Hudson Mohawk Magazine

Kids, adults, gamers, crafters: the Lansingburgh branch of the Troy Public Library has activities for everyone! Laurie Dreyer, branch manager, overviews current activities, including story times & "Brick Builder" events for kids, adult yoga, fiber crafting group, and two book clubs. She then reviews 2022 highlights, shares plans for 2023 (after-school tutoring, puppet shows, heaps of gardening-related activities, a possible seed library, and even a Dungeons & Dragons club), and invites suggestions from the community. For details, visit www.thetroylibrary.org. For links to other libraries in New York State, see www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/libs/publibs/library.htm. Produced by Brea Barthel for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

Several rail unions and Railroad Workers United called for solidarity event on Tuesday Dec. 14 to call attention to the dissatisfaction of a majority of their members with the labor agreement imposed on the nation's freight industry workers, which did not include a key demand- at least seven paid sick days. The Industrial Workers of the World organized a rally at the Amtrak Station in Schenectady. Greg Giorgio of the IWW talks with Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

The United States’s already colossal and record-breaking defense budget is about to get even bigger, with congressional negotiators proposing $858 billion for defense for 2023 — a $45 billion increase over President Joe Biden’s already massive defense budget request. Lindsay Koshgarian, director of the National Priorities Project, joins Mark Dunlea of the Hudson Mohawk Magazine to discuss the spending.

Today, on the Hudson Mohawk Magazine:

We begin with Mark Dunlea’s discussion with local climate and solid waste activist, Diane Wright. Diane runs Food Scraps 360 to assist with curbside composting for residences and businesses.

Then, we will have a live interview with local transportation and environmental advocate Gary Nelson.

Later on, Jacob Boston shares the voices from the Oakwood Community Center which gathered on December 3 for their Holiday Celebration.

Finally, Thom Frances highlights D Colin in this week’s Poetry Bucket.

D. Colin is a Haitian-American multidisciplinary artist who works in poetry, theater and visual art. She is a Cave Canem, VONA and NYS Writers Institute Fellow as well as the author of Dreaming in Kreyol and Said the Swing to the Hoop. Her work has appeared in Trolley, Ink & Nebula, Jaded Ibis Press, and Porter Gulch Review. She is the 2022 Excellence in Arts & Letters Award recipient for UAlbany's Alumni Association.

On April 18, 2018, D. Colin was featured at the Albany Poets Presents reading series and read her poem "Up Ahead We'll See."

We talk about that poem, her Haitian heritage, and how she brings her cultural identity into her art.

Today, on the Hudson Mohawk Magazine:

We begin with Mark Dunlea talking with Bob Cohen of Citizen Action about the advocacy group’s concerns regarding New York State’s Climate Action Council’s upcoming plan outlining the scope of the Council’s work.

Then, Moses Nagel reports on the December 5th meeting of the Albany Common Council.

Later on, my co-host Blaise Bryant talks with Julie Farrar with the New York Caring Majority about the push to get fair pay for home care workers.

After that, Mark returns with a 2021 archive piece about how the group Building Blocks Together assists low-income individuals in communities, such as the South End of Albany and other communities usually redlined by banks, in buying and rehabbing homes.

Finally, retired meteorologist Hugh Johnson is not available for our usual weekly chat, but Sina Basila Hickey brings us a recording of the candle lighting ceremony at the end of the Sanctuary’s community holiday celebration held this past Saturday.

In recent years the state has passed laws to increase the amount of food waste from restaurants and other food institutions that ends up being composted rather than put into a landfill. Local climate and solid waste activist Diane Wright now runs Food Scraps 360 to assist with curbside composting for residences and businesses. She joins Mark Dunlea of Hudson Mohawk Magazine to discuss some of the shortfalls in the new law and how to increase composting in the Capital District.

The Interfaith Holiday Justice and Peace Circle at Freedom Square took place on December 10. It ends with the community coming together and lighting candles around a decorated evergreen tree. Jerry Ford led the circle ritual which asks people to share why they "light this candle..."

Here is an edited version of what took place by Sina Basila Hickey.

Blaise Bryant talks with Julie Farrar from the New York Caring Majority about the relaunch of the #FairPay4Homecare campaign.

Moses Nagel reports on the December 5 meeting of the Albany Common Council. The meeting included public comment on new licenses for cannabis sales and the council passed a resolution calling for a 'fair share' of state funding for Albany.