Cuomo, lawmakers agree on ‘Clean Up Albany Act’
Rick Karlin in Capitol Confidential writes that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Albany lawmakers agreed to an ethics reform bill on Friday, June 3, called the "Clean Up Albany Act of 2011," with several reforms and a new Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE). The bill -- which has not been printed yet -- is said to provide Greater Financial Disclosure with statements from elected officials posted on the internet without redacting the monetary values. There is also Forfeiture of Pensions for Public Officials Convicted of a Felony, and that bipartisan Joint Commission will consist of 14 members:
* Six appointed by the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, at least three of whom shall be enrolled members of the major political party that is not that of the Governor
* Eight appointed by the legislative leaders (four each from the two major political parties)
Read the entire story in Capitol Confidential.

Power plan sparks concern
Kristin Berner in The Columbia Paper reports that representatives from NYSEG, the power company that serves much of northern and eastern Columbia County, held a tense meeting somewhere in Chatham May 31 with local officials and residents about the proposed 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission line that would go through Ghent, Chatham, Kinderhook, and Stockport. "NYSEG said the new 10-mile overhead transmission line would provide a back-up to its Churchtown-Craryville line," Berner wrote. "The power company confirmed its plan would require obtaining new rights-of-way from some property owners in the affected towns. Meeting attendees asked if there was any way to add the new power line within the existing right-of-ways." She quotes NYSEG's chief engineer, Jeff McKinney, who says obtaining new rights-of-way will help prevent nearly 10,000 county residents from losing power if the lines reach capacity. “The line can go through grandma's house, I don't care,” Mr. McKinney said in the story. “If this [power outage] were to happen, it's fairly catastrophic. It's going to make news so we should fix it.” NYSEG says the Ghent substation would connect to National Grid's 115-kV Churchtown-Valkin line, with the new substation either on a two-acre site about 600 feet west of Route 9H near Falls Industrial Park Road or about 200 feet north of Stockport Road. Read the entire story in The Columbia Paper.

Eyes Peeled
Carole Osterink in The Gossips of Rivertown blog reports new activity at the empty Kaz warehouses that she says now belong to the Hudson Development Corporation. Osterink says Hudson Common Council president Don Moore says part of that space has been leased on a month-to-month basis to Eleanor Ambos, who owns 601 Union St. in Hudson. Moore also says floats for the Hudson Pride Parade on June 18 are being built in the Kaz warehouse space. Osterink also reports that North Carolina-based air filter manufacturer Flanders Corporation has an ad on the internet that says it is hiring people in Hudson, including, a human resources manager, maintenance manager, production supervisor, general manager, maintenance mechanic, and maintenance electrician. Finally, her speculation that the drummer for Guns N' Roses has moved to Hudson is wrong. Maybe a bass player, Tommy Stintson, who is better known for playing bass in a much better band than Guns N' Roses called The Replacements.

AUDIO CLIPS

CROSS RIVER YOUTH CHORALE
The Cross River Youth Chorale is a 30-plus treble chorus started in 2005 by Sheri Bauer-Mayorga and a small group of enthusiastic singers and parents who live in Columbia and Greene Counties. The CRYC presents two concerts every year for the community. The Cross River Youth Chorale accepts new singers every semester by audition. (Audition includes singing scales, a rehearsed round, vocalizing and echo singing with the director, and simple sight singing). Auditioned singers are invited to join the Cantilenas, the performing ensemble. Young and new singers are invited to join the Overtures; group which also meets weekly at the Hudson Opera House, and works on the basics of vocal production, sight singing, folk songs, rounds, two-part arrangements and classical compositions, without the pressure of performance.
• Click here to listen to audio recordings of the chorus performance June 3 at Hudson Opera House.

A VERY INCOMPLETE CALENDAR
Recorded and produced by Terry Doyle.
• Click here to listen to Terry Doyle's "A Very Incomplete Calendar" listings of Hudson Valley music events from his show "Imprint" Sundays at 11 p.m. on WGXC.

GLENN KOOPMAN INTERVIEW
Interview by Joan Geitz of Glenn Koopman, who just opened HW Coffee in Cairo on Main St. next to Slater's Great American grocery store. Interview from Geitz's first episode of "Conversations on a Tightrope," now airing on WGXC Sunday nights at 9 p.m.
• Click here to listen to Glenn Koopman interview about HW Coffee in Cairo.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Cairo Library Official Groundbreaking. Photo by Tom Roe."][/caption]CAIRO LIBRARY GROUNDBREAKING
Recorded by Tom Roe.
• Click here to listen to groundbreaking ceremony for new Cairo Library, with officials, speeches, and more.[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Cairo Library Unofficial Groundbreaking. Photo by Tom Roe."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Peter Head, himself. From his website."][/caption]PETER HEAD INTERVIEW
Interview by Philip Breslow. The Greene County-based guitarist and instrument maker Peter Head performed Sun. June 5 at the Catskill Community Theater. His band is called The Pitchfork Militia, and often performs in Greene County.
• Click here to listen to Breslow's interview with Peter Head.