Radio Chatskill

New York home buyers now have the right to know a property’s flood history and risk. 

Last month, a new law went into effect which requires sellers to disclose to potential buyers any flood issues with their home, such as flood hazard areas, any flood damage, and if flood insurance is required on the property.

Tim Bruno spoke with the NRDC’S Joel Scata, Senior Attorney, Environmental Health, about the new law on Radio Chatskill.

Former Port Jervis Science Teacher and Radio Catskill volunteer Joe Johnson discusses some science stories that caught his eye this week with Jason Dole, including NASA's Europa mission to Jupiter, ancient foxes, and the trillions of cicadas that will emerge in May in the Midwest and Southeast, in a double-brood event that hasn’t happened in more than 200 years. 

Karen DeWitt
New York Public News Network

The New York state budget is now two weeks late, and lawmakers are due back Monday afternoon to pass a fourth extender to keep government running. 

Republicans, who are in the minority party in state government, criticized Democrats, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and the leaders of the Legislature, for failing to come to an accord on a spending plan that was due April 1.

Sen. Tom O’Mara, the ranking Republican member on the Senate Finance Committee, spoke Thursday on the floor as a third budget extender was approved.

“We should be working far more diligently to get this job done,” O’Mara said. “Rather than just extending the budget deadline.” 

Issues that are dividing Hochul and the Democrats in the Legislature include a housing package, how to distribute school aid, and how much to spend on Medicaid, including whether to make changes to a popular home health care program. 

Hochul and the Democratic leaders have said little publicly about exactly what divides them or the status of negotiations.

Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay decried the lack of transparency. He said in earlier days, the Albany adage was “three men in a room” to describe the private meetings held between governors and the two majority-party legislative leaders. Now, he said, there are two women and one man, but the dynamic has not changed.

“(It) used to be always three men in the room,” Barclay said. “(You) don't hear much about that now there's three Dems in the room.”

Sen. Jim Tedisco, also a Republican, said his constituents don’t like the secrecy, and they don’t like it when lawmakers don’t meet their deadlines. He compared the situation to the recent total solar eclipse.

“They said it would take 24 years to have the second eclipse. I never thought we'd see the second eclipse so soon,” Tedisco said. “Because it's happening right here on the New York state budget right now. Total darkness.”

Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger, who is part of the Democratic majority, said there is “frustration” over the budget delays. But she said her constituents would rather have a good budget that’s slightly late than an on-time spending plan that doesn’t address some key items.

“As long as we are paying our bills, we are assuring people that the government of New York state continues to operate,” Krueger said. “I actually think our constituents probably are talking to us about specific issues in the budget that they hope are in the final budget, or hope are not in (the budget).

“That’s exactly what we are trying to do,” Krueger continued.

Krueger said a budget agreement might be reached next week, before the Passover holiday begins on April 22. But, she conceded, it might not be.

April 11 is National Pet Day, a day dedicated to those pets who may not always get the companionship and attention pets deserve. 

Radio Catskill’s Leying Tang spoke with John Attad, the current director of the Sullivan County SPCA, and Aurora Velasquez, the regional manager of the East Region at Best Friends Animal Society, about the challenges of low staff, low adoption rates, and the inspiring efforts to support those furry friends in need.

The third annual Youth Poetry Festival will feature Sullivan County students sharing their writings at Bethel Woods on Sunday, April 14.

Tim Bruno spoke to Sullivan County Poet Laureate, Dr. Sharon Kennedy-Noelle, about what folks can expect at the event. 

The Eldred Central School District is enhancing its sports facilities, which involves transitioning their sports field from natural grass to artificial turf. 

The district indicates that this change will alleviate maintenance issues, noting that previously, numerous games were postponed or relocated due to the poor condition of the grass field following adverse weather conditions.

Activists, like Rebekah Creshkoff from Beyond Plastics Sullivan County are raising concerns, arguing that this shift could pose toxic risks to students, faculty, and the environment.

Radio Catskill's Marin Scotten has more…

NY Small Farma is a nonprofit focused on social and economic equity in adult-use cannabis production and they hope to turn the cannabis plant into a vehicle for healing, community well-being, and positive change.

Tim Bruno spoke to Nicole Ricci, President of the Board of Directors of NY Small Farma, on Radio Chatskill.

As education, health care, job search, and evening grocery shopping move deeper and deeper into the digital age, people have had to develop a new set of skills to navigate an increasingly technological, global society.

From connecting with services to connecting with peers, a person’s ability to flourish and thrive can be challenged by a lack of access to technology and a lack of skills. 

Officials call this, the Digital Divide, and two groups in Wayne County are working together to close the gap.  Tim Bruno spoke Alexa Ciaglia, Wayne Pike Workforce Alliance Education Specialist, about free digital literacy classes offered to residents. 

On Saturday, Damascus resident Jean Kogut will complete the 2.5-mile swim from Nevis to St. Kitts in the Caribbean to raise money for Tusten Social, a community organization that offers programming for youth and seniors.

Radio Catskill reporter Marin Scotten spoke to Kogut about why she wanted to do the swim and the challenges of training for the event.

Pennsylvania voters will elect a new attorney general this November, but Democrats and Republicans first must pick their candidates this spring in their primary on April 23. 

The attorney general represents the interests of the state and the public and defends Pennsylvania’s laws in court. In recent years, the office has defended the results of the 2020 presidential election against numerous attempts to overturn them.

Five Democrats and two Republicans are running for their party’s nomination and will appear on the April 23 primary ballot. Only registered members of those parties can cast ballots for candidates during spring elections; all voters can participate in November.

Jason Dole spoke to Stephen Caruso at Spotlight PA about the seven candidates in the commonwealth's AG primary race.