Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that some students are back in school this week for the first time in 18 months, while the COVID-19 pandemic is roaring back. There are some rules in place to reduce the inevitable spread of COVID-19 in New York schools, including universal masking requirements for those indoors and on buses, and regardless of vaccination status. Unvaccinated adult school personnel will be tested weekly for COVID-19. The question if schools have enough resources to enforce those rules will be answered this week. "School districts will need that support to get this done and I think the intention is well," said Kyle Belokopitsky, the executive of the New York State PTA. "It's to protect children who cannot be vaccinated. But we're going to have to do everything we can to help school districts.... This is going to be a logistics issue," she said. "Now we're trying to figure out logistically how we can get this work done." New York State United Teachers President Andy Pallotta backed the state mandates. "We want to see all the mitigation strategies in place. Ventilation, masking, the cleaning that has to take place," he said. "We want to see all that going on on a constant basis." 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.

Andrea Macko is reporting for Porcupine Soup as expected, Governor Kathy Hochul September 3, announced a $3.2 million project to revitalize the Coxsackie State Boat Launch and Riverside Park. The project will be the first state boat launch to be renewed under the Hudson Eagles Recreation Area. “The Upper Hudson River Estuary, a 60-mile stretch of the Hudson River from Albany to Kingston, is a globally significant ecological and recreational asset,” Hochul said. “The Hudson Eagles Recreation Area offers the opportunity to create a destination unlike any other, a water-based linear park that will draw more people to the Hudson River and better connect communities to the waterfront and waterway travelers, starting with the village of Coxsackie." Hochul also announced the completion of $900,000 in improvements for the Ferry Landing Fishing Access Site across the Hudson River in Stuyvesant. That site provides public access for fishing. The improvements in Coxsackie will include a new open-air pavilion; new trees, landscaping and seating; improved bike and pedestrian connections between the waterfront and downtown; new signage; and renovations to the basketball court. The project will also renovate and modernize the existing boat launch, add a new ADA-compliant kayak launch; and create additional space for transient boater tie-ups. State Senator Michelle Hinchey and Assemblymember Chris Tague praised the project. Coxsackie Village Mayor Mark Evans said, "We want to thank the State Parks for working with us and allowing us to have input into the features and design. This upgrade will allow for more access and expanded use of the park for the next generation and ties into the waterfront re-development occurring in the downtown Coxsackie area." Construction is scheduled to begin September 7 and be completed by spring 2022. The site will be closed to the public during construction. Read the full story at porcupine soup [dot] com.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media capital project upgrades and COVID regulations continue in the Cairo-Durham schools as the first day of the new school year approaches. The district held an online meeting with middle school principal Dotan Schips and high school principal Jeremy Moore last week to review some of the changes concerning the ongoing construction project and health protocols as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. A similar remote meeting was also held for families with children in the elementary school in advance of the Sept. 7 first day of school. Much of the summer was focused on the $28.9 million capital project at the elementary and middle/high schools, which includes the addition of air conditioning, upgrades to the parking lots at both campuses, reconfigured spaces, security enhancements, classroom renovations and more. A significant change at the middle/high school campus will be the new traffic pattern in the parking lot. The new traffic flow will affect how parents drop off and pick up their children. “Parent drop-off, busing and the main parking lot have been separated and the traffic patterns are very different,” Moore said. Staff will be stationed in the parking lot to help drivers with the new routes. School buses will have their own loop and will be separated from other traffic routes. There will be changes with regard to health protocols as well with a full return to in-person instruction this year “We are incredibly excited that 100 percent of our students will join us every single day — there is no more red and blue team, there are no A, B and C groups,” Schips said, referring to the hybrid schedule students followed last year. Each student will undergo regularly scheduled assessments to determine their academic progress and to see if any learning loss occurred due to the pandemic. Elective courses like band and chorus will resume this year, including group and individual lessons. Physical distancing requirements for music classes and performances, as well as gym activities, have been reduced from 12 feet to 6 feet, while in the classroom the requirement has been reduced from six feet to three feet. Face masks will be required for everyone on school grounds and on buses Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Emilie Munson reports in the Times Union about how new census data that shows part of the local housing crisis. Greene and Schoharie counties were among 21 in New York that saw a decline in their numbers of housing units from 2010 to 2020, according to new U.S. Census data released in August. In Columbia County, housing units only grew by 1.38 percent in the past decade. The census data is largely from before the pandemic began, and since then the region has been inundated with folks buying property and raising prices. That's on top of many housing units being turned into short term rentals in the past few years, with not enough hotel rooms fueling all these trends, and pricing out long-term residents. Schoharie County had the third largest percent decrease of any county in New York, losing five percent of housing units. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo estimated 600 New York homes were damaged or destroyed during the storms surrounding Hurricane Irene in 2011, many in Greene and Schoharie counties. "The decline in housing stock noted in the 2020 Census, and particularly affordable housing, is a by-product of the lack of economic opportunities in rural upstate New York," said Michael Borges, executive director of the Rural Housing Coalition of New York. "Condemned or foreclosed housing is due to lack of economic opportunities for their owners and the flight of residents to areas where there are better opportunities." Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today, Sept. 6, is a legal holiday and the Daily Freeman has a rundown of how various offices and services will be affected on Labor Day.

Federal offices: Closed
Amtrak: The system is running on a holiday schedule, but in the Hudson Valley, service remains suspended on some lines following flash floods in the New York metro area last week. Information at amtrak [dot] com.
Banks: Closed
County offices: Closed
Federal offices: Closed
Financial markets: Closed
Greene County Transit: No service
Mail delivery: None
Metro-North: Crews continue to work around the clock to bring limited-service back to the Hudson Line by Sept. 7. The Hudson Line remains suspended as significant repairs are being made to infrastructure following heavy rainfall. Information at 646-252-1701.
Schools: Closed
State offices: Closed
Trailways: Holiday schedule

Click here to download or play an audio version of this report.

The adage that every election is the most important election is truer than ever this year as voting rights are under attack and democracy in the United States appears in danger. Republicans across the country are attempting to roll back early voting hours, make it more difficult to register to vote, and are even passing laws against handing out water to those waiting at a polling station. Locally, the Republican efforts to stymie turnout have been successful in Rensselaer County, where in June a state Supreme Court justice threw out the county's early voting plan. The court ruled that the locations the board picked were not near mass transit and disenfranchised minority voters. The county appealed the ruling, and kept its polling locations in place for the primary election. But recently the appeals court ordered the county to pick another location for early voting in Troy. In early September the Rensselaer County Board of Elections added the Troy Atrium as the city's early voting site for the fall elections Oct. 23-31.

With Republicans the minority party in New York, they are also complaining about unfair treatment and election shenanigans. In November, state voters will consider changes to New York's redistricting process that would cap the number of members in the state Senate at 63 members, and also have prisoners counted at their home address, rather than at the location of the facility where they are incarcerated. Former local Congressional Representative John Faso, a Republican, is concerned about the redistricting measure on the ballot. "They take a carefully constructed bipartisan measure that was adopted by the people, and they would tilt it so that basically it would remove the ability of the minority party, in this case the Republicans, to really have a true input into the redistricting process. That's not what the people voted for back in 2014," Faso tells Spectrum News.

There are several major local campaigns for the Nov. 2 elections. In terms of the amount of political signs along local streets, no race comes close to the Columbia County Sheriff election. Incumbent Republican David Bartlett is being challenged by Don Krapf, a 23-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, who recently dropped his registration as a Republican to take on Bartlett. The incumbent has been broiled in controversy since last summer, when a party at the home of one of his deputies in Kinderhook ended with a local man being beaten almost to death. The ensuing investigation was first handled by others in the Sheriff’s Office with an obvious conflict-of-interest before being turned over to the State Police. More than a year later no trial date has yet been set for those who stand accused of the alleged assault of Harold J. Handy III. The case has resulted in rallies, a countywide campaign for justice on Handy's behalf, and a host of comments on social media.

In Greene County, Cairo has the most contested elections, as most Republicans are not running for re-election this year in the GOP-led town. Current Cairo Supervisor Dan Benoit, and Councilmembers Dan Joyce and Gary Warner, and Superintendent of Highways Robert Hempstead are all not running for re-election. Longtime Greene County Legislator William Lawrence, who also represents Cairo, is also stepping down. Three Republicans faced off to replace him in a June primary with Michael J. Camadine, backed by the Cairo establishment Republicans, winning with 183 votes, or 42.46 percent. Sherry B. True finished second with 155 votes, or 35.96 percent. Current Cairo Town Supervisor John M. Coyne was third with 85 votes, or 19.72 percent. In Hudson, the Democratic primary largely decides the winners, but for Fifth Ward Alderperson, Vicky Daskaloudi, with 73 votes, and Dominic Merante with 51 votes, won the primary, though Rebecca Borrer was one just vote behind at 50. Borrer is on the Working Families line in the general election, so she still has a chance. And there are other Greene County Legislature elections that may be contested this fall.

As always, WGXC takes any volunteer programmers running for election off the air during election season. That means that Neva Wartell, who hosts the "Music For the Masses" show, won't be back on the air until November, after her run for Greene County Legislature. Kamal Johnson, Hudson's Mayor, and Tom DePietro, Hudson's Common Council President, are released from co-hosting the "WGXC Afternoon Show" on Wednesdays and Thursdays, respectively, until after Nov. 2.

Perhaps the largest looming election issue locally is how the 19th Congressional District will be redrawn. New York is losing Congressional districts, and the resigning Republican Tom Reed's district in western New York. That could split the current district, with Antonio Delgado keeping the area east of the Hudson River, and a different seat on the western bank.

WOOC's Corinne Carey, Mark Dunlea, and Andrea Cunliffe preview the 38 candidates running on five party lines for five local offices (Family Court Judge, Rensselaer County Executive, RenCo County Clerk, RenCo County Legislature, and Troy City Council on November 2.

More information: https://soundcloud.com/mediasanctuary/reporting-on-rensselaer-county-election-candidates.

Today's daily news update.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that Greene County lawmakers Sept. 1, learned from health officials that the county is among the hardest hit statewide by the opioid epidemic. Jason Fredenberg, county director of community services and mental health, and Laura Churchill, deputy director of Greene County Public Health, presented the county’s response to the health crisis to the full Legislature. “Unfortunately, Greene County is not doing well with regard to the opioid epidemic,” Fredenberg said. The county was among those hardest hit in the state by the “opioid burden,” which considers overdose deaths, nonfatal emergency room visits and opioid abuse and dependence, according to 2018 data from the state Department of Health. A recent study found that Greene County's opioid burden was 33 percent higher than the rest of the Capital Region, and 45 percent higher than the state as a whole. Fredenberg said the number of overdose fatalities in the county has been on the rise in recent years. “In 2019, there were nine, in 2020 there were 14, and in 2021, as of July 31, we were already up to 11, so that number is increasing each year,” he said. The number of overdoses, fatal and nonfatal, has also been rising. “Many people in our community here in Greene County are being affected and their addictions may have started or been escalated by prescription drugs,” Fredenberg said. “There is a very high incidence of prescribing dangerous prescription drugs in Greene County.” He said the county is addressing the addiction problem in a variety of ways, with prevention a key action area. “We don’t have a recovery outreach center in Greene County,” Churchill said. “Stigma — when people feel that they’re being judged they will not seek services and that’s a huge, huge barrier in this county.” The county does not have a detox facility or methadone treatment program. “We don’t even have pain management, so somebody with legitimate pain who needs narcotics, we don’t have that service in Greene County so people sometimes use illicit substances when they are in pain,” Churchill said. She urged legislators to help destigmatize drug addiction and view it as a chronic disease. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Andrea Macko is reporting for Porcupine Soup residents of Cornwallville turned outs to a Durham Town Board meeting last week to express their opposition to the proposed Bosque Development project. The meeting was moved to the town highway garage to accommodate the crowd, It was held for the purpose of completing the state Environmental Assessment Form review of the proposed subdivision. Bosque first submitted its plan to the town in November 2020 to subdivide 95 acres that border Strong Road and Cornwallville Road. The project includes the construction of 12 high-end homes and a farming operation. In Durham, the town board serves as the planning board and are therefore charged with following the SEQR Act. As the board began the assessment, considering the numerous questions on the SEQR form, it determined that some aspects of the project had little or no environmental impact. At that point, the crowd became agitated, but town attorney Tal Rappleyea pointed out nothing would be finalized that night. Town Supervisor Shawn Marriot emphasized that public hearings will be scheduled before any final determination on the project is made. Multiple audience members talked over one another, and Marriott reminded residents that the town is “following the process that the state has put forth for us.” He told the crowd that nothing was being accomplished by arguing. “We cannot act like this,” Marriot said. “This is getting us absolutely nowhere. We will work through this together. But we can’t treat or talk to each other like this.” Since the project was first presented, public comment has been largely in opposition of the development.  Dozens of “No Subdivision” lawn signs are posted throughout the town. Concerns from community members range from environmental and traffic impact to the effect the development will have on the historic character of the hamlet. The SEQR review was not completed during the four-hour-long meeting. It will continue on Tue., Sep. 7. Read the full story at porcupinesoup [dot] com.

Jeanette Wolfberg is reporting for The Columbia Paper the Hudson Board of Education is making plans to raise the pay rate for substitute teachers, aides and staff for the first time in five years. Substitutes are hard to find, and Hudson must compete with other districts that may pay substitutes a higher rate, district Human Resources Manager Rachel Rissetto told the board at its August 16 meeting. Rissetto said the substitute list is already “not long,” and gets shorter whenever someone leaves the list to take a permanent position, such as a teacher’s aide. And the district needs substitutes in all areas, she said. Board member Mark DePace asked about proactive steps to recruit substitutes, and Rissetto replied that the district had recruited at libraries, job fairs, and Columbia Greene Community College, especially “pre-COVID.” Board member Selha Graham compared the proposed hourly pay for some substitutes with that for permanent employees in the same position. Rissetto said that she and Business Administrator Jesse Boehme would calculate the hourly wage for full-time employees if benefits were included in the pay, particularly with teacher aides and food service. As for the district reopening this month, conditions will be closer to pre-COVID normal than last year. Students will attend in-person instruction five days a week. There will be no daily temperature checks or Wednesday closings for deep cleaning. Students with symptoms will have to stay home, but other people who live with them will no longer be automatically quarantined. Buses will run at full capacity. The social distancing requirement in school buildings is reduced from six to three feet, with the exception of gym and music classes, where it will remain at six feet. Masks are mandatory on buses and inside school buildings. Staff and visitors must wear masks indoors, as well. Note: Graham is an active WGXC volunteer on-air programmer. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

Today's daily news update.

Bethany Bump reports in the Times Union that the COVID-19 outbreak in Albany County is so bad now that officials there held their first COVID-19 briefing since June on Sept. 3. Albany County Executive Dan McCoy and Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen used to hold daily briefings about the local reaction to the pandemic, and they were back on the mic to warn about spread among young people. “Younger individuals with the alpha variant we know had a level of comfort that if they got sick they weren’t gonna get that sick,” Whalen said, comparing the variant that hit the U.S. last fall with delta. “That comfort level is not there anymore.” Eight Albany County residents died from COVID-19 this week: one was in their 30s, two were in their 40s, two were in their 50s, two were in their 60s, and one was in their 70s. The majority of those ending up in the hospital or dying from COVID-19 now are unvaccinated, Whalen said. She urged everyone to wear masks, especially now that school is restarting. “Please, we know that these masks are going to be mandated for children,” she said. “They will take their cue from you. If they feel their parents are very angry and very upset, this filters down to the children and it is not helpful. It’s a mandate at this point and so to help your children get through this any positive reinforcement that you give will be more helpful than to see the stress.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Ryan Whalen reports for Spectrum that two state Assemblymembers have tested positive for COVID-19. Democrats Charles Fall and Inez Dickens. both vaccinated, are currently quarantining. "I send Charles and Inez well wishes, and hope that have a full and speedy recovery. This is a terrible reminder that we are not yet out of the woods of this pandemic," Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said. "I encourage everyone to stay vigilant and careful to protect yourself and those around you." The state legislature held a special session on Sept. 1, so more COVID-19 announcements could be forthcoming. "The extraordinary session may have turned into an extraordinary superspreader event," said one source, who was waiting on his own test results after the special session. Read more about this story at Spectrum News.

Noah Zweifel reports for the Altamont Enterprise that opponents of renewable solar energy often cite many what-ifs, including the chance of fire, when arguing against local arrays. Now, they can discuss one local solar project that has caught fire twice this year. The Shepard Farm solar fields in Westerlo caught fire Aug. 30 after a control box short-circuited. “Something had shorted inside of the box and it caught fire and the fire burned through the box,” Westerlo Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Don Filkins said. A different control box combusted in a similar manner in the spring. “The same issue happened but that one didn’t get quite as burned,” Filkins said. “It’s kind of a recurring issue now.... But, on a good note, we’re getting a lot of training on solar power and energy, so that’s great.” No one was hurt, and there was little damage from either fire. A public relations representative for the owners Borrego told The Enterprise they would answer questions about the incident, but they did not answer questions before the reporter's deadline. Read more about this story in the Altamont Enterprise.

Today's daily headlines.

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

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Columbia County health officials reported on Sept. 2, the county's 98th death attributed to COVID-19. "We had another death overnight,” Columbia County Department of Health Director Jack Mabb said. “It was a gentleman under 40, he was unvaccinated. That bothers me. That bothers me a lot.” The man was a resident of the Hudson-Greenport area, Mabb said. “He had been in the hospital and been intubated, and just lost the fight,” Mabb said. There are currently nine county residents hospitalized because of the virus. Only one of those nine people had been vaccinated, and that individual is an older person with comorbidities. This week the Department of Health announced that more than 70 percent of people 12 and older in Columbia County were fully vaccinated. "This is fully vaccinated, so it's both shots," Mabb said. In Greene County, 58.2 percent of all people 12 and older are fully vaccinated. Mabb has said about 25 percent of the counties’ newly diagnosed are breakthrough cases, which are positive cases found in fully vaccinated people. The county DOH will conduct a vaccination pod at the Columbia County Fairgrounds in Chatham from 4 to 7 p.m. on Sept. 15, and vaccinates people at their offices in Hudson every Tuesday. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.