Today's daily news update.

Kenneth C. Crowe II reports in the Times Union that Rensselaer County officials will hold an online public meeting at 5:30 p.m., Sept. 21 for town residents about the PFOA contamination found at two homes and the Algonquin Middle School. So far, the source of the PFOA contamination is a mystery, and a second round of testing of local drinking water tis taking place. Usually when PFOA is found, their is a logical industrial source such as in Hoosick Falls, or a fire-fighting training facility nearby, like in Cairo. In Poestenkill, there is no obvious source. “The virtual meeting on Sept. 21 will be an opportunity for the county to provide new information on a second round of testing in the area, and to answer questions from the public. Because the second round of testing is just starting, there will not be data available until late next month,” a Rensselaer County announcement read. PFOA is an acronym for perfluorooctanoic acid and is a variant of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Both are extremely toxic. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Melanie Lekocevic reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Town Supervisor Robert Butler predicts there will be another vote Sept. 20, to break the current 2-2 tie over whether to rescind a 2016 resolution to transfer management of the Athens Community Center building from the village to the town. On Sept. 6, Butler and Town Councilperson Mary Brandow voted against rescinding the 2016 resolution, while Michael Ragaini and Shannon Spinner voted in favor. Anthony Paluch did not attend the meeting but is expected on Sept. 20. The Athens Town Board previously agreed to take over the building, but now does not want to pay renovation costs. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that Rep. Antonio Delgado, State Senator Michelle Hinchey, and State Assemblyperson Chris Tague were at Black Horse Farms in Athens Sept. 16 hoping to create support for the Small Farm to School Act. The bill would provide a nickel-per-lunch subsidy when a component of the meal is sourced from a small, local farm from federal and state taxpayer funds. “New York is an ag state, and we have an incredible opportunity to bring healthier school meals to our children while creating new markets for small farmers and strengthening our local economies at the very same time,” said Hinchey. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

MidHudson News reports that while scientists have sounded alarms about global warming, there have been few warnings about alligators surfacing in Dutchess County until now. On Sept. 14 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation captured a 50-pound alligator outside of Van Wyck Junior High School at 1:19 a.m. A next-door neighbor spotted the alligator from her living room window and called 911. The animal was taken to an area animal rehabilitation specialist for evaluation. Police released no information about how the alligator got to Dutchess County. Read more about this story at MidHudson News.

Today's daily headlines.

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Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that early voting is coming to Kinderhook, according to Columbia County's expansion plan. The county Board of Elections received an Early Voting Expansion grant of nearly $19,000 to add early voting sites within the county. The grant funding support the addition of a polling site in the county's largest voting area, which is Kinderhook. “We’re now having to have an early voting site in our largest municipality,” county Republican Elections Commissioner Kelly Miller-Simmons said. “So that will mean we will have two early voting sites, and this grant will help us [to] cover the cost..." Early voting allows voters to cast their ballots during the nine-day early voting period from October 23 to 31 this year. “The schedules [are] arranged so there’s weekend voting, there’s weekday voting, there’s some evening voting,” Columbia County Democratic Elections Commissioner Ken Dow said. “Trying to make it available to people with different schedules, that’s why the hours vary from day to day." New York began allowing early voting in 2019. In 2019, Columbia County had 3,371 early voters; in 2020 that number increased to 6,000 people, Dow said. Until now, the only place to vote early in the county was at the Columbia County Office Building on State Street in Hudson. The Kinderhook early voting site will be at the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building in Valatie. Any registered voter in Columbia County can vote early at either location. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

MidHudson News is reporting several local police departments were called out to the Brookwood Secure Center for Youth in Claverack to restore peace, during the early afternoon of Sept. 15. According to the New York State Police, law enforcement gained control of the situation and the facility was secured. Three staff members suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to Columbia Memorial Hospital for treatment. None of the residents were injured. The city of Hudson Police Department, Chatham Police Department, Greenport Police Department,  and other police departments and EMS agencies assisted at the scene. The investigation is ongoing, according to the State Police, and will be updated as soon as additional information becomes available. The Brookwood Center on Spook Rock Road is operated by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services and houses male and female youths, who, while under the age of 16, and now 16 and 17 years of age, were convicted and sentenced in adult criminal court or family court as part of the Raise the Age legislation. Depending upon the sentence, youth may remain in OCFS custody until they are 21 years of age. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Paul Nelson is reporting for the Times Union the Niskayuna Town Board is now divided as the decision of who will be chosen as the town's next police chief looms. Now that the town has thrown out disciplinary charges against acting police chief Michael Stevens, he will likely emerge with only a letter of counseling in his personnel file, according to several people familiar with the situation. The charges against Stevens were thrown out because police officers refused to testify against him. A letter of counseling is the formal documentation of an infraction that the person is required to sign, according to information online. Despite the controversy around his candidacy, it is being said Stevens had the backing of at least one town board member. The other two finalists for the position of police chief are sergeants Todd Frenyea and Jordan Kochan. Three members of the board and Supervisor Yasmine Syed must agree on a candidate by September 17. Niskayuna Police Benevolent Association President Anthony Comanzo did not return a call Wednesday. Last year, the union overwhelmingly approved a vote of no confidence against Stevens. The upset over Stevens' disciplinary record is the latest setback for a department that has seen two chiefs retired surrounded by controversy in a little more than a year, another file a complaint, and the resignation of an officer who encouraged others to quit because of low morale brought on by an alleged lack of support from town officials. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Spectrum News reports that a man was quickly arrested Sept. 16 after the Albany Black Lives Matter mural was spray-painted with the letters "KKK." Ian Rawlinson, 43, of Albany, was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime, and is expected to be arraigned Sept. 17 in City Court. He was arrested on Madison Avenue near Lark Street around 3:40 p.m. while the mural is located on Lark Street between Hudson Avenue and Lancaster Street. Recently stickers promoting the white supremacist group Patriot Front have been found in Hudson, Germantown, Chatham, and Philmont. Read more about this story at the Spectrum News website.

Today's daily news update.

Sam Raudins reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the city of Hudson Industrial Development Authority approved on Sept. 15 a Payment in Lieu of Taxes for the Galvan Foundationn to build new affordable housing. That approval came after the Hudson Planning Board on Sept. 14 The planning board voted for a negative declaration for the project on the state environmental review. The group proposes to build 84 apartments priced at- market, 54 apartments priced for low-income, and 20 priced for moderate- income tenants on 7th Street and State Street. The project includes nine 1,000-square-foot, ground-floor commercial spaces with a preference given to women- and minority-owned businesses. “The Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition supports this project because the need for housing is dire in Hudson,” the group said in a prepared statement. The city of Hudson, and the entire Hudson Valley face an affordable housing crisis with little new building and older units falling off the market due to decay, or being shifted to short-term rentals. That latter trend is fueled by a shortage of hotel rooms, and it has all been made worse by a wave of new buyers during the pandemic. All that has made property values skyrocket locally, pricing out longtime residents. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

William J. Kemble reports in the Daily Freeman that a lethal bug-transmitted deer disease has been found in Ulster, Dutchess, Greene, Columbia, Nassau, Oswego, and Suffolk counties. There are also suspected cases in Albany, Rensselaer, and six other counties. Deer catch Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease from midge bites. “The disease is not spread from deer to deer and humans cannot be infected by deer or bites from midges,” Five dead deer were found late last week at Oakdale Lake in Hudson. “Folks with ponds are experiencing regular finds of carcasses,” Town of Saugerties Supervisor Fred Costello said earlier this week. “Animals that are suffering the illness become very thirsty. They seek out bodies of water, and they die a short time later.” The first hard frost should kill the midges, and eliminate the disease for the season. Until then, though, expect more dead deer locally. a href="https://www.dailyfreeman.com/2021/09/16/state-confirms-700-dead-deer-from-disease-with-confirmed-cases-in-ulster-dutchess-greene-columbia-and-three-other-counties/">Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that up to 1,143 Afghan refugees could be relocating to New York, said Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sept. 16. The number of refugees is based on new guidance by the U.S. Department of State, Hochul said. That number includes about 100 people in the Albany area. "New York has a storied history of welcoming those seeking a safe haven from violence and persecution — a proud tradition our state continues today by helping evacuees from Afghanistan rebuild," Gov. Hochul said. "The heart-wrenching images and stories of people fleeing their homeland were a call to action that New York State is more than willing to answer. We welcome our new Afghan friends with open arms and pledge to provide them the assistance they can rely on to rebuild anew." The United States gave up on a 20-year war in Afghanistan recently, after thousands of citizen and military deaths, and trillions of taxpayer dollars spent. Read more about this story at 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.

Catskill Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ronel Cook announced Sept. 15 that a staff member at Catskill Elementary School tested positive for COVID-19. School began on Sept. 13, which was the last day the employee was in the school building. The Greene County Department of Public Health is not requiring anyone else to quarantine as a result of this case. "While I understand that you may want more details, privacy laws prohibit us from sharing or confirming personally identifiable information about anyone who has tested positive," Cook said in his statement. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, does not allow others to reveal medical information about individuals, although individuals are allowed to reveal whatever medical information about themselves that they wish to share with anyone. There have also been two COVID-19 cases at the Ichabod Crane Primary School in Valatie announced this week, and in Saugerties the school district there reported four new cases of COVID-19 from students at the high school this week, and one new student and one new case from a teacher at the junior high school, and also a student and a staff member at Grant D. Morse Elementary School have contracted the virus.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics the members of the state redistricting commission Sept. 15, indicated they could not agree on the same set of proposed maps for dividing up New York's voters. The commission has been tasked with drawing new legislative boundaries for Congressional seats, as well as for the state Senate and Assembly. The commission will release two sets of maps for debate as the process continues to unfold. But if an agreement is not in place by January 15, when the final set of maps are due, the process could rest with the state Legislature, where the Democrats have supermajorities in both chambers. The state's redistricting process is supposed to be controlled by the commission to remove some of the influence of members of the state Legislature. Commission members hope the next round of 14 statewide public hearings to be held in the coming weeks will provide an opportunity to reach an agreement. "The people of New York are counting on us in ways that are not contemplating before," said Elaine Frazier, a commission member. "I think we're up to the challenge. I look forward to working with you." New York is set to lose one House seat after its population did not grow at the same rate as the rest of the country. If Democrats are able to submit their own version of the maps, it could ultimately help the party keep control of the narrowly divided House of Representatives. In November, voters will also consider changes to the state constitution that could further empower the supermajorities in the Legislature. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the final round of voting to choose a new mascot for the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District has begun. Voters have until 4 p.m. September 20, to choose from the three mascot choices on the ballot: the Eagles, Bluejays, or Riverhawks. The board of education decided in June, on a vote of 6 to 3, to retire the district’s long-time mascot, the Indian, citing cultural insensitivity to Indigenous people. Nominations were submitted by community members, and 14 were presented for a vote conducted in August to whittle the choices down to three. Nearly 2,000 people voted in the first round, Board of Education member Tara Bachner said. Students were encouraged to cast their ballots after school started last week. “The final three were very popular in the community — it wasn’t even close,” she said. Bachner is expected to provide the board of education with an update on the status of the mascot decision at the board of education meeting this week. The board will vote after the community votes are tallied. Ballots can be cast online at cacsd. [dot] org, and ballot boxes have been set up at the district's elementary schools in Athens and in Coxsackie. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.