Today's audio daily news update.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that Columbia County elected officials, police, social workers and mental health professionals are working on plans to build The Wellness Hub to alleviate homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness. The plan comes out of a 2021 report commissioned by Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson, “intended to reduce policing of people in a mental health or substance use disorder (SUD) related crisis.” The hub would include a “safe haven"-style shelter, therapy, peer counseling, and social services, intended to keep county residents in crisis out of the court system and the emergency room. Currently, homeless people in the county are often moved into seven privately owned motels, some in remote locations with no nearby food options or other services. Last December, the seven motels and a “civic motel” operated by a nonprofit housed 103 homeless people, including 25 children. Cheryl Roberts, the executive director of the Greenburger Center for Social & Criminal Justice, said, “I think that everyone at this point is well aware that this is not the answer, this is not the solution, and we need something else, we need a plan B.” Columbia County Department of Social Services Commissioner Bob Gibson believes The Wellness Hub is the answer, saying, “You’re in a facility where you have oversight, where you can get assistance right away — our workers are close to you, and we contract with nonprofits to staff the shelter — so we provide wrap-around services, and if (the shelter) is on a campus where it’s one part of a Wellness Hub, most of the human services and social services you’re going to are contained within the campus.” He said the new plan would also be cheaper than housing the homeless in motels. Hudson's mayor Johnson agreed, saying, “We’re spending so much money on policing, as well as on motel rooms and different efforts, and a lot of it is not working.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Raymond Pignone reports for Columbia-Greene Media that voters in the Catskill Central School District decide on a proposed $49,888,670 school budget with a tax levy increase of 2 percent at the May 16 election. First there will be a public hearing on the proposal at 6 p.m., May 3, in the Catskill High School library. The proposed budget 2.7 percent, or $1,312,669, larger than this year's budget. Catskill schools public information specialist Adam Charbonneau said that the budget does not include any cuts to student programs. The story lists changes in the budget from last year, but does not indicate which are additions, and which are cuts. Deborah Johnson, Ryan Osswald, Lee Heim, Henry Haye, Allan Couser, and Joseph Izzo are running for three seats on the school board in the same election. There will be a Meet the Candidates Night at 6 p.m. May 8 in the Catskill High School Library before the May 16 vote in the Catskill High School gym from 1 to 9 p.m. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Sharon Powers, Kyle Kuffel, and Thom Rigg are on the ballot for three seats in the New Lebanon school board election. The two candidates with the most votes will win three-year terms, and the trailing candidate will get a two-year term. Only a surprising total of write-in votes for another candidate could keep one of them off the board. Voting takes place from noon to 9 p.m. May 16th, in the Walter B. Howard Elementary School gymnasium. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Today's daily news audio update.

Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that Gov. Kathy Hochul announced April 27 that, "A conceptual agreement has been reached," in negotiations on the state budget that was due April 1. The new budget spends $229 billion with changes to the bail law, and more aid for schools. The deal includes raising the minimum wage to $16 an hour in New York City and to $15 an hour north of Westchester County, with further increases indexed to the rate of inflation. There's also an expansion of the child tax credit, and money for publicly financed campaigns. Schools, who had to propose budgets of their own without knowing how much money they would be getting from the state, will receive a record amount. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that three Rensselaer County government officials have been indicted on federal criminal charges of using fraud and intimidation to obtain absentee ballots in the names of voters for primary and general elections in 2021. Richard W. Crist, the county’s director of operations, is one of the three indicted. James R. Gordon, director of the county’s Bureau of Central Services, and Leslie A. Wallace, a longtime political consultant listed in public records as an “assistant for constituent relations” in the office of Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin, were the other two indicted, after turning themselves in to the FBI's Albany headquarters on April 27. They all entered not guilty pleas. They were released on the condition that they do not travel outside the United States. U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew T. Baxter warned them against trying to influence or intimidate any witnesses. The indictments allege that the trio conspired to use their official positions to violate the constitutional rights of county employees under them, intimidating them into requesting and filing absentee ballots. They each face up to ten years in prison if convicted of conspiracy to violate constitutional rights, while Gordon faces up to 20 years in prison for witness tampering; and Wallace could get five years in prison for making false statements. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Greenville voters must decide whether to approve a proposed $34,227,771 school budget for next year, at the May 16 election. The proposed budget is $530,329 larger than last year, with a 2.47 percent increase in the property tax levy. The plan includes opening the school’s Fitness Room to the community two evenings a week. The story does not itemize what programs are getting funding increases, and which are getting cuts. Residents in the Greenville Central School District vote on the annual spending plan is from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. May 16 in the Scott M. Ellis Elementary School cafeteria. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Jane Kaufman reports in The Berkshire Eagle that spring is here, and local bears have ended their hibernation. In Massachusetts in the 1970s there were only an estimated 100 bears, while now there are an estimated 4,500. So they will inevitably come into contact with humans. To make their visits less frequent, experts urge homeowners to remove bird feeders and pet food from outside homes, and store trash indoors until the morning it is taken away. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife also recommends cleaning grills; double-bagging trash or sprinkling trash with ammonia to reduce the odor; and keeping meat scraps out of compost piles. And anyone with orchards, chickens, or bee hives should install electric fencing to deter bears. Read more about this story in The Berkshire Eagle.

Today's audio daily news update.

Nick Reisman at New York State of Politics that state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul must approve a new state budget or approve a sixth temporary extension of state spending by May 2. The budget was due April 1, but lawmakers have passed five deadline extensions so far while negotiations continue. This budget is already the latest spending plan in more than a decade. The reason the budget is late is that it has become far more than just an accounting of spending, and is instead full of all sorts of policy issues. Policies on housing, bail reform, charter schools, cannabis and the minimum wage should be worked out in the legislature and passed as separate bills, but Hochul has more negotiating power with those issues in the budget. Ken Girardin, a fellow at the Empire Center for Public Policy, said lawmakers should not vote on those issues in the budget. He said, “They don’t have to vote on any of the Article 7 language that the governor has sent.” Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

CNN reports that House Republicans on April 26 voted for a bill to increase the federal debt limit, but it comes with all sorts of budget cuts that mean it will not pass in the Senate. Rep. Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota admitted the theatricality of the vote, saying, “This is the first conversation. The next conversation is what comes next and we know that and this is part of negotiation." Locally, Republicans Marc Molinaro and Elise Stefanik voted for the bill, while Democrats Pat Ryan and Paul Tonko voted against. Ryan complained on the House floor that the measure would cut funding for all discretionary programs, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Meals on Wheels, Head Start, the State Opioid Response Program, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Ryan said, “In New York alone, my home state, it threatens food assistance to 54,000 people and cuts pre-school and childcare for 17,000 kids. It puts at risk Meals on Wheels for over one million seniors nationwide and would cut $30 billion in support to our veterans." Read more about this story at the CNN website.

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Greene County Tourism Director Patty Austin says tourism spending is up 44.2 percent in 2021. And compared to 2019, it was up 122.6 percent. Austin said, “After COVID, we found that everybody just wanted wide-open spaces.... Because of COVID, the family institution is going strong again. People learned to live with each other, to get along with each other and appreciate their families. Also our hipsters want that experiential stay. They’re looking for glamping.” Mountainkeeper Program Director Katherine Nadeau said the number of Catskill Park visitors more than doubled from 2018 to 2021. Austin said Greene County is no longer marketing itself as Greene County, but as “The Catskills" in a new travel guide. Austin also said, “Cairo is coming back. East Durham is thriving. Resorts are booming.... On Main Street in Catskill, four new businesses have just opened. The Department will also run video campaigns on social media platforms such as Tik Tok and Instagram. The marketing plan will be called, 'It happens here.'" Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced April 25 $42 million in grants for small and mid-sized capital projects for non-profit arts and cultural organizations, including many local winners. Greene County grant recipients included a roof replacement for the Beattie-Powers Place in Catskill and a low ambient heat pump system for Wave Farm in Acra. Wave Farm is WGXC's parent organization. Across the Hudson River, the Columbia County Historical Society is getting money for a new boiler. the Hudson Opera House is getting funds for blackout curtains and a tracking system, Kite's Nest is receiving money for their new campus facility construction, P.S. 21 will get retractable risers and a rainwater remediation system paid for, the Flow Chart Foundation will install an ADA-compliant bathroom, and the Mac-Haydn Theatre will get a new air conditioning system.

Today's daily news audio update.

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Nancy Kern reports in Columbia-Greene Media that the Columbia-Greene Community College Faculty Association and the school's Board of Trustees have agreed on a new contract that has been approved by the Greene County Legislature. The agreement goes through Aug. 31, 2027. “The settlement as a percentage of payroll ranges from 2.9 percent to 3.1 percent annually, over the term of the six-year contract,” said Diane Topple, C-GCC vice president for administration and chief financial officer. “The average increase per employee also ranges from 2.9 percent to 3.1 percent. The range of increases per employee over the contract term range from 2 percent to 3.9 percent, depending on salary.” College faculty member and former lead negotiator Gregory Berninger explained that the negotiations went well. “It was done in-house.... The Faculty and Administration worked on it together. I’m sure the lawyers were consulted, but we didn’t need to bring in lawyers to duke it out.” Greene County Legislator Michael Bulich, a Republican from Catskill, was the only vote against the agreement. He explained he is against pay raises for teachers. “I just think it’s too high of a percentage over the course of the contract.... Your budget will go up because of your payroll increases. Whenever the school’s budget goes up, we have to get more from our property owners. We’re going to keep increasing the costs of the government. I can’t do that to the people of our communities here. There’s got to be a more productive way.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360.com.

Maury Thompson reports in The Post-Star that Rep. Paul Tonko is still trying to ban online and television advertising of sports gambling, but is not getting much help. Tonko introduced legislation to prohibit online and television advertising of sports gambling on Feb. 9, but so far his HR 967 bill has no co-sponsors. And Tonko's legislation is being criticized because sports gambling advertising is protected by the First Amendment. Going it alone so far, Tonko says, “We’re very serious about this issue.... It’s operating in a mostly unregulated, Wild West environment.” While Tonko criticizes gambling advertising as "relentless" he says, “I make it clear that I am not against legalized sports gambling.... It’s the advertising that we’re focused on.” Tonko, who represents Albany County and the rest of the 20th Congressional District, is also only concerned about ads for sports gambling, but not other gambling, as his proposed legislation would not ban advertising for state lottery games. Read more about this story in The Post-Star.

Andrea Macko reports in Porcupine Soup that Save-A-Lot is now trying to sell its Coxsackie distribution center for $25 million. The national grocery chain closed its warehouse in the Greene Business & Technology Park along State Route 9W at the end of February. “They are trying to sell it or lease it,” said Greene County Industrial Development Agency Executive Director April Ernst at a recent IDA Board of Directors meeting. Ernst says so far four or five parties are interested in touring the 333,660-square-foot facility. Save-A-Lot is changing from a discount grocery store chain to a wholesale supplier for independently owned stores. Thirty jobs were lost in Coxsackie when the warehouse closed. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Mid-Hudson News reports that Stewart International Airport in Newburgh is getting its second international service, with Atlantic Airways flights to the Faroe Islands from August 22 through October 4. The airline's seasonal service will fly direct to Vagar, the sole airport on the Faroe Islands, which are located in the north Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and Norway. Currently Stewart Airport has flights to Iceland from Play Airlines, and to Florida and South Carolina from Allegiant Air and Frontier Airlines. Read more about this story in Mid-Hudson News.