Mid-Hudson News reports that it is difficult to tell if local Rep. Marc Molinaro was talking about 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell or 90-year-old Senator Dianne Feinstein, or the two leading candidates for president next year, but he said some older politicians need to know when it is time to retire. Molinaro said, “At some point, whether it is you are confronting a mental or physical health concern that requires you to take stock and focus on yourself, or you have some health concern later on in life, as a public official, you need to know when it is time to exit the stage.... And there are plenty of people in public office who need to decide to exit the stage and allow the next generation to step forward.” Both the Republican McConnell and the Democrat Feinstein have had public incidents this year where they seemed to freeze, or were confused, in public. Molinaro, a Republican who is 47, has been in politics since age 18 when he was elected mayor in Tivoli. He now represents the 19th Congressional District. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Patricia R. Doxsey reports in the Daily Freeman that the newspaper will host a discussion Sept. 22 between Emmanuel Nneji and Michael Kavanagh, the candidates for Ulster County District Attorney in this fall's election. Nneji is a Democrat and currently the chief assistant district attorney, under District Attorney David Clegg, who choose not to seek re-election after one term as DA. Kavanagh, running on the Republican and Libertarian lines, was chief assistant district attorney under former District Attorney Holley Carnright. For reasons not explained in the article, the newspaper will not stream the even live, but it will be recorded and posted at dailyfreeman.com after the debate ends. The story does not say if the recording will be edited. Voters can send the newspaper questions for the candidates at pdoxsey@freemanonline.com until Monday, Sept. 18. Indicate “DA debate” in the subject line. Voting begins Oct. 28 and continues through Nov. 7. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

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Tom Winter, Adam Reiss, Jonathan Dienst, and Rebecca Shabad report for NBC News that Attorney General Letitia James wants New York's state Supreme Court to sanction former President Donald Trump, his sons Eric and Don Jr., and others related to the family business and Trump's attorneys for $20,000. James wants to sanction the Trump officials because they keep bringing up “previously-rejected arguments.” James on Sept. 5 named five instances where Trump attorney's recycled previously rejected arguments by the court or where Trump attorneys made arguments based on a lack of legal or factual basis. James made the request as part of her lawsuit that alleges that the Trump organization routinely presented false financial information to lenders, insurance companies, and others to benefit the former president and his businesses. The civil suit trial begins on Oct. 2. In her filing Sept. 5 James said the arguments Trump lawyers made "were borderline frivolous even the first time defendants made them," and observed that reading the defendants' brief "was, to quote the baseball saga Lawrence Peter ('Yogi') Berra, 'Deja vu all over again.'" Read more about this story at NBC News.

Kate Lisa reports for New York State of Politics that with classes starting this week there are more free meals for students than ever in New York, but some advocates want universal free school meals. The current state budget includes $134 million for New York schools to subsidize expiring federal pandemic aid and provide more students free breakfast and lunches. Kyle Belakopitsky, executive director of the state Congress of Parents and Teachers, said, "We're still not fully state funded.... We really, really need a congressional and [USDA] solution on this." Currently districts with at least 40 percent of its student population certified for free or reduced-price meals verified through Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or food stamps data get extra funding, but a new USDA rule proposed this spring would lower the threshold to 25 percent. But New York officials don't know when the new rules will take effect. Jessica Pino-Goodspeed, manager of school meal policy engagement with Hunger Solutions New York, said, "We had incredible support in the Legislature across the aisle, both in the Senate and Assembly, so we're really optimistic this year that we can get the rest of this done to make sure that every kid in your state has access to a free meal." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Columbia County Board of Supervisors’ Finance Committee voted unanimously recently to update its resolution authorizing the Columbia County Tourism Department to assist the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office with “extraordinary police services when needed for filming.” Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chair Matt Murell explains that, “We had this partnership for a while.... This type of resolution, we pass it every few years. The resolution is through 2025.” So films such as "Ironweed" and television streams such as "Pretty Little Liars" will continue to be filmed locally, with productions paying for extra police protection. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

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Mid-Hudson News reports that ridership is up on Ulster County Area Transit buses after fares became free a year ago. Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger brags that ridership is up by about 18 percent. Metzger said, “Most of our funding for our bus system is federal and state funds, and that state funding is tied to the number of riders you have. So, when we increase ridership, we increase the funding available to expand routes and service.” The bus fares ended Oct. 1 last year in Ulster County. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

H. Rose Schneider reports for the Times Union that scientists recreated Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)” song using the brain signals from 29 patients at Albany Medical Center, in order to learn more about human brain activity. The study used electrodes placed directly on the surface of the brain of patients suffering from disorders such as epilepsy to monitor signals. It took almost a decade for scientists at Albany Medical College, University of Florida, and University of California, Berkeley to reconstruct the song. Scientists chose this particular song because it is “a rich and complex auditory stimulus, able to elicit a distributed neural response” and also well-known. Researcher Peter Brunner, a professor of neurosurgery at Washington University in St. Louis and Albany Medical College, said, “The brain is very much spatially organized.... There are basically characteristics in music that map the spatial fields.” He explains that each time something happens in the song, one of the electrodes on the brain activates, and, with machine learning, those fragments are pieced together to build the song in a similar way to how speech is decoded from brain signals. Scientists learned from the study that music encoding occurred mostly in the right temporal lobe. “We can make sense out of incomplete information,” Brunner said. “A computer can do the same.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

The Daily Freeman reports that The Local, a new music venue in a former church in Saugerties, opens Sept. 20. The first show features Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, a jazz fusion band. The owners, Isabel Soffer and Danny Melnick, previously ran a website touting local concerts. Now they are putting on their own in the Dutch Arms Chapel. Soffer said, “We’re excited to bring world-class talent from around the world, and from our own community, to the stage at The Local.... Having a venue in Saugerties has been a dream for Danny and me, and we see it as an incredible opportunity to bring people together through the arts, to encourage musical discovery, and to inspire visitors to spend time in Saugerties.” Jazz musician Tim Berne is among the concerts scheduled this fall at The Local, and they are also holding a "Silent Disco Dance Party" where listeners hear the music on headphones through radio waves and the space is silent. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

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Robert Gavin reports in the Times Union that there is a rise in court cases being dismissed for failing to meet “speedy trial” deadlines. Across the state there is a 161 percent increase in such dismissals recently, with a 63 percent increase in Albany County, a 262 percent rise in Rensselaer County and 450 percent increase in Schenectady County. Currently New York's rules mandate that prosecutors be ready for trial within six months from the initiation of felony charges; 90 days for serious misdemeanors, 60 days for lesser misdemeanors, and 30 days for lesser violation offenses. Richard C. Lewis, president of the New York State Bar Association, called the data “clearly disturbing,” saying, “When I see the statistics, they certainly are scary.” The changes came from legislation in 2018, and the most recent state budget included an extra $90 million to help prosecutors implement discovery changes. Erie County District Attorney John Flynn, president of the District Attorneys Association for the state of New York, said the worst part for him is telling crime victims that someone got off on a technicality. He said, “You don’t want to shift the blame onto Albany, onto the discovery law, because then it looks like you’re trying to weasel out of it.... But there’s some truth obviously to trying to shift it. ... It’s not a complete weaseling out of it because of the sheer number of files that you have, the sheer number of paperwork that’s out there, and the onerous rules that are hanging above your head.” But Susan Bryant, executive director of the New York Defenders Association, said, “Prosecutors have never provided data to demonstrate that an increase in dismissals, to the extent it is happening, is actually directly tied to discovery reform.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the first effort to build infrastructure for a proposed industrial park off Route 23 in Cairo went to out-of-county contracters. Delaware Engineering of Albany awarded a contract for $961,900 to Rensselaer-based construction firm American Evergreen, LLC. They will extend water and sewer service to the 106-acre vacant lot across from the McDonald’s in hopes of luring businesses. The Greene County Industrial Development Authority is the lead agency on the project. An orthopedic surgeon, Dr. James Schneider, owns the land. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for much of the Hudson Valley from noon to 7 p.m. on Sept. 5. The heat advisory includes the Mohawk, Hudson, and Connecticut River valleys. Hot temperatures and high humidity are forecast and hot and humid conditions are expected to continue on Wednesday and Thursday, with additional heat advisories expected. Experts say to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room if possible, and stay out of the sun the next several days. See the National Weather Service website for more information.

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Jammel Cutler reports in Columbia-Greene Media that the town of New Lebanon is tweaking its cannabis regulations, now not allowing any retail dispensary or cannabis consumption facility within 500 feet of any town park or national or state historic site. And the town is also limiting the hours any cannabis facility operates to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. on Sundays. The town also has new regulations about odor and parking. But they don't have any applicants for licenses in New Lebanon. New Lebanon Town Supervisor Tistrya Houghtling said, "We’re open to having dispensaries in the area. I’m surprised nobody has applied yet.... It will be a great source of revenue, and none of us on the board feel that there is a real issue with marijuana, especially when you do it safely, be of age, and not drive when you’re under the influence. The revenue it will bring to the town will be huge.” There is a a 13 percent sales tax on cannabis in New York, with four percent going to the local municipality. But the state has very slowly rolled out the retail stores, and more than two and a half years after legalization, there are only a few stores open statewide, and none locally. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that the current strikes by writers and actors aren't just hitting Hollywood, as the Hudson Valley Film Commission estimates $25 million in lost spending here. Laurent Rejto, the commission’s executive director, said, “It’s impossible to determine exactly how much revenue has been lost as a result, but it’s safe to estimate it is somewhere around $25 million in terms of direct spending for the region.... The second quarter of 2023 was on par with 2022 numbers at $23 million.” But that estimate does not include indirect spending. “Hotels, restaurants, and equipment houses. Even supply houses like Markertek are affected when film and TV production just comes to a halt,” Rejto said. “Qualified production facilities including Kingston Studios, Michelson Studio 3 in Amenia, Umbra in Newburgh, Upriver in Saugerties, and others remain empty which is a major issue, especially considering the cost that these facilities are faced with in terms of utilities, taxes, staffing, etc.” Pretty Little Liars: Summer School on HBO MAX, and Severance on Apple TV+, would have been filming in the Hudson Valley this summer if not for the strike. Writers and actors are striking for better pay, and not to be replaced by artificial intelligence. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Jackson Tollerton reports for News10 that Gov. Kathy Hochul continues to emphasize the need for affordable housing in New York, even after the legislature shot down her plan this spring to build 800,000 units over ten years. On Aug. 31 Hochul announced the Pro-Housing Communities Program, to funnel $650 million in discretionary funds to municipalities committed to housing growth. It is part of a series of executive actions Hochul has taken to encourage new housing construction. The latest announcement is taking state programs such as the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, and making housing a priority in their applications. Hochul said, “Increasing the housing supply in New York is critical, and I’m using every tool a governor has at her disposal to make an impact." Read more about this story at News10.