The Local Edition

Brock Pinkerous is a 13-year-old race car driver from Ellenville, New York. Despite racing competitors who are in their 30s and 40s, Pinkerous has done more than hold his own. He hopes this is the beginning of a long career that one day leads him to winning the Daytona 500 NASCAR race.

Radio Catskill reporter Marin Scotten is joined by Pinkerous to hear more about his racing success.

Governor Kathy Hochul has made no secret of her goal to scale back state spending across agencies. But among some rural state lawmakers, her plan to save $77 million on prisons is driving backlash. Eliza Fawcett from NY Focus has more. 

Making a living as a small-scale farmer in a system that supports mass-production isn’t easy. For Black farmers, a number of discriminatory barriers have made farming even more challenging. In the last century, Black farmers have lost over 90% of the land they once owned and today just 1% of American farmers are Black.

Radio Catskill Reporter Marin Scotten is joined by Omowale Adewale, the co-owner of Liberation Farm in Delaware County to discuss his experience getting denied a loan by the Cortland County Office of the USDA and his hopes for a more equitable future in American agriculture.

In recent reporting, New York Focus found that after the worst year on record for overdose deaths in New York, Governor Kathy Hochul wants to level off investment in addiction treatment and use opioid settlement funds to fill the gaps.

With the growing demand for mental health resources in New York State, Astor Services has taken a step forward in expanding access to essential care by extending its mental and behavioral health services to Sullivan and Rockland Counties. 

Astor Services is a community-based non-profit organization that provides children’s mental health services, child welfare services, and early childhood development services.

Radio Catskill’s Jason Dole spoke to Megan York, the Regional Director of Outpatient Clinics for Astor Services Hudson Valley Clinics now open in Liberty. 

Kim Botteicher decided to speak out about her work offering syringe services in Westmoreland County, hoping to prompt change that she believes would help save lives.

According to Spotlight PA, after she went public, county government officials pulled $150,000 in opioid settlement funding they had approved for her organization — money Botteicher said she planned to spend on hiring additional staff to work with people who are dealing with addiction and recovery, as well as their families. None of the funds would have gone to syringe services, she said in January.

Ed Mahon reporters for Spotlight PA

New York state wants to phase out fossil fuels. Localities have given over a billion dollars in tax breaks to help keep them around.

Across the state, IDAs enter into payment-in-lieu-of-tax agreements, or pilots, with businesses, exempting the corporations from property taxes in exchange for a lower annual payment to the town, county, and school district and the promise of job creation. 

And these little-known local authorities are quietly shaping the economics of the energy transition, in some cases threatening to undermine the state’s climate goals.

Jason Dole spoke with New York Focus reporter Julia Rock.

Jay Mendels, a member of the Sullivan County Conservation Club and a key figure on the King of the Ice committee, discusses with Radio Catskill's Patricio Robayo the significance of this year's King of the Ice event and its positive impacts on Sullivan County.

On Friday, February 2, Sullivan County Head Start announced on social media that they were closing until further notice, effective immediately.

The sudden closure left over 300 children and their families without services as well as 83 full-time and 11 part-time employees out of work.

Sullivan County Commissioner of the Health and Human Services Division John Liddle and Laura Quigley, Commissioner of the Sullivan County Division of Community Resources spoke to Jason Dole on The Local Edition. 

A new Beginner Farmer Program has started at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County. The program aims to help historically underserved farmers enter the field through mentorship, workshops, group training and events. 

Radio Catskill reporter Marin Scotten is joined by the program’s manager, Taylor Adam to discuss the Beginner Farmer Program’s goals, challenges and offerings.