Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that on Jan. 12 the Cairo Town Board for the second time voted on two positions on the town's planning board. Before last year ended, outgoing Cairo Town Supervisor John Coyne and the former town board voted to reappoint Planning Board Chair Joseph Hasenkopf and alternate member Christopher Keff. But their seats were not open for appointments until the end of the year, when Coyne was no longer supervisor and the town board changed. As the first vote was taken, two then town board members, Jason Watts and Mary-Jo Cords abstained, explaining that the old board was not allowed to vote on appointments that were up to the future board. Soon after the vote, Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea said the first vote was illegal. “Because the seats weren’t vacant at the time of the appointment, there is no appointment because there was no seat to be filled,” Rappleyea said. “The only exception would have been if the entire town board were going to be the same from last year to this year, then they could make that motion then because you basically wouldn’t be tying the hands of a future board,” he continued. “So, since we had some change in the board and there were no vacancies in the seats [until January 1] we have to go back and redo it.” On Jan. 12, the new board voted to keep Hasenkopf as planning board chair, but chose Richard Lorenz as alternate instead of Keff. Watts, Cords and new board member Michael Flaherty voted for Lorenz, with Stephen Kralovich and Tim Powers favoring Keff. Lorenz was previously on the town board and a member of the planning board, which he resigned from in April of 2016. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles will expand the availability of road tests for anyone looking to get their commercial driver licenses, as a way to address a shortage of truck and bus drivers. Motor vehicle officials will hold a public hearing on January 26 to address the question of how to create more capacity for state-run sites and road tests by allowing qualified third parties to offer them. Gov. Kathy Hochul said, "By enabling third parties to give the road test for truck and bus drivers, we will create new avenues for New Yorkers to begin exciting careers, for our children to get to school, and to ensure that vital goods get where they need to be." The move comes as truck driver shortages have created supply chain troubles nationwide, while in some cases, a shortage of school bus drivers have forced school districts to turn to remote learning. Republican state Sen. Mike Martucci, the former owner and operator of a school bus company, applauded the move to turn to third party entities to provide the tests. Martucci said, "...I am so excited Governor Hochul has taken up this important cause by directing the Department of Motor Vehicles to initiate a regulatory proceeding that will make third party testing a reality in New York." Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Chatham Board of Education is now looking to fill a vacant seat. Board of education member Craig Simmons resigned last month, as he was about to be sworn in as Ghent's new town supervisor. That resignation was made effective December 31. “We have had some people proactively reach out, but we don’t have the timeline exactly worked out yet,” Board of Education President Matthew Fisch said. “We haven’t posted our request for interest. That’s going to be happening in the next week or two. That will set the timeline and it will also initiate, we hope, some extra interest. We take those letters of interest, we do some interviews and some basic evaluations and we get someone in that seat as soon as we can.” Under the law, the seat can be filled immediately by board appointment or the board can call a special election. “Based on their feedback, I don’t think anyone in the community has the appetite for a special election on a board seat. This is a pretty routine matter,” Fisch said. He said the board find a new member and have them sworn in within 90 days. That person will serve through the May 2022 board election and have the option to run for the position to serve longer. He said, “Board service is just the way that I have chosen to help our community. If anyone is looking to perform their civic duty, we could sure use the help.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that with the state's eviction moratorium set to expire Jan. 15, New York state officials on Jan. 11 began accepting applications for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The eviction moratorium was put into place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is now worse than ever. New York extended the moratorium once, last summer, as the federal eviction moratorium ended. On Jan. 11, Gov Kathy Hochul said she was discussing with lawmakers the future of the eviction moratorium. New York officials previously asked the federal government for an additional $1 billion for the assistance program, and say they need that extra money. "Reopening the application portal without additional funding to support the backlog of existing and future applications runs the risk of giving struggling New Yorkers false hope for critical financial relief that — without federal intervention — simply doesn’t exist," said the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. "Our appeal to the Treasury represents the latest in our continued and vigorous advocacy for tenants and landlords still reeling from the financial impact of the pandemic."

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that, for the tenth time, the federal trial of former Prattsville Town Supervisor Kory O’Hara and local businessman Stephen Baker has been delayed. The two are charged with alleged fraud relating to grants Prattsville got after Hurricane Irene wrecked the town in western Greene County. On Dec. 29 United States District Judge Frederick J. Scullin signed a tenth 90-day continuance, moving the trial date to April 4. Lawyers for the defendants asked for the delay to “engage in plea negotiations, file motions, and prepare for trial.” O’Hara and Baker were indicted in Nov. 2019 for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and theft concerning a program receiving federal funds. In addition, O’Hara is charged with bank fraud and making false statements on a loan application. “The government has produced over 640,000 pages of discovery, including financial records for a number of bank accounts, grant applications and related documents, search warrants executed on a business and an email account, and items seized pursuant to those warrants,” according to court documents. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that while state legislators can telecommute to work during the worst part of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Kathy Hochul is insisting state employees report to their offices every day. The Public Employees Federation, the state's second-largest public labor union, does not agree with Hochul on this issue. "By the state’s own reports, this is the worst spread of infection we have seen at any time during this pandemic, and health experts predict this surge has not peaked yet," PEF President Wayne Spence said in a statement issued Jan. 11. "Rather than allow its workforce to protect themselves, their families and the public from this surge by telecommuting as they did during previous surges, the state ignores this simple and effective strategy and, instead, chooses to broaden vaccine mandates, requires workers to wear masks all day at their desks, wastes its limited supply of COVID tests and now forces another dose of the vaccine upon its strained workforce." But while Hochul wants all state employees working normally, not all state employees are. back in the office. The state comptroller's office, for instance, gave employees until Jan. 12 to decide whether they need to continue telecommuting through Jan. 24. The attorney general's office in New York City is relying heavily on telecommuting while their regional offices, including in Albany, are generally at below 50 percent of the workforce in the office. Other offices have less than perfect attendance, as employees who catch coronavirus call in sick. New York's largest union, the Civil Services Employees Association, is not complaining. "As I’ve stated previously, the majority of the CSEA-represented state workforce has been working at their workplaces since before the start of the pandemic and continue to report to their places of employment," said Mark Kotzin, a CSEA spokesman. "We have no further public comment on this at the present time." Read more about this story in the Times Union.

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The Hill reported that the United States broke its record for COVID-19 hospitalizations on Jan. 11, with more than 145,000 people in the hospital with the virus. “The percent in the ICU is much lower [than previous surges], but that doesn’t mean that we're not getting overwhelmed,” said Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease doctor at Emory University and at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. Locally, with case counts breaking records daily, both Greene and Columbia counties are now giving the public less information about coronavirus as of Jan. 11. "Due to our inability to accurately complete all case investigations and contact tracing, we have removed the line regarding Residents on Quarantine from our daily grid," the Greene County Public Health Department posted on social media. Columbia County had a different reason for releasing less information to the public. "Our department no longer has the capacity to manage contacts, therefore we will be removing that line from our daily updates," officials there posted online. Columbia County officials did report 106 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 11, while there were 92 more cases announced in Greene County.

MidHudson News is reporting Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a bill into law designed to help bridge the digital divide in rural and underserved areas. The measure was sponsored by state Senator Michelle Hinchey of Saugerties and Assemblymember Carrie Woerner of Round Lake. The legislation will make it easier and more affordable for broadband providers to install internet service on utility poles by requiring a fair distribution of installation costs between service providers and utility corporations and streamlining the contract process for broadband expansion projects. When broadband providers try to install new internet service lines on utility poles they are often charged with exorbitant costs, including requests to fund replacing the entire pole, which can increase project costs several times higher than budgeted. This results in significant delays, and discourages providers from expanding coverage in rural communities. The new legislation clarifies that pole owners currently collecting a fee from ratepayers for utility pole replacements cannot shift the cost burden to broadband service providers. They instead must divide the expenditure in a fair and equitable manner. The measure also simplifies pole contracting for providers and municipalities by placing all utility poles in a given city, town, or village under one contract to create a more efficient system for providers to expand broadband service. Regulations previously required broadband providers to obtain contracts for each utility pole they intended to use. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics a coalition of organizations and Democratic state lawmakers, urged Governor Kathy Hochul on Jan. 11, to back a pay raise for home care workers as the state budget season begins. Hochul last week in her state-of-the-state address called for a pay raise for the state's health care workers with the goal of boosting employees in the sector by 20 percent over the next five years. But an issue for home care workers has been an even more acute shortage that has been blamed on low wages. State Sen. Rachel May released a report finding that 60 percent of open health care jobs are in the home care sector. “New York state is facing a dire shortage in-home care workers because we are paying these professionals poverty-level wages, forcing individuals who love their work to leave the caregiving industry for jobs that pay more," said Sen. Michelle Hinchey. One of the main concerns is the state's aging population, which has led to worries over whether there will be enough workers to provide care to elderly people in the coming years. Sen. Samra Brouk said, "For those aging at home, a well-staffed, quality home care workforce is critical. Home care workers care for our aging parents and grandparents and must be paid appropriately for the critical work they do." Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

The Berkshire Eagle is reporting two arts institutions located in the Berkshires have been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams will receive a $45,000 grant to support EJ Hill: Brake Run Helix. The sculptural installation will include a performance stage, free-standing sculptures, watercolors and a functional roller coaster all inside MASS MoCA’s Building 5 gallery, according to a news release. Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Becket will receive a $75,000 grant to support its dance programs. “The National Endowment for the Arts provides vital support for cultural institutions and the communities they serve,” MASS MoCA Director Kristy Edmunds said in a press release. “It allows us to foster the bold and dynamic visions of artists like EJ Hill, helping them create expansive new work that engages and challenges our visitors. We are grateful for the NEA’s continued recognition and support of MASS MoCA.” EJ Hill's Brake Run Helix will open at MASS MoCA in October. Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle.

Today's daily news update.

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Columbia Memorial Health hospital in Hudson is limiting visitation to one healthy person per patient at a time for up to 30 minutes only during one two-hour window a day. “It certainly coincided with, and was a result of, the increase in transmission of the omicron variant in the community.” Columbia Memorial spokesman Bill VanSlyke said. “So we went from — the hours were 2 to 6 p.m. — and now they’ve been reduced to 3 to 5 p.m., one visitor at a time for 30 minutes.” The Hudson hospital currently has 26 COVID-positive patients. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Jeanette Wolfberg reports for The Columbia Paper that the Hudson Housing Authority again needs a new executive director. In late October, the Hudson Housing Authority’s seven-member Board of Commissioners hired Nick Zachos, the former head of Hudson’s Youth Department, and Aiesha Davie as interim co-executive directors. But Davie only lasted about a week and a half, Mr. before deciding to quit, and Zachos now says he is leaving April 1. “I’ve been impressed by the way the staff has operated in the absence of a director,” Zachos said after being hired. Zachos outlined what issues the next executive director will face, saying both that he hears about most from HHA tenants about security and pest management, and also that over 75 percent of what he hears could relate to some aspect of mental health. The story does not give a timeline on when a new executive director might be hired. Read more about this story in The Columbia Paper.

Statement from Capital Area Relief & Liberation responding to video released by the @NewYorkStateAG depicting Catskill Village Police setting a man on fire after watching him douse himself in hand sanitizer, and running away instead of making efforts to extinguish the fire. pic.twitter.com/2dPFVHTRfs

— Chel Miller (they/them) (@MxChelMiller) January 10, 2022

The nonprofit activist group Capital Area Relief & Liberation condemned the Catskill Village police after a video was released showing officers shooting a man with a Taser who had just doused himself with hand sanitizer. The video shows Catskill police officers running and hiding instead of helping 29-year-old Jason Jones after they Tasered him and he burst into flames. Jones later died after an extended stay in the burn unit of a Syracuse hospital. The video shows two Catskill police officers running out of their station's lobby after he burst into flames, and another who instead of helping, stood "around the corner of an interior wall rather than rush to the aid of the man who was burning in front of him." Capital Area Relief & Liberation released a statement Jan. 10 that said, in part, "While we're disgusted beyond measure at the actions of the Catskill Village Police, we're not surprised.... The video shows absolutely no reason for Jason to die. Police tossed all training out the window, had multiple officers giving conflicting orders, and did not allow Mental Health Personnel to take the lead in a situation that absolutely didn't call for armed force. Last week, the Times Union quoted an anonymous police official who is not involved in the case saying that his officers are trained to never use a Taser on an individual who may have been recently exposed to a flammable liquid, including hand sanitizer, which contains alcohol. He also said officers should have helped the man immediately. "Once the threat has been stopped, you don't just say, 'I'm going to let that person burn,'" the official said. The attorney general's office said in a statement, "The release of this footage is not an expression of any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of any party in a criminal matter or any opinion as to how or whether any individual may be charged with a crime."

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that residents in just two communities affected by contaminated water from so-called forever chemicals, or PFOAs, can take part in a health study to monitor the long-term effects of exposure. That helps those drinking from polluted underground wells in Newburgh and eastern Rensselaer County, but not in Cairo in Greene County. The state is running an "invitation only" study that will include having participants provide urine and blood samples. “New York state is collaborating with some of the best researchers in the country to collect data from participants with common exposures,” said state Department of Health acting Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett. “What we learn by working with these researchers could provide important clues about the complex relationship between PFAS exposures through drinking water and human health outcomes.” The Hoosick Falls area in Rensselaer County, downtown Cairo in Greene County including the elementary school, and the city of Newburgh in Orange County have all been polluted with PFOAs. In Cairo, a fire-fighting training center, where firefighters practiced using PFOA-infected foam, is the source of the problem. In Hoosick Falls, manufacturing companies, including Saint-Gobain, caused to the problem. PFOA exposure has been linked to testicular and kidney cancer, and thyroid disease. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

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