Today's daily news update.

Local COVID-19 case count numbers now resemble the first days of vaccination availability locally, rather the end of a global pandemic. Greene County announced 57 more cases on Sept. 27. That gives Greene County 158 current cases, and a seven-day rolling average testing positivity rate of 6.6 percent. On Sept. 28, Columbia County added 22 new cases, for 114 total. The day before Columbia County 21 new cases, and another death. It was the 102nd in Columbia County since the pandemic began, while 79 Greene County residents have died. Ulster County reported one new fatality Sept. 27, bringing its total to 280.

Jackson Wang reports for Spectrum News that Albany Medical Center officials don't expect many problems with the state's new mandate that health care workers are vaccinated for COVID-19. They say 98 percent of the health care workers at Albany Medical Center have already received their shots. Albany Med President and CEO Dr. Dennis McKenna said Sept. 28 that a little more than 200 employees will receive a notice of a seven-day unpaid suspension due to being unvaccinated now that the state mandate is in effect. Employees that do not receive a dose of the vaccine in those seven days, will no longer be employees. The mostly full staffing news is good because Albany Medical Center has 37 people hospitalized for COVID-19 currently, with 12 in the ICU and two on ventilators. On Sept. 28 in the afternoon, Columbia Memorial Health hospital in Hudson was reporting two hour emergency department waiting times due to staff shortages. Read more about this story at Spectrum News.

Steve Hughes reports for the Times Union that the minimum wage will rise north of Westchester County on Jan. 1 from $12.50 an hour to $13.20 an hour. The state Department of Labor announced the 70-cents-an-hour raises on Sept. 27 as part of a gradual phase-in of a $15 minimum wage that was passed as part of a state budget plan in 2016. State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said many companies that employ low-wage workers have already been raising their wages to compete for workers in a time with many businesses competing for workers. The state's Division of the Budget reported that one million jobs lost during the pandemic were in the three industries with the most minimum wage workers: retail trade, health care, and leisure and hospitality. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's daily headlines.

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Brendan J. Lyons and Joshua Solomon are reporting for the Times Union hospitals are cutting back on services as the state vaccination mandate takes effect and thousands of health care workers are facing suspension or dismissal for refusing to be vaccinated. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a briefing the morning of September 27, she will pull health care workers from the National Guard and other states, if necessary, as hospitals statewide initiated plans over the weekend to begin reducing services as a deadline for health care workers to be vaccinated against coronavirus took effect. It is unclear how the mandate would apply to many of those workers as military units and health care workers in other states do not have 100 percent vaccination rates. "We’re going to have to bring in people at all levels. Again, it doesn’t have to be this way," Hochul said. The governor said she would sign an executive order that in addition to allowing her to call in the National Guard, it would also allow retired workers with lapsed licenses to come back to work to fill the gap. Hochul said the state intends to entice out of state workers with supplemental pay as a way to compete with staffing shortages nationwide. "We are not relenting," Hochul said. "We’re not backing off." She asserted the lack of vaccinations for health care workers is more prevalent upstate than downstate. The first phase of the vaccination mandate for many state employees, mostly nurses, physicians and other front-facing medical workers, took effect at 5 p.m., Mon., Sep. 27. Employees that refuse to be inoculated face immediate suspension for up to two weeks and possible termination after that. According to news10 [dot] com, 83 percent of hospital workers in Columbia County are fully vaccinated, a rate reportedly lower than in nearby counties. Columbia Memorial Health in Hudson, continues to experience longer wait times and have diverted patients to other hospitals or to its rapid care centers. However, CMH has now reduced the hours of operations at its Rapid Care Center in Copake. Read more in the Times Union.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Columbia County has recorded more than 5,000 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, health officials said Mon., Sep. 27. The Columbia County Department of Health reported a total of 30 new positive cases over the weekend. “Out of the 14 [cases] on Saturday, six were children, four were school-age children,” Columbia County Department of Health Director Jack Mabb said. “We’re not necessarily seeing that they’re catching it in school but they are nonetheless potentially bringing it to school.” The Department of Health reported one COVID-related death on Friday afternoon. Mabb said it was an unvaccinated person in their 70s. Another Columbia County resident died Sunday. That individual was in their 60s and was also unvaccinated Mabb said. The two recent deaths bring the total to 102 since the beginning of the pandemic. Five COVID-related deaths occurred in Columbia County this month, making September the deadliest COVID month in the county since last winter. “It’s hard, ...because they’re unvaccinated people,” Mabb said. “It’s like you look at it and think if they had just gotten the shot they could be alive. You know it’s a damn shame.” There are currently six county residents hospitalized because of the virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 70.5 percent of county residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 80.1 percent of those over 18 have received at least one dose of the vaccine; 65 percent of the county's total population is fully vaccinated. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Andrea Macko is reporting for Porcupine Soup Cairo Police Officer Thomas Plank announced September 25, at an event in Angelo Canna Town Park in Cairo, the DARE. program in Greene County is coming to an end because he is retiring. Plank’s law enforcement career began in 1980 when he was hired as a corrections officer in the Greene County Jail. In 1982 he was hired as a Greene County sheriff’s deputy and in 1990 became a DARE officer, completing training to work with elementary, middle, and high school students. DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. The program was established by Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates and the LA Unified School District as a strategy within the so-called War on Drugs. DARE workshops are conducted for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The program today focuses on bullying, cyber-bullying, suicide prevention, domestic violence, the opioid epidemic, mass shooting awareness and human trafficking. “Over the years I’ve worked in Cairo and Durham, back when there were two elementary schools, Greenville, Windham and Hunter,” Plank said.He retired from the Sheriff’s Office back in 2002 but stayed on part-time. He is currently employed by the Cairo Police Department and teaches at Cairo-Durham. “I have been blessed to be able to do what I do...,” Plank said. “I am certainly going to miss this.” Read the full story at porcupinesoup [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

FilmColumbia, Mon., Sep. 27, announced it will return October 22 through 31, following a hiatus in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a press release, the 10-day festival in Chatham, will present both independent and international features and documentaries, plus post-screening Q&As with directors and special tributes, all presented by The Crandell Theatre. The slightly reduced number of films is intended to help accommodate added health and safety measures. Those procedures include proof of vaccination for all attendees and staff, required mask-wearing indoors at all times, reduced seating capacity at the Crandell and the use of only one primary venue for festival events. Additionally, the festival will implement an individual ticketing system. As a result, no festival passes will be offered. The annual pre-festival benefit reception has been cancelled, as well. The festival kicks off on Fri., Oct. 22, with Compartment No. 6, which shared the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, as well as director Pedro Almodovar’s new feature, Parallel Mothers, starring Penelope Cruz. As always, FilmColumbia’s Saturday Night Sneak, an unannounced film that traditionally joins the list of Oscar contenders announced four months later, will screen at 8 p.m. on October 30. Festival information and tickets are available at crandalltheatre [dot] org [slash] filmcolumbia. The health and safety protocols for the 2021 festival are also available on the FIlmColumbia website.

Greta Jochem is reporting for The Berkshire Eagle the city of North Adams is again trying to sell the long-vacant Mohawk Theater, located on Marshall Street, a short distance from the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. The city's request for proposals to purchase and redevelop the building was published last week. “We know this is an interesting property,” Mayor Tom Bernard said, “and it’s one with tremendous potential and also potential interest. There’s been potential interest in it all along.” The property, a two-story brick building, with an assessed value of just under $437,000, according to the city, once operated as a movie house, which closed in 1991. The city purchased the building in 1996. Since then it has been a difficult property to redevelop. In 2019, the North Adams City Council gave Bernard permission to issue a request for proposals, but it specified any developer would have to preserve the theater’s marquee. That requirement remains, according to Bernard. In December, the city invited proposals to purchase and redevelop the property. Two proposals were submitted — one failed to meet the minimum requirements and the second, Bernard said, "...did not feel it was in the interest of the city.” Proposals must be submitted by Oct. 25. Read more in The Berkshire Eagle.

Michelle Del Rey is reporting for the Times Union changes to the U.S. Postal Service's express shipping, effective Fri., Oct. 1, could delay some mail going across the country. The USPS claims it has not been able to hit its promised delivery targets for years and the upcoming changes will make them more attainable, cost-effective and realistic. The new standards will increase time in transit windows for up to two days, holding up mail with longer delivery routes. First-class mail covers standard-sized envelopes weighing up to 3.5 ounces, and large envelopes and small packages weighing up to 13 ounces. Previously, delivery was promised in three business days or less. According to the Post Office, the updates “will improve service reliability and predictability” and were a “necessary step toward achieving our goal of consistently meeting 95 percent service performance.” Approximately 61 percent of first-class mail and 93 percent of periodical delivery times will remain unaltered. Louis DeJoy, U.S. postmaster general, unveiled the organization’s 10-year-plan earlier this year, which involved adjusting delivery time frames for first-class letters, periodicals and flat envelopes for up to five days. Critics of the new standards worry that they might hurt mail recipients. In a July letter, the Postal Regulatory Commission issued an opinion, writing, "...it is not clear that the tradeoff between financial viability and maintaining high-quality service standards is reasonable.” Read the full story in the Times Union.

Today's daily headlines.

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Sam Raudins is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Hudson Planning Board September 23, chose to continue its review of the A. Colarusso & Son haul road application into October. During the public meeting, the board went behind closed doors to discuss Colarusso's application in executive session for roughly one hour. When it emerged, the board had decided that more work was necessary. “We have more work to do coming out of this meeting,” board Chairman Stephen Steim said. “Tonight we are not ready to take any further action.” Previously, Steim said the meeting Thursday would be dedicated to working on the Colarusso application, which has been under review for some time. The proposed haul road would run from the Colarusso company facility on Newman Road in Greenport, through Hudson, to the Hudson River waterfront. The route is a major quality of life issue for city residents, creating concern about the safety issues and the impact of the resulting truck traffic on the urban environment and infrastructure. Colarusso is a sand and gravel mine, stone quarry and blacktop plant. The haul road proposal was first submitted in 2017, to both the Greenport and Hudson planning boards, giving rise to two years of litigation. The planning board conducted a virtual workshop in August to work on the application. The members who attended the meeting tackled the environmental quality review’s part-two questions and discussed how they could get to work on part three of the review process. The planning board will next meet on October 14. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Greta Jochem is reporting for The Berkshire Eagle the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation board of trustees September 23, announced the appointment of Kristy Edmunds as Mass MoCA's new director. Edmunds currently is the executive and artistic director of UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance. Previously, she was founding executive and artistic director of the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art in Portland, Ore., and artistic director of the Melbourne International Arts Festival. Her appointment is effective in October. “I have been fascinated with Mass MoCA from the second I learned about it decades ago,” Edmunds said in a statement. “What it feels like to experience art in this place is unlike anywhere else. There’s an aliveness charging through the campus itself that manages to honor the past while being in the vivid present, and I have never been there without feeling that I discovered something astonishing. ...It is a tremendous honor to be joining Mass MoCA and supporting this outstanding team of people who maintain a creative pipeline of possibility in one place." After more than 30 years as director, Joseph Thompson announced last summer that he would be stepping down. Tracy Moore has served as interim director and Thompson transitioned to temporary consulting position at the museum in late October 2020. “...From the outset of the selection process, Kristy stood out from other extraordinarily accomplished candidates as someone with interests and aspirations that are deeply aligned with ours,” said Timur Galen, chairman of the Mass MoCA Foundation board of trustees. Read more in The Berkshire Eagle.


Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media Coeymans town officials are working with a local business to create a trail system for walking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Officials met on September 9, with the management of the Sycamore Country Club to develop a new trail from Joralemon Park through the adjoining property at Sycamore Country Club. “I met at Joralemon Park this week with our Parks Department, our Superintendent of Highways Scott Searles, and Kevin Reinisch from Sycamore Country Club,” Town Supervisor George McHugh said at a recent town board public meeting. “...We talked about the extension of the trail system that they are going to put onto their golf course for cross-country skiing, for snowshoeing, for hiking — that kind of stuff — after the golf season ends,” he said. The country club reopened its doors May 8 under new management, and the club’s restaurant will now remain open year-round, McHugh said. “It’s going to be really nice,” he said. The park and the country club will connect in the area "...between the fifth green and the sixth tee, just to the left of the memorial if you are coming from the Joralemon side or right of it if you are on the sixth tee,” McHugh said. The new managers at Sycamore are making plans for snowmobiling on the property, but the trail system is not where that will happen because the greens must be fenced off to avoid damage. The Joralemon Park project, which has been in process for several months, is coming together, McHugh added. “It is moving slowly but surely,” he said. Read the full story in The Ravena News-Herald.

The Times Union Capitol Bureau is reporting Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sept. 25, she will get the help of health care professionals from other states or countries, deploy medically trained National Guard members and request federal Disaster Medical Assistance teams if staffing shortages in hospitals and other health care facilities increase after the statewide vaccination mandate begins Sept. 27. "We are still in a battle against COVID to protect our loved ones, and we need to fight with every tool at our disposal," Hochul said in a statement Sept. 25. Hochul said she is poised to declare a state of emergency to increase the workforce and allow qualified health care professionals licensed in other states or countries, recent graduates, retired and formerly practicing health care professionals to practice in New York. Other options include deployment of medically trained National Guard members, and partnering with the federal government to bring in Disaster Medical Assistance Teams. As of Sept. 22, 84 percent of all hospital employees statewide were fully vaccinated. As of Sept. 23, 81 percent of staff at all adult care facilities and 77 percent of all staff at nursing home facilities in New York were fully vaccinated. All health care workers at hospitals and nursing homes are to be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the first dose received by September 27, and staff at other sites including home care, hospice, and adult care facilities are to be vaccinated by Oct. 7. Read more in the Times Union. Columbia-Greene Media is reporting a justice of the state Supreme Court late Sept. 24, granted the union representing 5,800 Unified Court System workers in New York a temporary restraining order against the implementation of the vaccine mandate for non-judicial court system workers scheduled go into effect on the 27th. “This is a victory for the labor relations process and reaffirms that the court system is not above the Taylor Law, just like any other public employer in New York state,” CSEA Communications Director Mark Kotzin said Sept. 24. The Taylor Law grants public employees the right to organize and to be represented by employee organizations of their own choice. The decision temporarily halted the Unified Court System from going ahead with its mandate until at least October 1, when CSEA believes there will be a second hearing. The union made a charge of improper practice based on the Unified Court System’s decision to impose a change in the terms and conditions of employment without negotiating those changes with CSEA. That action requires the court system to negotiate the vaccine mandate with the union. Read more at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

The Daily Freeman is reporting Opus 40 in Saugerties has been awarded a National Parks Service, Save America’s Treasure multiyear $300,000 grant to repair and preserve the 6.5-acre bluestone sculpture at the center of the 57-acre property. “It is incredibly gratifying for Harvey Fite’s masterwork sculpture to receive this level of support and attention through the National Parks Service,” Jonathan Becker, president of Opus 40, said in a statement. The grant requires a one-to-one match, which Becker said “will incentivize the board, members of Opus 40 and the many people in the community who have been inspired by Fite’s work to mobilize in order to preserve this unique treasure.” The nonprofit organization has increased its fundraising in recent years and has received awards from various foundations and the New York State Council on the Arts. Its revenue has increased more than 400 percent, Becker said, since 2018, laying the groundwork for the conservation plan that Fite’s work requires. Details about the sculpture preservation project will be announced in 2022. Opus 40 is also working with the Tahawus Trails Foundation on trail development, site mapping and public art. Read more in the Daily Freeman.