Today's daily news update.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that a video shows Catskill police officers ran and hid instead of helping 29-year-old Jason Jones after they Tasered him and he burst into flames. Jones later died after an extended stay in the burn unit of a Syracuse hospital. The video shows two Catskill police officers running out of their station's lobby after he burst into flames, and another who instead of helping, stood "around the corner of an interior wall rather than rush to the aid of the man who was burning in front of him." Instead of the police helping a man who needed medical attention, a civilian who witnessed the scene through a window can be seen on the video entering the station and trying to console Jones by hugging him. Jones was a well-known athlete at Catskill High a decade ago, and just after midnight on Oct. 31 he walked into the Village of Catskill police station on Main St. and doused himself with hand sanitizer. The video does not show Jones attacking police, but one of the officers fires a Taser at him, and his head catches on fire immediately. Then, just as quick, the three officers disappear from the video. "Jason was unarmed, in the police station, and not threatening anyone when the police hit him with 50,000 volts of electrical current and he ignited," Kevin A. Luibrand, an attorney representing Jones' family, said in response to the release of the video. "Instead of helping Jason, the police ran out the room, shut the door and let him burn." The Times Union quotes an anonymous police official who is not involved in the case said that his officers are trained to never use a Taser on an individual who may have been recently exposed to a flammable liquid, including hand sanitizer, which contains alcohol. He also said officers should have helped the man immediately. "Once the threat has been stopped, you don't just say, 'I'm going to let that person burn,'" the official said. The state attorney general's Office of Special Investigation has taken over the case from Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione because of a 2015 Executive Order empowering the attorney general to investigate fatal encounters between police and unarmed civilians. Jones died last month after spending 48 days on a ventilator in an intensive care unit at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. The investigation is continuing and the attorney general's office said in a statement, "The release of this footage is not an expression of any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of any party in a criminal matter or any opinion as to how or whether any individual may be charged with a crime." Read more about this story in the Times Union.

On January 4, Hunter-Tannersville schools announced that so many staff had called in sick with COVID-19, that school was going virtual all week. On Jan. 6 Catskill schools made similar announcement, staying closed through the MLK holiday next week. In Dutchess County, the Dover school district, the Millbrook district, Pawling Elementary School, and the Arlington district all were closed at least some of the past week because of staff shortages from coronavirus. Nick Reisman at New York State of Politics reports that on Jan. 6 the association that represents state supreme court justices in New York said it wants court proceedings to go virtual again because of the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases this month. Queens State Supreme Court Justice Carmen Velasquez, the president of the Association of Supreme Court Justices, said, "I am fully vaccinated and am quarantining at home with symptoms. I am extremely concerned about the health of our justices and court employees, and the health of all those who come into our courthouses," she said. "That must be our paramount consideration." Most local counties are now reporting a record number of new COVID-19 cases, with rising hospitalizations and deaths. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

David Robinson reports in the Poughkeepsie Journal that on Jan. 7 Gov. Kathy Hochul mandated a COVID-19 booster shot for health care workers in the state, because of the rising numbers of vaccine breakthrough infections caused by the omicron variant. A state Health Department panel must approve the mandate on Jan. 11. If they do, workers at hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care settings need to get the booster shot within two weeks of becoming eligible, Hochul said. New York implemented one of the nation's first vaccine mandates for health care workers on Sept. 27. "We're asking them to do the right thing once more," Hochul said. The state's hospitals are struggling with nearly 11,600 hospitalizations Jan. 6 from COVID-19. As of Jan. 4, 22 percent of the 94,000 direct care workers in New York nursing homes have gotten a booster shot, while about 35 percent of fully vaccinated Americans have taken a booster shot. Read more about this story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Today's daily headlines.

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

Andrea Macko is reporting for Porcupine Soup the Greene County Legislature held its annual organizational meeting January 3, and included on its agenda: swearing-in new and returning lawmakers, making 2022 appointments and approving the first pay raise for county lawmakers in 15 years. In an 11 to 2 vote, legislators approved a 25 percent salary increase for themselves, bringing their annual pay $18,750. “The annual salary for members of the Greene County Legislature has not been updated since 2006 and is in need of adjustment to match cumulative average employee salary increases over the past 15 years,” the resolution stated. Republicans Michael Bulich of Catskill and Thomas Hobart of Coxsackie were the only dissenting votes. “I don’t think we should be in the business of voting ourselves pay raises,” said Bulich, adding that county residents should get to decide on the increase in the 2022 general election. “We are serving them, and I think that is how we should handle this,” he said. The legislators also voted to reappoint Republican Patrick Linger of New Baltimore to serve as their chair through 2024. Those in leadership receive additional pay — the chair gets an additional $8,400 per year, while the majority leader, Republican Matthew Luvera of Catskill, and minority leader, Democrat Harry Lennon of Cairo, are paid an additional $1,250 each. Republican Greg Davis of Greenville will serve as parliamentarian in 2022; Republican Charles Martinez of Coxsackie was reappointed budget officer through 2024. Jonathan Palmer was reappointed Greene County historian for one year, and Angelo Scaturro was reappointed to a three-year term as the full-time public defender. The Times Union and the Mountain Eagle were approved as the official newspapers of Greene County for the publication of printed local laws, notices, and other matters required by law to be published. Noticeably missing from the meeting was Jack Keller of Catskill. In November he was elected to his second term on the legislature, but Keller died unexpectedly of heart failure on December 30. Keller’s seat will be filled by appointment. Luvera said the Catskill Republican Committee will meet and then submit a recommendation to the full Legislature for consideration later this month. Read the full story at porcupinesoup [dot] com.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics a law enforcement labor union blames staffing shortages for the mental health crisis its members are dealing with, the PBA of New York State said January 5. The union's president urged Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to address the problem in the middle of ongoing concerns about overcompensation. The union represents the New York State Park Police, New York State University Police and Encon Officers and Forest Rangers from the State Department of Environmental Conservation. “We’re losing officers every day across the state to local police departments that provide better retirement benefits and compensation and that’s creating serious staffing and experience shortages that will prevent us from being able to respond to people experiencing mental health crises,” said PBA of New York State President Manny Vilar. At issue are staffing levels brought on in part by contracts and pay disparity between officers in the PBA's agencies and local law enforcement, as well as poor recruitment, a failure to run academy classes and an antiquated retirement system, according to the union. The labor union's push comes as the state budget season is set to start in Albany, with Hochul scheduled to release her first spending proposal in the coming weeks. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that the village of Hunter has received a $1.97 million state grant to relocate its firehouse outside of the 100-year and 500-year flood hazard areas of the Schoharie Creek. As part of a statewide initiative, the state Department of Environmental Conservation this week awarded $11 million in funds as part of the Climate Smart Communities Grant program. The Hunter project was the only proposal in Greene County to receive money in this funding round. “We’ve needed a new firehouse for decades,” Hunter Village Mayor Alan Higgins said. “Since we did the local flood analysis, some things were identified in the village that would be helpful with our flood zones. One of them was to replace the bridge on Bridge Street and we see that as a real major need for the village as well.” The award is a 50 percent matching grant which will cover half of the cost of the $3.8 million firehouse project. “The property that we were looking at that’s in the grant has since pulled out of that deal,” Higgins said. “So we’re actively searching for a property now. It’s just a little wrench in the gears. We needed to move that firehouse so we applied for that grant and it’s amazing that we got it. It’s a competitive grant, so there were no guarantees there.” The mayor said the village will reconvene its relocation committee in the next two weeks with the intent of identifying a new property for the project. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Sarah Taddeo reports in the Democrat and Chronicle that mobile sports betting in New York begins Jan. 8. The New York State Gaming Commission announced Jan. 6 that Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Rush Street Interactive have been approved to begin accepting wagers. Five other operators are still working to meet the statutory and regulatory requirements necessary to launch. State Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr., a Democrat from Queens, who has championed sports betting said Jan. 6 that it was, “great news for New York in terms of revenue, new funding for education, addiction programs and youth sports, as well as new jobs.” Sports betting has been legal in New York since 2019, but only at four casinos: Resorts World Catskills, del Lago in the Finger Lakes, Rivers in Schenectady, and Tioga Downs in the Southern Tier. Now, anyone with a smart phone or computer can make a bet inside the state. New York's neighbors New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut also legalized sports betting recently. Read more about this story in the Democrat and Chronicle.

Today's daily news update.

Catskill schools on Jan. 6 moved to remote learning through at least Jan. 14, due to COVID-19. They began the remote learning with a two-hour delay. "The reason for the shift to remote instruction is a high number of positive cases being reported at the high school and the shift applies to CHS students only," Dr. Ronel Cook, the Superintendent of Catskill schools, wrote in an online message. "Students will log in to their classes as they did last year. They can use a Chromebook or log in to their Google account and use a Chrome browser on another device. Students should also check their email for further instruction from their teachers," he wrote. The day before, Albany city schools announced they were closing through the MLK holiday too because of so many COVID-19 cases. And new case counts are skyrocketing throughout the Hudson Valley, so more announcements from schools may be coming.

MidHudson News reports that the Dutchess County Jail has been closed to the public since Jan. 1 because of an increase in COVID infections among inmates and corrections officers. Jail Administrator Therese Lee said that as of January 6, the jail had 176 male and 21 female inmates, with 76 of those inmates testing positive for COVID-19. And 149 inmates are either quarantined or in medical isolation. Currently 39 of 165 full-time corrections officers and 20 part-time officers are out sick with coronavirus. “The safety and security of our staff and inmate population is our first priority. We want to keep everyone and their families healthy and safe as we see a spike in COVID cases,” Acting Dutchess County Sheriff Kirk Imperati said. Read more about this story at MidHudson News.

Mike Goodwin and Shaniece Holmes-Brown report in the Times Union that Albany County announced a new record of COVID-19 cases Jan. 6, with 1,010 new positive tests. That is a new single-day record for Albany County, passing the Dec. 31 total of 1,003 new cases. "This is the highest we’ve ever seen in Albany County since the pandemic started and the second time daily cases broke into the thousands in the last week," Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said in a statement. "To put that number into perspective, the largest single day increase we recorded last winter was 351, and this goes to show you just how contagious the omicron variant is." Albany County also announced another death from coronavirus, a woman in her 30s. The only good news from Albany County on Jan. 6: hospitalizations dropped by 10 cases with 99 people currently in a hospital and 12 people are in intensive care units. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Today's daily headlines.

The local COVID-19 new case numbers are unlike any the Hudson Valley has seen before. In Greene County officials reported 192 new cases on Jan. 4, and 208 more on Jan. 5. That brings the Greene County total to 1,135 current cases. Columbia County reported two more deaths on Jan. 4, and 107 new cases. On Jan. 5, Columbia County announced 106 more cases, for a total of 570. Greene County has more cases per capita than Columbia County and a worse vaccination rate than Columbia County, with 65.4 percent in Greene, and 74 percent of residents in Columbia County with at least one dose. Ulster and Dutchess counties also reported a steep increase of new cases of COVID-19 on Jan. 5. Ulster County reported 3,540 cases, up 173 cases from the day before. In Dutchess County, there were three more deaths from coronavirus announced Jan. 5. And the number of cases in Dutchess County rose by 658 to 6,370, a new all-time high and more than twice the Jan. 2021 peak of 2,576. Dutchess County also now has 140 people hospitalized with the disease, up from 123 reported the previous day. Albany city schools announced Jan. 5 that learning would go remote through MLK Day. With 1,000 teachers and staff at schools in the Capital Region reported sick, more school closures are on the horizon. Also, the number of Albany County residents hospitalized by COVID-19 has more than doubled in less than two weeks. Albany County also reported Jan. 5 that a woman in her 80s died of COVID-19. Albany County reported 429 new cases Jan. 4, and 733 on Jan. 5. But that is better than the record number of 1,003 new cases Albany County reported on Dec. 31.

Brendan J. Lyons is reporting for the Times Union Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered her first State of the State address January 5, pledging to restore the public's trust in government through term limits and ethics reforms, and by implementing a sweeping agenda to combat gun violence, improve the health care industry, expand educational opportunities, take further steps on the climate crisis and prop up the agricultural industry. "What I am proposing is a whole new era for New York," Hochul said in the Assembly chamber. "The days of governors disregarding the rightful role of this legislature are over. The days of the governor of New York and mayor of New York City wasting time on petty rivalries are over. The days of New Yorkers questioning whether their government is actually working for them are over." The speech was delivered in the Assembly chamber before a small audience; Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie announced shortly before the speech that he would not attend due to a positive COVID-19 test. The governor called for the passage of the "Clean Slate Act," which would seal certain felony records after a specific amount of years; she promised to "jump-start" the state's ailing economy and transform New York into the most "business-friendly and worker-friendly" state in the nation. A major focus is on tracing and removing illicit guns from streets, while also spending more money toward stemming gun violence with a community-based response. Hochul is also looking to increase support systems for people experiencing homelessness, addiction and mental health challenges and to support the increase of affordable housing. Hochul’s speech also addressed sustainability by pledging to electrify 50,000 homes, by replacing gas, oil and propane-powered appliances with electric. She also pledged to grow the health care workforce by 20 percent over the next five years, sketched out plans to increase enrollment by one-third at state universities and called for tax cuts for the middle class. She pledged to fund small businesses and restaurants, provide up to a $500 million investment in offshore wind, which could create 2,000 "good-paying green jobs," and to offer certain tax credits for farmers, and more. The speech was embraced by Democratic lawmakers, including Assemblymember Richard Gottfried, the longest serving member in the Legislature who is set to retire at the end of his term. Out of 52 State of the State addresses he has attended, Gottfried said this was "the best of them all." Read more in the Times Union.

Noah Eckstein is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to aid in the restoration of the aging landmark. The grant will support refurbishing the roof and gutters of the 147-year-old Hudson-Athens Lighthouse in an effort to stop water intrusion and erosion. The funds will help complete the first of a four-phase restoration project estimated to cost between $3 million and $4 million. Built in 1874, the lighthouse stands in the Hudson River between Hudson and Athens in the area of the river known as Middle Ground Flats. Nearly 150 years of currents, weather dredging and wakes from large ships have taken a toll on the historic structure and the nearly 200- year-old underwater wooden pilings that support it. “This grant does not give us our 100-year solution, but it’s a start,” Society Vice-president Bob Green said. The state parks funds will cover the cost of a new staircase from the dock to the deck of the lighthouse, a new marine toilet and cistern repairs. The Society now must raise funds to repair the underwater wood pilings, a much more costly project. “The OPRHP grant makes it easier for HALPS to fundraise from federal and state money. And once that happens, it’s easier to get private donations to finish the project,” said Green. An engineering assessment concluded that without the necessary repairs, the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse will not survive. Van Calhoun, chairman of the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Restoration Committee, estimates the entire project will be finished by the end of 2024. A green light on top of the lighthouse is monitored by the U.S. Coast Guard and powered by solar panels. It blinks every 8 seconds as a way to alert passing ships to the shallow waters. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

MidHudson News is reporting nearly one year after protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol and disrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election, many Americans support the investigation into the incident, according to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. More than six in 10 Americans, or 62 percent, think the investigation is appropriate and do not view it as an unwarranted campaign aimed at Donald Trump and his supporters, while 35 percent do not agree with the inquiry. Forty-nine percent consider the events of January 6, to be an insurrection and a threat to U.S. democracy. Twenty-five percent believe it was a political protest protected under the First Amendment, while 19 percent say the incident was unfortunate but does not have implications for the future. “Both Democrats and Republicans believe that U.S. democracy is under threat,” said the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie. “But they overwhelmingly disagree over the meaning of the events of January 6th and the motivation behind the investigation into the events of that day.” Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.