Abigail Rubel reports in the Times Union that the state Gaming Commission announced Nov. 8 that it awarded mobile sports betting licenses to Bally Bet, Bet MGM, DraftKings Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, PointsBet, Resorts World, Rush Street Interactive, Wynn Interactive, and FanDuel Sportsbook. The announcement came earlier than the Dec. 6 deadline, as officials hope to have legal sports betting up and running in New York in time for the Super Bowl. It will take 90-120 days between the awarding of the licenses and the beginning of betting here, as state officials also issue ancillary licenses to vendors who provide geolocation services to make sure that bets are placed in New York, and as the betting apps are tested. New York is taxing 51 percent of the revenue from the vendors. Currently, sports betting is allowed at casinos in New York, and legislators approved legalized mobile sports betting in April as part of the state budget. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's daily news update.

Columbia County's Director of Public Health Jack Mabb said there will be COVID-19 vaccinations for younger children in local schools beginning next week, in an interview on WGXC Nov. 8. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a smaller dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five through 15 years. On Nov. 15, the Columbia County Department of Health holds a vaccine clinic in the Hudson schools from 4 to 7 p.m., and one at Taconic Hills from 3 to 6 p.m. On Nov. 16 there will be vaccine clinics from 4 to 7 p.m. at schools in Germantown and New Lebanon. And on Nov. 17, the Chatham fire house will give out vaccines from 3-6 p.m. for students from the Chatham and Ichabod Crane schools, as well as the public. Mabb said the sign-ups for the vaccines for children are available through the schools. Click here to play a short excerpt of Mabb explaining how to get children an appointment for a vaccine dose.

Brendan J. Lyons and Rebekah F. Ward report in the Times Union that the State Police are investigating allegations of widespread absentee-ballot fraud in Rensselaer County in this fall's elections. Several election contests in the city of Rensselaer remain undecided could be affected by the investigation. There were a high number of absentee ballots issued to political operatives and campaign volunteers on behalf of voters who authorized the individuals to handle their ballot in the county, and operatives from both the Republican and Democratic parties are pointing fingers. In the city of Rensselaer, Republican incumbent Mayor Michael E. Stammel and Democratic challenger, former Mayor Richard J. Mooney, are separated by a handful of votes, so the outcome hinges on the absentee votes. A criminal complaint filed by Todd Rutecki, a campaign volunteer for the Democrat Mooney has sparked the investigation. Shawn Redden, a local mason, claims he never authorized anyone to apply for an absentee ballot on his behalf. But public records show an absentee ballot application allegedly signed by Redden was time-stamped at the county Board of Elections on Oct. 21. That application gave Teresa Merriman authorization to pick up a blank ballot for Redden. She is a clerk on the county legislative staff where Stammel, the Republican candidate, also serves as chairman of the Legislature. Merriman was registered to pick up 45 ballots on behalf of Rensselaer voters under name variations including "Teresa Merriman," "Terri Merriman" and "Terri Mahar." Merriman did not say exactly why she used so many different names on the applications. "I am a lifelong resident of Rensselaer and some residents know me by my married name of Merriman and some know me by my maiden name of Mahar," she said in a statement. "I have worked on campaigns for two decades and have always conducted myself honestly and ethically." Ed McDonough, the Democratic elections commissioner in Rensselaer County, said about 66 absentee ballots were handled on behalf of about 90 residents of an elderly care residence in north Troy, but he claims some of those residents felt pressured to sign the absentee ballot applications. "We started getting phone calls from people, more so friends of residents, who were reaching out on their behalf because the residents were feeling intimidated by (the candidate) to actually get the ballot and give it to (the person)," McDonough said. "I reached out to the state Board of Elections and I said I had spoken to three different people; however, of the three people, none of them were willing to file a complaint." Rich Crist, a Republican political operative in Rensselaer County, said the Republican Party focused on getting as many absentee ballots as possible. "This is part of our overall campaign effort, where our candidates knocked on thousands of doors, made many calls and-or sent messages to reach out to voters, and made a significant effort to get voters to the polls or have their votes registered, recognizing the pandemic might cause some to be hesitant and that rules and laws had been changed to accommodate those concerns," Crist said. Republicans are also questioning an absentee ballot submitted by Mooney's brother, John on behalf of a 46-year-old Rensselaer man who has been hospitalized for COVID-19 and was on a ventilator when he would have signed the application on Oct. 25. Beau Duffy, a spokesperson for the State Police, on Nov. 5 confirmed that their agency is "investigating a ballot fraud complaint involving the election in the city of Rensselaer. (I) can't go into further detail since the investigation is open." Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that the criminal complaint filed in Albany County against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo includes a transcript with a misstatement by the alleged victim, Brittany Commisso. The Albany County Sheriff's Office filed the criminal complaint against Cuomo two weeks ago, even though the Albany County District Attorney was unaware that would happen. Albany County District Attorney David Soares says that his office was still "in the middle" of investigating allegations of sexual harassment against Gov. Andrew Cuomo when Sheriff Craig Apple announced a criminal complaint. Soares office now says that criminal complaint is "potentially defective" and that he has turned over potentially "exculpatory" evidence to Cuomo's defense counsel. But Apple's criminal complaint, "includes an excerpt from his alleged victim's sworn statement to investigators with the state attorney general's office in which she misstated the sequence of events that she said unfolded in the governor's private office last December," according to the Times Union. The criminal complaint does not include her corrected statement in that same interview. Commisso alleges that Cuomo reached under her blouse, touching one of her breasts over her bra last year in the governor's mansion. Cuomo is now scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 6, after Soares successfully asked for a delay last week. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's daily headlines.

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Kate Lisa reports for Johnson Newspaper Corp. that Gov. Kathy. Hochul signed a bill Nov. 3 prohibiting double bunking in New York's 50 correctional facilities. “Double-bunking is an outdated and dangerous practice that has absolutely no place in our current prison system,” Assemblyperson D. Billy Jones said Nov. 4 in a statement. “For 20 years, I worked as a corrections officer and experienced firsthand the stress and painstaking hard work this job entails.” Jones also thinks the new law will keep correctional officers safer, while the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents the state’s 18,000 corrections officers, is more interested in the jobs they believe the law will save. “We’re hoping a well spaced-out inmate population will be a much safer model and safer working conditions where I don’t think you’d have to close any facility,” NYSCOPBA President Michael B. Powers said Nov. 4. “We deem this as quite a victory, and we’re hopeful, quite frankly.” Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and now current Gov. Hochul, have planned to close some of the state's prisons this year. The 2021-22 state budget permits the governor to permanently close facilities with a 90-day notice through the end of March 2022, so Hochul faces a Dec. 31 deadline to announce closures. Read more about this story in the Livingston County News.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the town and village of Chatham are each weighing the possibility of opting out of cannabis sales, at least for the time being. The village will hold a public hearing November 8, to discuss the village opting out of a retail dispensary and on-site consumption of cannabis to give the village board time to review the question. The town will hold a public hearing Nov. 18 to discuss passing a local law for the town to opt out of allowing on-site cannabis consumption sites, only. “By us opting out — our early call if you will — the board desires to spend a little more time researching what might be a good fit for the village,” village Mayor John Howe said. “And it gives us the option to opt back in which we may very well do early next year.” Under state law if a municipality does not opt out of the law by the end of this year, it is automatically opted in, and does not have the opportunity to opt out after, Howe said. If officials are told at the hearing that residents want the village to go in a different direction, the mayor said, the board will take that under advisement. “I don’t think anybody from the board at this point is opposed to recreational marijuana the way it’s written,” Howe said. The town of Chatham is also in the process of considering legislation related to cannabis sales. Unlike the village, the town is considering opting out of allowing the consumption sites but not the retail dispensaries. “I personally would allow consumption sites, I don’t think it’s any different than a tasting room at a distillery,” Chatham Town Supervisor Donal Collins said at the town board meeting last week. The town sent a draft copy of its proposed local law to the Columbia County Planning Board for review. “What we did, we would allow the dispensaries and I imagine we’ll look to our zoning law for now to address that,” Collins said. New York enacted the state cannabis law in March 2021. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Michelle Del Rey in the Times Union counts where in the Capitol Region money from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passed by Congress this week will go. Columbia County's airport, for instance, will get just under $1.5 million, while the Albany International Airport gets just under $30 million. Some of the $65 million to expand broadband internet access will go to rural New York communities. New York will get $688 million to replace upstate Amtrak railcars. “The bipartisan infrastructure is a record deal and a once-in-a-generation investment in New York infrastructure,” Schumer said in a press release. “A building and jobs boon for construction projects from Westchester to Watertown, and everywhere in between is now brewing.” Local Democratic Representatives Antonio Delgado, Paul Tonko, and Sean Maloney all voted for the infrastructure bill, while Republican Elise Stefanik voted against the spending, saying it prioritized “large Democrat cities over rural America as part of Democrats’ radical agenda to impose the largest tax increase in our nation’s history.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media an incident at Ravena's Mosher Park, described as a melee by Coeymans Police Chief Douglas Keyer, has put the spotlight on safety in that park. Keyer told the Coeymans Town Board at its Oct. 28 meeting that a fight at the park had erupted on October 14. “Several teenagers got engaged in a physical altercation, which led to Albany County Dispatch being called,” Keyer told the board. “Our car responded, sheriff’s department deputies responded.” The dispute took place during a Pop Warner football practice, Keyer said. “An adult male was struck. No charges were requested,” he said. “One young female unfortunately was the victim of physical contact. Again, no charges were wanted to be levied.” There was criticism from some in the community about the response time from patrols, Keyer said. The Coeymans PD and the sheriff’s department contacted those people to address their concerns, he said. Deputy Mayor Nancy Warner was disappointed that no one stepped in to defuse the situation the day of the fight. “... If you see something, say something or do something," Warner said. Town Supervisor George McHugh asked about safety at the park. “Is the sentiment that Mosher Park is a dangerous area?” McHugh asked. Keyer was careful to point out that the incident on October 14 was an anomaly. Keyer did urge city officials to improve lighting at the park. “We found that the issues are typically happening where there is no light, so I think that improving the lighting over there and keeping it on all night will improve things,” the chief said. Read the full story in The Ravena News-Herald.

Today's daily news update.

Bill Williams, Kate Lisa and Natasha Vaughn are reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Catskill village resident Jason Jones, 29, was set alight when village police used a stun gun on him as he stood inside the Main Street police station on Sat., Oct. 30. The episode prompted an inquiry by the Greene County District Attorney's Office and investigators are now looking into video footage of the incident. Jones was originally taken to Albany Medical Center, but he is now being treated at the Clark Burn Center at SUNY Upstate Medical University Hospital in Syracuse. As of Fri., Nov. 5, he remained in serious condition. “His condition is very serious,” said his attorney, Kevin Luibrand, of Latham. It is alleged that Jones walked into the Catskill Police station at approximately 1:30 a.m., Oct. 30. Police said he then doused himself with hand sanitizer, a potentially highly inflammable substance, and became confrontational with the officers on duty. Jones appeared to be intoxicated when he walked into the station, police said. “It’s a horrible incident to have happened in Catskill,” Catskill Police Chief David Darling said. The Catskill Police station is equipped with security cameras inside and outside the building, the chief said. “We understand there are video recordings of what happened,” Luibrand said. “We’ve requested the preservation of the video recording. I expect some opportunity to review it.” Darling declined to comment further on the situation, citing the ongoing investigation. Luibrand also declined to speak about the details of the investigation. District Attorney Joseph Stanzione declined to comment on whether criminal charges would be filed against anyone involved in the incident, saying that his office is in the early stages of the investigation. The Jones family told Luibrand they will not make a public statement at this time. “The only timeline we’re on right now with the family is to get him recovered — that’s all the family is focused on,” Luibrand said. Jones is a 2010 Catskill High School graduate. He excelled as an athlete on the basketball and track teams. Jones threw shotput and discus, and in May 2009, he won the Patroon Conference title in shotput and discus. Catskill Central School District superintendent Ronel Cook said, “I do not know all of the particulars regarding this unfortunate situation. Nevertheless, Mr. Jones is a Catskill graduate. Anyone who graduates from this fine institution is considered a member of the Catskill family. I wish Mr. Jones a speedy recovery and our thoughts and prayers are with him.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Diane Pineiro-Zucker is reporting for the Daily Freeman a state corrections officer has been charged with violating the constitutional rights of a person incarcerated at the Green Haven Correctional Facility in southern Dutchess County, federal prosecutors said November 5. Aaron Finn, of Hyde Park, was charged in a federal indictment with “deprivation of civil rights under color of law” for an incident alleged to have happened in March 2020. According to the indictment, Finn struck the man who was in DOCCS (Department of Corrections and Community Supervision) custody multiple times and “thrashed” the man's body and head while he was restrained. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a statement that Finn “willfully used excessive force amounting to cruel and unusual punishment against a restrained [person]….” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said, “...Today’s indictment underscores that incarceration should not result in undue loss of human dignity. Unfair and illegal abuses to those serving their debt to society cannot, and will not, be tolerated by this office.” Finn faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. He resigned from DOCCS in February 2021. Read more in the Daily Freeman.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that Albany County District Attorney David Soares says that his office was still "in the middle" of investigating allegations of sexual harassment against Gov. Andrew Cuomo when Sheriff Craig Apple announced a criminal complaint. Soares office now says that criminal complaint is "potentially defective" and that he has turned over potentially "exculpatory" evidence to Cuomo's defense counsel. Judge Holly A. Trexler on Nov. 5 granted a request from Soares for a 60-day extension for Cuomo to make his first court appearance on the misdemeanor forcible touching charge. Soares wrote to the judge that Apple "unilaterally and inexplicably filed a complaint in this court. Unfortunately the filings in this matter are potentially defective in that the police-officer-complainant failed to include a sworn statement by the victim such that the people could proceed with a prosecution on these papers." Apple on Nov. 5 said his office followed proper procedures, and had included the alleged victim's oath in the court filing. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Andrea Macko is reporting for Porcupine Soup the Cairo Town Board November 4, adopted the town's $5.9 million spending plan for 2022, on a vote of 3 to 1, with one member abstaining. The vote followed a public hearing. Board member and town supervisor elect Jason Watts was the lone dissenting vote. Current Supervisor John Coyne, and board members Stephen Kralovich, and Mary Jo Cords voted for the plan while Tim Powers abstained. The 2022 tax levy increase stays under the state's 2 percent tax cap and increases town property taxes by 21 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. The budget appropriates $3.4 million for the general fund and $1.8 million for the highway fund, in addition to special districts. The total amount to be raised by taxes is $4.5 million. “We’re going to have to go up in taxes. I’ve come to that conclusion,” Watts said during a budget meeting last week. “We’re not going to be able to get anything done unless we go up in taxes....I want to go over the tax cap,” he said. Coyne responded, “I don’t want to go over the tax cap. Look at the people in our community. We are one of the poorest communities in the state.” One of the issues cited by Watts was how the town was going to pay for paving the walkway at Angelo Canna Town Park. “There is no money in here for any of that to be done,” Watts said. Under an agreement with Greene County, the town would need only to supply materials for the walkway, Coyne said, and the estimated cost of blacktop is $75,000. Powers abstained from voting on the budget, arguing the town board should have more oversight on how the Cairo Public Library board uses the money. The discussion became heated at times before Coyne reminded everyone that the purpose of the hearing was to discuss the budget and that library operations could be addressed at a later date. Read the full story at porcupinesoup [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Andrea Macko reports in Porcupine Soup that the tollbooths at the Rip Van Winkle Bridge were torn down Nov. 3. Drivers with EZ-Passes are charged by an overhead gantry with the cashless tolling equipment on the west side of the bridge, and those without are sent a bill, after the gantry takes a photo of their license plate. Not all of the toll takers have been laid off. “While there will no longer be toll collecting staff in physical booths, some of the toll collecting and bridge operations staff at the Rip Van Winkle Bridge have transitioned to new part-time and full-time security technician positions to staff the facility during the same hours that the bridge was staffed prior to going cashless,” the Authority explained. “These staff members will maintain many of the operational functions that were performed by toll collecting operations staff, such as assisting with emergency response and on-site security monitoring.” The roadway transformation won't be complete until the spring. The roadway at the bridge entrance and exit on the west side of the Hudson River will be straightened then, but the transit authority has not said if the 25 mph speed limit there will remain, or if the 40 mph speed limit on the rest of the bridge will go into effect where the toll booths used to be. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Patricia R. Doxsey reports in the Daily Freeman that on Nov. 4 a judge sent Christopher Baldner, a state trooper from Greene County, back to jail for the murder in the death of an 11-year-old girl. Ulster County Judge Bryan Rounds denied bail for the state trooper, who ended a high-speed chase by ramming his vehicle into another car, killing the girl. Baldner’s attorney, Jonathan Ingrassia, requested Baldner be released on $100,000 bail and house arrest. But Rounds said, “based on what’s been presented here today, the court … finds that the least restrictive means necessary to ensure the return to court is to remand the defendant without bail.” Baldner faces a minimum sentence of 15-years-to-life and a maximum sentence of 25-years-to-life in state prison if convicted of second-degree murder. An Ulster County grand jury indicted the state trooper on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and reckless endangerment after the Dec. 22, 2020 crash that killed Monica Goods. Her father, Tristan Goods, was pepper sprayed by Baldner during a traffic in Ulster County on the New York State Thruway. He then sped away, with Baldner following, and eventually, ramming the car. Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Gashi said, "The evidence from the cars will show that this was an intentional ramming and that (Baldner) instead of braking to avoid the collision, accelerated 100 percent into the back of the Goods’ vehicle and after hitting it the first time, nine seconds later he hit them a second time." Gashi suggested the state trooper could have followed Goods, called for backup, or shut down the Thruway. “Instead, he chose to intentionally ram the Goods’ vehicle two times within nine seconds and that is what caused the death of Monica Goods,” she said. And Baldner did this before, and was also indicted on charges of three counts of reckless endangerment for using his police car to ram another vehicle on the Thruway in September 2019. A grand jury concluded Baldner rammed motorist Jonathan Muthu’s 2018 Dodge Caravan, causing the driver to crash into a guardrail, then rammed the stopped vehicle. He could be sentenced to two and one-third to seven years in state prison for that incident. Baldner's lawyer said the state trooper has “deep connections” in the community, including a wife and children in Greene County, when asking for bail. More than a dozen members of the Police Benevolent Association, the state police union, attended the proceeding near supporters of Goods, including the Rev. Kevin McCall, founder of the Crisis Action Center in New York City. As the court session ended, McCall yelled out “murderer,” and later said he was prompted to yell out because of “the racist overtones that was inside the courtroom from the union and those that were inside the courtroom rolling their eyes and smiling and laughing. That’s why I screamed out, ‘he’s a murderer.’ Because that’s what he is.” Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Nov. 4 a multi-year study to assess the effects of climate change on New York. "Climate change is here, it's real and no state has felt its impact more than New York," Hochul said. "From hurricanes like Sandy and Ida, to seven feet of snow in Buffalo, we have seen our weather continue to grow more extreme each year. As we continue to rebuild in the wake of this pandemic, we must take a hard look at how climate change will impact our future and this study will serve as a key roadmap in informing how we can build a thriving New York in the midst of these challenges." Just in the past several months, there have been several times when over six inches of rain fell locally in a 24-hour period, two times from remnants of former hurricanes passing through the Catskills. The study will look into the state's vulnerability to such storms, and how to prepare for further complications from a warming environment. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.