifth consecutive day we’ve announced at least one person losing their life to COVID-19 complications, and these latest two bring our total so far for the month of January to 25,” said Albany County Executive Dan McCoy in the Times Union.

Mike Goodwin and Will Waldron report in the Times Union that one worker was badly injured in an explosion of an 275 gallon oil tank in a shed at a boat shop in the Coeymans Landing Marina on Jan. 20. Officials familiar with the incident said an explosion was heard, but that they did not know the cause of the blast. The injured man was flown away on a medical helicopter at about noon. “There are a lot of waste oil barrels and three boats there that are on fire, so that is the issue right now — trying to contain the fire,” said Coeymans Town Supervisor George McHugh in an interview with The Upstater. “It looks like they have it pretty well contained and under control because I don’t see any smoke right now.” This is the second recent major fire along the Hudson River in this southern Albany County town. On Oct. 27, a large fire at the scrapyard at the Port of Coeymans sent chemical-smelling smoke into communities along the Hudson River for several hours. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Noah Eckstein reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Amber Harris was appointed to a Hudson Common Council Third Ward seat on Jan. 18. Two weeks before, Calvin Lewis Jr., declined to accept the position and relinquished his seat. Harris will serve at least through a special election in November. “I wanted to be that person to help my ward,” said Harris, on why she asked to fill the seat held by Lewis. The Common Council voted unanimously for Harris. They also voted in three new Commissioners of Deeds: Larry Edelman Jr., Christopher Duntz, and Nicholas Hodges will serve through Jan. 31, 2024. And the Common Council also reappointed four members of the Conservation Advisory Council: David Konigsberg, Hilary Hillman, Tom O’Dowd, and Michael O’Hara will serve through Dec. 31, 2023. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

So far at least five candidates have announced they want to replace Rep. Paul Tonko in whatever ends up being the 20th Congressional District. Right now that includes all of Albany County, and much of the Capital District, but redistricting may not be resolved for weeks, so speculation on an election without a defined district is difficult. But so far, Jack Fallon-Underwood, Justin Chaires, Cole Matthews, and Rostislav Rar are running in the Democratic primary election June 28. Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that Tonko wants the lines drawn too. "I just hope we're given district lines as soon as possible because the petitioning date is just around the corner," Tonko said. "I'd like to know what my district is going to look like, and if it's divided where I'm going to go from that point on." Democrats now control redistricting in the legislature, and the article asks, "Will Democrats try to make life more difficult for [Elise] Stefanik? Or make re-election easier for [Antonio] Delgado?" Tonko's blue district, which lies between Stefanik's now red district to the north, and Delgado's purple district to the south, will be altered if Democrats attempt to help one or the other of the nearby swing districts. New York Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs said, "Republicans across the country are redrawing congressional lines to favor their candidates. Without being obnoxious in New York, if lines are drawn with communities and help Democrats then that is the course we should take." Republican Liz Joy lost to Tonko in 2020, and is also running again this year.

Today's daily headlines.

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The Mid-Hudson News Network is reporting U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado touted his congressional record during a tele-town hall on January 18. In the three years that Delgado has been in office, he has had 18 of his bills passed and signed into law. The Rhinebeck Democrat told everyone on the telephone town hall session that each of those measures was for the benefit of his constituents in New York's 19th Congressional District. Of the 18 Delgado bills signed into law, 10 were under President Trump and eight during the first year of the Biden administration, Delgado said. “From addressing the needs of our farmers to supporting our veterans to empowering our small businesses, to protecting against toxins like PFOS, the focus is always on delivering for communities,” he said. Delgado was joined on the call by Ulster County Health Commissioner Dr. Carol Smith, to address the latest concerns about the pandemic. Other topics addressed during the one-hour session included supporting the workforce and protecting voting rights. Delgado is being challenged by the current Dutchess County Executive, Republican Marc Molinaro. Read more in the Daily Freeman.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media in 2021, calls to the Greenville Rescue Squad increased 22 percent over the previous year. The statistics were revealed by the rescue squad Chief of Operations Matthew Marlow during his report to the Greenville Town Board on January 17. The squad responded to 552 calls in 2021, 120 calls more than in 2020, when the agency took 432 calls for assistance. The increase in calls and other challenges are being attributed to hospital capacity and staffing, rising mutual aid requests and a surge in 911 calls after an early pandemic lull. “We are backfilling Coxsackie (mutual aid) because Coxsackie is backfilling Catskill, who is working in Cairo and everywhere else,” Marlow told the board. “The biggest contributing factor is hospitals. They have cut staff and have started to surge in their own right.” Ambulance crews have been forced to wait at hospitals as staff tries to keep up with demand, or travel to other hospitals further away, Marlow said. "...[O]ur mutual aid has gone up simply because there are no ambulances to answer calls.” The trajectory of the COVID pandemic, and how it has impacted health care, is another factor the squad has had to contend with over the past year, Marlow said. People refrained from ambulance trips to the hospital in the early days of the pandemic, but that changed a few months later and the number of calls began to creep upwards. He said now the squad is seeing all of the pre-pandemic volume, plus COVID-related calls on top of that. The increase in call volume has occurred locally and from other municipalities, as well, Marlowe said. Read the full story at The Upstater [dot] com.

Zach Williams is reporting for City and State on the attorneys, public relations and other professionals that are making money off former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. When Cuomo resigned in August, amid a plethora of scandals, he was sitting on a campaign war chest of $18 million. His latest campaign finance disclosure shows how he has spent a good bit of that money on matters other than campaigning for elected office. Nearly $2 million in payments highlight how Cuomo has expended the funds contributed by his political supporters to attack his perceived political enemies. At least $800,000 in campaign funds went to Sullivan & Cromell, a Manhattan law firm that represented Cuomo in a state Assembly impeachment investigation. The law firm of Rita Glavin, representing Cuomo in the matters related to allegations of sexual misconduct by the former governor, has received about $900,000 from his campaign account. A firm recently founded by former gubernatorial spokesperson Richard Azzopardi has received at least $42,500 in payments from Cuomo, according to the campaign filing. “All rules and regulations were followed, period,” Azzopardi said. The disclosure included expenditures for services tendered while Cuomo was still governor, such as a $25,000 payment to his longtime pollster. Read the full story at cityandstateny [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Jonah E. Bromwich, Ben Protess, and William K. Rashbaum report in the New York Times that in filings Jan. 18 in response to Donald Trump's efforts to avoid questioning, New York Attorney General Letitia James said that the former president repeatedly misrepresented the value of its assets and said his company had engaged in “fraudulent or misleading” practices. James is not finished in her investigation of the Trump Organization's financial practices in New York, but was tipping her hand to the judge to prove the necessity of questioning Trump and his children. In the filing James argues that the Trump Organization misstated the value of the properties to lenders, insurers, and the Internal Revenue Service, and that many of its filings were “generally inflated as part of a pattern to suggest that Mr. Trump’s net worth was higher than it otherwise would have appeared.” In a statement, James was blunt. “We have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit,” she said. A spokesperson for the Trump Organization spun things differently. “Three years later, she is now faced with the stark reality that she has no case,” the spokeswoman said on Jan. 19. Read more about this story in the New York Times.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge reports for Columbia-Greene Media that a few days after three racists held a "White Lives Matter" in front of Chatham's village gazebo, more than 80 counterprotesters returned to the same spot to have their say. “This is the real Chatham,” Village Mayor John Howe said. “When it comes to hate, not in my village. And this is something we need to do everyday, not just today. We’re going to stand united and they will not divide us.” On Jan. 14, several photos were shared on social media of three individuals holding a banner with the name and website address of the racist group. At noon on Jan. 19, the gazebo was instead filled with dozens of people carrying signs against racism and singing “We Shall Overcome.” Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Andrea Macko reports at Porcupine Soup that Coeymans Town Supervisor George McHugh was not the only local official writing to a judge urging leniency for a local man who pleaded guilty to his part of the riot in the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. Westerlo Republican Chair Lisa DeGroff and Westerlo Town Councilperson Amie Burnside also wrote letters to the judge on behalf of William Tryon, 71, of Selkirk. “There could not be a more upstanding citizen,” DeGroff stated of Tryon, who prosecutors said participated in “a violent attack that forced an interruption of the certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote count, threatened the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 Presidential election, injured more than one hundred law enforcement officers, and resulted in more than one million dollars’ of property damage.” Burnside implied that the riot was justified in her letter to the court. “Bill is simply just as frustrated as the rest of the country,” Burnside stated. Lewis County Sheriff Michael Carpinelli, who is a Republican running for governor, also wrote to the court for Tryon on official sheriff’s office letterhead. On January 14, Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Reggie B. Walton sentenced Tryon to 50 days behind bars and ordered him to serve 12 months of post-release supervision and pay $500 in restitution, a $25 special assessment, and a $1,000 fine. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Today's daily headlines.

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Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics incumbent New York Gov. Kathy Hochul remains the frontrunner in the June Democratic primary, according to a Siena College poll released January 18. Hochul took office on August 24, and at this point she is way ahead of her rivals U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, as well as former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. De Blasio announced after the poll was released that he would not run for governor. Hochul is supported by 46 percent of the Democrats polled. The former mayor drew 12 percent, Willams is supported by 11 percent and Suozzi, a Long Island congressman, received 6 percent. Hochul is the choice of 40 percent of Democrats in New York City and 40 percent of downstate suburban voters. State Attorney General Letitia James, the Democrat seen as Hochul's most competitive rival for the nomination, withdrew her bid in December and opted instead to run for a second term as AG next year. "With 22 weeks until the primary, it appears Hochul is in the catbird seat to be the Democratic nominee for governor,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. “Hochul approaches support from nearly half of Democrats, 46 percent, up from 36 percent last month — before James, who had the support of 18 percent, exited the race. ..." The poll found voters support Hochul's proposal to allow restaurants to sell to-go beverages 55 percent to 34 percent. Voters also back her proposal to expand programs in prisons that would help people get jobs once they are released, 79 percent to 14 percent. And 77 percent of voters support term limits for all statewide elected officials as proposed by the governor through a constitutional amendment. The poll of 806 registered voters was conducted from January 9 to 13. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Michael P. Norton is reporting for the State House News Service Massachusetts is poised to receive $1.1 billion in new federal bridge repair money over the next five years. U.S. Rep. Richard Neal announced the money estimate on January 18, crediting the work of Congress and President Joe Biden to pass an infrastructure funding law. The money will be allocated under a Federal Highway Administration formula and can be used to fix 472 bridges listed in poor condition in the Commonwealth. “Modernized and improved bridges statewide will provide safety for all users, and create good-paying jobs for workers,” Neal said in a prepared statement. “Bridges are vital pieces of our infrastructure — not only to our daily commutes, but also to emergency vehicles and the trucks that are making deliveries in our communities. ...” States normally must match federal money with up to 20 percent in state or local money, but guidance issued last week indicated that federal money can be used for 100 percent of the cost of repairing or rehabilitating "locally owned off-system bridges," according to Neal's office. Neal, along with Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, made the announcement at an Armory Street site. City planners hope to replace two bridges in Springfield. Read more in The Berkshire Eagle.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media the Coeymans Town Board is considering the possibility of extending the town supervisor’s term from two to four years. If the board agrees to double the length of the term, the change would go into effect after the 2023 election. Deputy Town Supervisor Daniel Baker introduced the proposal at the January 13 board meeting. “We did a little research on this. All of Albany County government, everybody — county executive, comptroller, the sheriff — everybody in Albany County government is all four-year terms,” Baker said. “The village of Ravena, everybody there is also a four-year term. The only one in the town of Coeymans that is not a four-year term is the supervisor’s seat.” Town board members, town clerk and highway superintendent all serve four-year terms. The law would include a mandatory referendum, giving voters the chance to be heard on the issue. Current Supervisor George McHugh was re-elected to a second two-year term in November 2021 and the seat will be up for election again in 2023. During the town board discussion, McHugh stressed that if the change is made, it would not apply to the term that just commenced. “If the mandatory referendum passes, it has nothing to do with the term I am in,” McHugh said. “It is for future terms, which I may not be a part of, so it has nothing to do with me.” McHugh noted that a two-year term makes it difficult to complete long-term projects such as the park renovation currently underway. No decisions were made on the proposal during the January 13 meeting. Read the full story at The Upstater [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.