DOWNLOAD or PLAY the audio version of the local news headlines for Wed., Jul. 5 (8:03). (Produced by Philip Grant.)

Aaron Krein is reporting in The Columbia Paper the Philmont Library will mark the village's 125th birthday with an exhibition of historic Philmont-related items. Photographs, posters, books and other memorabilia contributed by past and current residents will be on display during the month of July. Library director Tobi Farley said the director of the Community Day Committee, Monte Jennings, approached the library board about doing something special for the occasion. Jennings said a similar presentation was put together for the village's 100th anniversary. The show features a timeline of events that stretches from one side of the room to the other, along with collages and enlarged copies of newspaper stories about the village. The show will be unveiled on Community Day, July 8, and remain on display all month. The Philmont Public Library is open Mon., Wed., Thu., Fri. and Sat. It is located at 101 Main Street in the village. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

The Associated Press is reporting a wetter-than-normal spring in the Northeast has produced an exceptionally large number of mosquitoes, leading to concerns about a potential spike in mosquito-borne illnesses. The rainfall saturated the ground in Maine, creating standing water required for mosquitoes to breed, and mosquitoes have been especially bad on Maine’s coast. It was rainier than usual in many other parts of the country, as well. However, an epidemiologist for the Main Center for Disease Control said it is too early to say if this means an increase in West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis. For mosquito-borne illnesses to become a big problem, a concentration of the right mosquito species along with the presence of the virus, must coincide. Human cases of Eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile tend to appear in mid- to late summer, if they appear at all. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Amanda Purcell is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media on the continuing response to a recent spike in drug overdose deaths in Greene and Columbia counties. “The numbers that we are dealing with in Columbia County are just enormous and it’s one of the biggest public health crises this county has ever dealt with," said Carl Quinn, president of Columbia Pathways to Recovery. Two sessions on the use of Naloxone will be held this week. Those attending the workshops+ will learn the signs and symptoms of heroin and opioid overdose and how to use Naloxone. Upon completion, participants will receive a certificate of completion and an overdose prevention kit. Approximately 50 people are expected to attend the training session in Copake, Wednesday. Project Safe Point has so far trained nearly 350 people in the use of Naloxone, Quinn said. A training session sponsored by Columbia Pathways to Recovery will be held 7 p.m., Wed., Jul. 5, at Copake Town Hall, 230 Mountain View Road, Copake. Naloxone training will now be offered at 4:30 p.m. on the second Monday of every month at Twin County Recovery Services, 428 West Main Street, Catskill. Anyone seeking addiction services is urged to call1-877-HOPE-365, anytime between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Chris McKenna reports in The Fray that Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook) sent a letter June 26 asking the Environmental Protection Agency to tighten its oversight over the chemicals that have contaminated drinking water supplies in in Newburgh and Hoosick Falls. Faso, with Vermont Democratic Rep. Peter Welch, asked EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to, “play a central role in developing the science around perfluorinated compounds and properly regulating them.” They want the EPA to set national drinking water regulations for PFOA and PFOS chemicals. The water in Hoosick Falls, in Rensselaer County, is polluted with PFOA, and water in Newburgh, farther south, has PFOS. Read the full story in The Fray.

The Daily Freeman reports that New York wildlife officials say there are now 323 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the state. Aerial surveys show that 73 percent of the state's 442 known nesting territories are occupied, according to Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos. Pesticides nearly eliminated eagles from the state in the 1960s and from 1976 to 1989 the DEC imported young eagles and hand-reared them for release in New York. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.

Matthew Hamilton reports in Capitol Confidential that New York voters will consider two constitutional amendments in November. Now, bills passed by two consecutively elected Legislatures but not signed by the governor go to the voters. This November voters will consider stripping convicted public officials of their pensions and creating a forest preserve land bank. The first would allow judges, when sentencing public servants, to take away the pensions of the convicted. One hundred acres will be set aside for the Catskills and 150 acres will be set aside for the Adirondacks in the second amendment to create a forest preserve land bank. Read the full story in Capitol Confidential.

H. Rose Schneider reports in The Altamont Enterprise that the Rensselaerville Volunteer Ambulance is closing up after 45 years, replaced by shared county emergency services. “It wasn’t an easy decision,” said Marion Overbaugh, an emergency medical technician for the Rensselaerville Volunteer Ambulance, who said she, and the organization’s two other EMTs, will continue to volunteer in their community. Without an ambulance, they say they will treat patients at accident scenes until an ambulance arrives. Rensselaerville, in southern Albany County, retains the advanced life support service with a paramedic in a “fly car” stationed in either Rensselaerville or Westerlo. The town is also now contracting from the county an emergency medical technician stationed in an ambulance at the Helderberg Ambulance station in Berne. The volunteer squad will be completely dissolved by September. The town is keeping the ambulance’s former station building and its $88,000-a-year bill for insurance. Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple has suggested he could use the building as a stopover point for patrolmen. Read the full story in The Altamont Enterprise

Local weather forecast:
TODAY : Sunny. High near 82. Wednesday night, partly cloudy. Low around 60.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
THURSDAY: A chance of showers, mainly after 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy. High near 79. Thursday night, a chance of showers. Cloudy. Low around 63.
FRIDAY: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy. High near 79. Friday night, a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy. Low around 64.

Sunrise today: 5:25 a.m.
Sunset today: 8:34 p.m.
LENGTH OF THE DAY: 15:08 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS
Today is the first Monday of the month.

WGXC suggests calling ahead to confirm time and location.
All numbers are in the 518 area code unless otherwise noted.

ATHENS Town Board meeting, 6:45 p.m., Athens Community Center, 2 First Street, Athens (945-1052, ext. 2).
COPAKE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 230 Mt. View Road, Copake (329-1234).
GREENE County Legislature Alternatives to Incarceration Sub-committee meeting, 3 p.m.; Health Workshop meeting, 5 p.m.; Health Services Committee, County Resources Committee and Public Safety Committee meetings, 6 p.m.; all at 411 Main Street, Catskill (719-3200).
GREENPORT Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 600 Town Hall Drive, Greenport (828-4656).
GREENVILLE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 11159 Route 32, Greenville (966-5055).
HUDSON Mayor's public hearing on proposed Local Law No. 1 of 2017, modifying residency requirements for city police officers, 3 p.m.; Common Council Youth and Aging Committee meeting, 5:30 p.m.; Arts, Entertainment and Tourism Committee meeting, 6:45 p.m., at City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson (828-1030).
JEWETT Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, 7 p.m. at municipal building, 3547 Co. Rte. 23C, Jewett (263-4646).
KINDERHOOK Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 4 Church St, Niverville (784-2233).
PRATTSVILLE Planning Board meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 14517 Main St., Prattsville (299-3125).
VALATIE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building, 3211 Church St., Valatie (758-9806).

POLITICAL EVENTS
Weekly events:
Citizen Action HV Action Night, 5:30 p.m., every Tuesday at 7 Grand Street, Kingston. Information at hudsonvalley@citizenactionny.org, or facebook.com/HVCitizenActionNY.
New Paltz Climate Action Coalition, 5 p.m., every Thursday at New Paltz Village Hall, 23 Plattekill Ave., New Paltz. Information at (845) 419-3786 or newpaltzclimateaction@gmail.com.
Faso Friday, 12 p.m., every Friday at U.S. Rep. John Faso's District Office, 2 Hudson Street, Kinderhook. Information at erinpersists@gmail.com.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Tuesday, July 4 (3:13). (Produced by Tom Roe.)