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

Bill Williams is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media following a three-month investigation, state police Wed., Dec. 15, charged Nancy H. Smith, 71, of Claverack, the former director of the Columbia Children’s Center in Greenport, with failure to report child abuse, alleging that she failed to make the proper notifications as a mandated reporter. Smith was issued an appearance ticket for the Town of Greenport Court on December 27. Anna M. Bower, 63, of Livingston, was charged two days earlier with endangering the welfare of a child and was subsequently arrested, Trooper Aaron Hicks, public information officer for state police Troop K said. Bower was issued an appearance ticket for Greenport court on December 27 as well, Hicks said. Bower was an employee of the center. Police declined to provide details about the incident that led to the charges being filed. The investigation was opened September 9, into several reports of physical child abuse. Law enforcement visited the center to speak with parents, Hicks said, in an effort to identify current or former children who may have been victims. The investigation centered on an unidentified employee, now identified as Bower, who stopped reporting for work, after the investigation began, said Michael Howard, attorney for the Columbia Children’s Center. Smith was replaced as director a week after the investigation began. Catherine Burdick is now acting director, according to the Office of Children and Family Services, the state agency that licenses the facility. Since Sept. 17, the Columbia Children’s Center’s license has been listed as pending revocation by OCFS. The OCFS enforcement action will remain pending until a final decision is made by an administrative law judge, a court or until the enforcement action has been resolved. The daycare center has remained open since the investigation began. It has been licensed by the state since June 1991 when it moved into its current location. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Brendan J. Lyons is reporting for the Times Union State Police interviewed Rensselaer Mayor Michael E. Stammel at City Hall on December 14, and seized his mobile phone as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged absentee ballot fraud in the November election. Stammel initially declined to confirm that his phone was seized, but then added he was unsure why they would want to examine the device."I myself or nobody affiliated with me during the election process, that I am aware of, had anything to do with any wrongdoing with any absentee ballots or any voting intimidation or anything to with the election other than assisting those people who wanted to vote by absentee ballots with their approvals," Stammel said. Beau Duffy, a State Police spokesman, said the agency is "conducting interviews as we do with any investigation, one being the Rensselaer mayor. Items have been seized as a part of this investigation, however, we will not get into what particular items have been seized." Stammel, a Republican, won re-election when a judge recently certified his victory over Democratic challenger Richard J. Mooney. Mooney asked a court to throw out a significant number of absentee ballots, including some filed on behalf of voters who said they had not authorized anyone to file absentee ballots for them. Last month, a Rensselaer man told the Times Union that absentee ballots applied for on behalf of him and his wife were fraudulent because he has never voted in an election or applied to vote by absentee ballot. They said that someone had forged their signatures on the documents. The man also denied that he had ever met Rich Crist, whose name was listed on the absentee applications as the person authorized to pick up the ballots from the board of elections. Crist is the county's operations director and a longtime Republican operative and a confidant of county Executive Steve McLaughlin. A criminal complaint that sparked the State Police probe was filed by Todd Rutecki, a campaign volunteer for Mooney. Read more in the Times Union.

Noah Zweifel reports in the Altamont Enterprise about how many local municipalities are breaking the law. A month ago the Open Meetings Law was updated, now requiring all public bodies in New York with websites to post meeting minutes within two weeks of a meeting’s occurrence. In southern Albany County, Berne was a day late last week getting the minutes of a November meeting posted, while in Knox, the most recent planning board minutes posted are from July. In Rensselaerville the most recent planning board minutes posted are from November of last year. But Rensselaerville is still complying with the law, as they have not posted minutes, but have posted recordings of the meetings. Rensselaerville, New Scotland, and Guilderland have all posted meeting recordings. Rensselaerville also streams meetings live. "It is the responsibility of every municipality and unit of local government (there are thousands of them across the state) to stay aware of changes to State law that may affect them,” said Kristin O’Neill, assistant director for the New York State Committee on Open Government. Read more about this story in the Altamont Enterprise.

Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media a fight between two Catskill High School students captured by a cell phone camera has caused a district parent to call for a major overhaul of school district policies. The altercation took place on the afternoon of Dec. 8 in the high school cafeteria. The video shows an unidentified student putting his arm around 10th-grader Shawn Walters, shoving him across the cafeteria, launching him across a table and then falling to the floor. The unidentified student then stood over Walters and repeatedly punched him and stomped on his face before other students intervened to break up the fight. Troy Walters, the boy’s father, said he was mortified when he saw the video. He said school officials did not contact him. Catskill School District Superintendent Ronel Cook said in an email to the paper that "...any code of conduct infraction that takes place in the district is investigated by the building principal. At the conclusion of the investigation, the building principal administers a consequence for the infraction." Troy Walters said he learned what happened from his daughter who saw the video on social media. “I contacted the school and got hold of the principal and, as you can imagine, as a dad I was pretty upset. ...I wanted to know what police agency was called and [learned that] they had never called a police agency,” he said. In a statement about the incident posted to the Catskill school district website on December 15, Cook explained that in "...instances that involve violence, we contact law enforcement." Catskill Village Police did not have a record of an arrest made in connection with the fight. After the fight, Shawn Walters was taken to the nurses' office, while the other student was picked up by his mother and taken home shortly thereafter. The district has sworn out a trespass warrant against Shawn's father, barring him from school property. “I take ownership for that, because yes, I did lose my mind when I saw how battered and beaten my son was,” he said. Walters said he has been receiving messages from dozens of parents in Catskill who say the school district has brushed aside bullying and assault cases in the past. “They don’t follow their protocols,” he said. “They won’t even tell me how many violent assaults they’ve had on campus.” Troy Walters is unsure at this point if he will allow his son to return to Catskill High. The full extent of Shawn's injuries is still not known. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Mike Goodwin reports in the Times Union that COVID-19 hospitalizations in Albany County have reached the same levels as February, when few people were vaccinated. Officials in Albany County said Dec. 15 there were 66 county residents in hospitals, a number last seen on Feb. 20. Most of those hospitalized are unvaccinated. “The best weapons in our arsenal to beat back this pandemic and keep people safe are vaccinations and booster shots, and that continues to be demonstrated in the latest data we have. Of the 66 county residents currently in the hospital with COVID, 70 percent are not vaccinated, three percent are partially vaccinated and only 27 percent are fully vaccinated,” Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said in a prepared statement. “In the latest sign that COVID-19 is still a threat, we’ve returned to reporting new daily infections above 200 in Albany County, and sadly, we now have the most county residents hospitalized with the virus at one time since Feb. 20. Hospitalizations will likely increase in the days ahead as we continue to feel the post-Thanksgiving surge of COVID cases and head towards more holidays at the end of the month.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Joseph Spector reports in the Poughkeepsie Journal that Gov. Kathy Hochul started a mask mandate in the state Dec. 13, to slow the rising death count from COVID-19. But even with rising cases counts, hospitalizations, and deaths, officials in Greene and Dutchess counties are ignoring the mask mandate, and picking and choosing which state regulations to follow. "I’m not going to engage in a political discussion about this. This is just too important," Hochul said. "This is about getting us through a pandemic so we can finally say to everybody: You no longer need to wear a mask. Period. That (COVID) vaccines will be so routine for everyone that you won’t think twice about it just like every other vaccination." But Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro will let more deaths happen in his county. "As we educate & inform residents to take the necessary mitigation steps to protect themselves & those they love, we will not escalate tension or conflict or further burden our local small biz by allocating resources we do not have to this impractical & unenforceable measure," he wrote Dec. 12 on Twitter. The mask mandate in New York is in place through at least Jan. 15, requiring masks in all indoor public places in New York unless businesses or venues implement a vaccine requirement for entry. Read more about this story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that farm workers will have to wait until January to find out if they can get paid under the same rules as grocery employees and other workers. Currently, grocery store workers and other employees in New York State get overtime after 40 hours of work in a week. But farmworkers do not get overtime pay until they work 60 hours a week. The New York State Department of Labor was set to resolve the issue, but pushed back their decision until after public hearings on the issue Jan. 4, Jan. 18 and Jan. 20. Agricultural lobbyists says farms would rather not pay increased wages. The three hearings are virtual, and anyone can sign up to testify at https://dol.ny.gov/farm-laborers-wage-board-hearings. Read more about this story for New York State of Politics.

Today's daily headlines.

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

Rick Karlin is reporting for the Times Union the state Legislature has sent a bill to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk that would set up a system for encouraging cement companies like LaFargeHolcim in Coeymans to consider ways of lowering their carbon footprint in the concrete-making process. Cement making for concrete contributes an estimated 7 percent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions, due to the scale and amounts of coal used in the process. Lawmakers have approved a measure that, if approved, would have the state Office of General Services consider the carbon footprint of companies bidding to sell concrete to the state for use in building roads, bridges or buildings. The state currently considers price and whether a company can deliver a quality product on time as bid criteria. “We need to find a way to green this industry,” said Brooklyn Democratic Assemblyman Robert Carroll, who sponsored the bill with Long Island Democratic Sen. Todd Kaminsky. But former regional EPA Administrator Judith Enck said she believes the bill leaves open the door for cement companies to burn waste, including used tires and other refuse, as a substitute for using coal in their kilns. “It never defines what low carbon concrete is,” said Enck. She is also the founder of Beyond Plastics, which tries to reduce the use of plastics. Enck wrote to Hochul, urging her to veto the bill. Instead, she believes the state should encourage cement makers to look at increasing the efficiency of their kilns and using materials such as ground glass and a sand substitute, which could be more efficient. Enck's letter was co-signed by dozens of local environmental groups including NYPIRG, Food and Water Watch as well as the Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena-Coeymans and Save the Pine Bush. Other groups, including the New York League of Conservation Voters, support the measure, saying it could incentivize ways to reduce carbon in the concrete-making process. The LaFargeHolcim plant in Ravena previously suggested using solid waste and tires as fuel. Those plans prompted local residents to organize against that proposal. The state Department of Environmental Conservation in May ruled that the plant would not be able to burn tires with its current configuration. Worry about tire burning came up in 2017 following reports the company had plans to bring in solid waste, including used tires from out of state, to help power the kiln. Officials from LaFargeHolcim could not be reached for comment. While the use of substitute fuels is just beginning in the U.S., cement makers worldwide are already burning garbage. Read the full story in the Times Union.

William J. Kemble is reporting for the Daily Freeman that the town of Saugerties will close its comment period following a public session on Dec. 15, about whether officials should opt out of the state marijuana law that permits retail sales and on-site consumption at smoking lounges. Under the proposed amendments, cannabis establishments would be allowed in the town's Industrial, Office Light Industrial, General Business and Highway Business districts. Supervisor Fred Costello said in an interview there has been no resolution proposed that would have the town opt out of the state law prior to the December 31 deadline. “I think it’s a possibility to opt out of the lounge and allow retail but there’s no clear consensus [on the board] for that yet,” he said. An informational marijuana session December 14, drew about 30 people who seemed split on allowing sales in the town, though even supporters were not certain whether allowing commercial sites for consumption was a good idea. “I think there’s more of an acceptance for retail [sales] than lounges,” he said. “With lounges, there seems to be not … a clear understanding of how that might work. You can’t go to a lounge to purchase product, you can only go to a lounge to smoke product.” Costello is a restaurant owner and has a license to sell alcohol. He noted that the responsibilities and liabilities of liquor sales are not the same for businesses involved in cannabis consumption, but the absence of well-defined rules has not convinced him that lounges should be prohibited. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Copake Town Board voted unanimously Dec. 9 to block the equivalent of liquor bars for cannabis. Last month the town decided not to stop retail cannabis stores. New York legalized cannabis in April, and towns and villages have until Dec. 31 to opt-out of retail stores and/or consumption lounges. Deputy Supervisor Richard Wolf said he favored consumption lounges there, though he voted against them. “I also understand, though, that we need more information, and don’t disagree with that at all. May the same person or business obtain permits for both uses? We don’t know and where would Copake allow an on-site consumption facility to operate? As Jeanne already mentioned, we would have to make changes to the zoning law.” So next door Hillsdale will allow both dispensaries and on-site consumption sites, while Copake will only allow the retail stores. There are also currently many legal cannabis stores across the border in Massachusetts, while New York stores are not expected to be allowed to open until late 2022 or 2023. The Copake Town Board also voted Dec. 9 to create a three-person ad-hoc zoning advisory committee, to report back to the town board with recommendations about what, if any, amendments should be made to the town’s zoning code if on-site consumption locations are to be allowed within the town. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Porcupine Soup is reporting property owners statewide will soon be able to apply to the New York State Historic Preservation Office for a 25 percent tax credit to restore barns. State Senator Michelle Hinchey and Assemblymember Didi Barrett announced on December 12, that their bill to create the new tax program had been signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul. To qualify, the barn being restored must have been built before 1945 and be returned to productive use or into small businesses such as craft breweries or event spaces to support economic growth. The Historic Barn Rehabilitation Tax Credit, once a federal program, was eliminated in 2018 as a result of changes in the federal tax code. The state bill revives the tax incentive by codifying it into state Tax Law and expanding eligibility so that more historic barns may qualify. Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League of New York State, said the tax credit will be a boon to rural areas. Hinchey said in a press release, “Historic preservation is a pivotal strategy for rural revitalization, and by instituting the Historic Barn Rehabilitation Tax Credit we are making it more affordable for New Yorkers to save these beloved buildings from disrepair and explore new uses in agritourism, arts and culture.” Read the full story at porcupine soup [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that as the United States nears 800,000 deaths from COVID-19, Ulster County on Dec. 14 began distributing free COVID-19 test kits. COVID-19 cases are reaching pre-vaccine levels, and most counties are not taking any steps at all to stop the spread. Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statewide mask mandate that began on Dec. 13, and ended a few minutes later, as county officials in Dutchess, Greene, and other counties said they would just ignore the rules, and Hochul let them. Last week, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan declared a state of emergency there because of the rising case counts, and secured 33,000 test kits to give out to residents. Meanwhile in Columbia County, two more COVID-19 deaths were announced Dec. 13. “One of them had been on a vent for awhile, his condition was never really all that great,” Columbia County Department of Health Director Jack Mabb said. “The other one it happened kind of quick, it was an unexpected quick decline.” That is now five COVID-19 deaths in Columbia County in the first half of December. The health department is overwhelmed. “Like a lot of health departments out there, we’re kind of maxed out,” Mabb said. “When it comes to vaccination effort, we’re behind with the numbers that we pulled in over the weekend, in terms of contact tracing and calling people. What we will do is, if we get calls from somebody that’s saying a certain establishment isn’t enforcing the mask mandate, I have a few people from environmental who can go to an establishment and talk to them, educate them about the mask requirement.”

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that New York's Joint Commission on Public Ethics voted Dec. 14 to require that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo return the proceeds from his book "American Crisis" about the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, JCOPE voted to rescind approval in 2020 for the ex-governor to write the book, because Cuomo broke his promise to not use government resources to write it. The Assembly Judiciary Committee found Cuomo used state resources to write the book, with staffers working on it while being paid by taxpayers. Cuomo attorney Jim McGuire said the former governor will challenge the vote. “JCOPE’s actions today are unconstitutional, exceed its own authority, and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law," McGuire said. Cuomo is supposed to get $5.1 million for the book, but has not received all payments yet. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Tom Gogola reports in the Times Union that Dave LoVerde of the Friends of the Feathered and Furry Wildlife Center in Hunter wants hunters to switch to non-lead bullets and shells. The Department of Environmental Protection recently found a bald eagle with lead poisoning near the Cannonsville Reservoir dam in Delaware County. “I tested it for lead levels and the levels were off the chart,” says LoVerde, whose animal-rescue organization, founded by his late wife, Missy Runyan, has treated numerous birds of prey for lead poisoning. The American Bird Conservancy agrees it is a problem, estimating that 16 million birds a year are poisoned by lead. The birds feast on fish, waterfowl, or animal carcasses with lead fragments or pellets from hunters’ bullets and shotgun shells. LoVerde guesses this bald eagle may have fed on lead-peppered entrails left by a hunter after field-dressing an animal, or on a carcass left by state wildlife agents after killing a deer or other wounded animal. The eagle died two hours after the test, and on an X-ray the next day “you could see the specks of lead in his digestive tract.” LoVerde wants hunters and law enforcement agencies to switch from lead ammunition to copper or other metal and metal alloys that don’t have the same health impacts on animals. California already phased out the use of lead ammunition in 2019 and Rep. Ted Lieu from California introduced a bill in Congress in 2020 that would ban lead ammunition from U.S. Fish & Wildlife lands. A bill from Democratic Assemblywoman Deborah Glick in New York did not proceed to a law this year. Bill Conners, a Hudson Valley hunter and fisher, chair of the New York State Fish and Wildlife Management Board, and Legislative Vice President at the Federation of Dutchess County Fish & Game Clubs, says a switch is possible. “The bottom line for me is – I could support legislation that eventually limits the use of traditional lead ammo,” said Conners. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's daily headlines.