Tiffany Greenwaldt-Simon reports for HudsonValley360.com that Chatham Central School District Superintendent of Schools Salvatore DeAngelo will retire July 1, he announced at a Jan. 30 board meeting. DeAngelo had superintendent since 2017. Mark Connolly, a social studies teacher at Chatham Middle School, encouraged the board to find a good replacement, saying at the board meeting, “We have really good teachers fleeing, dozens in the last three years, for other districts.... We have retirements coming up, we need leadership, we are looking for leadership, and we need an educational leader that will take us where Chatham used to be and where we need to get again.” Chatham schools are currently also looking for a new high school principal. Board member Muriel Faxon said, “I can’t tell you the enormous amount of time and commitment this process takes.... I’m not sure five months is enough time." Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Ryan Whalen reports for New York State of Politics that the New York State Liquor Authority has a backlog of roughly 6,000 applications, but claims it is making progress. Since November, the board says they have reviewed 272 applications, approving 67 and deeming 61 insufficient to meet the criteria. Attorney Ryan McCall said, "It wouldn't surprise me for this to be something that turns around very quickly. New York State Liquor Authority is one of the fastest adapting New York state agencies in the sense of they're able to really deal with problems quickly when they have to." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Joshua Solomon reports in the Times Union that while the number of dairy cattle in New York is about the same as a decade ago, half of the state’s dairy farms from a decade ago no longer exist. New data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture also show the dairy industry’s labor and production costs rising nearly 50 percent during the five-year period beginning in 2017. Christopher A. Wolf, a professor at the Cornell Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management, said, “The dairy industry is so important in rural New York.... You’re seeing rural areas struggling a lot more and part of it is because of the loss of these economic drivers.” The Department of Agriculture said there are 5,000 fewer farms and nearly 700,00 less acres of farmland in New York over the last decade. Justin Wilcox, executive director of Upstate United, said, “While the reality of this situation is disturbing, it comes following countless warnings from those who saw the writing on the wall.... We have watched one bad policy after another pushed through Albany in recent years making it exceedingly difficult for farms to continue feeding New Yorkers.” The number of farms nationally has declined by about 10 percent over the last decade. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Elaine Velie reports for Hyperallergic that Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she supports a proposed law that would allow district attorneys to prosecute citizens for a new hate crime, drawing graffiti. Hochul cited political speech she disagrees with as the reason for making graffiti a hate crime. Hochul drew attention to a recent incident in Scarsdale where the words “genocide supporter” were spray painted on two businesses. The hate crime designation increases an offense to a felony. New York Civil Liberties Union Senior Policy Counsel Justin Harrison said, “With hate crimes, there’s always a concern about disparate and sort of disproportionate enforcement.... That element is perhaps heightened when you look at something like graffiti, because it is going to be enforced against somebody who tries to convey their views.” Read more about this story at Hyperallergic.

Kate Lisa reports for New York State of Politics that Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Couisins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie will each appoint three members to the state Community Commission on Reparations Remedies by the end of the month. Assemblyperson Michaelle Solages said, "Black communities are at a disadvantage.... We are a victim of systematic racism and we need to break those systems down and then give us restorative justice or whatever that looks like. We demand that now." The commission has to start its 18-month work by the end of June. The group will study the cost of reparations and how to close the income inequality gap for Black people stemming from slavery. In New York, slavery remained legal until 1827, and the state continued to insure slave owners in other states for generations. Brooklyn NAACP President L. Joy Williams said the commission should look at more than just payouts. Williams said, "I need these towns to open the books and see specifically how they prohibited mortgages of Black people.... I need to see how corporations colluded with insurance companies." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

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Mid-Hudson News reports that the Friends of the Public Square Hudson are getting a $125,000 grant to renovate the Hudson park. The Public Square in Hudson is where most parades begin, and protests happen, in the Columbia County town, and also hosts a farmers market in the warm months. The grant will be used for benches, picnic tables, drinking fountains, and support for the park’s Veterans memorial. Local Assemblymember Didi Barrett helped get the grant and said, “Preserving and rejuvenating open space like this, particularly in a dense city like Hudson, is a win-win for our community." The Friends of the Public Square Hudson is a non-profit organization formed by a group of residents to rejuvenate the park along Warren and 7th Sts. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Tiffany Greenwaldt-Simon reports at HudsonValley360.com that residents at the Chatham Town Board's Feb. 1 workshop meeting said they were concerned about town board members conducting business through email. Town attorney Tal G. Rappleyea responded at the board’s Feb. 15, explaining the state's open meeting law. He said, “We have to do the notices in the paper, we have to have it open to the public, but there are also opportunities to communicate in between meetings.... Board members can do that obviously, but we can’t do it in a fashion that we’re actually having a meeting when we’re really not." No more than two board members can discuss issues on email or text messages together. Rappleyea said, “We can’t talk about numbers or possible votes, or things of that nature.... Even sending a document saying ‘here, let’s work on this and send me your comments,’ that’s going a bit too far, unfortunately, if you involve more than two board members..... You can’t have this rolling discussion where you’re doing more than just exchanging ideas.” Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Andrea Macko from Porcupine Soup reports that three people were convicted and fined in a 2022 deer poaching case in Earlton, in Greene County, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced on Feb. 16. DEC officers saw the trio illuminate several fields and shining a spotlight on a white-tailed deer and chasing it with the vehicle. The incident led to a search of one of their homes where DEC officials found 13 deer carcasses, firearms, packaged venison, and crossbow bolts. The three were charged with possession of a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, using a spotlight on lands inhabited by deer within 500 feet of a dwelling without permission, hunting with the aid of a motor vehicle, using a spotlight while in possession of an unsecured firearm, and hunting deer after legal hours. All three were ordered to pay $4,600 in penalties in the Town of Coxsackie Court. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Joshua Solomon reports in the Times Union that the bipartisan state Independent Redistricting Commission approved new Congressional boundaries on Feb. 15, voting 9-to-1. Ken Jenkins, a Democrat and the commission’s chair, said, “I am very proud of my colleagues and their ability to come together in the spirit of compromise to work to deliver this plan.” Since the 2020 census, there have been many versions of local Congressional lines, with several struck down by the courts, and one used in the 2022 Congressional elections. The new map is generally similar to the one used in the 2022 election, which, the story says, "some political observes believe helped Republicans win several key races two years ago." Democrat Yovan Samuel Collado was the lone vote against the proposed maps. The newspaper predicts that the Hudson Valley’s 19th Congressional Distric could become slightly more favorable to the Republicans, while the 18th Congressional District could become slightly more favorable to a Democrat. The biggest change would be that Democrat Pat Ryan's 18th District would get Woodstock and Saugerties, while Republican Marc Molinaro's 19th Congressional District, would add Cooperstown, Schoharie, and Orange County’s Port Jervis. Democrat Paul Tonko's 20th Congressional District would lose portions of Glens Falls to Republican Elise Stefanik's 21st District. The state legislature needs to approve the new map for it to go into effect. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Luke Parsnow reports for New York State of Politics that on Feb. 14 New York House Republicans lost their attempt to temporarily double a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions for most married couples, also known as SALT. Republicans stripped New Yorkers of their tax deduction as part of the 2017 tax law pushed through Congress during the Trump administration. This bill brough back some, but not all, original provisions, so it was not supported by Democrats. The bill failed 195-to-225, with local Republicans Elise Stefanik and Marc Molinaro voting for, and Democrats Pat Ryan and Paul Tonko voting against. The Republican changes to the SALT cap have led to bigger tax bills for many residents of high-tax states such as New York, New Jersey, and California. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Sara Rizzo reports for News10 that organizers announced performers for the 24th Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, this year from July 17 to 21 at Walsh Farm in Oak Hill, in Greene County. Della Mae is the Artist-in-Residence, and their will also be performances from the Del McCoury Band, The Gibson Brothers, Sister Sadie, Niamh Parsons & Graham Dunne, and Yonder Mountain String Band. There is more information at greyfoxbluegrass dot com. Read more about this story at News10.

Today's audio daily news update.

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

Cassie Abel reports for HudsonValley360.com that more than 100 people turned out Feb. 13 for Catskill High School’s Interact Club 22nd annual March for Peace and Justice in Catskill. The march began and ended on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, also known as West Main Street. Bee Blauberg explained why the Second Baptist Church in Catskill was where marchers met. Blauberg said, “During the Civil Rights Movement, organizers of civil disobediences met at local churches where they asked the Lord for his protection and blessing before they marched off to face Bull Connor (the Birmingham, Alabama, commissioner of public safety during the 1960s who vehemently opposed the Civil Rights Movement) and his dogs and the fire hoses of public safety.... The marchers often returned to their church, not only to lick their wounds, but to assess the effects of their protests and to plan future ones. In memory of the role played by the church, we like our protesters to start the march at a church.” The march ended with an interfaith benediction from Deacon Ron Dombrowski and Rabbi Zoe Kaz and then a “We Shall Overcome” sing-along. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Porcupine Soup reports that Saugerties court clerk Haley Whalen was arrested Feb. 13 because police say she threw away tickets for people she knew. She was charged with four counts of first-degree falsifying business records and four counts of first-degree tampering with public records, both felonies, and four counts of official misconduct, and four counts of second-degree criminal contempt, both misdemeanors. The state police say Whalen used her credentials to dismiss tickets on behalf of acquaintances. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Mid-Hudson News reports that the state Division of Human Rights has expanded the statue of limitations for filing unlawful discrimination to three years. Before Feb. 15, a lawsuit had to be filed with one year. Mental health was cited as a reason for the extension. Advocates say studies show that survivors of discriminatory experiences often have difficulty processing those incidents within one year. Gov. Kathy Hochul said, “New York State remains committed to promoting safety, dignity, and respect for survivors as the tide of hate rises across our country.... This new statute of limitations adds another layer to our collective responsibility to protect one another and create an environment that makes survivors feel safe.” Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

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Phillip Pantuso reports in the Times Union that there was a motion on the Saugerties Town Board’s agenda that would deny all state Freedom of Information Law requests for records related to ongoing investigations. But after criticism the motion was critized, it was modified to target a specific former councilperson. Kristin O’Neill, assistant director with the state Committee on Open Government, said the Saugerties proposal is “inconsistent with this statutory requirement." Saugerties Town Supervisor Fred Costello said, “It’s pretty clear upon reading it again that it’s a little bit too broad.... It’s really in response to a specific FOIL request and the terms of that request.” Costello said that the “specific FOIL request” came from former Councilperson Paul Andreassen, who wants public information about an investigation into Councilperson Mike Ivino, who last month allegedly posted a video on social media of an unclothed woman in distress in the village. Councilperson Zach Horton thought that the motion should be withdrawn, and said, “FOIL laws that are already in existence are quite clear and our board passing such a motion would be redundant in nature.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.