Another fierce storm moved through the Hudson Valley July 13, closing roadways and railways, with a tornado warning in the Catskill area into Columbia County. Amtrak trains heading north stopped in Rhinecliff, with trees down throughout the area. Route 9G was closed with detours in Germantown and Tivoli. The Hi-Way Drive In movie theatre in Coxsackie was hit with the severe storm, with the kitchen flooded and closed for the evening. Power remained out for some hours after the storms passed, with 3,500 people in Columbia County without power at one point. In all, there were three tornado warnings issued in the area during the storms.

Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that an appeallate court on July 13 sided with Democrats and said congressional lines should be redrawn in New York. In 2022 Republicans flipped several New York Congressional districts their way, helping them regain a majority. Political observers believe if Democrats get the districts redrawn the way they want, they could hold the 18th Congressional District, and flip the 19th District, in 2024 voting. Republican John Faso, who used to represent the 19th District in Congress, said of the Democrats, "They're trying to eliminate a state redistricting plan that has the most competitive districts in the United States of America." Now the case goes to New York's top court, now lead by Gov. Kathy Hochul's recent appointment, Chief Judge Rowan Wilson. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

H. Rose Schneider reports for the Times Union that the Bethlehem Public Library's drag story hour went on as planned July 13. On July 10, a crowd of around 60 people spoke both for and against the event at the library's board of trustees meeting. Albany drag performer Noelle Diamond read from "Not All Princesses Dress in Pink," "They, She, He. Easy as ABC" and "Not Quite Narwhal" in front a crowd of just under 200 people. Library director Geoff Kirkpatrick said, "There were some folks who were not in agreement with the program.... But they came, and everybody was respectful." Lauren Jack attended the event and said, "If no one had talked about it or tried to organize against it, I feel like it would just be a normal library event." Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that most towns in Greene violate the state Open Meetings Law, not posting their minutes publicly within two weeks of board meetings. The law is simple: "“If the agency in which a public body functions maintains a regularly and routinely updated website and utilizes a high speed internet connection, minutes shall be posted on the website within two weeks from the date of such meeting.” But many towns and villages are many months behind in this legal requirement. Tannersville and Prattsville have not posted their minutes since March 2023, and Hunter last posted minutes in November 2022. Ashland was over a year behind in its postings, but after being contacted about the missing minutes, updated its website to be in compliance. But the town of Windham’s website consists of dead links, not the required minutes. Hunter Village Clerk Kathleen Hilbert explained why they violate the law, saying, “We have no staff... I’m the only one here right now. We have no one to type the minutes. The whole board is aware of the situation. We would all like to see the minutes typed, but there isn’t anyone to type them. I have to prioritize collecting tax payments, water payments, sewer payments.” Hilbert also has audio recordings of the meetings that are not posted online. Durham Town Clerk Janet Partridge said Durham’s town attorney Tal G. Rappleyea tells the town to violate the law by not posting the minutes until the next month, after the board approves the minutes at the following board meeting. “I think this is the practice of many towns in Greene County,” said Partridge. The newspaper looked at all the Greene County websites and the villages of Catskill, Windham, and Coxsackie and the towns of Lexington and New Baltimore have all their meeting minutes’ posted. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Mid-Hudson News reports that Metro-North Railroad service returned mostly to normal July 13, after several days of cancellations and delays after storms wreaked havoc locally July 9 and 10. Metro-North Railroad President and LIRR Interim President Catherine Rinaldi said, “The damage to the Hudson Line and Wassaic Branch caused by Sunday’s storm resembled the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, so to be able to get service back in three days is remarkable." Officials warned there could be a few canceled trains in the coming days because of continued work on the tracks. Read the full story at Mid-Hudson News.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that Durham's Hull-O-Farm is now included on the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry. The more than 200-year-old farm is already designated as a National Bicentennial Farm, and on July 12, State Senator Michelle Hinchey and Assemblymember Chris Tague turned out the the farm for the new honor. John Hull and his wife Sally were the original owners of the farm, and John was a Revolutionary War patriot. Now the farm produces more than two million pounds of milk each year. In 1990, the farm added the Hull-O Farms Pheasant Preserve, a state licensed pheasant preserve. Tague said, “The family and farm have both adapted to whatever the world throws at it while still providing the best farm experience to their customers, and it is award-worthy." Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Porcupine Soup reports Cairo Republicans caucusing July 11 at Riedlbauer's Resort in Round Top voted for newcomer Tim Murphy over incumbent Tim Powers, 68-to-51. Supervisor Jason Watts was nominated for a second two-year term by just five votes. Watts is under criticism for telling voters they were getting a tax break when actually their property taxes were going up with local headlines such as "Cairo accidentally increases property taxes by 7.5 percent" in the Times Union. Depsite the band headlines, Watts defeated Powers, 63-to-58. Incumbent board member Debra Bogins, with 61 votes beat Powers, with 44 votes, Victor Manoli, with nine, and Murphy, with five. Town Justice Tanja Sirago, Town Clerk Kayla McAllister, Tax Collector Sue Hilgendorff, and Highway Superintendent Art Evans were nominated unopposed. Voting takes place in late October and early November this year. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that allegations of all sorts are being traded in New Baltimore recently. Harold W. Vadney III, Elaine Vosburgh, and Judith Felsten say that Town Supervisor Jeff Ruso is not interested in their free speech, alleging he says “get on with it” and “this is not town business” to put an end to any discussion he does not want to hear. Felsten said, “The Board treats members of the public condescendingly. I feel they consider public comment more of a nuisance. I don’t think they have a great interest in public forum or in discussion and debate.” Vosburgh said, about the July 10 board meeting, “Jeff did not let Harold finish his presentation.... Mr. Ruso banged the gavel many times and did not allow Harold Vadney to finish. He said, ‘This is not town business,’ when Mr. Vadney referred to libelous remarks against current Highway Superintendent Alan VanWormer that were published by the New Baltimore Republican Committee." Felsten said, “At one point I was objecting to an action they’d taken with our court personnel. I was stating my position and Jeff started arguing back. Part of what he does is talk so much it blocks you. It’s a kind of bullying. He tries to talk you into a silence, and then at the end he says, ‘Well, now that’s settled’ — when it isn’t.” The story does not get Ruso's side, only quoting him from a statement at a town meeting about social media not being town business. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Kevin Frey at New York State of Politics reports that New York Democrats say they will attempt to coordinate their elections in 2024, after losing several seats in the House of Representatives in 2022. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said of the cooperation, “It lifts up the entire Democratic brand. It helps the first time candidates with how to get your message out.” Republicans flipped the 19th Congressional District in 2022, and almost won in the 18th District too in the Hudson Valley. Democrats lost six seats in 2022 in the House in districts won by President Joe Biden. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries claims they are focused on reversing that, saying, “I have never seen this level of cooperation and coordination in my time in electoral office." And about cooperation from Gov. Kathy Hochul, Jeffries said, “I’ve never seen this sort of outreach when anyone was governor, even though they always indicated a willingness to be helpful to the congressional delegation.” The House Majority PAC announced in February a $45 million fund to elect Democrats in New York’s congressional contests. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Lana Bellamy reports in the Times Union that Metro-North Railroad resumed rail service in both directions along the Hudson River with a few schedule modifications, after damaging floods suspended several routes. Gov. Kathy Hochul said, “The trains are back,” July 12 at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. Flash flooding moved trees and heavy boulders on to parts of the tracks and rain washed out others in the Hudson Valley after severe storms July 9 and 10. Metro-North temporarily suspended service to make repairs. On July 12 just five trains were canceled and the Newburgh-Beacon Ferry service also resumed. Amtrak also returned service between New York City and Albany on July 12. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

New York State of Politics reports that Rep. Pat Ryan says it will take some time to clean up all the damage from storms this week that left one woman dead. The lower Hudson Valley, including much of Ryan's 18th Congressional District, were hit hard by the storms on July 9 and 10. He said, “West Point, where I went to school, and the surrounding areas, were the epicenter of the entire storm.... In just a few hours, they had over eight inches of rain, which normally takes an entire season or summer to fall. The area was absolutely overwhelmed.... There are several larger senior apartment complexes, one in particular, where almost all the seniors are without a home – many for potentially months....That’s the thing. This is not going to be a quick clean up. We are in it for the long haul.” And while West Point is asking the Army Corps of Engineers for help, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will help others, and Ryan says he's “marshalling the full force and power of the federal government to get recovery dollars.... We are assessing the damage now. It’s going to be significant, tens of millions of dollars if not more in damage to bridges, roads, homes and businesses." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Luke Parsnow reports for New York State of Politics that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul estimates that the state will spend $35 million to clean up from the heavy storms that wreaked havoc on the lower Hudson Valley July 9 and 10. Hochul said, “We are aggressively doing the calculations of the cost right now. We’ll get those submitted to the federal government, and I can anticipate reimbursements will help with this cleanup as well.” Hochul said New York will apply for a disaster declaration and reimbursement from the federal government, “and I know that sometimes takes weeks to do.” Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that the Cairo-Durham Central School District Board of Education voted on July 6 to make Catherine Dodig the new high school principal. Dodig was previously a mathematics teacher at the Catskill Middle School. David Proper has been interim principal since March 9 after Jeremy Moore resigned on February 16. The school district did not reveal why Moore left. Dodig was born and raised in Saugerties, and coached soccer and softball in Catskill. Dodig said, "I am eager to familiarize myself with the community and its members over the upcoming months and am passionate about bringing community pride to life; both inside and outside of the school buildings." Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Rachel Silberstein reports in the Times Union that New York Attorney General Letitia James said July 11 that she is closely monitoring the planned closure of Burdett Birth Center in Troy. The closure would eliminate the only birthing facility in Rensselaer County. In 2019 Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson ended birthing services at the only birthing facility in Columbia County. Greene County also does not have a birthing facility. There have been reproductive and birthing services at the Samaritan Hospital's Burdett Birth Center since 2011, when it was formed out of a merger between the maternity units of Samaritan Hospital and St. Mary's/Seton Health. So the shrinking of birthing services locally has been going on for years. James said, “I am very concerned about the proposed closure of Burdett Birth Center in Rensselaer County.... This decision would have an adverse effect on residents in this county and throughout the region.” A representative from the attorney general’s office has met with lawmakers, hospital executives, and state health officials about the closure by St. Peter’s Health Partners. Hospital officials say the birthing unit loses $2.3 million annually. A bipartisan group of elected officials from the Capital Region sent James a letter asking her to step in on July 10. The letter said, in part, “While we do understand some of the issues raised by Trinity, we do not believe this is the only option to address those issues and the reasons for closure do not seem entirely consistent with the rationale we have been provided to date.... It does not appear to us that best efforts were made to avoid the closure, but instead that it had been planned.” Troy’s Democratic Mayor Patrick Madden and Rensselaer’s Republican County Executive Steve McLaughlin are among the diverse politicians who signed the letter. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Melanie Lekocevic reports for Capital Region Independent Media that Coeymans is considering stopping some residents from keeping cows, cattle, horses, ponies, donkeys, mules, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, roosters, ducks, and geese. Proposed Local Law No. 8 of 2023 would prohibit farm animals and fowl from the commercial, business, and industrial zones in the town.Coeymans Board members have already heard complaints about the proposal and may make changes at the July 13 to remove the industrial zone animal prohibition. Resident Emily Zinkhen has land surrounding her home is zoned industrial for the town of Coeymans, and at a public hearing June 22 said she wanted to keep her sheep saying, “Our two sheep, goat and pig are beloved pets. They keep us sane during hard times and greatly improve not only the quality of our lives, but the quality of our land." Town Supervisor George McHugh said the town council could let the industrial zones have animals, saying, “Frankly, the complaints that we’re receiving are not from the industrial zones, they are from the commercial and business districts." Coeymans officials will debate the issue more at the July 13 town meeting. Read more about this story in The Upstater.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that investigators have been able to at least partially see an encrypted video with evidence in the murder of Scott Meyers, Greene County District Attorney Joe Stanzione said on July 10. He did not say what the video revealed. Myers, a local political activist, was stabbed in the neck on Nov. 26, 2021, at his apartment in Catskill after hanging out with Carrie Weiser, who was indicted on a second-degree murder charge in the death.case. Myers had several surveillance cameras, but the recordings were password protected. Stanzione said the case is in the discovery phase, with no trial date announced. Weiser was jailed without bail, first at the Ulster County Jail, and now at the Columbia County Jail, even though Greene County built a new jail recently. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Mid-Hudson News reports that train service locally continues to be disrupted after storms on Sunday and Monday flooded tracks and downed trees. Some Metro-North service returned on the Hudson line on July 11, but Amtrak service between New York and Albany remained suspended. Metro-North is continuing to provide limited bus service for travelers between Croton-Harmon and Poughkeepsie. CSX Transportation, which runs on the west side of the Hudson River between Selkirk in Albany County, and New Jersey, has delays of at least 24 hours because of the flooding. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Raymond Pignone reports in Columbia-Greene Media that a Massachusetts beaver whose dam broke recently flooding the town of New Lebanon, will not be sued, but has lost their home. The state of Massachusetts is also probably off the legal hook, after the dam broke on June 29 on Smith Mountain within Pittsfield State Forest in Hancock. New Lebanon Town Supervisor Tistrya Houghtling said, “Residents are upset, saying Massachusetts should be held liable, but proving that will be hard.... If somebody’s home suffered serious damage, and they have documented evidence that the state didn’t do something it was supposed to do or if the state has been put on notice and ignored it, I’d have our lawyers on it in a minute. But there is nothing showing.” Department of Environmental Protection communications director Ilyse Wolberg said, “The Office of Dam Safety will work with the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s wildlife management vendor to identify a solution to prevent the beaver dam from becoming re-established." The New Lebanon town hall and 15 to 20 homes were damaged in the deluge, with deposits of silt and debris in backyards and town parks. The dam was six feet high and 100 foot long, holding back three acres of water about four feet deep. Houghtling said the town is working with the Columbia County Emergency Management Office on a state or federal emergency grant to help the recovery effort. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Raga Justin reports in the Times Union that New York is not yet enrolled in a federal funding opportunity allowing states to expand health care coverage for inmates about to transition back into society. But that should change soon. California recently succeeding in petition to the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to use funding from the federal government health care coverage for inmates, the first attempt by any state. New York Department of Health spokesperson Cadence Acquaviva said the agency is negotiating the final conditions of a larger expansion of Medicaid coverage with a $13.5 billion request for the federal government. “Providing targeted Medicaid services to incarcerated individuals prior to their release is part of the department’s strategy to address health disparities and improve health equity,” Acquaviva said in an emailed statement. Around 80 percent of people released from prison in the U.S. each year have a substance use problem or a chronic medical condition, including mental health issues. Gabrielle de la Guéronnière, a legal policy director with the Legal Action Center said, “There are tremendous unmet health needs that people have in incarceration, and that has an impact on people's lives. People are dying of overdose, people are dying by suicide.” In addition, Rep. Paul Tonko, a New York Democrat, is sponsoring the “Reentry Act” in Congress to shift costs away from local correctional facilities and increase health care for inmates. Tonko said, “So many state and local governments find that these systems of jails and prisons are under-invested.... This is about saving lives. And doing it with science and evidence-based opportunities.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Rep. Marc Molinaro listened to farmers worried about climate change, concerned about milk prices and nervous over reductions in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits at a listening session at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. Molinaro said of the progress on the bill, “The work we’re doing is being done in a bipartisan fashion.” Molinaro, a Republican who represents the 19th Congressional District, said that he was raised by a single mother who got Food Stamps, and that he has no plans to make cuts in SNAP in the Farm Bill. But that doesn't mean he doesn't want to add work limits to benefits. “We want the government agencies to return to prioritizing helping people get to independence and not merely having the state process the check,” Molinaro said. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.