[caption id="attachment_10211" align="alignright" width="224" caption="Rep. Chris Gibson at Chatham Middle School, at town meeting March 23. Photo by Tom Roe."][/caption]Gibson to testify about War Powers Act
Congressman Chris Gibson (NY-20) will testify before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Thursday on his legislation, H.R. 1609, the “War Powers Reform Act.” The Committee hearing is titled “War Powers, United States Operations in Libya, and Related Legislation,” and Gibson will explain his position on the balance between executive and legislative power on the issue of bombing foreign lands. Gibson says his bill , "would prevent the President from acting or expending funds without the authorization of Congress, unless the action met a specific set of criteria." The hearing is at 10:30 a.m. The War Powers Resolution enacted over the President’s veto in 1973 requires the President to seek Congressional authority after engaging the American military in hostile actions, has been ignored by all presidents of both parties. Gibson wants the authority limited to, "when there has been a declaration of war, when there is congressional authorization by statue or commitment under a treaty, or when the US is attacked or in imminent danger of being attacked."

No progress on Hudson school budget
Lynn Sloneker tweets from last night's first effort to redo the Hudson School District budget after voters rejected it May 17, and the School Board first accepted it, then rejected the budget a week later. Sloneker reported, "First post-election budget workshop ends with little resolved. BoE will meet again Thur...fish or cut bait time."

House Advances Budget With Significant Cuts to FDA
Helena Bottemiller in Food Safety News reports that House lawmakers unveiled a proposal Monday that seeks $285 million in cuts to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next year, an 11.5 percent reduction from current spending. Former chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), told Republicans on the panel that she believes their cuts, which were approved by the subcommittee in a voice vote Tuesday, will roll back "years of progress on food safety." DeLauro said foodborne illness is a major threat and called the proposal "unacceptable." Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), chair of the subcommittee, emphasized the austere budget circumstances in which Congress is operating. It's "been tight for all of us," he said. "We have tried our best to focus on waste and duplication." Read the entire story in Food Safety News.

Food on the March
Scott Baldinger in the Word on the Street blog notes that Hudson has several new inexpensive places to eat:
•Tortillaville, the Mexican mobile stand, reopens from its winter in the Florida Keys this weekend, back at 347 Warren St.
•The Italian Market and Deli (518-671-6610), at the corner of Columbia and Park Place.
•The mobile Winnie’s Jerk Chicken and Fish Shack, parked Thursday through Saturday (Wed-Sat. starting in June) in front of the historic freight depot at State and Seventh. Owners Winston and Jai Francis, from Jamaica, report they will be at the spot until next winter. Read the entire item in Word on the Street.

Circuit board "fried" at WIOX, replacement is on order
Julia Reischel in The Watershed Post reports the signal at WIOX 91.3-FM in Roxbury has been off since Monday night as a circuit needed to be replaced. The radio station's managing consultant, Joe Piasek, believes they will be back on the air Thursday afternoon. Read the whole story in The Watershed Post.

Thursday audio clips

•Click here to listen to mp3 recording of Richard Koweek interview on "@Issue" on WGXC. Interview by Victor Mendolia, who is head of the Hudson Democrats, and Debora Gilbert, who writes for The Columbia Paper.

•Click here to listen to nine-minute interview with Woodin that includes a performance from the Evander Quartet.

•Click here to listen to an interview with Pamela Badilla about "The Rooster and the Crocodile," with Tom Roe on the WGXC Afternoon Show May 25.