Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Chatham's Park and Recreation Committee is proposing a special-use-permit policy regulating alcohol sales at events on town-owned properties. Drinking, smoking, and drug use are typically prohibited in the park. Currently, though, there is a policy for alcohol sales at the park, with an application due 45 days before the event going to the town board. Applicants need to get liability insurance naming the town as additionally insured, and list the name of a vendor with a New York State liquor license and the required permit for the sales. Then they must leave a $1,000 security deposit and pay a $250 fee and provide a map of the designated area where alcohol would be served. The committee wants the town to be able to discriminate between types of applications The committee wrote to the town that they believe "consideration should be given to the makeup of the attendance at the event," as they are concerned about youth who use the park being exposed to alcohol sales. Chatham Town Recreation Director Michael West said that excessive alcohol use isn’t a problem at the park currently. Read the full story at HudsonValley360.com.

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Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that all school budgets in Greene County were approved by voters at the May 16 elections. Also all town library and bus-purchasing propositions passed. In the Cairo-Durham school board election, incumbent Stephen Brandow finished first with 298 votes, incumbent Bernadette Gavin-Palmieri was second with 231 votes, and Nicole Plank took the third seat with 223 votes. Incumbent Claudia Zucker finished just two votes out of the running with 221 and Aniston Keff received 134 votes. In Catskill, incumbent Deborah Johnson received 406 votes, incumbent Ryan Osswald got 247 votes, and Joseph Izzo won 242 votes. Lee Heim with 235 votes, Henry Haye with 226, and Allan Couser with 27 votes finished out of the running. In the Coxsackie-Athens district incumbent Jamie Dorr received the most votes with 475, and incumbents Tara Bachner and Ina Griffin-Guilzon also were reelected with 459 and 455 votes respectively. Sam Anderson also got 355 votes, too few to win a seat. In Greenville, Kelly Hubicki and incumbent Eric Herbstritt won, with 749 and 621 votes, with Robert Pondiscio's 388 votes not enough to win a seat. In Hunter-Tannersville, Courtney Brady won the five-year term with 257 votes and Sarah Pellizzari took the two-year term with 254 votes. Windham-Ashland-Jewett did not report vote totals, but said Heidi Schwarz was elected over Salvatore Sciangula. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Raymond Pignone reports in Columbia-Greene Media the results of the Columbia County school elections May 16, where all budgets and propositions passed. In the Germantown vote for school board members, David Rifenburgh got 211 votes and Teresa Repko received 167 to win seats, with Cheryl Del Pozzo Kaszluga finishing third with 71 votes. In Hudson, Kjirsten Gustavson received 266 votes and Calvin Lewis got 251 for two seats, with 44 other write-in votes. In New Lebanon, officials did not release vote totals, but claimed Sharon Powers and Kyle Kuffel won three-year terms, while Thom Rigg got a two-year term. In Taconic Hills voting, Richard Viebrock, with 378 votes, and Ronald Morales, with 329 votes, won five-year terms, while Margaret Hallisey received 290 votes for a three-year term, and Joshua Loeffler lost with 136 votes. In Chatham, Dawn Friedman, with 357 votes, Marianne Pierro, with 352 votes, and Matthew Fisch, with 332 votes, all won three-year terms. At Ichabod Crane schools, three seats went to Kelly Firmbach, with 752 votes, Megan Pelizza with 567 votes, and Christopher Scoville with 537, while Melissa Miller, with 524 votes, and John Chandler, with 503 votes, finished behind. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Mid-Hudson News reports that the Ulster County Legislature on May 16 voted to spend $357,000 to purchase a military-grade vehicle for the sheriff’s office. Legislatores voting to buy the Bearcat G3 armored vehicle cited the fact that there have been 225 mass shootings around the country in 136 days this year. Legislature Chairwoman Tracey Bartels said, “I cannot in good conscience put our officers in harm’s way sending them to face weapons of war created for the sole purpose of killing human beings without the proper tools.... Gun violence is not inevitable, but it is the status quo. We prepare our children by providing armed officers and having them practice active shooter drills. We hope that they will come home safely.” Ulster lawmakers also voted to spend more money to put deputy sheriffs in both the Rondout Valley and Onteora school districts. Read the full story at Mid-Hudson News.

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The Times Union has stories of fire and ice locally. H. Rose Schneider reports that the National Weather Service has issued a freeze watch through May 18. They warn that the below freezing temperatures could kill plants and freeze outdoor pipes. While overnight lows are normally around 50 degrees this time of year, a high-pressure system from Canada is bringing cold, dry air that could drop below 32 degrees at night, especially at higher elevations. Mike Goodwin reports that there is also a high risk for wildfires across much of New York, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. A DEC alert published May 16 said, “High-intensity burning may develop on slopes or in concentrations of fine fuels. Fires may become serious and their control difficult unless they are attacked successfully while small.” Read more about both of these stories in the Times Union.

Kate Lisa reports for New York State of Politics that there are three bills in Albany now that legislators say will improve accountability and treatment of people held in state and local correctional sites in New York. One bill would give would give county officials unrestricted access to local jails for oversight. There are other proposals to increase the number of people on the State Commission of Correction, and to make all jails and prisions subject to the state Human Rights Law. Those two bills are currently in Senate and Assembly committees. State Senator Robert Jackson is sponsoring the bill to allow county officials access to jails, and he said, "There's certain standards of operation and all of the standards should be one of transparency and accountability for staffing and whether or not the detainees and people incarcerated are being treated in an appropriate manner." Currently state elected officials have access to New York prisons. "If these local officials, local, correctional and local jail administrators have nothing to hide, there's no reason why they should object to access by government officials," said Assembly sponsor David Weprin. But some Republicans are arguing against the measure, such as Albany County Legislator Mark Grimm, who said, "I want things to be fair in the jail.... But that's why we have elections for sheriffs every four years." Legislators have three weeks to get these proposals to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk for her signature. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Patricia R. Doxsey reports in the Daily Freeman that the Hyde Park Drive-In is not closing, and the National Park Service is currently considering several proposals to keep the outdoor theater operating for the next decade. The National Park Service has owned the drive-in since 2011, buying it because it is located on lands that were once part of the Franklin D. Roosevelt farm and estate. In that purchase, the National Park Service grandfathered the lease that Scenic Hudson, the previous owner, had with the existing drive-in operator. But that lease ended last year, and now a new operator is being sought. The Park Service is not saying when they will decide on which proposal to accept. The Hyde Park Drive-In opened in 1950, and can park up to 670 cars to watch a film. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

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William J. Kemble reports in the Daily Freeman that Amtrak will discontinue stops at the 109-year-old Rhinecliff station temporarily if a new parking area can’t be found, according to Rhinebeck Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia. Amtrak is negotiating with a property owner at Orchard Drive and Lapolt Avenue for additional parking while the Rhinecliff rail station undergoes renovations. Spinzia said, “They are going to need to come up with a parking space for overflow starting this fall.... If we don’t have an alternate parking space for them this station could close down.... It could just go from Hudson to Poughkeepsie.” Amtrak officials say the work could take longer than the four years initially expected. “It could be six years,” Spinzia said. “The station could be under construction for over four years.” Amtrak is improving the signal system on sections of track, replacing crumbling concrete platforms, installing a longer upper-level platform, constructing new stairs, and upgrading the handicapped accessibility access with $28.22 million in federal funding. Currently the Rhinecliff station has about 200,000 passengers per year. Amtrak's work is part of a plan to increase the number of round trips between Albany and New York City from 13 to 17 daily. Amtrak officials did not respond to a request for comments. Spinzia said that Amtrak has, "agreed to do what I think should be a Town Board meeting where they go over their plans with us in public and we have our Historic and Archeological Preservation Committee … and Planning Board weigh in with recommendations for them to consider.” Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Andrea Macko in Porcupine Soup reports that even though virtually everyone in Greene County is either a migrant or descended from someone from other parts of the world, officials there released a press release May 15 saying more migrants are not welcome. The statement, which came from the Greene County government but not specific officials, said, “The arrival of increased numbers of migrants seeking shelter in the City and State of New York is expected to exacerbate an already large-scale humanitarian crisis and create a disaster emergency to which local governments are unable to adequately respond, creating a threat to health and safety, which could result in the loss of life or property.” Currently, Republican officials in Texas and Florida have been shipping migrants to New York City, where the Democrat mayor is sending some of them upstate. The anonymous press release said, "Greene County already has a housing and homeless crisis." Then officials said that if any migrants are sent to Greene County, "we would have no choice but to put asylum seekers who require significant services back on a bus to the closest sanctuary city, such as Albany, Kingston, or Hudson.” Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Zack Fink reports for New York State of Politics that Gov. Kathy Hochul says she may sign an executive order to create more housing in New York. Hochul and many Hudson Valley officials have said there is an affordable housing crisis in the state. Hochul proposed building 800,000 new housing units in the new state budget, but that plan was dismissed in negotiations with legislators. There are only a few weeks left in the legislature to pass new housing legislation. Now she is asking about an executive order to address the problem. “What else can we accomplish by executive order,” Hochul said. “What opportunities I have as governor to find ways to create more housing on state-owned properties, for example. Areas where I can achieve more.” Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

The Times Union reports that the Forge Project, a Native-led art, culture, and decolonial education initiative in Columbia County, has six 2023 fellows: Margeaux Abeyta (from the Taos Pueblo and Diné tribes), Brent Michael Davids (Mohican/Munsee-Lenape), Lucy Grignon (Stockbridge-Munsee/Menominee), Emily Johnson (Yup’ik), Dr. Suzanne Kite (Oglála Lakȟóta) and Rachel Martin (Tlingít). Forge Project Executive Director Candice Hopkins (Carcross/Tagish First Nation) said, “We’re excited to introduce our third annual class of Forge Fellows, whose interdisciplinary approaches as creators, innovators and organizers speak to the rich complexity of Native and Indigenous thought today.” Columbia County is part of the ancestral homeland of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, who were forced to move to Wisconsin, and the Forge program always keeps two fellowship spots for members of the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe. Each Fellow receives a $25,000 grant and use of the Forge Project site, libraries, and collection of contemporary art by Indigenous artists during three-week rotating residencies. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

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Rick Karlin reports in the Times Union that a labor agreement has been reached between General Electric and two major unions for facilities the company wants to build for offshore wind equipment manufacturing at the Port of Coeymans in southern Albany County. GE wants to build turbine blades and the housings that contain electric generating equipment for wind power projects off the Long Island coast. New York State has plans for 4.6 gigawatts of offshore wind projects off the Long Island coast, and GE believes they can create 870 jobs if all the proposals become reality. Now they have an agreement with the IUE-CWA unions for GE to remain neutral during the labor organizing process for the plants. GE is splitting up its company next year, and Vernova is the name of the power portion of GE. Currently about 825 of GE Vernova’s U.S. employees, including about 700 in New York, are represented by the IUE-CWA unions. “As a leader in the U.S. wind industry and the company that introduced the first 12MW + offshore wind turbine, GE Vernova is pleased to have worked with the IUE-CWA on this labor peace agreement associated with our proposal to build two, state-of-the-art offshore wind factories in New York,” officials from GE and the unions said in a joint statement. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

The Troy Record reports that Rep. Paul Tonko is crowing about the $936,414 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Substance Abuse Treatment has awarded to the University at Albany for screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment to prevent and address gambling among college students. Tonko, a Democrat representing Albany County and the 20th Congressional District, has taken up gambling as his own cause lately. Tonko is trying to ban online and television advertising of sports gambling, but his HR 967 bill has no co-sponsors. But he is happy that UAlbany is getting more than $4.8 million over the next five years to support this research. Tonko said, “This funding will help ensure that young adults who are struggling with these issues have access to the timely and responsive support they need to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. Tonko serves as co-chair of the Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus, a bipartisan group of legislators committed to advancing solutions to the country’s multifaceted addiction crisis. Read more about this story in the Troy Record.

Jackson Tollerton reports for News10 in Albany that planting more trees may be one of the best ways to combat climate change, and New York has a plan to help landowners do that. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has $850,000 available through the third round of the state’s Regenerate NY Forestry Cost Share Grant Program to help plant more trees. Landowners who want to restore or establish five or more acres of forest can apply for grant awards ranging from $10,000 to a $100,000, with a required 25 percent match. DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said, “Investing in the establishment and resiliency of our forests is a critical component for ensuring the continued ecosystem services that trees provide. I encourage all interested landowners to take advantage of this funding.” Applications can be submitted through NYS Grants until 5 p.m. on October 6, or until funds are depleted. For more information, visit the DEC website, or the WGXC Newsroom has links for more information. Read more about this story at News10 in Albany.