The Daily Freeman is reporting the village of Rhinebeck has organized a car caravan intended to express the town's support for Northern Dutchess Hospital health care workers for Wed., Apr. 8. Rhinebeck Mayor Gary Bassett contacted Northern Dutchess about how best to honor the front-line workers and they came up with the social-distanced event called the Healthcare Salute Parade. Passengers are asked to bring signs to hold up to laud the staff, who will either step outside the hospital or look through windows as the caravan goes by. Residents are also asked to share their messages on social media with the hashtag #rhinebeckresponds. Participants will remain in their vehicles the entire time, and horns must not be honked. The caravan will form on Old Post Road, at Montgomery Street at 2:30 p.m. The route will not form a complete loop around the hospital to avoid blocking the emergency room entrance. Last week, the Catskill school district held a similar car parade for students, as have several other local school districts. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson holds a COVID-19 town hall on Facebook at 2 p.m. on April 10 with Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairperson Matt Murell, County Department of Health Director Jack Mabb, and Hudson Common Council President Tom DePietro. WGXC will broadcast the event on 90.7-FM. Johnson also announced on April 5 a new student wireless access program designed for use during the COVID-19 emergency for Hudson City School district families that don't have internet access. PLAY EXCERPT OF KAMAL JOHNSON'S COMMENTS HERE. The online forum on April 10 will be the first online forum for Columbia County officials since the pandemic began, although they have spoken to the media throughout the lockdown. Greene County officials, on the other side of the Hudson River, have been mostly quiet. They posted one Quester III briefing March 19 with local education officials online, but have not answered any questions from the public in an open forum yet. And The Daily Mail has reported that they are often not returning reporters calls.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics the changes made to New York's cash bail law last week have been criticized by supporters of the original measure as well as its Republican detractors. However, New Yorkers United for Justice, a criminal justice reform coalition led by two formerly incarcerated people, said the changes maintained the spirit of the original law's intent. The legislation, which was approved April 3 as part of the state budget deal, added more charges that would require cash bail. The final agreement did not include a provision allowing judges to remand a defendant based on whether the person is believed to be a danger to the community. “We view these changes to the pretrial reform laws as a signal that the legislative portion of pretrial reforms has drawn to a close," said Khalil Cumberbatch, the group's chief strategist. "...We will continue to offer our partnership to all stakeholders involved, including the governor and the legislature to affect that, and to help demonstrate that fairness under the law and the safety of our communities go together." United for Justice, like other reform advocates, is currently concerned about the number of people in local jails who could face exposure to coronavirus, urging law enforcement to ensure that no one is unnecessarily detained or incarcerated during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

This is the Catskills and Hudson Valley Coronavirus report for Monday, April 6, from Lissa Harris of The River and Roger Hannigan Gilson of The Other Hudson Valley, and read by Tom Roe of WGXC. Go to therivernewsroom.com or theotherhudsonvalley.com for more information.

Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson announces a new student wireless access program designed for use during the COVID19 emergency for Hudson City School district families that don't have internet access. The program is a initiative developed by the Spark of Hudson, for more information contact them at hello@sparkofhudson.org. Video above produced by Randall Martin.

April 5 update from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

This is the coronavirus news for the Catskills and Hudson Valley for Sun. April 5. Greene County has 27 positive cases located in Windham, Durham, Greenville, Hunter, Cairo, Catskill, Athens, Coxsackie, and Halcott. There are also 12 cases that tested positive have been cleared, so just 15 active positive cases. And there are 77 individuals in Greene County being self-monitored for possible exposure with six cases that have been released from quarantine status. Columbia County has 61 positive cases of COVID-19, and three deaths. Five of the positive cases are hospitalized, two of those are in the ICU. Columbia County has 440 test results, and 60 under mandatory quarantine and 22 under precautionary quarantine. There are also nine residents with suspected, not tested cases, and 24 Columbia County residents have recovered from COVID-19. In Dutchess County, 3,780 people have been tested, with 790 positive cases of coronavirus. As of April 4 there are 78 Dutchess County residents in area hospitals, and 50 recovered and eight deaths. Ulster County reports 1548 negative tests as of April 4, and 318 positive cases, and four deaths. In Albany County there are 278 positive cases of COVID-19 as of April 4, with 464 people under mandatory quarantine and 82 people under precautionary quarantine. Albany County reports two more deaths, for a total of six. In Rensselaer County, there are 19 hospitalized as of April 4, with "over 279" in monitored quarantine, and a total of 73 confirmed cases in Rensselaer County. At his daily press conference, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York City was not yet at the apex, but somewhere in the 4-8 day range from reaching the peak. “It’s good that we’re not at the apex because we’re not yet ready." Cuomo said that Long Island has growing share of COVID patients as the virus spreads. Cuomo also said he’s anticipating taking 500 unused ventilators from hospitals upstate for hospitals in need downstate, saying that’s about 20 percent of the unused ventilators at those hospitals. The best news Cuomo had was that China was sending 1,000 ventilators, and the state of Oregon was sending another 140. Here is Gov. Cuomo speaking April 4 on the ventilator issue. CLICK HERE TO HEAR EXCERPT OF GOV. CUOMO'S PRESS CONFERENCE. Cuomo also said it’s fair to say the 2020 legislative session is “effectively over,” though that seemed to upset many legislators. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie wrote on Twitter that, "Last week, we established a system for remote voting, and we are on call to perform our constitutional duties as a co-equal branch of government. The Assembly is in recess (session is not over) at the call of the Speaker." The wife of New York state Senator James Seward, who has the coronavirus, posted online April 4 that he has been placed in a medically induced coma, and has been on a ventilator since April 2, "His condition had deteriorated quite rapidly and became dire," she wrote. But later on April 4, Jeff Bishop, Seward's Communications Director wrote on Twitter, "Some very good news this evening. Senator Seward is no longer on a ventilator." Nationally, President Trump announced April 3 that the Center for Disease Control now recommends everyone wear non-medical masks in public now, although he said he would not wear a mask. On April 4 Trump said that he may take hydroxychloroquine himself, even though he does not have a prescription, and that stocks are running low for lupus patients who need the drug, and that Dr. Anthony Fauci says that there's no definitive data about its effectiveness treating COVID-19.

April 4 update from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Click here to download or play the complete audio report of all the coronavirus news for the Catskills and Hudson Valley for Sat. April 4. Today's latest news: Columbia County now has 57 positive cases COVID-19 cases, and two deaths, as of April 3. There are now five people hospitalized, with two in the ICU. Columbia County has conducted 427 tests so far. There are 60 people under mandatory quarantine in Columbia County and 22 under precautionary quarantine. There are also nine suspected, but untested, cases. And 22 Columbia County residents have recovered from COVID-19. In Greene County there are now 27 positive cases in the towns of Windham, Durham, Greenville, Hunter, Cairo, Catskill, Athens, Coxsackie, and Halcott. Of those, 12 cases have been “discharged,” leaving 15 active positive cases in Greene County. There are also 79 people being self-monitored for exposure and 53 people have been released from quarantine. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in his daily press conference, again begged for more help from the federal government, but also more help from New York businesses. CLICK HERE TO PLAY EXCERPT. Rep. Antonio Delgado, a Democrat from Rhinebeck, held a Tele-Town Hall meeting about the coronavirus, with Assemblymember Chris Tague, a Republican from Schoharie. The first call he took was about how dairy farmers are dumping milk because of New York State laws against selling unpasteurized milk. CLICK HERE TO PLAY EXCERPT. Dr. Dennis McKenna, the CEO of Albany Med, explained during a press conference April 3 why the hospital was taking coronavirus patients from downstate. CLICK HERE TO PLAY EXCERPT.

Press conference held by the clinical leadership from Albany Med; Saratoga Hospital; Ellis Medicine; St. Peter’s Health Partners; and St. Mary’s Amsterdam at Albany Med Fri., Apr. 3, to provide an update on the coordinated response efforts related to the novel coronavirus. Officials discussed the process of transferring patients from New York City hospitals and readiness for local patients.

Dennis P. McKenna, M.D., Albany Med president and CEO, and Ferdinand Venditti, M.D., executive vice president for System Care Delivery and hospital general director give the COVID-19 update for Fri., Apr. 3.

Today's daily news update.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media Coeymans town officials have launched a project intended to make broadband internet service available to all residents. Coeymans Town Board member Brandon LeFevre outlined a preliminary plan to expand communityaccess to broadband at the board's March 26 meeting. He is working with U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko's office and the town's grant writer on the issue. “You might assume that everyone in the town had broadband internet, or at least the option of having internet, however a good portion of the town of Coeymans is left in the dark when it comes to broadband internet,” LeFevre said. The first step in the process is to determine how widespread the problem is, and a survey has been created to collect names and information from town residents who are without service at home. The survey will be posted at the town’s website, coeymans [dot] org, and on the town’s Facebook page. Copies of the survey are also available at the Town Clerk's office. The importance of broadband access is more important that ever, town Supervisor George McHugh said. Especially now with employees and students forced to work from home because of social distancing requirements during the ongoing coronavirus emergency, he said. Read the full story at RavenaNews [dot] com.

Rick Karlin is reporting for the Times Union operators of sewer treatment plants and municipal sewer systems are increasingly concerned that quarantined state residents, given the shortages of toilet paper caused by panic buying, will flush bulkier alternatives such as paper towels and baby wipes down the drain. The result can be sewer line backups in a person’s home or farther along in the system. Plus, non-flushable materials cause problems in sewer treatment plants and often have to be removed by hand. “It’s terrible. It causes huge problems,” said Patricia Cerro-Reehil, executive director of the New York Water Environment Association, which represents sewer treatment plant operators. “It’s a real mess.” Bethlehem Public Works Commissioner George Kansas advised, "If people run out of toilet paper and need to use another product like wipes, they should throw the wipes in the trash after use and not try to flush them." Despite claims to the contrary, wipes are not flushable, Cerro-Reehil said. The products are often made with cotton or synthetic fibers, while toilet paper is only paper. Cerro-Reehil said toilets should be for bodily waste and toilet paper — nothing else. Read the full story in the Times Union.

MidHudsonNews [dot] com is reporting the nursing department of Columbia-Greene Community College has donated cases of personal protective equipment to Columbia Memorial Health. The gowns and masks were given to the hospital as part of the ongoing effort to supply frontline staff with the items that have fallen into short supply as the COVID-19 pandemic escalates. “We packed up everything we could in our lab and filled a trunk with boxes,” said Dawn Wrigley, professor of nursing and department chairwoman at the college. She said the hospital group has been “an extraordinary supporter of [Columbia-Greene]’s nursing program, and we will do anything we can to help them.” Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Today's daily news.

Morgan McKay is reporting for State of Politics the New York state Legislature has approved a 2020-21 state budget. The Senate debate April 2, on the budget bill lasted two minutes in a nearly empty chamber. “This nearly empty chamber it really is surreal,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said to only a handful of people present. “You know, actually for me its chilling. In many ways it’s upsetting, but it’s a testament to this great institution and the work that continues here.” Some of the big items in the budget: a $104 million increase in funding to school aid, but Foundation Aid funding was held flat. This means that there will be no increases to Foundation Aid in the 2020-21 school year. However, the most recent federal stimulus bill is providing around $1 billion to grade schools, which will help offset some of this loss. The budget allows for funding amounts to change based on the receipt of tax revenue. Medicaid spending will increase by 3 percent, or about $500 million. There are changes to the criminal justice reform bills including giving judges broader authority to set bail on additional crimes, such as repeat offenders, hate crimes, sex crimes and high-level drug offenses, and prosecutors will have more time to hand over initial discovery to defense attorneys. Other big items included: the legalization of e-bikes and e-scooters; mandatory 5 to 7 paid sick days for all employees; the prohibition of the so-called Pink Tax; and a ban on flavored vaping products. Read the full story at NYStateofPolitics [dot] com.

Abby Hoover is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Hudson officials April 1, announced the city will appoint a Climate Smart Task Force in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene Counties. The task force will first conduct an assessment of the city’s actions concerning climate change before prioritizing its next steps at a meeting to be held later this month. Cornell Cooperative will provide technical expertise and administrative support for the task force. The city will work with Cornell to create a flood guide and road stream-crossing management plan, which count as actions in the Climate Smart program. These actions are “important to sustainability planning in the city of Hudson, especially with increasingly intense weather events and rising waters of climate change,” according to the statement. Mayor's Aide Michael Chameides will chair the task force and serve as the Climate Smart coordinator. Communities that take the Climate Smart Community Pledge commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while saving taxpayer dollars, increasing energy security and reliability, supporting a green innovation economy and more. Other Columbia County communities working toward the Climate Smart certification are Ancram, Austerlitz, Chatham, Copake, Ghent, Hillsdale, Kinderhook, and Philmont. In Greene County, Athens, Cairo, Catskill, Hunter and Jewett are working toward certification. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Chris Bragg is reporting for the Times Union New York state is about to miss a payment deadline and forfeit the purchase of 1.5 million N-95 respirator masks, according to the firm managing the deal. Halfmoon-based craft supply retailer Darn Good Yarn has relationships with suppliers in China that have access to the masks used to help protect medical personnel and others against airborne droplets from sneezes or coughs. The specialized masks are in short supply. The Chinese suppliers involved in the mask deal require up-front payment. At 3 p.m., Fri., Apr. 3, the company's opportunity to buy any of the masks from the Chinese suppliers for approximately $4 each will end, according to Nicole Snow, the founder and CEO of Darn Good Yarn. It is unclear why the state has not come up with the $6 million needed over the past week. "New York state takes its responsibility to procure personal protective gear extremely seriously, and is vetting all possible avenues to secure products that are viable, available, and cost appropriate," said Heather Groll, a spokeswoman for the state Office of General Services. "Darn Good Yarn’s offer is under consideration." Snow said the Cuomo administration committed to buying the masks a week ago and went so far as to work out the delivery details, but so far the state has failed to come up with the needed funds. Snow said the market for protective medical equipment is drying up and it will be difficult for the state to otherwise obtain the masks if this opportunity is lost. Read the full story in the Times Union.

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