Liz Montgomery reports in Porcupine Soup that New York City abandoned its lawsuit against Greene County, it was announced on Sept. 11. New York City had originally sued 30 upstate counties, after they declared states of emergency to block the transfer of human beings. Republican governors from Florida and Texas had bused migrants to New York City, where a Democrat mayor then bused many upstate. In July, court orders separated the cases and transferred them all to their respective counties. And now, New York City has given up in its suit against Greene County. Patrick Linger, chair of the Greene County Legislature, seemed more interested in winning over New York City than the human issue involved, saying it was, "encouraging that our county was successful in beating back a lawsuit made by a city of 8.5 million residents." Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Mid-Hudson News reports that Ulster County's Department of Public Works will replace the Cemetery Bridge on Blue Mountain Road in Saugerties, closing the road beginning on Monday, September 18. Blue Mountain Road in Saugerties will be closed to all through traffic near the intersection with Charles Hommel Road. Drivers are urged to take State Route 32 South for 1.8 miles to Harry Wells southwest for two miles to West Saugerties for 0.2 miles west to Blue Mountain Road to avoid the construction. Read more about this story in Mid-Hudson News.

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Diane Valden reports in The Upstater that on Aug. 25 the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting deemed Hecate Energy’s application to site a large solar facility in Craryville complete. The Shepherd’s Run Solar project would place almost 200,000 solar panels on about 228 acres of an 880-acre total project area in the Columbia County hamlet. The 60-megawatt solar facility would be east of the Taconic Hills School campus and north of Copake Lake in and around the Copake hamlet of Craryville. Copake Zoning Law does not allow a project of this size, but New York has streamlined siting process for renewable energy projects, known as 94-c. Many local residents have voiced opposition to the project. Now the state group overseeing the project has 60-days to either publish a draft permit for public comment or deny permission for Hecate to move forward. Town officials released a statement saying they do not believe the application is complete. It said, “Deputy Supervisor Richard Wolf, who has spearheaded the Town’s response to the Hecate application has pointed out that the corporation ‘has not fully addressed the impacts of its proposed 267-acre solar factory on the Taghkanic Headwaters Conservation Plan. It has failed to prove that constructing 200,000 solar panels and inverters, and drilling beneath wetlands will not adversely affect the wetlands, streams and Taghkanic Creek (an important source of Hudson’s drinking water), all of which are on or under the proposed construction site.’” Read more about this story in The Upstater.

H. Rose Schneider reports in the Times Union that the powerful Hurricane Lee in the Atlantic Ocean is expected to hit eastern New England and Nova Scotia this weekend, perhaps missing the Catskills and Hudson Valley. Tom Wasula, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Albany, asked about the chances of local impact, said, “They’re not nonzero.... But they don’t look like there should be significant impact.” But in 2011 the forecast was similar as Hurricane Irene was predicted to impact eastern Massachusetts. Instead, it veered west and devasted the Catskills, western Massachusetts, and Vermont. That storm devasted Prattsville, and other local communities. And, like now, the local ground was saturated then from weeks of rain. But Wasula is predicting nice weather locally instead of the storm. “One more round of showers and thunderstorms, but the news is good for the end of this week,” he said. Meteorologists are tracking the storm and will report on any changes in its path. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Porcupine Soup reports that the Dollar General Literacy Foundation is giving the Cairo-Durham Elementary School a $4,000 grant for its youth literacy efforts. The grant will let the district buy new “Science of Reading” books and materials to support teachers and students. The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awards funds for literacy projects to nonprofit organizations, schools, and libraries within a 15-mile radius of a Dollar General store or distribution center. In Cairo, the Dollar General store has a fire earlier this year, and will soon be torn down and completely rebuilt before reopening next year. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

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Mid-Hudson News reports that Dutchess County legislators voted to keep burning trash. The vote was 17 to seven, with Republicans voting for burning trash, and Democrats voting against. Dutchess County currently burns 45 percent of its solid waste, hundreds of tons of trash. The county recycles 36 percent of its waste. David Heller of Rhinebeck, one of the speaker's against the plan at a public hearing, called the legislature a group of “illiterate pyromaniacs," and Minority Leader Yvette Valdés Smith said, “We are better than this." But Democrat Legislator Randy Johnson, who missed the meeting said he would have joined Republicans voting for the plan. Johnson said, “Burning trash is not a bad idea.... The EPA monitors the emissions at the burning facility, and so far, this is the most efficient way to get rid of trash.” Read more about this story in Mid-Hudson News.

Robert Gavin reports in the Times Union that an investigation by the court system’s inspector general found two Rensselaer County Family Court judges and four other staffers had created a hostile work environment and that the six had conspired to “bully, harass, demean and intimidate” an employee. And Judges Elizabeth Walsh and Jill Kehn took down and told the complainant that an effort to display posters to promote inclusion was “offensive” as well as “passive aggressive, juvenile, and completely unprofessional.” Clerical assistants in the Family Court building in Troy put up the posters to brighten up the court. They had messages that said, “Everyone is welcome here,” “Be the change you want to see in the world,” “All are welcome, important, encouraged, loved here” and “Be the reason someone smiles today.” Walsh, the judge who took the posters off the walls, said, “While I appreciate the thought behind them, they had the opposite effect on most of the folks who work very hard each and every day here in service to the families of our county.” The complainant told Walsh, “I’m afraid I just don’t see how any of these messages can be construed as offensive.” Walsh has a plaque on her own judicial bench that says, “Always be kinder than necessary.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

The Troy Record reports New York State Attorney General Letitia James will host a public hearing about the proposed closure of the Burdett Birthing Center on Monday, Sept. 18 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Bush Memorial Center at Russell Sage College, 60 1st St., in Troy. If the center closes, there will not be any birthing locations in Rensselaer County, and their are already no birthing centers in Greene and Columbia counties. Columbia Memorial in Hudson stopped birthing services in 2019. The Troy-based birthing center in Samaritan Hospital brought 881 infants into the world last year, and as of May, 320 infants this year. James said in a press release, “As the only maternal unit in Rensselaer County, the Burdett Birth Center is an integral part of the local community and the entire region for essential health care.... The prospect of this center closing is deeply concerning, as it would greatly affect communities throughout the Capital Region and beyond." Hospital officials cite financial concerns when explaining why they want to close the center. Read more about this story jn the Troy Record.

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Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that on Sept. 11 state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Marcelle ruled that New York’s new independent ethics commission violates the state constitution because it was formed without a constitutional amendment. Marcelle also said the ethics commission wrongly takes authority from the governor, and improperly administers and enforces ethics laws that are “the exercise of executive power belonging to the executive branch.” The ruling came in a case from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who wants to stop the ethics commission’s efforts to investigate a $5 million deal that he received for writing a book about his administration’s handling of the pandemic. The investigation is into whether Cuomo unethically used government staffers to work on his book rather than taxpayer business. Marcelle wrote, “Our constitution, which so carefully allocates power among the three branches, will not permit those powers to be transferred to (an) independent commission amounting to an unsanctioned fourth branch of government.... The government belongs to the people of the state of New York. They established it, and only they can alter it. … If the people should choose to be governed by those who are not politically accountable to them or their governor, who swear no oath of allegiance to them, and who come as a class composed of urban academics and who are not reflective of the cross-section of the people whom they govern, the people may do so. But it is for the people to decide and only the people. Here, the Legislature has done by statute what was required to be done by constitutional amendment.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Paul Kirby reports for the Daily Freeman that after first proposing only online hearings, the Public Service Commission will now hold in-person meetings about Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp.’s proposed double-digit electricity and gas delivery rate increases. Previously, four virtual and telephone hearings were announced for this month, but now a press release from the commission says the in-person public hearings would be held at a later date, but gave no specific details. Local politicians such as Assemblymember Didi Barrett and state Sen. Michelle Hinchey have called for in-person meetings. Barrett said, “Ratepayers in the Hudson Valley have faced sky-high utility bills in recent years, bills that were only exacerbated by the flawed rollout of Central Hudson’s new billing system that left many of my constituents having to decide whether to pay their electricity bill or put food on the table.... Given the significant rate increase requested by Central Hudson, it is more important than ever to have an in-person public hearing on this proposed rate increase so that all ratepayers have the ability to voice their concerns.” Central Hudson is seeking a 16 percent increase in delivery rate for electricity and 19 percent for gas starting July 1, 2024. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Adam Penale reports for Spectrum that the Asian Lunar New Year is now a public school holiday in New York. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation on Sept. 9 requiring all public schools to close for the Lunar New Year holiday. Hochul said, “By designating Lunar New Year as an official school holiday, we are taking an important step in recognizing the importance of New York’s AAPI community and the rich diversity that makes New York so great.... It is not just a day off from school – it is an opportunity for our children to learn about and celebrate their own or different cultures and traditions.” Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

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Patrick Tine reports in the Times Union that Gary J. Sheldon, 74, and Patricia Platt, 77, both of Clarksburg, Mass., were hit by a car and killed on Sept. 9 on Route 20 near the Lebanon Valley Speedway racetrack in West Lebanon. The newspaper did not identify the 36-year-old woman from Lee, Mass. who hit the couple with a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek. The race track's Facebook page said that was the track's last evening of racing for the season. After a large brawl two months ago, the Columbia County track said they were hiring an on-duty sheriff's deputy and installing new cameras, but the newspaper could not confirm if that happened. Police are investigating the incident. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Diane Pineiro-Zucker reports in the Daily Freeman that prominent conservative and liberal scholars have argued recently that former President Donald Trump cannot run for office under the 14th Amendment, because he took part in an insurrection. Local Reps. Marc Molinaro, a Republican, and Pat Ryan, a Democrat, predictably disagree on the issue. Ryan said, “The constitutional scholars that have written on this, including many very conservative constitutional scholars asserting that Trump should not be on the ballot … is a very compelling argument.... I think it’s something we have to take seriously (and) that I want to certainly hear from more experts on it. I think it could likely end up in the Supreme Court.” Molinaro disagrees, saying, “You can’t consider the 14th Amendment in static, as if it was adopted a week ago. It was in the result of the near loss of the American Union and the concept was that we didn’t want that kind of experience again and, therefore, would use the Constitution to protect against states leaving and those using military efforts to overtake the Union. … When you apply that you have to apply the rest of the Constitution, which is due process. Every man and woman is afforded due process. Level the charge, consider the charges by a court and then get the individual to a penalty. That’s the basic American standard.” The 14th Amendment was passed so that people who take up against fair and legal voting in this country, who acted against the electoral process, were ineligible to win office. Ryan, who represents the 18th Congressional District, said, the amendment “was written post-Civil War to deal with exactly the situation we find ourselves in right now where there were those who had seceded from the Union and hijacked control of it and in 1861 voted to block certification of elections just like we had in 2021. So, we’re at a very perilous time and I’m glad that the folks had the foresight to include this (in the Constitution)." While Molinaro, who represents the 19th Congressional District, does not believe in disbarring Trump from office, he would not say if he supported him. Asked about Trump's role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and recordings of Trump’s alleged attempt to subvert his election loss in Georgia, Molinaro would only say, “Let’s get through this next chapter.” Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Mid-Hudson News reports that New York has a new law prohibiting employers from disciplining employees who opt out of meetings about the employer’s political or religious views. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the legislation that expands employee protections of speech and conscience. Mario Cilento, President of the New York State AFL-CIO, said, “We applaud Governor Hochul for signing into law three critical pieces of legislation that ensure New York State leads the way when it comes to protecting workers’ rights.... Among the new laws is legislation that addresses the long history of employers using so-called ‘captive audience’ meetings to force their views on personal decisions related to religion, health care, politics, or joining civic or fraternal organizations or labor unions. This new law protects workers by preventing employers from taking adverse actions against their employees for refusing to participate in such meetings.” Hochul bragged the bill helps make New York, "the most worker-friendly state in the nation." Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.