Radio Chatskill

Winter is wrapping up, but many energy customers are still left with having to pay high electricity bills from this past season. Some lawmakers argue it’s because the companies are privately owned, but what would it look like if your local utility company were publicly owned?

Introduced by District 103 Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha and New York Senator Michelle Hinchey, the Hudson Valley Power Authority Act proposes to create a publicly-owned corporation that would acquire Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation and run it with no profit motive. Central Hudson is currently privately owned by Fortis Inc., a Canadian holding company. It services the Mid-Hudson Valley area, including Ulster, Sullivan, and Orange counties.

Radio Catskill’s Kimberly Izar spoke with Assemblymember Shrestha about how the state bill would work.

Just as the Beginner Farmer Program was gaining momentum—entering its second year of a five-year initiative under the USDA's American Rescue Plan—unexpected federal action from the Trump administration brought it all to a halt. 

The program, which pairs experienced farmers with young, aspiring growers for hands-on training and support, suddenly had its funding frozen.

That left Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County, the organization running the program, with no choice but to pause operations—leaving 11 mentor farmers and 11 mentees stranded mid-season. 

Brenda Miller, the owner and founder of Bobolink Farm, located in Liberty, NY, appeared on Radio Chatskill to talk about the impact to young farmers and what might come next. 

The natural beauty of the Catskills has inspired artists, writers and even architects. It has also inspired scientists. 

Robert and Johanna Titus are retired professors of geology and biology who have written many books and articles about the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley. 

The Tituses most recent book The Hudson River Schools of Art and their Ice Age Origins explains how an enormous ice sheet created not just the stunning landscape of the Catskill mountains but how it ultimately created inspiration for classic 19th century novels, popular city parks, and magnificent oil paintings. 

Robert and Johanna Titus will be giving the presentation Ice Age Origins of the Hudson River Schools of Art at the Time and the Valleys Museum in Grahamsville on Sunday April 27th at 2 PM. 

Radio Catskill contributor Tracy Gates spoke with them about how they arrived at such an interesting subject, as well as some of their favorite places to imagine the Catskills as it was 20,000 years ago.

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the original site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, is constantly working to preserve the magic of that muddy August weekend full of peace, love & music.

Earlier this month, that work was highlighted on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Bethel Woods Museum Director, Dr. Neal Hitch, joined Kelly Clarkson on Tuesday, April 8, to talk all things Message Tree, the Museum's Oral History Initiative, and the new Special Exhibit.

Fresh from the spotlight,  Dr. Neal  appeared on Radio Chatskill to discuss that appearance and upcoming local oral history pop-ups this summer in The Catskills.

In the quiet woods of the Lacawac Sanctuary in Lake Ariel Pennsylvania, a powerful initiative is giving veterans and their families a place to breathe, reflect, and heal. The At Ease Veterans Program is transforming the way the military community accesses mental health support—through nature, creativity, and connection. 

For some families, putting healthy food on the table has never felt more challenging. Earlier this month, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said the Trump administration’s decision to cut $1 billion in federal funding allocated for food banks to purchase food for schools and child care centers will hurt struggling New Yorkers.

Demand for emergency food is also up by 30%, according to local food pantry providers in Sullivan County. But what’s behind this jump?

Radio Catskill’s Kimberly Izar spoke with Audrey Garro, Executive Director of A Single Bit, a nonprofit providing free, nutritious meals in the Catskills region. Garro broke down what’s driving the sharp increase in demand.

Tops Friendly Markets is expanding its footprint in the Hudson Valley with the opening of a brand-new location in Ellenville, NY. The supermarket chain will invest $2 million in extensive renovations at the site of a former ShopRite, transforming the 46,750 square-foot space into a modern and customer-focused shopping destination.

Set to open in mid-June 2025, the new store will include a completely redesigned storefront, fresh interior and exterior paint, new landscaping, and energy-efficient upgrades like LED lighting and state-of-the-art equipment.

“We are thrilled to be adding the Ellenville location to the Tops family of stores,” said Ron Ferri, president of Tops Friendly Markets. “At Tops, we constantly evaluate the best ways to serve our customers and reinvest into our communities. This latest store opening and its forthcoming enhancements will help make life a little easier for shoppers by focusing on a strong combination of convenience, selection, quality, and low prices every day.”

The remodeled store will also highlight Tops’ commitment to fresh, local produce by partnering with over 500 regional farmers, including several in Ulster County. 

Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger has signed a law granting tax incentives for residents who build an accessory dwelling unit on their property, but not without reservations. She wants to amend the law.

Metzger, a Democrat, says the law grants county residents a real property tax exemption on the portion of their increased property value resulting from an ADU. It’s tied to a state tax law aimed at encouraging ADU construction and increasing local housing stock. The exemption is capped at $200,000, lasts for five years, and gradually decreases every year after that.

But Metzger already wants to amend the law, because she says the county legislature removed language preventing the tax-exempted ADUs from being used as short-term rentals.

“This tax incentive is not meant as an incentive to add short-term rentals. We don’t need an incentive for that," she tells WAMC. "This is an incentive to encourage permanent housing solutions for our residents.”

Ulster County, like much of the region and state, is struggling with a housing crisis. Housing advocates say the short-term rental market is exacerbating the shortage by snatching up would-be homes and apartments and turning them into vacation rentals and Airbnbs. In 2024, the median cost of a home was more than $300,000 in every county in the Hudson Valley, according to the nonprofit Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress.

Groups like Pattern for Progress stress that New York will need to build all types of housing in order to best address the shortage and bring prices down, but Metzger says ADUs are among the fasted and cheapest types to build. Communities like Kingston and Rosendale have amended their zoning codes in recent years to clear hurdles for property owners. ADUs can range from small, separate “in-law cottages” in your backyard to apartment units above a garage. Metzger estimates they cost anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000, and the county is preparing to launch a third round of grants for aspiring ADU owners this summer.

“In exchange for receiving funding — I think this past round it was around $112,000 — in return for receiving that money, the homeowner agrees to keep the rent affordable for at least 10 years," she explains.

Republican Legislator Thomas Corcoran Jr. says he’s on board with Metzger’s amendment to the tax incentive law. He’s a fan of ADUs, and he’s currently working to update the zoning code in Marlborough, where he is a building inspector and zoning officer, to allow them. He likes short-term rentals, too, but he agrees Ulster County doesn’t need incentives for more of them.

“Short-term rentals have their place, but I also have to be conscious of our hotel/motel situation, and our resorts," says Corcoran. "That’s their living. They’re making their living renting rooms.”

Corcoran, who is a member of the Housing and Transportation Committee, says he doesn’t know how the short-term rental restriction got removed from the tax incentive law in the first place. In his committee meetings, he says it was always clear short-term rental ADUs weren’t meant to qualify.

Metzger says an amendment came up on the floor of the legislature to remove the section of the law restricting short-term rentals. She says that section resembled language in the broader state tax law, but she wants it to be even more clear.

“I’m going to propose that this language be put back in, and add further language clarifying that it should not be used for a short-term rental specifically," she says. "This is the intent of the state statute, but I think the language in the state statute is a little more vague. It references the ADU being used primarily for ‘residential purposes,’ but we want to be very clear.”

Metzger plans to submit her amendment at the legislature’s next meeting in May. Democratic Legislator Abe Uchitelle says he would be happy to sponsor and support it, but he notes there was a reason the language was cut: he says it’s possible the clear restriction Metzger wants could conflict with the state tax law.

“I suspect that the legislation will receive a warm reception from my colleagues and a critical lens from our attorneys," he says. "If that’s something we can legislate, then we’ll do that, and that’s what the legislative process will reveal.”

The tax exemption only applies to the county portion of a resident’s property tax. Metzger stresses she’d like to see municipalities adopt their own versions in the future.

Story by Jesse King/New York Public News Network

Jesse King is the host of WAMC's national program on women's issues, "51%," and the station's bureau chief in the Hudson Valley. She has also produced episodes of the WAMC podcast "A New York Minute In History."

The Upper Delaware Council’s annual "Litter Sweeps" are underway as volunteers are spring cleaning the Upper Delaware River Valley all month long. The Town of Highland and the Town of Delaware Litter Sweeps are scheduled for April 19 with community members sporting their brightly colored “Don’t Be Trashy” t-shirts.

Radio Catskill is a media sponsor of this year's Litter Sweep.

Farm and Country’s Rosie Starr was on the scene last Sunday at the Damascus Township Litter Sweep where 13 volunteers were cleaning up. 

A federal judge has cleared the path for the demolition of the Skinners Falls Bridge, rejecting a legal effort by Damascus Citizens for Sustainability (DCS) who sought to spare the 122-year-old structure from destruction.

In a ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Karoline Mehalchick of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania sided with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), citing the bridge’s deteriorating condition as a significant public safety threat.

The historic Baltimore truss bridge, opened in 1902, spans the Delaware River, linking the rural communities of Milanville, PA, and Skinners Falls, NY. It has long served as both a functional crossing and a beloved local landmark — described by Barbara Arrindell, director of DCS, as “poetry in steel.”

PennDOT has concluded that the bridge, closed to vehicular traffic since 2019, is beyond repair. Citing structural instability and a risk to boaters and others navigating beneath it, the agency plans to demolish the bridge using explosives. 

DCS argued in court that the government had failed in its duty to maintain the bridge and that it had neglected viable alternatives for rehabilitation. Their lawsuit claimed that federal and state agencies ignored environmental and cultural protections, and that demolition would not only erase a piece of history but also damage the river ecosystem and tourism industry.

Judge Mehalchick initially granted a temporary restraining order on April 9 to halt the demolition, allowing time for a full hearing held on April 11. But in her written decision this week, she concluded that the risks of keeping the bridge in place outweighed the plaintiffs’ concerns.

“Expert testimony supports that the bridge’s seemingly inevitable collapse would endanger life, property, and the environment,” Mehalchick wrote. “Delaying the bridge’s demolition exacerbates these issues, especially considering the busy summer season which will soon bring many visitors to the Delaware River area.”

The judge also noted that PennDOT and its federal partners had invested considerable resources into evaluating the structure and planning the safest course of action.

The timeline for demolition has not been formally announced, though PennDOT officials say preparations are already underway.