Radio Chatskill

Dr. Kathleen Bressler, Superintendent of the Sullivan West Central School District, is puzzled by the state's recent $2 million funding cut. 

She's in Albany this week with district leaders and union members, pushing to get the money back and find out why it was cut. 

Dr. Bressler talked with Tim Bruno on Radio Catskill about how this could hurt the district and taxpayers.

The Village of Liberty Police Chief, Steven D’Agata, reported a significant decrease in both fatal and non-fatal overdoses related to illegal substance use in 2023 compared to previous years. 

Non-fatal overdose cases dropped by 30%, and fatalities from overdoses decreased by 56% compared to 2022. 

Chief D'Agata discussed with Tim Bruno on Radio Chatskill the factors contributing to the decrease in overdoses and shared his perspective on the future efforts of the Village of Liberty Police. 

New York State faces its highest daily snowfall in over two years, sparking worries for pet safety. Radio Catskill’s Leying Tang spoke to Sharon Hawa, Senior Manager for Emergency Services at Best Friends Animal Society, about the ways to safeguard pets during winter storms and support shelter animals. 

Hawa offers tips on walking, feeding, and providing indoor entertainment for pets during snowstorms. She also encourages checking local shelter's wish lists for donation opportunities to aid shelter animals.

Catskill Art Space HAS an exhibition of new work from Hovey Brock, Daniella Dooling and Valerie Hegarty opening Saturday, March 2 to April 27.

Valerie Hegarty makes paintings, sculptures, and installations that explore issues of memory, place, and history. Hegarty replicates paintings and antiques from early American art history, then damages them with devices associated with their historical significance. 

Culture Reporter Valerie Mansi spoke to her. 

David Goodwillie is the guest for a new literary salon series launching in Ellenville on Saturday, March 2.

Goodwillie will read from his work, answer questions, and describe his picaresque journey in New York’s literary world.

David Goodwillie is the author of the novel American Subversive, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and the memoir Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time.

Goodwillie has written for the New York Times, New York Magazine, Newsweek, and Popular Science among other publications. 

He has also been drafted to play professional baseball, worked as a private investigator, and was an expert at Sotheby’s auction house. A graduate of Kenyon College, he lives in Brooklyn.

Culture Reporter Valerie Mansi spoke to Goodwillie.

Twenty years ago this week, two dozen LGBTQ+ couples donned their best coats and met at a park in New Paltz to do two things: get married, and break the law. 

The act of civil disobedience tested New York’s marriage laws at a time when same-sex marriage was hotly debated, but still largely illegal in the U.S. 

On Sunday, friends and advocates reunited to remember those who made it all possible – and, for one couple, to get married again. 

From the New York Public News Network, Jesse King reports.

The New York State legislature Wednesday finalized new Congressional lines for the 2024 races, clearing the way for petitioning for the June primaries that started on Tuesday.

Here’s a look at what would be changed in our local congressional districts if the maps are signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul, according to Politico: 

The bipartisan commission had initially split Orange County, moving a portion of it from Representative Pat Ryan's district to the nearby one held by Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro. The Legislature’s lines keep Orange County entirely in Ryan’s district.

Most of the other changes aren’t different from the lines that were used to 2022. Most of the other changes to Ryan’s district would involve swapping towns in Ulster County with Molinaro’s seat.

Ryan’s seat would lose the blue-friendly towns of Marbletown and Rosendale and gain the blue-trending Saugerties and the deep-blue Woodstock. Molinaro would gain the Republican-friendly town of Shawangunk and gain the Republican-friendly town of Ulster.

Molinaro’s district underwent the most significant changes. But even those didn’t dramatically change the electoral math.

In addition to the swaps with Ryan in Ulster County, Molinaro’s district would drop Tioga County and parts of Cortland County to districts to his west. It would pick up parts of Rensselaer and Otsego counties from Rep. Elise Stefanik.

Yet even after all that, the numbers are basically the same. Molinaro won in 2022 in a 52.3 percent Biden district; it would be a 52.2 percent Biden district.

Democrats in the New York State Legislature on Monday rejected new congressional district maps drawn by a bipartisan redistricting commission and are opting to draw their own maps instead. 

Republicans, who are in the minority in the Legislature, condemned the vote — saying it’s all about the Democrats trying to gain political advantage. 

Karen DeWitt reports from Albany for the New York Public News Network. 

Former Port Jervis science teacher and Radio Catskill volunteer Joe Johnson discusses some of the most fascinating science stories of the week, including Neanderthal glue, the Odysseus Lunar Lander, and massive solar flares that may or may not have caused some cellular outages last week. 

He spoke to Tim Bruno. 

Catskill Art Space has announced an exhibition of new work from Hovey Brock, Daniella Dooling and Valerie Hegarty opening Saturday, March 2. 

In "The Canary Project," Daniella Dooling encases birds in resin casts of natural crystal formations or found rocks. 

She spoke to Culture Reporter Valerie Mansi.