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

CBS News reports that President Joe Biden announced Sept. 9 a vaccine mandate for all federal workers and contractors, and a requirement that large companies mandate vaccines or regular testing for employees. It comes as the country faces mounting coronavirus case numbers, and many more deaths. Biden spoke from the White House. PLAY or DOWNLOAD excerpt of Biden's address. The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is developing a rule requiring employers with at least 100 employees to have a fully vaccinated workforce or require unvaccinated workers to get tested for COVID-19 at least once a week with fines of $14,000 per violation. The Republican National Committee announced plans to file a lawsuit against the Biden administration over the issue. RNC chair Ronna McDaniel said, "I am pro-vaccine and anti-mandate. Many small businesses and workers do not have the money or legal resources to fight Biden's unconstitutional actions and authoritarian decrees, but when his decree goes into effect, the RNC will sue the administration to protect Americans and their liberties." The American Federation of Government Employees union did not endorse the plan, saying they wanted a say in the decision. AFGE president Everett Kelley said that "changes like this should be negotiated with our bargaining units where appropriate." So far 650,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and vaccinations are needed. When 3,000 Americans died on Sept. 11, 2001, citizens immediately let the government impose all sorts of airport mandates. Read more about this story at CBS News.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Athens Town Board, Tue., Sep. 7, deadlocked 2 to 2 on a vote that would have reversed a five-year-old decision to hand management of the Athens Community Center from the village to the town. One board member was absent and did not vote. The meeting drew a near-capacity crowd of village residents that generally oppose the change. Town Supervisor Robert Butler and board member Mary Brandow voted against the resolution, with board members Michael Ragaini and Shannon Spinner voting for it; board member Anthony Paluch was not present. A second vote will be taken on September 20, when everyone will be present, Butler said. “We’ll have to do it again when our fifth member is here,” he said. The building that houses the Athens Community Center was the first, but temporary home of Columbia-Greene Community College in 1969 before moving its campus to Greenport in 1974. For years it has served as a community center, housing the town and village offices, as well as the town court, village police station and a public gymnasium. The building is owned by the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District, but as long as it remains a community center, under the current arrangement, the village is responsible for it. “Currently the village maintains the community building and the town rents the space they use from the village,” according to a letter from the village board to the community. “The building is in need of extensive renovation. Several years back the town and village boards resolved to turn the building over to the town, which has the financial capability of performing the renovations.” However, for a number of years, the town board has been considering moving the town offices to another location and constructing a new building, leaving the community center in the hands of the village. “From the village standpoint, obviously we want to move ahead with what was in place,” Village Mayor Amy Serrago said. “When I first became a trustee, it was already past due to turn the building over. It was supposed to happen in late January 2019. I think the community is behind us sharing the building, rehabbing the building, making it what it could and should be.” Serrago conceded the building needs a lot of repairs, but she said the two municipalities working together could handle it. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Leanne DeRosa is reporting for CBS6-Albany as students head back to school, social media timelines are being flooded with photos of children holding homemade posters that list their name, age, school, grade, teacher’s name, interests and more. Germantown Central School District’s School Resource Deputy Teddy Blank is warning parents to avoid the trend. “In the beginning [it] seemed like a good idea, it's interactive, it gets a lot of likes and shares on the internet, but it also can get a lot of predators and people who are looking to benefit for themselves by using that simple information...” Blank said. He said concerns are raised with sharing information, not just from posting a student's photo. Blank strongly urges parents to avoid sharing details like name, date of birth, school information or personal interests. He said to also make sure the photo does not show house numbers or street signs. Some of the details could lead to identity theft, password breaches orin the worse case scenario, abduction or other safety concerns. “It could be used as a manipulation technique if a child is presented with those tidbits of information that could cause them to trust an unknown adult,” Blank said. Benjamin Yankson, an Assistant Professor at UAlbany’s College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cyber Security reminds parents to check the privacy policies and privacy settings on social media platforms. On some platforms, like Facebook for example, if they still want to post pictures, they can choose who sees it, he said. Read the full story at cbs6albany [dot] com.

Kate Lisa and Sam Raudins are reporting for Johnson Newspaper Corp that police have confirmed that attorney Kyle Van De Water, the former GOP 19th Congressional District candidate, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Town of Poughkeepsie Police found Van De Water, 41, of Hyde Park, unconscious around 12:30 p.m. Sept. 7, in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery on South Avenue. Police performed CPR and other measures in an attempt to save his life until emergency medical crews arrived. He was then taken by ambulance to Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie where he was pronounced dead later that day. Police failed to disclose further details. The matter remains under investigation by Poughkeepsie police. U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, Van De Water's opponent in the 2020 general election, expressed sadness about his death in a statement and he shared resources for veterans in crisis. “My heart breaks for Kyle and his beautiful family,” Delgado said. “We shared a number of conversations about family and country, and I walked away from each one knowing that he had a profound love for both. I know he will be immensely missed, and I’m praying for all who loved him..." A retired major in the U.S. Army, Van De Water went on active duty in 2006 and completed one tour in Afghanistan. He served as a judicial advocate in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He leaves behind his wife, Melissa, and their four children: middle school-aged triplets Thomas, Lincoln and Annabelle and 8-year-old Levi. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin was sworn in Sept. 9. Benjamin is being given several issues to focus on by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Affordable housing, or the lack of it throughout the state, will be his top concern. Public housing and the distribution of emergency rental assistance, will be among his top priorities. The upper Hudson Valley had aa affordable housing crisis before the pandemic, with few hotel units and many apartments converted to short-term rental units. The lack of supply of affordable housing, was then made worse by the rising demand for homes and apartments from people moving here during the pandemic. That has all driven real estate prices to new highs locally, pricing many out of their homes. So far, only $300 million of the $2.1 billion from the Emergency Rental Assistance Program has been sent to tenants and landlords. "We want to make sure that that number is ramped up much quicker, and I will work with our governor to make sure it will do so," Benjamin said. Plus, the newly chosen Lt. Gov. will attempt to win the position himself. "It is my intention to run for lieutenant governor," Benjamin said, "and I will be supporting Gov. Hochul." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Sam Raudins reports in Columbia-Greene Media that the Hudson Development Corporation announced the sale of the Montgomery Street property known as the Kaz site on Sept. 8, though said it was too soon to announce virtually any details about the sale. The sale has been shrouded in secrecy, and the announcement did not include who is buying the property or what they will do there, in an area surrounded by industrial-type buildings. “(The) completion of this transaction will have placed five acres valued at $3 million onto the city’s tax rolls. Every citizen should applaud this, the mayor should award the Key to the City — it’s a huge thing,” Board president Robert Rasner said, without saying exactly who should get that key. The new owners will get $487,160 of Downtown Revitalization Initiative funds to take down the site’s warehouse, and that plan called for housing for students and young professionals, a job readiness pipeline program, and community college programming, to fill the space. “Every single buyer we’ve ever talked with will talk about mixed-use development, which means they would put some housing on the property, not cover the property entirely with housing, but it would be fair to say they are developing a new neighborhood and the amenities and services to go with a neighborhood,” said Rasner, who keeps hinting that the new owners will be familiar faces in Hudson. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that the vaccination rate of hospital workers in Dutchess County is the second-worst in New York. Only 63 percent of county hospital workers are fully vaccinated, according to a state Department of Health survey. Just 54 percent of workers at Vassar Brothers Medical Center are fully vaccinated, and 64 percent of workers at Northern Dutchess Hospital are fully vaccinated. Both facilities are operated by Nuvance Health. MidHudson Regional Hospital, operated by Westchester Medical Center, has a full vaccination rate of 88 percent. The worst vaccination rate for hospital workers was in Putnam County, where the only hospital is operated by Nuvance, with 55 percent. Across the Hudson River, 74 percent of hospital workers in Ulster County are fully vaccinated. Dutchess County has recorded 26 coronavirus deaths since the beginning of August, while only five Dutchess County residents died due to COVID-19 from the beginning of May to the beginning of August. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Today's daily headlines.

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

Bernadette Hogan and Sam Raskin are reporting for the New York Post New York State Attorney General Letitia [Lah-TISH-ah] James has issued at least one subpoena to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics for all records related to ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $5 million book deal. James is looking for the materials as part of the AG office’s criminal investigation into the matter. Gary Lavine, a Republican-appointed JCOPE commissioner, would not “confirm or deny what the subject of the subpoena is,” but said it was received “several months ago, at the beginning of the summer.” JCOPE in summer 2020 approved Cuomo’s application to receive payment for the memoir. However, critics have called the agency's approval opaque and improper, since it was subject to internal approval by staffers, instead of by a full panel vote. A representative from James’ office declined to comment on the issuance of the subpoena. The investigators are attempting to determine if state resources were used in the production of Cuomo’s book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic. The criminal probe was first launched in April following a referral from Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. Pending the outcome of the investigation, Cuomo could be forced to return the royalties earned from the book, according to Sanford Berland, JCOPE’s top official. Read the full story in the New York Post.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Columbia County Board of Supervisors will return to meeting virtually this week. It has been holding in-person meetings since mid-June. “We had done a survey of all the supervisors previous to the executive order being lifted and the majority of the supervisors wanted to continue doing virtual meetings,” county Board of Supervisors Chairman Matt Murell said. The meetings can be viewed live via the supervisors' YouTube channel. Links to the live meetings can be accessed on the upcoming meetings information page at columbiacountyny [dot] com “Meetings are obviously open to the public, anyone can view them on YouTube,” Murell said. “We also make the transcripts of the meetings available from YouTube. And if anybody has any questions regarding an issue that’s brought up in a meeting they can email us and we will answer those questions.” Murell said. But citizens cannot interact with their elected representatives during the meetings, reducing democracy. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation last week to extend virtual access to public meetings under the state’s Open Meeting Law. Murell said the virtual meetings are well-attended by not only committee members but by additional supervisors as well. “We have noticed a better attendance among supervisors [at the virtual meeitngs],” Murell said. How long the board will conduct business online has not yet been decided, Murell said. The governor’s latest order allows virtual meetings to continue until January 15. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Diane Valden reports in the Columbia Paper that she's been reporting on battles between the state Department of Transportation and Ancram officials about the intersection of County Route 7 and State Route 82 for 35 years. On July 30 this year the town received a four-page memo from the DOT that chronicled numerous requests and suggestions made by townspeople for ways to improve the intersection and the reasons why the DOT is not willing to allow any of the proposals. The DOT says, “a review of the most currently available three-year crash history was conducted (January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2020) at the Route 82 and CR 7 intersection. A pattern of crashes was not found at this intersection.” Because of the lack of crashes, the DOT does not want to make any changes. Jay Corcoran, chair of the Ancram Hamlet Planning Group, that has been leading the charge for intersection reform said, “Our main concern in getting the DOT to take substantial action to amend the disastrous route 82/7 intersection is that, in spite of the horrible situation, the town center has never been so vibrant. If the traffic continues to accelerate in volume and speed, and nothing is done about it, we can lose our residents that have contributed so much into making Ancram the creative hub it is becoming." Meanwhile, Ancram officials are now waiting for approval from the DOT to install radar speed signs on Route 82 approaching Ancram and Ancramdale. Art Bassin, Ancram Supervisor said of the wait, “They just say they are going through their regular process.” Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

MidHudson News is reporting Woodstock Percussion, Inc., the company known worldwide for their selection of Woodstock Chimes, wind chimes of all shapes and sizes, has been sold to Sullivans, Inc., a home décor company headquartered in South Dakota. Musician Garry Kvistad {keh-VIS-tad] and his wife, Diane, started Woodstock Chimes in 1979. “Our legacy with Woodstock Chimes is rooted in musical quality and craftsmanship,” said Kvistad. “The product is very, very important to all of us and Sullivans honors and respects what we have created...” Sullivans’ CEO Tom Russo said his company searched for “opportunities to extend our leadership position in indoor home décor to outdoor and garden décor.” Current Woodstock Chimes President, Stacey Bowers, will continue to lead operations for the new Sullivans subsidiary. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

The Times Union reports two COVID-19 deaths this week from unvaccinated Columbia County residents under the age of 60. Currently, there are more coronavirus cases in Columbia County since the days when only a few people were vaccinated. "I think that’s a function of people doing their summer get-togethers and the contagiousness of the delta variant," Columbia County Health Director Jack Mabb said. "It’s also the case that the majority of the positives are still among the unvaccinated." Meanwhile, the Daily Freeman reports that Dutchess County announced another coronavirus death on Sept. 7, the eighth in six days. There have been 26 coronavirus deaths there since the beginning of August. Between May and August Dutchess County reported just five deaths. In Ulster County, the city of Kingston is now holding its public meetings online only due to the growing number of coronavirus cases. Ulster County reported 48 new COVID-19 cases Sept. 6. Greene County, with a much smaller population, announced 41 new cases Sept. 7. Albany County, with a much larger population than Greene County, announced 48 more cases Sept. 8.

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that Gov. Kathy Hochul says that New York is doing fairly well in the latest wave of COVID-19 cases. While hospitals in some parts of the country are overwhelmed with patients, New York current has 36 percent of hospital beds available and 26 percent of intensive care units open. "That is manageable today. They know what to do; they've done this before," Hochul said at a New York City news conference. "We stand ready to do what we need to do to trigger more hospital capacity." Now the state is preparing to dole out booster vaccine shots beginning Sept. 20. "We're looking very good," Hochul said of the booster shot plan. "They don't think we're going to have any capacity issues or volume." Local health departments are getting $65 million to give out the booster shots, one part of the plan to end the pandemic. "The bottom line is it's all about getting vaccinated and wearing the mask," Hochul said. "There's nothing new with how we're dealing with this next phase." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Michelle Del Rey reports in the Times Union that a fourth Democrat is running in New York’s 21st Congressional District, even though where the district lines are drawn is still a mystery. Matt Castelli, a former CIA officer and counterterrorism official, announced Sept. 8 he is vying to take on Republican incumbent Elise Stefanik. Castelli was the director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council under the administrations of presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and, before that, a CIA officer based in Afghanistan and Iraq. Castelli says he is running to “prioritize country before party and create better economic, health and education outcomes in North Country communities.” Castelli said he came decided to run after Stefanik wrongly attempted to blame Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the right-wing attempt to overthrow the United States earlier this year. “The American people deserve to know the truth – that Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility as speaker of the house, for the tragedy that occurred on Jan. 6,” Stefanik incorrectly said. Stefanik participated in the attempted overthrow by voting against certifying the free and fair Electoral College vote. Matthew Putorti, a lawyer from Whitehall, New York, Wilton resident Ezra Watson, and Brigid “Bridie” Farrell from Saratoge Springs, have also announced they are running for the Congressional seat. Redistricting, however, won't set the lines of the district until later this year. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's daily headlines.