The Daily Freeman reports that Bard College Literature Professor Hua Hsu’s memoir “Stay True” won a 2023 Pulitzer Prize. Hsu is also a staff writer at The New Yorker. The memoir is coming-of-age account that “considers intense, youthful friendships but also random violence that can suddenly and permanently alter the presumed logic of our personal narratives,” according to a press release. Hsu also won a 2022 National Book Critics Circle award for an autobiography. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Today's audio daily news update.

Local schools elect board members and voters decide on approving, or not, school budgets at elections on May 16. Each school district has its own times and hours, so check your district for that information. Most voting is at one of the schools in the district, but sometimes are at outside locations. Several schools are closing early for students May 16, to make room for the voting. Most districts have extensive information about the proposed budgets on their websites, and the WGXC Newsroom has information about most of the candidates running for board seats. WGXC will have election results on May 17.

Kathleen Moore reports in the Times Union that Bethlehem school officials will ban cell phones for the entire school day starting in the fall, hoping it will lead to students socializing more often. Students won't even be able to use their phones at lunch, or study times. “This is when we want our students to be social and interact with one another,” Superintendent Dave Hurst said at a school board meeting last week. Previously teachers had asked students to put away their phones during class or put them in pouches hanging on a wall of the classroom. Hurst said that “to some extent has curtailed phone use in classrooms, but not entirely." Hurst cites studies showing a national increase in students feeling lonely and isolated, with higher depression and suicide rates. So the Bethlehem schools in Albany County will spend $26,773 on lockable bags that will be issued to every student this fall. Some parents are skeptical the plan will achieve the desired results. “Everyone’s going to become a natural extrovert and talk to everyone in the cafeteria? The kids I know… avoid the cafeteria,” said parent Cara Brousseau during a school board meeting. “I wish they would socialize, but you can’t just expect that to happen spontaneously by locking up their cellphone. There needs to be a path to get there.” Students, polled anonymously, have differing views. One said it would take “a weight off your shoulders,” while another asked, “What am I going to do in my free periods?... It would make my life suck.” Two students questioned worried about a lack of a phone during a school shooting. The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake and Green Island schools are also planning to ban phone use entirely. Psychiatrist Dr. Kevin Martin of Saratoga Springs isn’t convinced that taking away the phones will work as intended. “It’s correlation, not necessarily causation. Around 2012 when we hit about 50 percent in smartphone usage, since then, even before the pandemic, mental health issues in kids and teens really went up,” he said. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Athens Boat Launch is about to be renovated. The boat launch is owned and maintained by New York State, which will soon spruce things up. Athens Mayor Amy Serrago said, “It is a state park and is slated for renovation as part of the Hudson Eagles Recreation Area project.... This is the same initiative that funded the Coxsackie renovation.” The Athens Waterfront Advisory Committee has approved the renovation plans. Serrago said, “The last I heard was that our portion is next in line, with Hudson.... They are going out to bid on both at the same time. They tell me this is good news as far as the timeline goes. We are basically waiting in line.” Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Doug La Rocque reports in the Columbia Paper that some local volunteers are hoping to restore a New Lebanon train depot built in 1863 and last used in 1953. The now dilapidated depot was a stop on the Corkscrew Railroad, which ran from Rutland, VT, to Chatham, with a spur heading north into Canada. The Town of New Lebanon used some of its American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay off the back taxes on the depot, after the property was donated by an unidentified rail enthusiast. The story does not identify the volunteers asking for donations for the restoration project, but they have set up a GoFundMe page-corkscrewrailtrailassocaition/Joe Ogilvie. Checks specifying Depot Restoration can also be mailed to P.O. Box 394 Stephentown, NY 12168, or dropped off in person at the Berkshire Bank in New Lebanon. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.

Today's daily news audio update.

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

Mid-Hudson News reports that on May 10 Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison and Columbia-Greene Community College hosted their first commencement ceremony at the Green Haven Correctional Facility. Seven graduates earned their associate degrees in Individual Studies. Joel Jimenez, Hudson Link Program Director, said, “Green Haven has always been close to my heart because I spent eight years of my incarceration in that facility. I remember hoping to transfer to a facility like Sing Sing where Hudson Link was operating a college program, one of the few in the state. When I became Program Director at Hudson Link, I set a goal to open a college program available to an entire population, because I wanted the men at Green Haven to have the opportunity I did not have when I was there. Education is one of the great equalizers an incarcerated person could have, and so, I am super excited to attend this graduation only 18 months since we opened the program.” Jose Rodriguez was the Columbia-Greene Community College Valedictorian at Green Haven, and he said, “I want to say that I didn’t do this just for me. I did this for all those that I’ve hurt by my past actions. I did this for my family, who continue to love me unconditionally and continue to be supportive. I did this for the man I call “Dad,” even though you’re not here, I know you’re still watching. I kept my promise. I told you I’d get this. And most importantly, I did this for my boys—my sons. You are my greatest achievement and greatest inspiration. I know I’ve let you down, but I’m picking up the pieces. Your Papi is making it happen, and it doesn’t stop here.” Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

William J. Kemble reports in the Daily Freeman that the Lincoln Park DG LLC has notified Town of Ulster officials that they won't build a 20-megawatt electric generating plant off Frank Sottile Boulevard in Ulster County. The company left a phone message on May 12 without explaining why they were giving up on the plans. Supervisor James Quigley said, “We’ve had suspicions that there were issues with the project for several years.... It goes back to December 2021 when they asked for a refund of all their escrow accounts. It didn’t trigger anything at that time but, in retrospect, that’s a tell.” The project received site plan approval in 2019, after nearly two years of discussions and public controversy. The initial proposal for a 30,022-square-foot building shrunk to 40 smaller structures measuring 40- by-8 feet and set farther away from a residential neighborhood after community criticism. The company did clear about three acres of the 122-acre site, but did not begin construction. The Planning Board approval required that unused land had to be preserved, so now developers are talking with Scenic Hudson about a public use of the property. “It is a parcel that is very, very difficult to develop for anything. I can’t even cut the trees and put solar up there because of the way the ridges are,” Quigley said. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that three candidates are running for two spots on the Germantown school board on May 16. David Rifenburgh, Teresa Repko and Cheryl Del Pozzo Kaszluga are competing for the two four-year terms. Del Pozzo Kaszluga works as a real property tax assessor for four municipalities within two counties and is a 1978 graduate of the Germantown schools. Repko has been on the board for 16 years. Rifenburgh is a certified financial planner and a member of the Germantown Land Use and Zoning Update Committee and used to lead the Germantown Youth Basketball Program and Southern Columbia Soccer League. Voting takes place from noon to 9 p.m. on May 16 at the school. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Here is this week's WGXC Congressional Report, tracking the votes, statements, positions, and campaigns of the representatives and candidates for the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Congressional seats in New York. Democrat Pat Ryan is representing the 18th Congressional District, Republican Marc Molinaro represents the 19th Congressional District, Democrat Rep. Paul Tonko represents the 20th District, and Republican Elise Stefanik represents the 21st District. Click here to listen to this report.

New York State of Politics reports that the first of a potential wave of migrants arrived in the Hudson Valley on May 11, after waves of migrants arrived in North America for the past several centuries. This time, though, they are being shipped around as political pawns from the southern border of the United States, to New York City, and then to the Hudson Valley. About 300 migrants are being bussed to the Hudson Valley so far. Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro says the area is not ready for them. Molinaro, the 19th Congressional District representative said, “The concern is a lack of coordination. A lack of transparency. A lack of infrastructure and support that exists in upstate counties.” And while the Republican governors of Texas and Florida have been shipping the migrants around the country as political pawns, now the Democrat mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is moving them to the Hudson Valley. Molinaro said that Adams has no authority to override state and local regulations and to “impose” on counties the responsibility of caring for migrants. “It’s not humane or compassionate,” he said. “It just isn’t.... The right approach is for the city and the state to confront that challenge in the city.” On May 12, pandemic-related asylum restrictions known as Title 42 expired, with many migrants at the southern border of the United States waiting to enter the country, so there could be many more arrivals in the Hudson Valley in the weeks to come. Both Molinaro and Pat Ryan, a Democrat representing the 18th Congressional District, said the federal government should declare a state of emergency in New York because of the migrant arrivals. Ryan said, “From New York City, where they have more than 60,000 asylum seekers, to the Hudson Valley communities who were given no notice and no assistance to house asylum seekers, to the migrants themselves, simply here in search of a better life, this process has been a mess. The federal government must step in and declare a state of emergency for New York.... This declaration would allow the federal government to identify, mobilize and provide the resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the migrant surge in New York. We will continue to work in close contact with our partners in local and state government to address the situation.” Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, who represents the 21st Congressional District in New York, stood next to Majority Leader Steve Scalise at a May 10 press conference to react to the news that Republican New York Rep. George Santos was arrested and charged with wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and lying to Congress. They said that Santos voluntarily stepped down from his committee assignments, and that he has the presumption of innocence while the legal process plays itself out. Here is what Stefanik said at the press conference that was aired on C-Span: Click here to download or play Stefanik's statement.

Maury Thompson reports in the Glens Falls Post Star that Jill Lochner, who is challenging Rep. Elise Stefanik next year in a Republican primary, denounced Stefanik's vote on the debt limit bill that passed the House last week. Locally, Stefanik and Republican Marc Molinaro voted for the bill, while Democrats Paul Tonko and Pat Ryan voted against. Lochner complained that the legislation would cut Department of Veterans Affairs programs, and that she would have insisted that the legislation include repealing a $10,000 limit of the federal income tax deduction for state income taxes. “The act is killing clean energy initiatives. It promotes coal and disincentivizes nuclear energy. … Nuclear energy is America’s workhorse,” Lochner said. “If I were a member of Congress, I would be working with my party to get these changes made so that I’d be able to vote ‘yes.’” Lochner said she now has volunteer campaign coordinators in six of the 16 counties in the 21st Congressional District, and held her first public forum this weekend in Canton. Read more about this story in the Glens Falls Post Star.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that Democrat Pat Ryan and Republican Marc Molinaro are championing different ways to slow fentanyl trafficking at the country's southern border. Ryan has proposed an amendment to the current immigration bill to add $800 million for the Department of Homeland Security to lessen the fentanyl flow. Ryan's office released a statement that said, “This includes funding for additional illicit-drug inspection equipment, additional intelligence analysts and canine units to increase the percentage of incoming passenger vehicles searched at the border, new operating labs at ports of entry to accelerate the identification of narcotics seized, and expanding a program to seize currency, weapons and contraband that is flowing to transnational criminal organizations in Mexico.” Democrat Ryan represents the 18th Congressional District, Republican Molinaro lives in that district, but represents the 19th Congressional District. He said his vote this week for the Secure the Border Act of 2023 will combat drug trafficking and the opioid epidemic in New York. “The Secure the Border Act of 2023 will combat the opioid epidemic by strengthening efforts to curb the spike in fentanyl and drug trafficking along the border,” Molinaro’s office said in a statement. “It forces the Biden Administration to restart construction of the border wall, deploy innovative technology to the southern and northern borders, and increase the number of border patrol agents.” Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Mid-Hudson News reports that Frontier Airlines is ending its service to Stewart International Airport after this summer, after it just began flying there in 2021. Then, Frontier offered service to Tampa, Orlando, and Miami, but now only flies to Orlando a couple of times a week. That will end July 2. Orange County Chamber of Commerce President Heather Bell, who also chairs a regional airline attraction committee, was surprised by the announcement, saying, the airport struggles because of its location. "It’s 45 minutes from three, almost four competing airports and it’s an hour to an hour-and-a-half from the New York City airports,” she said. “You have to have a competitive game to really make that airport successful.” In July, the only airlines serving Stewart will be Allegiant with flights to Florida and seasonal service to Myrtle Beach, and Play Airways to Iceland with connecting flights to several European cities. In August, Atlantic Airways begins a once-weekly service to the Faroe Islands in the north Atlantic Ocean. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that there are only two candidates for two seats on the Hudson City School District Board of Education at the May 16 election. Calvin Lewis and Kjirsten Gustavson are running for three-year terms. After the resignation of two former board members. both Lewis and Gustavson have been on the board filling one-year terms. The story does not give any background on Lewis, other than he is a former student and athlete in the district. Lewis said, “I have nieces and nephews who currently attend the district, so I always want to be informed about their education and what’s going on with them on a social and emotional level." Gustavson did not respond to the newspaper for an interview, but the story says she has worked for 11 years as a museum educator at the Clermont State Historic Site. Voting is from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 16 at the Hudson Central Fire Station, the Greenport Community Center, and the A.B. Shaw Fire House in Claverack. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that Boy Scout Troop 42 in Greenville is renaming their headquarters on State Route 32 the David Battini Scout Building after a former scout leader. Battini led the troop for nearly 50 years before he died in 2018 in Montana while attending a Boy Scout event. He first became an assistant Scoutmaster to Troop 42 in 1969 and then Scoutmaster in 1971, continuing until his death at age 76. Battini was also a history teacher and soccer coach at Cairo-Durham Central School District for 30 years, retiring in 1998. He was also a co-founder in 1972 of the Greenville Rescue Squad, a member of the Greenville Volunteer Fire Company, and volunteer with Meals on Wheels. At 11 a.m. on June 10 Troop 42 will dedicate their building at 11207 State Route 32, and the public is invited for the ceremony and an open house. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Today's daily news audio update.

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

New York State of Politics reports that the first of a potential wave of migrants arrived in the Hudson Valley on May 11, after waves of migrants arrived in North America for the past several centuries. This time, though, they are being shipped around as political pawns from the southern border of the United States, to New York City, and then to the Hudson Valley. About 300 migrants are being bussed to the Hudson Valley so far. Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro says the area is not ready for them. Molinaro, the 19th Congressional District representative said, “The concern is a lack of coordination. A lack of transparency. A lack of infrastructure and support that exists in upstate counties.” And while the Republican governors of Texas and Florida have been shipping the migrants around the country as political pawns, now the Democrat mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is moving them to the Hudson Valley. Molinaro said that Adams has no authority to override state and local regulations and to “impose” on counties the responsibility of caring for migrants. “It’s not humane or compassionate,” he said. “It just isn’t.... The right approach is for the city and the state to confront that challenge in the city.” On May 12, pandemic-related asylum restrictions known as Title 42 expired, with many migrants at the southern border of the United States waiting to enter the country, so there could be many more arrivals in the Hudson Valley in the weeks to come. Both Molinaro and Pat Ryan, a Democrat representing the 18th Congressional District, said the federal government should declare a state of emergency in New York because of the migrant arrivals. Ryan said, “From New York City, where they have more than 60,000 asylum seekers, to the Hudson Valley communities who were given no notice and no assistance to house asylum seekers, to the migrants themselves, simply here in search of a better life, this process has been a mess. The federal government must step in and declare a state of emergency for New York.... This declaration would allow the federal government to identify, mobilize and provide the resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the migrant surge in New York. We will continue to work in close contact with our partners in local and state government to address the situation.” Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit May 11 over emergency orders in Rockland and Orange counties meant to block migrants from being housed in hotels there. Amy Belsher, the group's director of Immigration Rights' Litigation, said, “Orange and Rockland County’s Emergency Orders egregiously violate migrants’ rights.... Migrants have every right to travel and reside anywhere in New York, free of xenophobic harassment and discrimination. People are not political pawns – both counties should welcome migrants into their communities, not unlawfully bar them from seeking refuge.” Beth Cefalu, a spokesperson for Rockland County, said, “We normally don’t comment on pending litigation however we feel strongly that what we are doing is right and legal as witnessed by the court’s Temporary Restraining Order granted Thursday." Rockland County won a temporary injunction to prevent the housing of migrants at a hotel on May 11. Gov. Kathy Hochul on May 10 said that her office was reviewing the constitutionality of the counties' orders. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media about local officials actions and opinions on the arrival of migrants in the Hudson Valley. On May 11, Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson joined an online meeting with New York City Mayor Eric Adams about his plans to bus migrants arriving in New York City to the Hudson Valley. Catskill Town Supervisor Dale Finch said he agreed with Gov. Kathy Hochul's decision to declare a state of emergency in New York State. Finch said, “I feel the governor’s response is appropriate, although somewhat reactive.... Congress needs to fix the immigration problem. There needs to be a better legal immigration system. I do not foresee a major impact in our immediate area. The larger cities are most likely to see a larger influx of immigrants.” Athens Town Supervisor Michael Pirrone said his town is ill-equipped to deal with many arriving migrants. “The only emergency gathering places are relatively small and would require security and social services personnel to handle the population needs,” he said. “Public transportation can be provided via the Greene County Bus Service. Some food services may be provided by our local volunteer food pantry organizations. Health conditions and care are the most important to ensure, protect and prevent any communicable illness from spreading. It is disappointing that plans, services and facilities are not already established to handle this situation.” Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.