2nd week’s protest draws six-times as many marchers

by DAVID LEE

 Chatham police estimate that over 300 people gathered at the gazebo Saturday evening, June 13 for a Black Lives Matter march and demonstration organized by the same two women responsible for together previous weekend’s protest, Ginny Dutcher and Trisha Buffa. Chatham Police Chief Peter Volkmann, who was riding his bicycle, said he knew in advance there would be march that day but didn’t expect it to be so large. He was assisted with traffic control by State Police and Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputies. After marching though the village the crowd gathered at the Tracy Memorial Village Hall to hear brief speeches, including one for Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson. The event ended at the the gazebo, where participants lay on the ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in a remembrance of George Floyd. Photo by David Lee 

Gallatin Town Board meets June 24

by STAFF

GALLATIN–The June Gallatin Town Board meeting will be June 24 at 6 p.m.

This will be a virtual (online) meeting. Log-in information is posted on gallatin.yourtownhub.com .

For more information contact Gallatin Town Clerk/Tax Collector Lisa DeLeeuw, P.O. Box 67 Ancram, NY 12502 or call 518-398-7519.

New budget year and old funds are not forgotten

by EMILIA TEASDALE

CHATHAM – The Village Board met over the Webex internet platform last week to pass several resolutions moving funds between accounts, some from the 2019-20 budget to the new 2020-21 spending plan, which started June 1.

The board ended up passing 19 resolutions at the June 8 meeting that dealt with moving funds from one budget line to another in amounts ranging from $3.34 (from Building Equipment to Safety Inspector Equipment) to $11,000 (from Transmission District Salary to Source Salary at the Department of Public Works).

Mayor John Howe said the board needed to “zero out” the previous fiscal year village budget as the new budget takes effect. “This is what should have been done for many years,” the mayor said. Read more…

Coronavirus app released; numbers updated

by STAFF

HUDSON—Thirty-seven Columbia County residents have died of the coronavirus as of June 19 at 3 p.m., according to Columbia County Department of Health figures for that date.

The Columbia County has 427 confirmed positive cases with 31 currently active cases of Covid-19.

Of the total 427 cases, 359 have recovered from the virus; 11 of the positive cases are hospitalized, none of those hospitalized are in the ICU. Read more…

Attention campers: Sorry, but camp’s canceled

by By DIANE VALDEN

COPAKE—This summer will not be the same in Copake.

The Town Board voted at its June 11 meeting not to open its summer program for youngsters; not to hold its annual Music in the Park concert series on Saturday nights and not to open Copake Memorial Park for now.

During a discussion by Zoom video conference, Copake Supervisor Jeanne Mettler said that about two months ago county Department of Health Director Jack Mabb, county Board of Supervisors Chairman Matt Murell (R-Stockport) and county Health and Human Services Committee Chairman Robert Lagonia (R-Austerlitz) issued a strong recommendation not to open summer day camps in Columbia County this year.

Governor Andrew Cuomo subsequently changed his mind about summer camps and said they could open under strict guidelines. But the county has maintained its position that camps should not go forward. Read more…