Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge reports for Columbia-Greene Media that with the Delta variant of COVID-19 driving up case counts and deaths locally and nationally, Chatham students are being forced back into classrooms Sept. 9 without a remote learning option. “Our focus this year is on in-person learning,” Chatham Superintendent Salvatore DeAngelo said. “We are prepared to make temporary shifts to remote instruction should the situation require us to do so. All of tonight’s information and our plan was created in accordance with the recommendations and guidance from the New York State Education Department and the American Academy of Paediatrics as well as most recently the New York State Department of Health and certainly the CDC.” Columbia County announced 15 new COVID-19 cases Aug. 30, with 76 active cases. But while students in Chatham schools have no remote option to avoid infection, school officials sometimes don't want students in the building. “The bottom line is if your child is ill, running a fever or obviously having any of the COVID-related symptoms, the best course of action is to keep them home so that they can be properly evaluated and not run the risk of exposing them to other students,” DeAngelo said. “We are really relying on our parents to, in a lot of ways, provide a good-faith effort to keep their children home when they’re ill.” And Chatham schools are not following all CDC recommendations. “In our county we are not recognizing the CDC recommendation to test out early from a quarantine situation,” DeAngelo said. “So if a student is positive then they would have to serve the entire 10-day quarantine period.” They are also not following the CDC and letting high-risk athletes in football, volleyball, and cheerleading to continue against the health agency's recommendation. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Ryan Whalen reports at New York State of Politics that Gov. Kathy Hochul outlined her plan to combat COVID-19 in a speech Aug. 31 in Buffalo. She wants to rely more on local health departments and less on state mandates. "I saw firsthand the frustration that they had when they said we have health care professionals who are trained for this. We have done this before. We've done Zika. We've done Ebola. We know how to do measles shots. We've done flu shots. They know what to do. This is just one example of how my administration is going to govern. I'm going to empower the people who are supposed to be doing this. It's not about the ego of the state or the state government or the state governor. It's about empowering local governments to do what they do best,” she said. Hochul announced $65 million for counties to administer booster shots beginning Sept. 20. Hochul also said she would soon mandate schools must have everyone wearing masks, and teachers and staff must be fully vaccinated or be tested weekly, which may mean negotiating collective bargaining agreements. "I'm prepared to have those conversations about what it's going to take," she said. "If more time off is needed for people to do this, makes sense to me. They should get the time off, but this is all subject to immediate negotiations and we're having those conversations right now." A vaccine mandate at state-run and state-licensed facilities will follow after a review committee approves it. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Today's daily headlines.

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Sarah Taddeo reports in the Democrat and Chronicle that Gov. Kathy Hochul officially announced a special session of the legislature that begins Sept. 1. She said three issues will be the focus of the special session: lengthening the eviction moratorium; addressing open meeting laws; and making appointments to the new cannabis regulation board so that recreational sales can begin. Really, the special session is for extending the eviction moratorium that ran out Aug. 31 to Jan. 15, 2022. But Hochul also tacked on two other issues. With the Delta variant of COVID-19 spreading everywhere, the new governor wants to again temporarily let towns and villages hold meetings remotely to avoid more coronavirus spread, as long as they let citizens participate online. And while former Gov. Andrew Cuomo did sign a bill legalizing cannabis this spring, he did not fill any positions on the board that will set regulations for sales in the state. So Hochul wants this special session to focus on those three issues. Read more about this story in the Democrat and Chronicle.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that the Columbia County Economic Development Corporation on August 30 unveiled a report identifying 12 areas in the county that lack broadband infrastructure. CEDC enlisted the help of MC Fiber Services to conduct the study that pinpointed 100MB capable broadband infrastructure. “About two months ago the [Columbia County] Board of Supervisors asked the CEDC to undertake a study for the county in an effort to identify those unserved areas in the county that still require service,” CEDC President F. Michael Tucker said. The company found 1,110 unserved dwellings in the towns of Ancram, Austerlitz, Canaan, Chatham, Claverack, Copake, Ghent, Hillsdale, Kinderhook, New Lebanon, Stockport, and Stuyvesant. The study determined there were no unserved locations in Hudson, Clermont, Gallatin, Germantown, Greenport, Livingston, or Taghkanic. MC Fiber Services representative Andrew McAdoo said Columbia County is unique because it has several different internet carriers — Consolidated Communications, Verizon, Spectrum, GTel, and MidHudson. The study is a first step in securing federal funding to bring 100 percent broadband coverage to Columbia County, according to the report. Knowing the specific places in the county that lack broadband infrastructure will put the county in a position to better secure federal funding from the NY Broadband Program Office, or directly from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Brendan J. Lyons is reporting for the Times Union two informational meetings for the public will be held September 8 and 9, about the proposed $65 million settlement in a class action lawsuit filed against three companies blamed for polluting both public and private water supplies in and around the village of Hoosick Falls in Rensselaer County. The meetings will take place at an open-air pavilion at the Reynolds/Gilchrest Skating Rink on Barton Avenue in Hoosick Falls. An informational website has also been created to provide details on the proposed settlement at Hoosick Falls PFOA settlement [dot] com. Residents affected by the pollution have until December 9, to notify the court if they wish to be excluded from the settlement. That option would allow someone to be a party to other lawsuits against the companies responsible for the pollution. Objections to the settlement also must be filed by December 9. Claim forms must be submitted no later than January 24; the online version of the claim form will be available beginning September 7. A hearing on the final settlement will take place on February 2, at U.S. District Court in Albany. The settlement is intended to compensate current and former residents for the potential health consequences of their exposure to the chemicals, as well as the potential loss of property value, and to provide a system of early detection for any related health issues they may suffer in the years ahead. Read more in the Times Union.

MidHudson News is reporting Ulster County Executive Patrick Ryan has signed an executive order mandating that all county employees, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask when inside county-owned buildings and facilities. County Health Commissioner Dr. Carol Smith also issued updated guidance that strongly recommends the public wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status, as well. “...For the safety of our residents and our staff, we are now requiring that everyone wear masks inside all county buildings,” Ryan said. “As the science has consistently shown, masks help stop the spread of COVID-19 and ultimately safe lives.” The county August 31, reported 576 cases of COVID-19, attributing it to the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Ulster County officials are expected to reactivate the former Best Buy space in the Hudson Valley Mall as a point of distribution for booster shots. According to county data, 274 people have died from COVID-19 in Ulster County including one person who died this week. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that Dutchess County reported 143 more COVID-19 cases than a week before. Dutchess County now has 844 cases, the highest since April 20. Dutchess County also reported another coronavirus death on Aug. 28. Across the Hudson River, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan said that, “We are seeing … all of the data continue to trend upward in an increasingly alarming manner.” Albany County reported 100 new COVID-19 cases, and one more death, on Aug. 28. Newburgh delayed the first day of school there to better prepare for COVID. Greene County announced 28 new cases on Aug. 30, and a startling 6.3 percent seven day rolling positive rate. Columbia County added another 15 cases on Aug. 30. Gov. Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, announced Aug. 31 $65 million for local health departments to distribute COVID-19 booster vaccines. "You tell me what you need and I'll make sure there's funding available," Hochul said. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that Albany County sheriff's investigators are issuing subpoenas into the investigation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's sexual harassment. On Aug. 30 they interviewed Brittany Commisso, a woman who claims Cuomo groped her breast at the Executive Mansion last November. Cuomo claims Commisso lied, and denied that he touched or hugged her in a sexually aggressive manner. Cecilia Walsh, a spokesperson for the Albany County district attorney's office, previously said the inquiry remains ongoing and declined comment on a pending investigation. The Albany County district attorney's office and sheriff's investigators have received copies of the attorney general's investigation into sexual harassment claims against Cuomo. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Alex Kaplan reports at Media Matters that New York has two candidates for governor that support the QAnon conspiracy theory. QAnon supporters follow anonymous, usually false, posts on the internet and many supported the attempt to overthrow the United States government Jan. 6. In New York Joel Anabilah-Azumah and Antoine Tucker are both running for U.S. Senate. Anabilah-Azumah is an independent candidate running for the U.S. Senate who unsuccessfully ran for Congress as a member of the Serve America Movement Party in New York’s 9th Congressional District in 2020. On Facebook, he falsely claimed that “there is no such thing as the QAnon movement” and that instead “there is such a thing as the Q team, and they are allegedly military intelligence.” Tucker is running for Senate as a Republican. He lost a campaign for Congress in New York’s 14th Congressional District in 2020. Tucker has tweeted, “I am a Q Supporter.” Another Republican candidate, Tina Forte, is running in New York’s 14th Congressional District. Read more about this story at Media Matters.

Today's daily headlines.

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Joshua Solomon reports in the Times Union that New York's eviction moratorium expires Aug. 31, and lawmakers may head to Albany the next day to restore the protections. A legislative official told the Times Union that state lawmakers will return Sept. 1 or 2 to tweak policies to abide within the parameters of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on emergency relief to renters. COVID-19 halted evictions, as legislators attempted to stabilize the rental housing market while citizens were forced to stay at home, and the job market rapidly changed. Now there is a vaccine for the disease, but many refuse to take it, which has elongated the pandemic. This special legislative session is only supposed to be for the eviction moratorium and the emergency rental assistance program, but once legislators are gathered in Albany, anything could happen. In Columbia County there have been 142 applications submitted for rent relief through the state's emergency rental assistance program, as of July 30. In Greene County the number is 128. Last week, the conservative judges on the Supreme Court ruled that it was outside the authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to place a nationwide ban on evictions, even in the face of a worldwide pandemic. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Sarah Trafton is reporting for Porcupine Soup 19 years on and Audrey May Herron of Freehold is still missing. Herron, a then-31-year-old mother of three, went missing on August 29, 2002, on her way home from work. After that night, she and her black Jeep Grand Cherokee were never seen again. Herron’s oldest daughter, Sonsia Court, was just 10 years old when her mother disappeared. “My grandmother pulled me into a back bedroom to sit down and talk to me,” Court said. “She told me Mom didn’t come home from work, nobody can reach her, everybody is out looking for her, we’re going to find her." Police used all available resources to search along the 12-mile stretch of highway between Herron’s nursing job in Jefferson Heights and her home in Freehold. “It was one of [the] most thorough missing persons investigations that I’ve ever seen,” said retired State Police Senior Investigator David Darling. “...We took it to the [FBI} profiling unit in Quantico and they couldn’t find anything they thought we should have done that we didn’t do. We would have done anything that anybody suggested.” Darling has his own theory on what happened, but he declined to elaborate. “It doesn’t matter what I think, it matters what I can prove,” he said. Court hopes that one day her family will have answers, or at least be able to lay her mother to rest, she said. The investigation into Herron’s disappearance remains active. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the state police at 518-622-8600. Read the full story at porcupinesoup [dot] com.

MidHudson News is reporting Dutchess County Legislature Chairman Gregg Pulver and county executive Marc Molinaro have announced a proposal to invest $1.2 million to preserve farmland in the county. The proposal would continue the program that began in Dutchess County more than a generation ago and was the first of its kind in New York. “We’re putting forth the resolution in November and look forward to the support of the legislation,” Molinaro said. “This open space and farmland protection act has protected thousands of acres in Dutchess County,” Molinaro noted that he is confident that the request will get legislative approval. Pulver is an active farmer in Pine Plains and touted the necessity for continued preservation efforts. “You can’t build farmland,” he said. “This funding will help preserve the land and protect the farming industry.” Pulver and Molinaro both noted that Dutchess County is at the forefront of controlling development and preserving natural resources. The newest preservation proposal is slated to protect 6,000 acres of dedicated farmland that Molinaro called “critical to the environment and very important to the farming industry.” Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Sam Raudins is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Red Barn Hudson is now officially closed and moving to Saugerties. The decision came after a long legal stalemate, the restaurant owner announced on Facebook last week. The building that housed Red Barn was sold in May, but restaurant owner Vanessa Martenson asserted, through her attorney, that she was legally protected by the pandemic eviction moratorium that is due to expire August 31. “As many of you may know, we had to close. We will be reopening in Saugerties soon! I will keep you posted here! I love you all and I miss you already,” Martenson wrote. The new owners of the building, Roy Brown and Joseph Morreale, intend to open a cigar business and Italian deli in the space at 93 Ten Broeck Avenue. Morreale is the vice president of Fortune Metal Group, the parent company of Hudson Valley Fisheries, on Route 9, and Brown owns Iron Horse Cigar Depot, on South 7th Street in Hudson. Brown said he thinks they can begin moving in on Sept. 1. Martenson said she put $100,000 into the restaurant and had been negotiating with the previous owner to buy the space at the end of the summer after recovering some lost revenue due to the pandemic. By the time her lease expired, though, she was told to leave. Despite her legal troubles, Martenson said she’s excited to open in Saugerties within the next few weeks. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Clarence Fanto reports in the Berkshire Eagle that the storm known as Hurricane Ida barreled into New Orleans and predictions have it dumping rain on our area later in the week. Currently predictions have two to four inches of rain falling here, maybe more in the lower Hudson Valley, around Thursday morning. Alone, that's not especially a lot of rain, but up to seven inches of rain from another former hurricane fell on the ground here locally last week. In Berkshire County, almost 20 inches fell between the end of June through Sunday, close to half of the average total rainfall for the entire year. “We’re seeing warmer temperatures and warmer oceans,” said David R. Easterling, a director of the National Climate Assessment. “So, you have more moisture in the atmosphere that’s able to rain out in these storms.” The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a Flash Flood Watch in effect from 2 p.m. Sept. 1, through 2 p.m. Sept. 2 for the entire Hudson Valley from Ulster and Dutchess counties south. That's when most of the rain associated with the storm may fall here. The National Weather Service reports that the entire WGXC listening area has received between 100 and 200 percent of the normal rainfall in the past 30 days. Read more about this story in the Berkshire Eagle.

Today's daily news update.