Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media the town of Coeymans has started the process of requesting lower speed limits from the state following a series of pleas from local residents. “We have gotten a lot of phone calls about speed limit requests,” town Supervisor George McHugh said July 22 at the public meeting of the Coeymans Town Board. Local residents want lower speed limits on town roads including Bushendorf, Biechman and Blossom Hill roads, where the speed limit is 40 mph. McHugh said, “We cannot set our speed limits. We have to get the state to allow us to do that." He pointed out the town clerk must make the request in writing after the town board adopts a resolution to get the process started. McHugh said he had a conversation with Coeymans Highway Superintendent Scott Searles to determine if there was a reason why any town roads should have a speed limit over 30 mph. “He couldn’t think of any. I can’t think of any,” McHugh said. Town board member Daniel Baker supported the move to lower the speed limit to 30 mph. Town board member Zachary Collins read a resolution authorizing the Town Clerk to submit to the Albany County highway superintendent a request to reduce the speed limit on all roads operated by the town to 30 mph. The resolution was adopted unanimously. “This gets the ball rolling and we can get the superintendent of highways to start the process for us,” McHugh said. Read the full story in The Ravena News-Herald.

Luis Ferré-Sadurní reports in The New York Times that Melissa DeRosa resigned her position as secretary to the governor late Aug. 8. Governor Andrew Cuomo faces increasing calls for his own resignation, and a continuing impeachment process in the state legislature after last week's attorney general report about how he sexually harassed 11 women. He has few political allies left, with only his staff standing by him until this resignation. Cuomo has only been seen once publicly since the report came out, releasing a video in his own defense. DeRosa was seen by many Americans last summer as the only woman surrounding Cuomo during his daily COVID-19 press briefings. The state attorney general's report said that DeRosa had headed efforts to retaliate against one of the women with a sexual harassment allegation against Cuomo. Meanwhile, the New York Assembly Judiciary Committee met Aug. 9 to discuss the "impeachment proceedings" against Cuomo. Cuomo's legal team has until Aug. 13 to provide any additional evidence to the committee before it concludes its inquiry. And The New York Times reported that Cuomo and his Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul ("HOH-kuhl") have not spoken since February, according to a senior official, even though she may soon be taking over his job. And The City reports that Cuomo has been trying to cut a deal with top state officials to not to seek a fourth term if there is no impeachment. But state officials are not buying into his proposed deal. Read more about this story in The New York Times.

Bill Williams reports in Columbia-Greene Media that New York State Police and Hudson Police arrested 11 Columbia County residents Aug. 6 in a sweep of what they call "gang activity." Five people were charged with second-degree attempted murder for gun fire in Hudson April 29 and July 30. Police say the arrestees are part of the "Men of Business" gang. Kristin Lowman, a spokesperson for the state police, said more arrests are expected, and that the Columbia County District Attorney's office and the Albany Police Department assisted with the investigation. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Andrea Macko reports at Porcupine Soup that Furlong's in East Durham is reopening with new owners after being closed ten years. Garrett Doyle, who founded New York City’s Tuttles Bar & Grill, will open the Five Furlongs Tavern on State Route 145 on August 12. Yvonne and Tom Furlong ran the Irish pub for 24 years before closing in 2011. “We look forward to opening our doors and inviting the local community to come together for some great food, live music sessions, craic and pints,” says Doyle. “We plan to honor the legacy of this historic pub by bringing it back to its former glory, and once again making this venue a local favorite.” Doyle has increased outdoor seating, and will open every day for brunch, lunch, happy hour, and dinner. And Doyle is from from County Kildare in Ireland, emigrating to America in 1995. He is also a former trustee of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade, is a member of the Knights of Saint Patrick, and was The Irish Examiner newspaper’s 2009 Man of the Year. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that dangerous heat and humidity is coming to the Hudson Valley this week. Temperatures will be in the low 90s, but the heat index counting in the humidity could reach 105 degrees. Officials warn folks to stay hydrated, use air conditioning, and seek immediate medical attention if they develop the symptoms of heat stroke, including a throbbing headache, confusion, and if one stops sweating in hot conditions. There are also expected to be strong storms passing through the area Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. "It's too soon to know if they will be strong or severe, but it's something we're going to be monitoring throughout the week," meteorologist Brett Rathbune said. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's daily headlines.

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Marina Villeneuve reports in the Daily Gazette that Gov. Andrew Cuomo shows no signs of resigning in the face of widespread calls for his impeachment after a report from the attorney general that he sexually harassed 11 women. “My sense is from what I’m hearing is he’s still looking for ways to fight this and get his side of the story out,” state Democratic party Chairman Jay Jacobs said. “I just think that he’s going to, at some point, see that the political support is just not anywhere near enough to even make an attempt worthwhile.” The math does not look good for Cuomo as the Associated Press count about two-thirds of state Assembly members in favor of impeachment when only half are needed to start a trial. And nearly all 63 members of the state Senate have called for Cuomo to step down or be removed, suggesting he would lose in the impeachment trial too. The state Assembly’s judiciary committee meets Aug. 9 to discuss when to conclude its investigation into whether there are grounds to impeach Cuomo. Plus, Brittany Commisso, one of the women and a female executive assistant, was the first to file a criminal complaint against Cuomo, for groping her. Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said Aug. 7 that Cuomo could face misdemeanor charges if investigators substantiate Commisso’s complaint. And late Aug. 8 Cuomo’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa resigned. Read more about this story in the Daily Gazette.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics the federal government August 5, approved the state Education Department's plan for providing schools with academic support, early learning and mental health needs as schools set a goal for in-classroom instruction as students prepare to get back to the classroom. Schools statewide are in line to receive $3 billion in federal aid to assist in this effort. Education officials anticipate catching up students who struggled with remote learning and may have fallen behind academically as a result. Schools are expected in the next month to put in place rules for preventing the spread of the virus and make determinations for mask-wearing indoors. The funds approved are being awarded through the American Rescue Plan. New York has 398 districts designated as "high need" by the state that will receive grants to help students affected by the loss of instructional time and allow schools to spend more money on summer learning. The state is also distributing $195 million for full-day pre-kindergarten programs for children aged 4. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Hatewatchreport [dot] com is reporting for the third time in as many months a Patriot Front recruitment sticker with its fascist symbolism has been placed on public property in the town of Germantown. Each of the stickers dates from different time periods, which suggests that someone is posting the stickers as new ones are issued by the group. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Patriot Front is a white nationalist hate group that formed in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. The organization broke off from Vanguard America neo-Nazi group that participated in that demonstration. This year Patriot Front stickers have been found at locations throughout Columbia County. A recruitment sticker was found July 3, on the reverse side of a road sign in Palatine Park in Germantown. In May, a similar sticker was posted on a street sign pole, also in Palatine Park. A Patriot Front "Life-Liberty-Victory" sticker was placed on a street sign pole at the corner of Kinderhook Street and Park Row in Chatham on May 5. The group posted numerous stickers along Main Street in Philmont in February. And during the same period, a resident witnessed someone placing an "America First — Patriot Front" sticker on a metal utility poll on Park Row in the village of Chatham. Read more at hatewatchreport [dot] com.

William J. Kemble is reporting for the Daily Freeman Russia's Ministry of Justice has declared that Bard College is a threat to its government. The determination was announced in June by the Russian news agency Tass, which declared the Hudson Valley liberal arts institution an undesirable non-governmental organization. “Following the examination of materials … the Prosecutor General’s office decided to recognize the Bard College foreign-based educational NGO undesirable on the Russian territory,” agency officials wrote. “It has been determined that the NGO’s activity threatens the constitutional order and security of Russia.” Tass reported that Bard was the 35th organization added to the list by the Ministry of Justice. “We never received any explanation of why the designation was given or if there were any specific issues,” Bard spokesman Mark Primoff said. Primoff said it was unhelpful to speculate on what prompted the decision but acknowledged that Bard’s long-standing effort to have students think independently could be an issue. “The leap from thinking freely to being an enemy of the state is at the crux of what is happening in Russia and that is a tragedy,” he said. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Sam Raudins is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media continued funding for the village of Catskill and town of Greenville water projects was finalized and approved August 5, by the state Environmental Facilities Corporation for current projects. In total, the EFC approved more than $47 million in financing for 11 municipalities statewide. The village of Catskill was awarded a $2.9 million Water Infrastructure Improvement Act grant — $695,000 in short-term, interest-free financing and nearly $1.4 million short-term, low-interest financing to replace aging water mains, reconstruct a sedimentation basin, build a new water storage tank and for an upgrade the water filtration plan. Catskill Village Board member Jeff Holliday said the funding was expected and will be used, in part, for the water main project on Main Street, which is scheduled to begin in 2022. The town of Greenville was approved for more than $5 million in long-term, interest-free financing for the extension and improvement of its sewer plant. Greenville Town Supervisor Paul Macko said approval takes the town’s initial short-term construction loan to a long-term loan. “That is our old project,” Macko said. “We are in the process of closing out our construction loan on the sewer extension that was done three years ago. We received a hardship loan when we put in for the project — it is a long-term, interest-free loan that we will finance for 30 years.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the second of three forums to discuss the proposed realignment of elementary schools in the Coxsackie-Athens School District was held on August 5. Under the proposal, all students in enrolled in pre-kindergarten through second grade would attend school in Athens, and all third and fourth-grade students would go to the school in Coxsackie. Approximately 40 people attended the first forum held at E.J. Arthur Elementary School; the forum at the high school attracted six people. The participants spoke about length of the bus ride required under the school reorganization, the need to assign aides to monitor the buses and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Kerry Houlihan addressed the academic concerns related to realignment of the grades. Regrouping of the grades was requested by some district teachers, and at the third forum, to be held on August 16, teachers will discuss their feelings on the proposal, Houlihan said. The district sent out a survey to district teachers from kindergarten through sixth grade asking if they would like the district to pursue the proposal and 66 responded, and 60 percent of the teachers supported the move. A third grade grouping forum is scheduled next week at Coxsackie-Athens High School and an online survey is planned to gather additional feedback from the community, Superintendent Randall Squier said. A public hearing will be held in late September with the board of education. The final determination will be made by a vote of the board. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Andrea Macko/Porcupine Soup a decade ago, Hurricane Irene almost took Prattsville off the map. On August 28, 2011, the torrential rains from Hurricane Irene raised the Schoharie Creek 15 feet in only 12 hours. A water volume greater than Niagara Falls collapsed 11 homes and left more than 100 others completely uninhabitable. Every building on Main Street, including more than 20 businesses, were damaged or destroyed. When the waters receded, the town was left to rebuild. As the 10th-anniversary approaches, Prattsville is marking the occasion with an event to not only remember the flood, but to celebrate the town’s resilience. The Prattsville Still Afloat celebration takes place from August 27 through 29. One of the main events will be the re-opening of the historic Zadock Pratt Museum that includes a community-led exhibit on Irene and a very special concert. There will be tours of the newly renovated museum, along with collections displayed, throughout the weekend. The museum is looking for photos and brief accounts of storm from Prattsville residents willing to share them. Anyone interested can call the Zadock Pratt Museum at 518-299-3395. Specific times and more information will be announced as the event approaches. Anyone interested in getting on the yard sale map can call 518-303-1462. Prospective craft or food vendors, or those wanting to be part of the farmer’s market, can call 646-842-2984. Read the full story at porcupinesoup [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Anyone paying attention to local politics has heard a series of local Congressional representatives from both parties tout how they were going to solve the lack of broadband internet service locally. Republicans Chris Gibson and John Faso, and Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand and Scott Murphy, announced funding and new initiatives to bring internet to rural communities in the Hudson Valley, but all studies show the problem remains. Emilia Teasdale reports in the Columbia Paper that on Aug. 2, Antonio Delgado, the current representative in Congress and a Democrat, held a press conference with other local officials at the West Ghent Community Center to discuss the $829,594 more in funding that he claims “will allow more than 300 rural upstate homes and businesses in the towns of Ghent, Canaan, New Lebanon, and Austerlitz to be connected to high-speed broadband” internet service. But that funding needs to be approved by the Senate and signed by the president, so it is not a sure thing. Delgado promised to do “everything we can to make sure these funds are included into the budget.” Delgado stood next to Republican State Senator Daphne Jordan, Democrat Assemblymember Didi Barrett, and Republican Assemblymember Jake Ashby when he made that promise. “This is what government working together looks like,” Barrett said about the funds that may not come to fix a problem that has seen similar scenes before without a solution. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

Diane Pineiro-Zucker reports in the Daily Freeman that the former Channel Master and Schrade knife company building on U.S. Route 209 has sat empty for the past 17 years, but now Cresco Labs wants to build a large cannabis cultivation, processing, packaging and distribution facility on the property, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan said Aug. 4. He said the proposed facility would create “a very, very exciting moment for Ellenville as we come out of 16 months of fear, challenge and uncertainty” and add “more fuel on the fire of the economic engine we’re building now in Ellenville and really in Ulster County.” Oddly, no one from the Chicago-based Cresco Labs attended the press conference, or would answer questions by phone or text. Jason Erkes, a company spokesperson, released a statement saying the company is “excited about adult use and expanding our footprint in the state of New York — we know the economic impact a large-scale cannabis facility can have on a community, and we look forward to continuing to work through the process with Ulster County on the location in Wawarsing.” Cresco has not yet submitted applications for the business to either the village or town planning boards. Even without many specifics, Ryan claimed the business "would employ 300 to 400 residents once fully operational.” New York legalized recreational cannabis use this spring, though it will take another year or two to get regulations in place for retail sales. Towns and cities have until Dec. 31 to opt-out of sales in their communities. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that the world's oldest fossilized forest is in Cairo, in Greene County, where all-terrain vehicles occasionally trample the historic site. A town board member running for supervisor has talked for months about selling the land, but other local officials want to develop it into a tourist destination. But Cairo has little resources for such a project, and so far has just dragged a few boulders around the site to help protect the ancient fossils of plants 140 million years older than dinosaurs from the off-road vehicles. Cairo resident Joe Hasenkopf chairs of a town committee formed to study the question of how to preserve the site. “Essentially what we want to do is build an education center … a building over the entire site, with glass running over the top of [the fossils] so you can walk over the site without walking on it,” he said. Town board member Jason Watts has been saying repeatedly he wants Cairo to sell the site -- he claimed for up to $1 billion -- but now says since “there’s nothing to appraise it against,” because the location is globally unique, and therefore priceless, that the town cannot sell it. But so far, Cairo has done little to protect the site, and the priceless location could soon be lost. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's daily headlines.

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