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Weekend in review
Nov 28, 2016 4:30 am
Some of the stories that made the news from Fri., Nov. 25 through Sun., Nov. 27:
Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas season is upon us. Greg Hudson reported in The Daily Mail visitors lined Main Street in Catskill on Fri., Nov. 24, for the village’s annual light parade. The annual event launched the holiday season, and featured dozens floats and decorated vehicles from local businesses and Greene County fire departments. The popular holiday characters Olaf the Snowman, the Grinch and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer all took part. “It’s great to be here, it’s an honor to be a part of this,” Catskill Elks Lodge exalted ruler Tim Reed said from the back of the club’s holiday float. In Kingston, Sinterklaas, joined by Rip Van Winkle this year, arrived via tugboat on the Hudson River. The boat docked at the Maritime Museum downtown before setting off down the Rondout Creek. The town of Livingston will kick off its annual Christmas celebration next weekend. The festivities include a holiday supper, Fri., Dec. 2, at the Linlithgo Reformed Church on Church Road, followed by the annual Christmas tree lighting and carol sing at the town gazebo. The Hudson Opera House will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Winter Walk, Sat., Dec. 3, with the local debut of Unsilent Night, a community musical parade composed by Phil Kline. The event will be broadcast live on WGXC 90.7-FM and at wgxc [dot] org, beginning at 5 p.m.
Matthew Hamilton reported at Capitol Confidential Executive Chamber staff spent the holiday weekend reviewing 133 bills requiring action by Mon., Nov. 28. In addition, there are 25 more items awaiting action on the governor's desk. And a variety of bills have not been handed up by the Legislature yet. That list includes the indigent legal services bill. Earlier this month, the legislative bodies in both Columbia and Greene counties passed resolutions urging Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to sign the measure into law and ease the burden on individual counties now paying for public defenders. This law would require the state to fully reimburse counties for the cost of indigent legal services by 2023. The cost for public defenders and related expenses statewide is estimated to be more than $450 million a year.
Chal Ravens reported in Fact Magazine that Hudson Valley composer and experimental musician Pauline Oliveros has died at age 84 on Thu., Nov. 24 in her sleep. Oliveros pioneered the concept of deep listening. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the 1960s, and collaborated with Terry Riley and modular synthesist Morton Subotnick. On Nov. 21 she read from John Cage's letters at an event in Manhattan, which was broadcast live on WGXC. Of Oliveros, the Daily Freeman wrote, she "...was a constant local presence but her influence is worldwide." Oliveros was a longtime resident of Kingston.
Mid Hudson News [dot] com reported the state of New York is close to having half of all families statewide living without sufficient income and resources for housing, food, child care, transportation and health care, according to a report just released by United Way of New York State. The United Way in 16 states have participated in ALICE for the past two years. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and looks at the growing population of residents working, but still struggling to afford the basic necessities. “Our report shows that this is not an urban or rural issue – it affects every corner of our state,” said Brian Hassett, CEO of the United Way of the Greater Capital Region. “Too many New Yorkers find themselves above the poverty line but below the economic line that allows them to provide health care and educational advantages for their children, and to save for their own future,” he said. The New York ALICE Report revealed: 44 percent of New York households can no longer afford all of life’s basic necessities, including food, shelter, child care, transportation and health care; nearly 1 million New Yorkers working in retail sales, the restaurant industry and home health services are paid below $20,500 a year, or $10.25 an hour, the ALICE threshold for survival as a single adult; and, from 2007 to 2014, the cost of housing, food and health care statewide far exceeded the rise in salaries, thus increasing the number of ALICE households. The report also includes recommendations for both short- and long-term strategies intended to help ALICE families.
Chris McKenna reported at The Fray the Open Primaries organization announced last week it sent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders a letter signed by more than 3,400 voters online, urging him to attend a hearing in in a case challenging the legality of New York’s closed primaries on Dec. 6. New York City lawyer Mark Moody filed the lawsuit in April after he was unable to vote in the state's Democratic presidential primary. New York currently has 2.5 million active voters with no party affiliation, slightly fewer than the 2.6 million people registered as Republicans. Several hundred thousand other voters are enrolled in minor parties and are therefore ineligible to vote in Democratic or Republican primaries. John Opdycke, president of Open Primaries, said, “It is a problem that independent voters are being excluded from the political conversation at precisely a moment in our country’s history that their voice is most needed. ... We need more open doors, and more participation, not less, to grow our state. I hope Senator Sanders will support it.”
William J. Kemble reported in The Daily Freeman Registered voters in the Rhinebeck school district will go to the polls Dec. 6, to decide the fate of a $12.09 million capital project proposal. Items included in the plan are similar at both the middle-high school building and Chancellor Livingston Elementary School. Included are interior doors and hardware, kitchen ceilings, telephone systems, entrance handrails, skylights, roof ladders, roof recoating, exterior doors and windows and lighting replacement. Superintendent Joseph Phelan said the project also includes replacing the floor-to-ceiling windows at Chancellor Livingston Elementary School. Polls are open from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the middle school, 45 North Park Road.
Rosa Acheson reported in the Register-Star Hudson's Savoia Bar and Restaurant will close next weekend. Now located at 214 Warren St., the Savoia will be open for the 20th annual Winter Walk Saturday, and for one final football tailgate outside of the building, Sun., Dec. 4. Owners Jake and Barbara Walthour have owned and operated the Savoia for 34 years. It is one of the few black-owned businesses in Hudson. Barbara Walthour confirmed the building has been sold to Roy Felcetto and Max Cenci, co-owners of the Ca’Mea restaurant, located in the 300 block of Warren Street. “It used to be the Howard Hotel, so there has been some talk of bringing that back. I think the Savoia Lounge might be turned into an event space,” Walthour said. “We’re looking forward to spending more time with our three children — Jacob Jr., Marcus and Nona — and our six grandchildren,” she said. “It has truly been a pleasure to have been a part of the fabric of Hudson for the past 34 years,” the Walthours said.
Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas season is upon us. Greg Hudson reported in The Daily Mail visitors lined Main Street in Catskill on Fri., Nov. 24, for the village’s annual light parade. The annual event launched the holiday season, and featured dozens floats and decorated vehicles from local businesses and Greene County fire departments. The popular holiday characters Olaf the Snowman, the Grinch and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer all took part. “It’s great to be here, it’s an honor to be a part of this,” Catskill Elks Lodge exalted ruler Tim Reed said from the back of the club’s holiday float. In Kingston, Sinterklaas, joined by Rip Van Winkle this year, arrived via tugboat on the Hudson River. The boat docked at the Maritime Museum downtown before setting off down the Rondout Creek. The town of Livingston will kick off its annual Christmas celebration next weekend. The festivities include a holiday supper, Fri., Dec. 2, at the Linlithgo Reformed Church on Church Road, followed by the annual Christmas tree lighting and carol sing at the town gazebo. The Hudson Opera House will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Winter Walk, Sat., Dec. 3, with the local debut of Unsilent Night, a community musical parade composed by Phil Kline. The event will be broadcast live on WGXC 90.7-FM and at wgxc [dot] org, beginning at 5 p.m.
Matthew Hamilton reported at Capitol Confidential Executive Chamber staff spent the holiday weekend reviewing 133 bills requiring action by Mon., Nov. 28. In addition, there are 25 more items awaiting action on the governor's desk. And a variety of bills have not been handed up by the Legislature yet. That list includes the indigent legal services bill. Earlier this month, the legislative bodies in both Columbia and Greene counties passed resolutions urging Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to sign the measure into law and ease the burden on individual counties now paying for public defenders. This law would require the state to fully reimburse counties for the cost of indigent legal services by 2023. The cost for public defenders and related expenses statewide is estimated to be more than $450 million a year.
Chal Ravens reported in Fact Magazine that Hudson Valley composer and experimental musician Pauline Oliveros has died at age 84 on Thu., Nov. 24 in her sleep. Oliveros pioneered the concept of deep listening. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the 1960s, and collaborated with Terry Riley and modular synthesist Morton Subotnick. On Nov. 21 she read from John Cage's letters at an event in Manhattan, which was broadcast live on WGXC. Of Oliveros, the Daily Freeman wrote, she "...was a constant local presence but her influence is worldwide." Oliveros was a longtime resident of Kingston.
Mid Hudson News [dot] com reported the state of New York is close to having half of all families statewide living without sufficient income and resources for housing, food, child care, transportation and health care, according to a report just released by United Way of New York State. The United Way in 16 states have participated in ALICE for the past two years. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and looks at the growing population of residents working, but still struggling to afford the basic necessities. “Our report shows that this is not an urban or rural issue – it affects every corner of our state,” said Brian Hassett, CEO of the United Way of the Greater Capital Region. “Too many New Yorkers find themselves above the poverty line but below the economic line that allows them to provide health care and educational advantages for their children, and to save for their own future,” he said. The New York ALICE Report revealed: 44 percent of New York households can no longer afford all of life’s basic necessities, including food, shelter, child care, transportation and health care; nearly 1 million New Yorkers working in retail sales, the restaurant industry and home health services are paid below $20,500 a year, or $10.25 an hour, the ALICE threshold for survival as a single adult; and, from 2007 to 2014, the cost of housing, food and health care statewide far exceeded the rise in salaries, thus increasing the number of ALICE households. The report also includes recommendations for both short- and long-term strategies intended to help ALICE families.
Chris McKenna reported at The Fray the Open Primaries organization announced last week it sent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders a letter signed by more than 3,400 voters online, urging him to attend a hearing in in a case challenging the legality of New York’s closed primaries on Dec. 6. New York City lawyer Mark Moody filed the lawsuit in April after he was unable to vote in the state's Democratic presidential primary. New York currently has 2.5 million active voters with no party affiliation, slightly fewer than the 2.6 million people registered as Republicans. Several hundred thousand other voters are enrolled in minor parties and are therefore ineligible to vote in Democratic or Republican primaries. John Opdycke, president of Open Primaries, said, “It is a problem that independent voters are being excluded from the political conversation at precisely a moment in our country’s history that their voice is most needed. ... We need more open doors, and more participation, not less, to grow our state. I hope Senator Sanders will support it.”
William J. Kemble reported in The Daily Freeman Registered voters in the Rhinebeck school district will go to the polls Dec. 6, to decide the fate of a $12.09 million capital project proposal. Items included in the plan are similar at both the middle-high school building and Chancellor Livingston Elementary School. Included are interior doors and hardware, kitchen ceilings, telephone systems, entrance handrails, skylights, roof ladders, roof recoating, exterior doors and windows and lighting replacement. Superintendent Joseph Phelan said the project also includes replacing the floor-to-ceiling windows at Chancellor Livingston Elementary School. Polls are open from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the middle school, 45 North Park Road.
Rosa Acheson reported in the Register-Star Hudson's Savoia Bar and Restaurant will close next weekend. Now located at 214 Warren St., the Savoia will be open for the 20th annual Winter Walk Saturday, and for one final football tailgate outside of the building, Sun., Dec. 4. Owners Jake and Barbara Walthour have owned and operated the Savoia for 34 years. It is one of the few black-owned businesses in Hudson. Barbara Walthour confirmed the building has been sold to Roy Felcetto and Max Cenci, co-owners of the Ca’Mea restaurant, located in the 300 block of Warren Street. “It used to be the Howard Hotel, so there has been some talk of bringing that back. I think the Savoia Lounge might be turned into an event space,” Walthour said. “We’re looking forward to spending more time with our three children — Jacob Jr., Marcus and Nona — and our six grandchildren,” she said. “It has truly been a pleasure to have been a part of the fabric of Hudson for the past 34 years,” the Walthours said.