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Roger Hannigan Gilson reports for the Times Union that the previously announced sale of a media group covering Columbia and Greene counties to the Daily Gazette in Schenectady is still not official. The report says a memo to the Columbia-Greene Media staff of the Register-Star and Daily Mail in March said the sale could go through as early as May 1. But it is August now, and the sale is still not complete. Daily Gazette Publisher John DeAugustine told the Times Union that the sale was waiting on any "legal due diligence that needed to be completed" by Columbia-Greene Media. Johnson Media Corp, DeAugustine explains, would have to clear any liens on Columbia-Greene Media before the deal could go through. He said, "We need lien releases, and until we can get those, we are unable to do the deal.... but they have to be prepared to do the deal." The story also notes that in 2021 Columbia-Greene Media Corp. was sued by its former landlord. They claimed in a court filing that the media group had failed to pay six months of rent and broke its lease when it relocated to offices in Hudson's city center. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

William J. Kemble reports in the Daily Freeman about a local development battle, this one over the 840-acre Winston Farm, the Saugerties site that hosted the 1994 Woodstock music festival. Developers want to split it into 14 estate parcels, with 66 single-family homes, a village area with 57 single-family units, 13 cabins, a commercial area, a boutique hotel, a hotel with a water park, an amphitheater with an events center, and a campground. Others are hoping the land can be preserved, and want the Open Space Institute to step in and buy the property instead. But Saugerties Supervisor Fred Costello says that probably won't happen. “It’s not the first time there’s been outreach by members of the Saugerties community to get them to consider the property,” Costello said. “In the past, they’ve waved it off.” Open Space Institute Communications Director Siobhan Gallagher Kent admitted that there have been discussions but would not say how serious talks have gotten. Kent said, “We’re always interested in conserving land whenever it becomes available but right now it would really be not appropriate for me to comment on what we’ve done or not done on a particular property.” Winston Farm spokesperson Joshua Sommers, meanwhile, said that the owners “remain committed to their proposals.” Costello is now suggesting starting a program similar to one in Red Hook's zoning establishing a fund for the purchase of development rights. Costello said, “Maybe there’s an opportunity for a synergy between all parties.... Developers would get (the) privilege to develop certain areas of the property that the data tells us would be least impactful but achieves those goals of housing opportunities and job opportunities.” Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Michael Ryan reports for the Mountain Eagle that the Jewett town board had to waive the local noise ordinance to do it, but last week they approved a public assembly application from resident Floyd Dart for a tractor pull on September 9. Town Supervisor Greg Kroyer said, “There will be a time during this event we will potentially exceed our Noise Ordinance requirements.” Tractor pulling contests originated with animals, mainly horses, in contest to pull the most weight. Most often farmers would have teams of draft horses competing to carry the heaviest loads over the greatest distance. This particular tractor pull was previously being held in Durham. Dart said, “I am doing this for the kids who have asked me to do it." The event will be held near the intersection of Cross Road and Route 13, on back roads, rain or shine. Read the full story in Porcupine Soup.

Today's audio daily news update.

Molly Burke reports for the Times Union that New York's slow rollout of legal cannabis stores has stopped moving after State Supreme Court Justice Kevin R. Bryant issued an injunction Aug. 18 halting New York's marijuana licensing program. Bryant ruled that regulators had “failed to follow the clear language of the applicable legislation” that legalized cannabis. Bryant ruled that the state did not follow the language of the 2021 legalization statute. The judge said that New York fast-tracked applicants with past cannabis convictions at the expense of other “social equity” applicants, including minority- and women-owned businesses, as well as disabled military veterans. Applicants for stores now face confusion over the rules, and this court order blocking new licensing. The lawsuit was filed by four service-disabled veterans alleging the state unlawfully prioritized applicants with prior drug convictions while excluding others. So two years after New York legalized cannabis, only a few stores are open in the state, and no more will open with this court order in place. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Patricia R. Doxsey reports in the Daily Freeman that Ulster County taxpayers will pay $75,000 and insurance costs to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by former Public Defender Andrew Kossover against the county and former County Executive Pat Ryan. Jason Kovacs, a Republican candidate for the county Legislature, released a copy of the settlement agreement after filing a request for the document under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Kossover and his wife, Victoria, sued for $700,000 after Ryan deliberately made “false and derogatory statements” to the press in a Feb. 14, 2020 press release announcing Kossover had resigned after he “repeatedly and inexplicably failed” to submit routine and required paperwork. The press release blamed Kossover for the county to missing out on nearly $2.5 million in state aid. Later, an audit by the Ulster County Comptroller’s Office found that the county did not receive grant funds because of former County Executive Mike Hein’s office, which refused to allow Kossover to hire enough staff to receive the state funding. Kossover claimed that Ryan's comments caused “severe humiliation, loss of reputation and good standing in the community, mental anguish (and) severe emotional and physical distress,” as well as loss of employment opportunities, loss of income, and economic damage. Ryan is now a Congressperson, representing the 18th Congressional District. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

The Berkshire Eagle reports that there will be delays on I-90 in several Berkshire towns this week, as the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will be working on overnight pavement marking, slope repair, guardrail and bridge repair operations near Lee, Becket, West Stockbridge, and Stockbridge Aug. 21, through Aug. 25. There will be lane closures and slower traffic in work zones. Drivers should expect delays, reduce speed, read the construction signs, and use caution. Read more about this story in the Berkshire Eagle.

Today's daily news audio update.

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

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Rev. Richard Turpin is retiring after leading the Second Baptist Church in Catskill since 2000. Nov. 12 will be his last day as pastor. Turpin started with a condemned building, which he eventually got repaired, and then he began breakfast programs and after-school programs for children at the church. During the COVID-19 pandemic Turpin said, “We fed over 5,000 families free food. People would drive by and we’d put food in your car.” Turpin said he’d like to write a book in his retirement. At a recent Catskill Village Board of Trustees meeting, some local residents requested that a street in Catskill be named after Turpin. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Jane Kaufman reports in The Berkshire Eagle that farmers and horse owners say this is one of the worst summer seasons for hay that they have seen. The frequent, sometimes-heavy rains this summer are the biggest reason. Mike Balawender, who owns Balawender Farm in Cheshire, said, “Hands down the worst [hay] season I’ve ever seen.... And even if you could get some good weather, the fields are absolutely saturated. You can’t really work in the fields.... You can’t string together two or three good days to get the hay to dry to put it into small square bales.... By the time you get ready to dry, it's raining again.... So you know, you're right back to zero again.” Farm animals cannot eat the wet hay. Many farmers got a first hay cut earlier in the year, but few have managed a second since the rains began. And while orchard owners and vegetable growers can get insurance, Balawender says, “When it comes to hay, it is extremely difficult to get any kind of crop insurance." He also cites high fertilizer and fuel costs, and continuing problems with the supply chain as making it a very difficult summer for some local farmers. Read more about this story in The Berkshire Eagle.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Rep. Marc Molinaro wants the White House to declare a federal state of emergency because Republican governors in Florida and Texas are busing migrants to New York City, and the mayor there is then busing some of them upstate. Molinaro said, “Gov. Kathy Hochul and other state leaders are finally recognizing the current migrant policy lacks compassion, competence and coherence.... I have been warning about this for months — and have pressed [the Governor], city leaders and the White House to take action. Representatives Mike Lawler, Pat Ryan and I joined in calling for the President to declare a federal state of emergency, and I asked the Governor join in that request. Instead of pointing fingers at other top Democrats, we need our state leaders to get to work.” Hochul, for her part, recently commented that, “Putting someone in a hotel on a dark, lonely road in upstate New York and telling them they’re supposed to survive is not compassion.” Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Today's audio daily news update.

Emily Kenny in New York State of Politics reports that New York lost 253,500 acres of agricultural land to development between 2001 and 2016. A report from the American Farmland Trust, a nonprofit that works to protect farmland, also found that 78 percent of those lost acres were converted to low-density residential properties. So housing, not renewable energy projects, led the conversion of farmland in New York at the beginning of this century. Still, when talking about losing agricultural land, it seems all anyone wants to talk about is solar panels. State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, a Democrat from Saugerties and chair of the Committee of Agriculture, has proposed a bill that would require the Office of Renewable Energy Siting to consider agricultural impacts on active farmland when siting and constructing energy facilities. Read more about this story in New York State of Politics.

The Daily Freeman reports what has become a weekly story this summer: another injured swimmer needing rescue. Most of the problems this summer have been at the popular Fawn’s Leap swimming hole off state Route 23A in the Kaaterskill Clove. On Aug. 19 a woman escaped with only minor injuries after falling more than 50 feet down a cliff at the Greene County tourist spot. It took several agencies and several hours for the rope rescue to get her out. In all, the Kingston and Centerville-Cedar Grove firefighters were there with the Pallenville, Hunter and Tannserville Fire Departments, Greene County Paramedics, state police, The Greene County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and Hunter Town Police. A Brooklyn teen-ager died at Fawn's Leap earlier in the summer. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that The Madison Theater reopened August 18 as the summer movie season neared an end. The former Fairview Cinema 3 on Fairview Avenue has had stop-start openings during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the theater has also added food delivery to seats. Joseph Masher, a partner in the new ownership group of three, said, “We’re looking to expand the entertainment selections here in Hudson.... Hudson is a great city for life, the arts and entertainment. This theater has been here at this location since the 1960s through different iterations, and we finally found the right winning combination to bring the theater into the future.” “Barbie,” “Blue Beetle” and “Strays” were the films at the theater's latest opening weekend. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Today's daily news audio update.

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

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that the Coxsackie Area Food Pantry is looking for donations and help as the need for food increases locally. Charlotte Carter, director of the pantry, explains how demand has doubled. She said, “We provide food and supplies to around 160 families each month. In 2020 we saw an average of 80 households." The Coxsackie Area Food Pantry serves Coxsackie, West Coxsackie, Climax, Earlton, Hannacroix, and New Baltimore. But, Carter said, “The past few months have demonstrated that we can no longer continue to meet growing local needs as the price of food skyrockets." Food pantries, food banks, and free food fridges are helping some who can't get government help. Anyone who earns more than $32,580 a year can't get from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, but if they are supporting several children, paying for rising food costs becomes difficult. Jen, a single mother of two from Catskill, didn't want her last name used, but said, “Food prices have been going up, but so has everything. It just snowballed. When I found myself checking to see if we qualified for food stamps I knew it was bad. I realized we needed some help.... If it wasn’t for the food pantry we would be in trouble.” Food prices nationally increased about 11 percent from 2021 to 2022, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Carter said that after the pandemic, "cuts in federal and state support compounded by inflation, left more families than ever in trouble.” The pantry has had to reduce the amount of meat and other high-cost staples it purchases recently. Anyone can send cash donations to the Coxsackie Area Food Pantry c/o 119 Mansion St, Coxsackie, NY 12051. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.