Patricia R. Doxsey reports in the Daily Freeman that Ulster County Legislators voted 14-7 May 21 to make customers request plastic straws in local restaurants. All Democrats and Heidi Haynes, a Conservative from Stone Ridge, and Craig Lopez, a Republican from Shawangunk, voted for the "Skip the Straw" law. In 2015 the Ulster Legislature banned polystyrene containers from local restaurants. An Ulster County ban on single-use plastic retail bags begins in July, with a statewide ban in March 2020. County Legislator Joseph Maloney, a Democrat from Saugerties, said he will introduce a resolution next month to remove plastic cutlery and drink stirrers from local restaurants. Read the rest of this story in the Daily Freeman.