Daniel Zuckerman is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the proposed $113 million Greene County budget for 2018 does not provide for any funding for a new county jail. Lawmakers put the jail project on hold until the legislature's Alternatives to Incarceration Sub-committee presented its findings in October, Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said. And because no funds were borrowed for the jail this year, there will be no debt impact in 2018 -- any financial decisions made now will likely not be seen until 2019, Groden said. Legislator and Jail Task Force Chairman, Bill Lawrence (R-Cairo) said he is disappointed that funds were not allocated for the facility in 2018. Lawrence plans to bring up jail financing at the Public Safety Committee meeting, on Nov. 6. He hopes the legislature will vote on jail borrowing by the end of the year so low-interest rates can get locked in and the county can move to send out construction bids. Lawrence said there's little time to lose because of pressure from the state to resolve the issues with the existing facility. Lawrence said he does not like the idea of a shared jail with Columbia County, also has concerns that the ATI Sub-committee reduced the jail bed count from130 to 80. ATI committee member Angelo Scaturro, the Greene County public defender, said he is unfamiliar with the details of the proposed budget, but believes the legislature should carefully review options around the jail proposal. A public hearing on the proposed 2018 county budget will be held 7 p.m. Nov. 6, in the Catskill High School Auditorium, 341 W. Main Street, Catskill. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

I’ll sum up the new Republican tax plan: The super-rich and big corporations get kickbacks, middle class Americans are left in the dust.

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) November 2, 2017

Local representatives weighed in on the proposed Republican tax plan that was unveiled Nov. 2. U.S. Rep. John Faso is undecided on how he will vote on the tax plan, according to his spokesman. “He is still reviewing and undecided,” John Lange said in an email to The Daily Freeman. Several other New York Republicans in the U.S. House said they will vote against the measure because of the reduction in deductions for state and local tax, which will raise taxes for many New Yorkers. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the bill “a tax giveaway to the rich” and said, “Tax legislation is extremely complex and you cannot have a successful bill if you sneak it through in the dead of night.” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand tweeted, "I’ll sum up the new Republican tax plan: The super-rich and big corporations get kickbacks, middle class Americans are left in the dust."

The Berne-Knox-Westerlo school district got its capital project approved by voters Nov. 2. The first proposition won 449-224, allowing the board to raise taxes to cover $12,800,000 in spending. The second proposition was only in play if the first is approved. That measure, to allow the board to raise $5,000,000 more for the construction project, also passed, 427-240.

H. Rose Schneider reports in The Altamont Enterprise that several Republican candidates in Berne don't mind a Confederate flag flying in a yard alongside their campaign signs. The home of Paula and Kevin Dunnells in the southern Albany County town have been flying the traitorous flag since before the election, they say, because their teenage son wanted to "honor history." Some factions of the Confederate States Army flew the flag, which is often perceived as a racist symbol. Now the flag is next to campaign signs for incumbent Berne Highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger, and for Richard Otto and Mary Alice Molgard, who are running for town justice. “As far as where my signs go has nothing to do with a flag … ” said Bashwinger, who is not sure who put his campaign sign there. “I’m kind of curious of how it has anything to do with the confederate flag.” Molgard says she knows about the flag flying next to her sign and said, “But the flag is just not simply the Confederate flag,” noting the words “heritage not hate” are printed on it. Otto said, “If somebody wants to put up a Nazi flag, I’ve got no control of it.... What somebody puts on the front of their house really has nothing to do with me.” Read the full story in The Altamont Enterprise.

DOWNLOAD or PLAY the audio version of the local news headlines for Fri., Nov. 3 (6:39). (Produced by Philip Grant.)

Daniel Zuckerman is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the general election Tuesday will bring four contested races in the town of Athens: for county legislator, town supervisor, town justice and for two seats on the town board. In the special county legislator race, Democrat Lee Allen Palmateer and Republican and Conservative candidate Edward Bloomer are both seeking to win the District 3 seat left vacant by the death in August of Gene Hatton. Incumbent Athens Town Supervisor Robert Butler, a Republican, is being challenged by Democrat and Athens First candidate Michael Pirrone. Butler has served as supervisor since January 2016. He is employed as a project manager and an Equal Employment Opportunity administrator for A. Colarusso & Son. He has lived in Athens since 1985. Pirrone has lived in Athens since 1986, full-time since 2010. In the town board race, incumbents Mary Brandow and Anthony Paluch are seeking re-election on the Republican and Conservative lines; challengers Phyllisann Dinkelacker and Martin Miller are running on the Democrat and Athens First lines. Brandow has lived in Athens for more than 50 years. She is currently working at on a temporary basis at Riverside Housing. Paluch, a lifelong Athens resident, has served on the town board for two and a half years. Dinkelacker has lived in Athens for more than 26 years and has an interest in shared services initiatives. Miller, another longtime Athens resident, is currently in the process of starting his own heating, ventilation and air conditioning business. In the town justice race, David Cole, Democrat and Athens First candidate, is challenging incumbent Constance Pazin, who is running on the Republican and Conservative lines. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 7. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Anthony Fiducia is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media one incumbent and three newcomers are competing for two seats on the Cairo Town Board. Incumbent Mary Jo Cords and newcomer Jason Watts are candidates on the Republican line; Cords is also running as a Conservative. Democrats are running Lewis O'Connor and David Gabrielsen. Cords is seeking her third term on the town board. She previously served as the town assessor for four years and ran Cords Realty, a real estate and appraisal business, for 30 years. Watts was born and raised in Cairo and is a graduate of Cairo-Durham High School. He operates his mother's business, Watts Oil. O'Connor is the retired superintendent of public works for the village of Catskill and former Catskill Town Board member. Gabrielson is a long-time resident of Greene County and attended Columbia-Greene Community College and the University at Albany, where he earned a master’s degree in social work. He now runs a health and recovery planning program for Catholic Charities. Incumbent Town Supervisor Daniel Benoit is running unopposed. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 7. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Kate Seckinger is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media three candidates are vying for two open seats on the Austerlitz Town Board in the general election, Tuesday. Incumbent Town Board member Greg Vogler and newcomer Christopher Schober are running on the Democrat line. Jack Howes is the lone candidate on the Republican line for town board. The town has a contested highway superintendent race, as well. Incumbent Robert A. Meehan Jr. is running on the Democrat line; challenger Robin Howes is on the Republican and Conservative lines. Howe is a lifelong Austerlitz resident. He was employed as an electrical engineer and later taught math and physics at the Darrow School in New Lebanon for several decades before he retired in 2000. Schober was born and raised in Austerlitz, and is a woodworker and furniture builder by profession. His family has operated Schober Farm for 75 years. Vogler is seeking a second four-year term. He is a retired internal auditor. Vogler moved to town in 1999, and has lived upstate full-time for four years. Incumbent Austerlitz Town Supervisor Robert Lagonia and Susan Haag, the incumbent town clerk and tax collector, are both running unopposed. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 7. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has been doing opposition research about the Democratic candidates who want to challenge Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook), and found many of them were registered to vote out of the district in 2016. In fact, the four Democrats who have raised the most money to challenge Faso did not vote in the 19th Congressional District. "Brian Flynn was living in New York City; Antonio Delgado was living in Montclair, New Jersey; Patrick Ryan was living in New York City; Gareth Rhodes was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts," the NRCC press release reports, with links to their voter registrations. In the last two elections in the district, Democrats have ran candidates Sean Eldridge and Zephyr Teachout who both were labeled "carpetbaggers" for their suspect credentials as residents of the district, and both lost.

Local weather forecast:
TODAY: A chance of showers, mainly between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Mostly cloudy. High near 67. Friday night, partly cloudy. Low around 34.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS:
SATURDAY: Mostly sunny. High near 50. Saturday night, showers likely, mainly after 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy. Low around 41.
SUNDAY: Showers likely, mainly before 11 a.m. Cloudy. High near 58. Sunday night, a chance of showers. Cloudy. Low around 53.

Sunrise today: 7:32 a.m.
Sunset today: 5:45 p.m.
LENGTH OF THE DAY: 10:13 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS and POLITICAL EVENTS for Fri., Nov. 3:
Please see the WGXC Community Calendar.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Thurs. Nov. 2 (4:16). (Produced by Alanna Medlock.)

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