Sylvan Lane at The Hill reports that both New York Senators voted against the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on Jan. 16. The measure, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement, passed 89 to 10. Chuck Schumer said he voted against the bill because, "the Trump administration provides significant incentives for manufacturers to move their business and their jobs from the U.S. to Mexico, where clean air and clean water regulations are much weaker." Kirsten Gillibrand said, “Bad trade deals, including NAFTA, hollowed out upstate New York’s manufacturing industry.... I don’t believe this agreement will reverse this trend or help the generations of New Yorkers who lost good jobs." Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey was the only Republican voting against the bill, alongside mostly liberal senators such as Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey. Read more about this story at The Hill reports

Jan. 16, 2020 City of Hudson Economic Development Committee Meeting held at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

Jan. 15, 2020 City of Hudson Zoning Board of Appeals meeting.

Local news update.

Chris Bragg is reporting for the Times Union when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's office announced the hiring of Shoshanah Bewlay as the executive director at the Committee on Open Government last week, it came as news to many of the committee's 11 commissioners. The administration had ordered that Bewlay’s hiring remain undisclosed until immediately before a press release was issued on January 6. One of the members, Peter Grimm, the minority leader of the Rensselaer County Legislature and a Cuomo appointee, had no idea Bewlay had been hired until he read about it in the newspaper. Bewlay has served for four years in the Cuomo administration as general counsel at the state Office of Information Technology Services. In that role, she oversaw agency responses to open records requests, and routinely wrote opinions in favor of delaying and denying Freedom of Information Law, or FOIL requests. Bragg reports that Bewlay ruled against the Times Union in 10 of out 10 decisions she issued last year to the newspaper. The Committee on Open Government is an office within the Department of State. In the past, its staff attorneys focused on writing legal opinions about whether state agencies are justified in their decisions concerning FOIL requests. The committee also provides guidance and opinions on other open-government matters, including the Open Meetings Law. Following the departure of the committee's now scandal-plagued former executive director, Robert J. Freeman, government-reform groups pushed for a replacement that would be seen as independent from the state's political structure. Instead, Cuomo chose someone who, for the most part, has worked for him. In a statement Bewlay said she takes “very seriously the role this office has in promoting an open and transparent government for the people of New York.” Bewlay declined to be interviewed by Bragg or to answer written questions about her previous work. She also declined to provide copies of her past legal decisions. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman or the Times Union.

Joanne E. McFadden is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media parents of students in the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk school district have come together to form an organization to support the district's arts programs. The Friends of the Arts was created “to support, promote and enhance the music and art programs” in the district. The organization will collaborate with the school district to provide opportunities for students that are not currently available. “Think of it as the equivalent of the sports association, but for music, art and drama,” said Donna Hommel, of Alcove, who serves as the group’s president. “This has been kind of a dream of ours for several years for this to happen,” said Michelle McLoughlin, high school choral director and K-12 music and art curriculum content specialist. “The fact that it’s finally getting off the ground is amazing.” The group's initial focus will be on middle school and high school programs with plans to extend to the elementary schools as the organization grows. The group will offer to fund activities beyond what the school provides. One idea is to offer scholarships for private lessons. Another scholarship would send a student to art camp or help with the purchase of materials. The friends may also fund field trips, participate in additional performance venues and bring guest composers and artists into the schools, as well as provide support to school clubs with fundraisers. Read the full story at RavenaNews [dot] com.

WHEC-TV is reporting State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has announced the property tax levy will be capped at 1.81 percent this year, a decrease from 2 percent in effect for the last two years. DiNapoli lowered the potential increase based on a lower rate of inflation. School districts can still override the tax cap with 60 percent voter approval. The cap goes into effect in the new fiscal year, which begins on July 1. Read the full story at WHEC [dot] com.

Cayla Harris is reporting for the Times Union U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik has been chosen by President Donald Trump's re-election team to serve as an honorary campaign chair for New York. The campaign made the announcement January 15. Stefanik said in a statement that she was looking forward to working with the campaign. "President Trump’s agenda of creating jobs, strengthening our military, securing our borders, negotiating better trade deals and lowering crime rates has historic support in the 21st Congressional District and across upstate New York," she wrote. The Schuylerville Republican emerged during the recent impeachment hearings as one of Trump's most zealous advocates. Her role in those hearings put her own re-election bid in the national spotlight and got Trump's attention. "A new Republican star is born," Trump said of Stefanik in November. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Click above to download or play the audio version of the local news for Thu., Jan. 16. Produced by Philip Grant.

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

The Times Union reports that there have been 10,000 reported cases of the flu in New York as of Jan. 4, many more than the 3,000 reported at this point in 2017. Almost 2,000 New Yorkers were hospitalized with influenza in the first week of the year, up 34 percent from the end of 2019. Officials called the flu "prevalent" in December, and healthcare workers who are not vaccinated must now wear surgical or procedure masks at work. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Jeanette Wolfberg reports for the Columbia Paper that there's a bit of shuffling jobs among school administrators in Columbia County. Hudson schools business administrator Sharifa Carbon is moving to New Paltz as assistant superintendent for business in the school district there. Jesse Boehme, business administrator of the Germantown Central School District, will take her place in Hudson. That leaves Germantown with an empty seat. Carbon's departure is the fifth mid-year turnover in a major administrative position in the Hudson City School District this year. The city's schools have lost High School Principal Antonio Abitabile, replaced by administrator Robert LaCasse. He was in turn replaced by William Wood. Junior High Associate Principal Alyssa Sabbatino was replaced by Shawn Briscoe; and Elementary School Associate Principal Lisa Ruud was replaced by Amanda Klopott. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

Sarah Trafton reports for Columbia-Greene Media that after a fatal crash in 2011, and a non-fatal accident in 2016, the entrance to the Cairo-Durham schools on Route 145 is getting signs to slow drivers. Local officials wanted a turning lane, or other efforts to slow down drivers. “This is not the solution we hoped for, but it is a solution,” Cairo Legislator Harry Lennon said. Cairo Legislator William Lawrence used to teach at the school. “The Department of Transportation did not feel there were enough accidents there to warrant a turning lane,” he said. After the 2011 accident, the DOT did lower the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph and eliminate the passing lane in front of the school. Now they are getting signs that show driver's how fast they are moving. DOT studies of the road in 2015 showed between 4,000 to 10,000 drivers passing the school each day. Of those, about 15 percent go faster than 58 mph. The speed signs will be installed in the spring, but don't remedy the blind spot on the north side of the intersection. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Chad Arnold reports in the Poughkeepsie Journal that Dutchess County Sheriff Butch Anderson was among six elected officials Jan. 15 named "Honorary State Chairs" for President Donald Trump's re-election team in New York State. Upstate New York Congressperson Elise Stefanik was also named as one of the honorary leaders of the state campaign. Stefanik defended the president during some of the U.S. House impeachment hearings in December. Anderson was also an honorary chair during the 2016 election. “What I did was I spoke at different events around the state,” Anderson said. “I assume I’ll be doing the same thing. It’s nothing spectacular or anything like that, it’s just I’m an honorary member. I was four years ago, and I’ll be there again this year.” Trump is the presumed Republican nominee for president, but could be removed from office if convicted in the U.S. Senate impeachment trial that begins Jan. 21. Read more about this story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

On Jan. 15 both Hudson Valley Democrats Paul Tonko and Antonio Delgado voted to move the impeachment to a trial in the U.S. Senate. Tonko, who represents the 20th Congressional District, and Delgado, who represents the 19th District, both also voted for the two articles of impeachment in December. The vote to send impeachment to the Senate was 228-to-193, almost entirely on party lines. The Senate trial will start on Jan. 21.

Jan. 15, 2020 Catskill Town Meeting audio.

Click above to download or play the audio version of the local news update for Wed., Jan. 15. (Produced by Philip Grant.)

Emilia Teasdale is reporting for The Columbia Paper the town of Kinderhook is now under the direction of Patsy Leader, its first female town supervisor. Town Clerk Kim Pinkowski noted there are now more women than men serving on the Kinderhook Town Board. “There are four of us up here,” she said of the women at the board’s table. “This is going to be a great board,” Pinkowski said. Leader added, “It’s refreshing to have more women than men.” At the January 6 meeting, Leader appointed Debra Johnson to fill her former seat during the coming year. Leader said she was honored to be elected to the position, “as a community person.” And that she hoped the community would work together. The board reappointed Loren Dawes for a full term on the Zoning Board of Appeals and Jonathon Cavagnaro for a full term on the Planning Board. Frank Gutto was appointed to the Board of Assessment Review. Former Town Board member Glen Smith was named substitute building inspector. And Andy Howard will stay on as town attorney and attorney for the Planning Board and ZBA. The board also changed the time of its regular board meetings from 7 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the first Monday of the month. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

MidHudsonNews [dot] com is reporting Democratic Ulster County Executive Patrick Ryan has endorsed former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg for president. “Pete offers exactly what our country needs right now – a bold, progressive vision for our future grounded in moral leadership and real experience, from leading a diverse industrial Midwest city to leading troops in combat,” Ryan said in a statement release January 14. Pete, "...is the right leader to unify and heal our country again,” Ryan said. “I am confident he will guide the return of our nation to smart, effective, and compassionate leadership.” Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Amanda Purcell is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson has named his aide, Michael Chameides, to serve as the city's coordinator for matters related to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Common Council President Thomas DePietro made the announcement at the January 13 meeting of the Common Council. Chameides will be paid $5,000, in addition to his $30,000 salary as mayor's aide, for the extra duties. The funds were set aside as part of the contingency budget during budget talks last year. Chameides said, “I want to create a shared culture and commitment to accessibility. We need all city of Hudson departments to be aware of opportunities to improve and actively contribute to solutions.” The ADA prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in public spaces, including jobs, schools, transportation and all public and private places that are open to the general public. Under the ADA, public entities with 50 or more employees must designate an employee to coordinate compliance. NOTE: DePietro is an active volunteer WGXC programmer. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.