Hudson Valley News

Mid-Hudson farmers brought their concerns to state and federal lawmakers at a forum at Columbia-Greene Community College in Hudson Monday night.

Chief among their concerns was the lack of affordable land access for farmers, said Lindsey Shute of the National Young Farmers Coalition.

Governor Andrew Cuomo formalized the state's request for federal support to build a new bridge replacing the Tappan Zee on Monday by signing a letter of intent to Washington. Addressed to US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, it acts as an application for Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) funding. The bridge is projected to cost over $5 billion.

Joseph J. Lhota, the new leader of the MTA told Mid-Hudson business people on Wednesday that the transportation agency is negotiating the possibility to bring Metro-North's Hudson and New Haven branch trains to Penn Station, part of a reciprocal agreement which would allow LIRR service to Grand Central. That’s where Metro-North’s service terminates.

A lot of “complicated” details must be worked out with the Long Island Railroad, which uses Penn Station, Lhota said.

Union workers held a rally outside the Dutchess County Office Building Wednesday afternoon, criticizing IBM for taking public tax incentives while they say Big Blue created no new jobs.

The event culminated with a mock “Hall of Shame” award presented to the corporation, formerly one of the largest local employers.

In continued downsizing, IBM recently laid off 25 custodial staff at its East Fishkill facility.

A fictional character, dressed up like the millionaire from the board game Monopoly, accepted the medal on behalf of IBM, while mocking taxpayers.

After over a year of negotiations, Ulster County and its 1,300 member CSEA have reached a tentative agreement on a new four year contract. 

The contract includes no pay raise in the first two years, a 1.75 percent raise in the third year, 2013, and a two percent raise in the fourth year, 2014.  The pact dates back to January 1, 2011 and extends to December 31, 2014.

The Westchester County Public Service Department’s electronic booking information system will be made available to other counties in the region.

The Public Safety and Security Committee of the Westchester County Board of Legislators gave its approval for the program which will allow for inter-municipal agreements with municipalities in the counties of Putnam, Rockland and Dutchess to access its electronic fingerprinting and digital booking photographs.

Public Safety Chief Inspector Martin McGlynn briefed the committee that identifications can go beyond facial recognition.

It is projected that development of a whitewater park on the Delaware River at Port Jervis could begin next year provided sufficient funding is secured.

The City of Port Jervis is seeking $200,000 to $250,000 from the state to draft design plans and gain the various approvals that would be needed.  Then, the job of securing the real money to build the park – estimated at about $1.5 million – would begin and city Economic Development Director Kathleen Hendrickson said they will seek grants and private money.

The park would be a city facility.

FEMA has decided to grant Orange County over $3.6 million for hurricane damage to the county government center in Goshen. County Executive Edward Diana had originally sought about $7.5 million,
Diana and the State Office of Emergency Management have both endorsed the funding.

The award is a far cry from the $505,290 FEMA first offered the county. It upped that to $534,980, but Diana now said it is because of the perseverance of his administration to challenge the numbers that convinced FEMA to increase them dramatically. 

One of two soldiers killed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan on August 8 was a West Point resident.

The Defense Department identified the men as Maj. Thomas Kennedy, 35, of West Point and Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Griffin, 45, of Laramie, WY.

Officials said the men died in Sarkowi in Kunar province of wounds suffered when they encountered an insurgent who detonated a suicide vest.

The soldiers were assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, CO.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has voted to wait before approving new licenses for Indian Point and other nuclear plants until it addressed the question of how to deal with safety and potential environmental threats from long term on-site storage of nuclear waste.

The NRC’s decision came after a Washington, DC Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling involving the NRC’s Waste Confidence Decision update.