Emilia Teasdale is reporting in The Columbia Paper some members of the Chatham Town Board are concerned about a bill received from the town’s accounting firm, totaling more than $20,000. The board agreed to table payment of the bill until more information is provided. Board member Henry Swartz questioned the invoice submitted by the Hudson firm of Pattison, Koskey, Bucci and Howe, totaling more than the amount budgeted. He said the bill was originally for $40,000, but that town Supervisor Maria Lull negotiated with the firm to reduce the amount owed to $26,000. Swartz said he is still unclear what the board was paying for and noted it was never advised of the budget overrun. Board member John Wapner agreed with Swartz, and said he felt the accountants should have come to the board about the increased cost of services. Lull said Pattison, Koskey had to “rebuild” the budget and although they were hired in January of 2016, the circumstances forced them to go back and look at accounting issues from previous budget years, thus increasing the number of hours required to do the job. Under pressure from board members, Lull agreed to withhold payment this month, and indicated she would talk to the firm again. In July, Pattison, Koskey discovered that the town's expenditures had exceeded its revenue for several years, resulting in a budget shortfall averaging more than $200,000 per year over a three-year period.  Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

The Daily Freeman is reporting the high winds and heavy rain that blew through the region Sun., Oct. 29, into early Monday left thousands without power. Approximately 6,000 customers of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. were still without power Monday afternoon. The the largest number of outages were reported in Ulster County. The Rhinebeck Central School District delayed opening two of its schools due to a lack of electric service, but power to the buildings was later restored. As of Monday afternoon, New York State Electric and Gas reported it was investigating and assessing numerous outages in Claverack, Ghent and Hillsdale. In some cases, the estimated restoration time was as late as 11:45 p.m., Tue., Oct. 31. National Grid reported outages impacting 55 customers out of the 21,000 it serves in Columbia County, were being assessed, but had no estimated restoration time.

Mathew Hamilton is reporting in the Times Union on the trend among second-home owning Democrats whose main base of operations may be elsewhere to register and vote upstate. It is still unclear how the trend will impact registrations in the 19th Congressional District. NY 19 Votes, an activist group, started a website in July called Smart Vote NY to help drive registration of those with a second address upstate. The group will send pre-stamped voter registration forms to those who use the website to help ease the transition, NY 19 Votes Campaign Director Dustin Reidy said. National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Chris Martin said of the effort, "These shady political tactics epitomize the desperation of a divided and leaderless Democratic Party." The GOP has used the carpetbagger claim in past election cycles, including the contest between Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout and Kinderhook native John Faso. Many of the candidates lining up to unseat Faso in 2018, have already made a point of stressing their roots in the region, even as some have lived elsewhere in the recent past. Asked about downstate voters registering here, Gareth Rhodes of Ulster County said the race will be decided by the residents of the district "...who have been betrayed by Faso's votes to take away...health care and [to] pollute our environment." A spokeswoman for Dutchess County resident Antonio Delgado said, "Antonio supports people registering and voting wherever they’re eligible to do so.” Brian Flynn of Greene County similarly said, “People should decide for themselves where it’s appropriate for them to register to vote.” Jeff Beals of Greene County and Pat Ryan of Ulster County both declined to comment. A representative for Dave Clegg of Ulster County did not respond to a request for comment. Read the full story in the Times Union and at the CapCon Notebook.

DOWNLOAD or PLAY the audio version of the local news headlines for Mon., Oct. 30 (7:37). (Produced by Philip Grant.)

Some of the stories that made the news from Fri., Oct. 27, through Sun., Oct. 29:

Joseph Spector reported at Politics on the Hudson four million residents of New York must re-enroll for health insurance beginning Wed., Nov. 1. The enrollment period begins amid uncertainty over the future of the federally funded program. One in five New Yorkers get their insurance through the exchange. State officials said the turmoil over health care insurance in Washington should not discourage people from signing up for coverage through the exchange. New York runs its own program and has more autonomy that most other states. "That’s what we want consumers to know: They’ve seen and read a lot, but we want them to know that the reality here in New York is we are open for business," said Donna Frescatore, the executive director of NY State of Health. The enrollment period will run from Nov. 1 through Jan. 31. For 2018, 12 insurers are on the exchange offering individuals private insurance, while two insurers, CareConnect and Affinity, have chosen not to participate this year. Residents of Greene and Columbia counties will have six plans to choose from on the exchange in 2018. 

Brenda J. Lyons reported in the Times Union a private medical company and Albany County have agreed to pay nearly $1.1 million to the estate of a Troy man who died in custody at the Albany County Jail in August 2014. The death of 24-year-old Mark Cannon occurred when nurses waited more than 12 hours to call an ambulance after he suffered a stroke. Last year, an investigation ordered by the state Commission of Corrections determined the care given to Cannon was "so grossly inadequate ... it shocks the conscience." The settlement was filed recently in U.S. District Court in Albany, where Cannon's mother filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of her son's infant daughter. At the time of Cannon's death, medical care at the Albany facility was provided by Correctional Medical Care, which contracted with 13 county jails statewide at the time. Albany County earlier this year terminated its $3.7 million contract with CMC.

Daniel Zuckerman reported for Columbia-Greene Media an amendment to the peddling and soliciting law in the village of Athens was discussed at the village board meeting last week. The subject arose after some residents expressed dissatisfaction with representatives of solar companies coming through Athens and peddling their wares, Mayor Peter Alberti told the paper. Alberti said the representatives may have been from NRG Home Solar. NRG’s peddling permit was previously revoked in the village of Coxsackie, and a short time later, Catskill pulled the company's permit to do business in that village. Anyone who wants to peddle in the village, must go to village hall to apply for a permit, Alberti said. The members of the Athens Performing Arts Committee attended the meeting to argue for an update to the existing law because outside vendors have been coming to its events. “We want people to support our local businesses," APAC member Carol Bernard said.

Christopher S. Rugaber reported for the Associated Press most Americans believe their jobs are safe from automation, at least for the next decade, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. More than half believe automation could make their work easier or more efficient in the future. The survey found that 57 percent of respondents thought it unlikely that they or someone in their household would be replaced at work by automation within the next 10 years. A similar survey by the Pew Research Center also found that 70 percent of those polled believe it unlikely they will lose their jobs to automation. A report released this month by Pearson, Oxford University and the Nesta Foundation reported just one in five workers are in occupations that will likely shrink by 2030.

Ann Friedman reported for Columbia-Greene Media Arthur Brooks of Hudson celebrated his 100th birthday with family and friends Sun., Oct. 29. Asked about the secret of his long life, Brooks said, “I have a happily married life, children, I was happy in business. I never thought much about longevity, the decades passed very quickly.” The Elmira native moved to Hudson in the late 1940s to work at his father-in-law’s manufacturing firm, Textile By-Products, later known as Lorbrook Corp. at 730 State St. Brooks is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and a veteran of World War II. He met his wife Judy, now 98, following the war and in 1948 came to work in Hudson. Brooks' daughter Lori said, “It’s pretty extraordinary” to watch her father turn 100-years-old.

The New York State Department of Conservation urged the public Fri., Oct. 27, to avoid caves and mines in an effort to protect the state's bat populations. The department advised outdoor adventurers to suspend exploration of any site that could serve as a seasonal home for hibernating bats. "Human disturbances are especially harmful to the state's bat population since the arrival of the disease known as white-nose syndrome," according to a DEC press release. The disease has killed more than 90 percent of hibernating bats statewide, the department said. When bats are disturbed during hibernation it forces their body temperature to rise, thus depleting their fat reserves, the only source of energy available to the small mammals until the warm weather returns. There is currently no treatment for white-nose syndrome. Additional information can be found at www [dot] DEC [dot] NY [dot] gov.

Local weather forecast:
TODAY: Showers likely, mainly before 1 p.m. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny. High near 54. Windy, with a west wind 21 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 48 mph. A high wind warning remains in effect throughout the day until 6 p.m. Monday night, partly cloudy. Low around 38.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS:
TUESDAY: Mostly sunny. High near 54. Tuesday night, mostly clear. Low around 34.
WEDNESDAY: Partly sunny. High near 51. Wednesday night, a chance of showers after 8 p.m. Mostly cloudy. Low around 40.

Sunrise today: 7:27 a.m.
Sunset today: 5:50 p.m.
LENGTH OF THE DAY: 10:23 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS and POLITICAL EVENTS for Mon., Oct. 30:
Please see the WGXC Community Calendar.