Today's daily news update.

The Troy Record is reporting U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko has announced Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been awarded two National Science Foundation grants totaling more than $950,000. “The vision and dedication of our Capital Region researchers, professors, and students in STEM continue to drive transformative research and innovation here and around the world,” Tonko said. The award was made to two projects: the development of 3-D printing of thermostats, led by Dr. Chang Ryu, Professor and Director of NY State Center for Polymer Synthesis in Chemistry and Chemical Biology at RPI. The other portion will be used to research epitaxy, a process of manufacturing materials used in microelectronics and renewable energy industries, led by Dr. Jian Shi, RPI Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. “Rensselaer is a leader in developing new and improved materials, that enable a wide-array of future technologies,” said Acting Vice President of Research at Rensselaer Robert Hull in a news release. The National Science Foundation was established by Congress in 1950 and it is currently responsible for funding 25 percent of all federally backed research at the nation's colleges and universities. Read the full story in the Troy Record.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics the state Department of Health announced June 25, New York counties will receive $323 million in Medicaid funding from the federal government. The money is part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. It is being disbursed to counties financially hard hit by the virus that spent heavily to respond the crisis. “While COVID-19 infection rates are dropping and New York state has effectively flattened the curve, we’re still feeling the significant human and financial toll of this virus," Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said. Zucker said while this money will help, more federal funding is critically needed. News of the money was welcomed by counties struggling under the weight of the virus response. “Counties are at a decisive moment in the battle against COVID-19, as we confront new cases and communities begin the delicate task of reopening," said New York State Association of Counties President John Marren. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Todd Kehoe is reporting for the Albany Business Review on the growing diversity in the city of Albany and the Capital Region. According to new data released June 25 by the U.S. Census Bureau, 14 percent of the region's population now identifies as an ethnicity other than white, an increase from 11.6 percent in 2010, and from less than 10 percent in 2000. The portion of the community that identifies as Hispanic increased also, to 5.5 percent, up from 4.1 percent in 2010. Albany is less diverse than other major metro areas, but it is changing at a faster rate than other parts of upstate New York. While diversity is increasing, the data also shows the population is getting older quickly. Ten years ago 14.8 percent of the greater Capital Region was 65 or older, but in 2019 that group had grown to be 19 percent of the population, or nearly 1 in 5 people. Every county in the state saw a double-digit percentage growth in the senior population during the past decade. At the same time, the percentage of residents under the age of 18 decreased across the region and statewide. Rockland County was the only county in New York with more young residents in 2019 than in 2010. Read the full story in the Albany Business Review.

Today's daily news.

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

The Altamont Enterprise speaks with Anne Pope, 82, the director of the northeast region of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People about the pace of police reform in the wake of protests nationally and throughout the Capital Region, Hudson Valley, and the Catskills. There are some parallels to marches in the Civil Rights era, "but the difference is this is ongoing. For instance, if we protested or marched back in the day, it would have been a one-day rally. It had a beginning and an end. With this, there’s a beginning, but I don’t see an end. And I like this,” Pope said. “I like that there are people who have time to give towards marching. And I am excited that they are committed to making a difference, and I see that they are making a difference. They’re able to stay with it and produce some results that are good.” Nationally on June 24 there was little progress on police reform as Senate Democrats blocked the Republican reform bill from advancing on the Senate floor. The bill did not mandate much, but made suggestions and studies for police departments. In the Town of Ulster, board members are still deciding if they will assign a police officer to the middle school next fall, the Daily Freeman reports. “It’s a liability limitation discussion,” Ulster Town Supervisor James Quigley said of the ongoing talks. “It’s open season on cops, and what my concerns are is we’re putting a police officer into an environment where young people don’t think about their actions. They may not necessarily think about doing something stupid that results in certain other ... consequential actions, and we just need to have a discussion about that.” There has been a school resource officer from the Town of Ulster Police Department at the Miller school since at least 2008. The Daily Freeman reports that the school resource officer's duties include, "conflict mediation, safety instruction, prevention of dangerous situations, and working with community agencies that offer mental health assistance and drug treatment." More and more it seems like folks protesting school resource officers, and other police-related issues, aren't in much danger from catching coronavirus. Politico reports that New York City has not seen any new outbreaks after several weeks of protests. “This is more than two weeks since the peak of the protests, and the incubation period of the virus is generally seven days,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, professor of medicine and an infectious diseases specialist at UC San Francisco. “I’m so psyched that all those fears were not realized.” Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association agreed, and said, “I understand that my risk of driving while black, running while black — pick a saying — is extraordinarily high. I believe people are making risk-based decisions” by attending protests. This weekend there is a "Rally for Black Lives" protest at 5 p.m. June 26 in Guilderland. On June 27 there are protests at noon (in Putnam County), 1 p.m. in Monticello, 2 p.m. in Schenectady and Albany, and 4 p.m. in Rosendale. On June 28 there are actions at 11 a.m. in Newburgh; 1 p.m. in Woodstock, Rensselaer, and Fort Edward; and 4 p.m. in Ellenville.

Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition has requested a Black Lives Matter-themed mural be painted on Main Street in Catskill, and on Second Street in Hudson. The city of Hudson has committed to the mural, Mayor Kamal Johnson said, but the Catskill Village Board offered two compromises instead: to put a mural on Water Street or install banners above Main Street. “What does it say about our community values to push a statement for black lives to the side?,” Hudson/Catskill Coalition Housing Program Coordinator Molly Stinchfield said. Stinchfield noted that Village President Vinny Seeley expressed concern over disrupting Main Street businesses after the COVID shutdown as a reason for rejecting the request. Seeley and board member Natasha Law support the mural idea, but agreed that Main Street would not be the ideal location. Law suggested the mural be painted on a building instead of a roadway. But the board also asked the coalition to change the slogan, Stinchfield said. A slogan original proposed was, “Defund the Police,” Seeley said “When we first asked Vinny,...He said it would have to say Black Lives Matter and we were willing to do that. We were not willing to move the mural off Main Street,” Stinchfield said. The Catskill Police Department's 2020-21 budget totals $1.3 million, or 26.5 percent of the village's overall spending plan of $4.9 million. The department has 14 full-time and three part-time employees. The village of Catskill has approximately 4,500 residents. Conversations about moving resources are possible, Seeley said, but he urged a "thoughtful, transparent approach." Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Amanda Fries is reporting for the Times Union officials in 12 New York cities have learned their state funding has been reduced as the Cuomo administration withholds a total of $74 million from municipalities statewide. The state Conference of Mayors June 23, shared on Twitter a spreadsheet of 12 cities, including Rensselaer and Amsterdam, that will see a 20 percent reduction in their aid to municipalities funding, which is usually distributed to communities at the end of their fiscal years. The reduction will pose serious cash-flow issues, particularly because it is the end of (the cities') fiscal year, said Peter Baynes, executive director of the Conference of Mayors. AIM funding is a primary source of revenue for municipalities, and cuts will make paying for essential services difficult. The amounts to be withheld vary — from nearly $139,000 for the city of Rensselaer to $19.5 million for Yonkers, according to figures compiled by the Conference of Mayors. Freeman Klopott, spokesperson for the state Division of the Budget, said support for AIM is not being reduced, instead the state is holding back 20 percent as it contends with its own cash crunch. Rensselaer Mayor Michael Stammel said the city was already facing a $2.4 million deficit due to budgeting errors in previous years and the city has also seen a drop in sales tax revenue. He said a deeper deficit could mean layoffs and service cuts beginning July 1. Read the full story in the Times Union.

MidHudsonNews [dot] com is reporting unemployment rates in the Hudson Valley remained high in May, but lower than in April, according to data released this week from the state labor department. With the region in phase three of the reopening of the economy, the unemployment numbers are expected to come down in the coming weeks. Orange County reported the highest rate of unemployment last month at 11.9 percent, while Columbia County had the lowest at 8.1 percent. Ulster and Greene counties each recorded an 11 percent joblessness rate; Sullivan County 10.9 percent; and Putnam and Dutchess counties each recorded a 10.6 percent unemployment rate. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Less than 500 votes separate Republicans Ola Hawatmeh and Kyle Van De Water in the June 23 primary election to take on incumbent Democrat Antonio Delgado for the 19th Congressional District seat in November. Hawatmeh, who has worked in the fashion industry, leads with 49.66 percent of the vote. Van De Water, with a military background, showed 45.37 percent of the vote on election night. But this year a record number of votes were mailed in, and will not be counted for another week. Columbia County, for instance, went from just over 1,000 absentee votes in 2016 to almost 10,000 this year. Greene County went from almost 500 to almost 4,000 this year. Early results in the Democratic primary between Albany County District Attorney David Soares and challenger Matthew Toporowski had the incumbent up by 1,100 votes, with 99 percent of the polling place vote in. Results will be delayed for a week until the record number of absentee votes are counted. In the Democratic presidential primary, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden won with 67.4 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from the state Board of Elections. In second place, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at 19.1 percent followed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 4.4 percent. In the delegate count, Biden so far has 164 in his column, out of 274 available.

The city of Hudson Tue., June 23, announced it is seeking proposals from qualified firms to perform a destination and origin study of the state-designated truck route that cuts through the city. The high-volume route that crosses through the city's high density neighborhoods, "deleteriously influences the community’s quality of life and economic vitality," according to a statement posted at the city website. The purpose of the study is to collect data and then propose alternative routes. The intention is then for the city to work with neighboring towns, Columbia County officials as well as the state to develop a plan to modify and improve the route. Read more at cityofhudson [dot] org.

Leanne DeRosa is reporting for CBS6-Albany a group of residents from Saratoga Site in Cohoes, Albany Co., has filed a notice of their intent to take legal action against Norlite LLC, its parent company Tradebe, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. The housing complex is located near Norlite's aggregate plant where it produces material for road building and construction, burning waste in its kiln for a fee, to raise revenue and allow the company to avoid buying fuel to power its operation. But the burning of PFAS-filled firefighting foam at the kiln has become a major environmental issue in the Capital Region. The group from Saratoga Site are threatening to file a complaint in federal court as a way to insure the company never burns the toxic foam again and that the accumulated contamination be cleaned up. Attorney Phillip A. Oswald, a partner with Rupp, Baase, Pfalzgraf and Cunningham, said if the EPA or DEC fails to step in and act within the next 90 days, the residents will take action. "We want to make sure as long as folks are living there, that they have a safe place to live and safe yards for the kids to play in," Oswald said. Read the full story at CBS6 [dot] com.

Today's daily news.

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

The Boston Globe reports that of 17,617 coronavirus tests in Massachusetts aimed specifically at those who participated in protests or demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd, only 2.5 percent positive results were found. And that's about the same as the recent general population tests there. “The vast majority of the folks who participated in those demonstrations were wearing masks or face coverings of one kind or another,” Republican Governor Charlie Baker said. “In many cases, they were moving, which I think made a big difference. And of course, they all took place outside, which we all agree is a far safer environment than indoors.” There are even better results elsewhere. In Minnesota just 1.5 percent of the tests conducted of those involved in demonstrations were positive, and in Seattle, fewer than one percent of thousands of people who attended protests had positive tests. And the number infected at the protests is probably lower. “Just because someone was at the protest, it doesn’t guarantee that they were infected at the protest,” said Dr. Helen Jenkins, an assistant professor of biostatistics at Boston University. That's all good news, as there are many other protests announced for the coming weeks in the Hudson Valley. Mid-Hudson News reports that the "Back the Blue-Orange County Law Enforcement Appreciation Rally" scheduled for 6 p.m. June 24 at Orange County Courthouse in Goshen, has been canceled. The organizers of the event, law enforcement officers, said they decided not to hold the rally in the interest of public safety, according the the news outlet. A counter-protest, organized after the police rally was announced and called "Defund Police Demand Accountability," will still go on, according to Facebook posts. Other protests June 24 include 6:30 p.m. rallies in Ghent, Chatham, and Kingston. And organizers just announced July protests in Cairo and Greenville in Greene County.

Patricia Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman Ulster County Attorney Clint Johnson will head the new police reform commission established by County Executive Pat Ryan. The group is charged with the improvement of policing practices and promote criminal justice in the county. Ryan signed an executive order June 23, creating the commission, which is mandated under an order by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Ryan said the Ulster County Justice and Reform Commission will convene by the end of June and focus on ending mass incarceration; police oversight and accountability; addressing systemic racial bias; and healing divisions between law-enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. Ryan said in a press release announcing the commission, “Working alongside stakeholders representing key communities...the Ulster County Justice and Reform Commission will actively listen to the community to create a meaningful plan for implementing needed criminal justice reforms." The 14-member commission will meet regularly over the next several months and hold a series of public forums, Ryan said. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Bill Williams is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media state police are investigating the death of a one-year-old child on Tue., June 23, according to Trooper Aaron Hicks, public information officer for State Police Troop-K. The child died at Columbia Memorial Health. The cause of the child’s death is under investigation, Hicks said. Greenport Rescue Squad and Greenport Police were sent by Columbia County 911 Tuesday morning to 156 Ten Broeck Lane, apartment No. 2, for a reported medical condition involving the boy, Hicks said. When Greenport police arrived they determined the emergency was in apartment No. 1; they then requested the help of state police, Hicks said. The state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the death inquiry. Police were at the scene most of the day, accompanied by representatives from Columbia County Child Protective Services. Greenport Code Enforcement Officer Vincent Concra Tuesday afternoon condemned the apartment where the boy lived. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Amanda Fries is reporting for Capitol Confidential New York is allocating $65 million in federal CARES Act funding for child care providers to help bring closed programs back to operation as families emerge from the lockdown. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced $20 million will be used to help child care programs develop a social distancing model and pay for supplies and activities associated with reopening and expanding services. An additional $45 million will be use to pay for 50 percent of the costs for newly opened classrooms. The Reopening and Expansion Incentive fund will provide grants up to $6,000 as an incentive to open classrooms. Although 65 percent of all state-licensed and registered child-care programs remained open throughout the coronavirus pandemic to provide services for essential workers, many have had to reduce classrooms and programs or closed all together because of the low demand for services as families kept their children home. To be eligible for the funds, child-care programs must have either been closed as of June 15, and have a plan to reopen within two weeks of applying, or currently operating below their licensed capacity and looking to expand. The deadline to apply for this funding through the state Office of Children and Family Services is July 15. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.