Copake’s gloomy over 60MW solar farm plan

by DIANE VALDEN

COPAKE—Hecate Energy announced its latest expanded proposal for a solar farm on hundreds of acres in Craryville a couple of weeks ago and nearby residents are already circling the wagons.

Several people spoke against the project during public forums at the February 13 Copake Town Board meeting.

Headquartered in Chicago, Hecate Energy is a developer of solar farms, wind farms and energy storage projects. The company initially proposed a solar farm in Craryville along State Route 23 and County Route 7 on the Rasweiler Farm back in 2017. The utility-scale project, far larger than allowed by Copake’s then brand-new law regulating solar installations, got a frosty reception. Read more…

Supes defer required camper vaccinations

by DAVID LEE

HUDSON–The Columbia County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing last week on proposed Local Law #3-2020, which would establish new immunization requirements for camps in Columbia County. It was presented as an extension of the new New York State school immunization requirements that took effect December 31 2019, which does away with religious and personal exemptions as well as some medical exemptions previously available.

But before the hearing heard input from the public Wednesday, February 12, the chairman of the board’s Health and Human Services Committee announced that the board was tabling the proposal and there would be no new county vaccination requirements for campers this year.

The proposal had been drafted because the Board of Supervisors found that “camps in its jurisdiction are vulnerable to comparable threats to the health and well-being of persons and property as those relating to public, private or parochial schools in New York State,” and spelled out the new requirements for immunization of campers and camp staff in Columbia County. The proposal would have mandated that both campers and employees should have the same regimen of vaccinations required by public and private schools. Read more…

Want a bag? Better bring your own

by EMILIA TEASDALE

GHENT–As of Sunday, March 1, a new state law takes effect that prohibits stores from providing customers with most single-use plastic bags. State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced the final regulations this week.

Enacted as part of 2019-20 state budget, Article 27 of the Environmental Conservation Law was amended to create a new Title 28 for the NYS Bag Waste Reduction Act. According to the DEC, “The law… prohibits the distribution of plastic carryout bags by retailers in New York State.”

A plastic carryout bag is defined by the state as any plastic bag that is provided to a customer by “a person required to collect tax to be used by the customer to carry tangible personal property.” There are plastic bags that are exempt but the law says that, starting March 1, all plastic carryout bags are banned from distribution by anyone required to collect state sales tax. Read more…

Kinderhook historian earns Washington HQ site’s honor

by TIM BLYDENBURGH

Reprinted with permission from the Times Union

KINDERHOOK — Ruth Piwonka, the one time municipal historian for the village and town of Kinderhook, has been named this year’s recipient of the Martha Washington Woman of History Award, given by Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site each year to a woman who has made a contribution to the history of the Hudson Valley through education, promotion or preservation.

The honor, announced Saturday, February 1, was inspired by Martha Washington, who lived in the Hudson Valley with her husband, Gen. George Washington, during the last days of the Revolutionary War.

Ms. Piwonka also sits on the Village of Kinderhook Historic Preservation Commission. For over 50 years she has been an independent curator and researcher regarding Dutch heritage and material culture in the Hudson Valley. She shares her research, scholarship and documentation through her association with the Columbia County Historical Society along with being a published author and a mentor to students, colleagues and volunteers, the historic site said. Read more…

Annual Forever Young Fashion Show raises funds for GHPN

by DAVID LEE

HUDSON–The second annual Forever Young Fashion Show to benefit the Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood  (GHPN) was held Saturday, February 8 at Hudson Hall.

The event raised over $17,000 for GHPN, which is modeled on the Harlem Children’s Zone, creating opportunities for children and families in the Hudson City School District.

Serenity McGriff models a design by Juda Leah who is a fashion and costume designer from the Catskill Mountain region. Juda Leah has a costume design studio and showroom in Hudson. Photo by David Lee

Read more…