eedition The Daily Mail April 17 2020

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The Daily Mail Copyright 2020, Columbia-Greene Media Volume 228, No. 77

All Rights Reserved

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The nation’s fourth-oldest newspaper • Serving Greene County since 1792

FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020

Price $1.50

Testing kit shipment delayed

nFORECAST WEATHER FOR HUDSON/CA TODAY TONIGHT

SAT

By Nora Mishanec Columbia-Greene Media

A shower late in the p.m.

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Clearing

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n SPORTS

Michael Jordan ‘The Last Dance’ Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan celebrates after winning Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

PAGE B1

n OBITUARY

As calls for public testing intensify, Columbia County officials unveiled plans for a drive-thru testing clinic on Wednesday.

The announcement comes as Greene and Columbia county officials await shipments of testing kits they say will be used for public testing and to monitor nursing-home populations.

The Columbia County Health Department will open a clinic to test members of the public for COVID-19 using the 1,000 commercial testing kits the county has ordered

from Thermo Fisher, health department officials confirmed Thursday. The testing kits were due to be delivered Friday, but have been delayed one week by the supplier.

“We are planning to try and model the SUNY Albany testing site with pre-registration only that will include screening questions to help prioritize and screen people,” Columbia County Health Department Public Information Officer Patricia Abitabile said.

The planned drivethru clinic will test 150 pre-screened individuals,

Contributed photo

Greene County Legislature Chairman Patrick Linger, R-New Baltimore, left, accepts a donation of coronavirus test kits from Ulster County on Tuesday.

See TESTING A2

NY Pause extends to May 15

Actor Dennehy dies at 81 Brian Dennehy, who put Rambo in jail in “First Blood” is remembered by Hollywood PAGE A5

n THE SCENE

Courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday the state will extend NY On Pause, the 10-point executive order that closed schools and nonessential businesses and mandated social distancing statewide, for another month through May 15. Cuomo announced the extended executive order during a COVID-19 briefing in the state Capitol in Albany on Thursday afternoon.

By Kate Lisa Johnson Newspaper Corp.

Lady Gaga the new Bob Geldof?

Is Lady Gaga’s “One World at Home” concert 2020’s answer to 1985’s Live Aid? PAGE A8

ALBANY — The state’s infection rate of COVID-19 is on the decline, but that may not be a trend, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said as the state extended school and business closures Thursday for another month.

NY On Pause — a 10-point

executive order mandating social-distancing regulations — was extended Thursday to keep all school districts and nonessential businesses closed through May 15.

“I don’t want to project beyond that period,” Cuomo said Thursday during a COVID-19 briefing in the state Capitol.

“That’s about one month. One month is a long time.”

New York’s COVID-19 fatalities totaled 12,192 by Thursday — up from 11,586 Wednesday. The state’s virusrelated deaths dipped to 606 Wednesday, including 577 in hospitals and 29 in nursing homes, down from 752

fatalities Tuesday and 778 Monday. The state had 671 deaths Easter Sunday, but otherwise surpassed 700 fatalities per day from April 6 to April 15, peaking April 8 at 799 deaths.

New York tested 550,579 people, revealing 222,284 positive cases of COVID-19

by Thursday afternoon. The

See PAUSE A2

Gillibrand, Delgado push for more rural relief

By Kate Lisa Johnson Newspaper Corp.

n INDEX Region Opinion State/Nation Obituaries Sports Classified Comics/Advice

state’s hospitalization rates continued to decline to 17,735 patients Thursday, or about 8%, down from 18,335, or 8.6%, on Wednesday. Net change in intubations is also down at 40 fewer patients, according to the governor’s

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U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-19, are pushing for at least $50 billion in direct relief to small towns and rural communities in Congress’ next coronavirus COVID-19 relief package.

New York’s federal lawmakers are fighting for $50 billion to help small counties, towns and rural communities combat COVID-19 and rebuild after the pandemic, officials said Thursday.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-19, are urging Congress to include robust funding for small counties and rural communities in Congress’ next COVID-19 economic relief package, they announced in a joint press call Thursday afternoon.

Rural communities across the state and nation operate on thin margins, which are exacerbated by mounting debt from the pandemic. These communities often have to wait for federal funding to trickle through state bureaucracies or take time to apply for multiple grants.

Federal grant funding is often inaccessible or too inflexible for rural communities to meet local financial needs, Gillibrand said.

“It’s critical our rural communities are not left behind,” the senator said. “They need money to support their local hospitals and emergency systems now. Relief for our rural communities should be as available as it is for cities.”

Gillibrand and Delgado requested $50 billion in the next COVID-19 relief legislation based on their Rebuild Rural America Act — a bill the state’s delegation first proposed in October to establish funding for rural communities and provide guaranteed, fiveyear flexible block grants for economic growth. The grants would revitalize infrastructure, job training and foster entrepreneurship, Delgado See RELIEF A2

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COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • THE DAILY MAIL

A2 Friday, April 17, 2020

Weather

Testing From A1

FORECAST FOR HUDSON/CATSKILL

TODAY TONIGHT

SAT

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MON

A shower late in the p.m.

Snow and rain

Clearing

Clouds and sun

HIGH 51

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Mostly Some sunny with a brightening shower

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58 31

Ottawa 43/25

Montreal 45/28

Massena 45/27

Bancroft 42/21

Ogdensburg 44/25

Peterborough 43/23

Plattsburgh 47/26

Malone Potsdam 43/24 44/26

Kingston 42/29

Watertown 43/27

Rochester 43/30

Utica 42/31

Batavia Buffalo 41/29 42/29

Albany 50/35

Syracuse 44/32

Pause

Catskill 51/35

Binghamton 39/29

Hornell 40/30

Burlington 46/29

Lake Placid 39/21

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Hudson 51/35

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

SUN AND MOON

ALMANAC Statistics through 3 p.m. yesterday

Temperature

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Sat. 6:09 a.m.

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Moon Phases 44

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33 YEAR TO DATE NORMAL

9.05 9.82

Forecasts and graphics provided

by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020

CONDITIONS TODAY AccuWeather.com UV Index™ & AccuWeather.com RealFeel Temperature®

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The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. 0-2 Low; 3-5 Moderate; 6-7 High; 8-10 Very High; 11+ Extreme. The patented AccuWeather.com RealFeel Temperature is an exclusive index of effective temperature based on eight weather factors.

NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Winnipeg 53/36

Seattle 69/48 Billings 57/32

Montreal 45/28

Minneapolis 48/34 Chicago 44/32

San Francisco 64/53

Toronto 43/26 Detroit 39/28

New York 50/44

Denver 48/26

Washington 63/49 Kansas City 47/30

Los Angeles 66/55

Abitabile said.

“We are planning on making this the first of several clinics; this is a trial run,” she said.

The Columbia County Health Department is working with Columbia Memorial Health to organize the testing clinic. A location has not been determined, Abitabile said.

“This is all done in conjunction with CMH that is providing people who will do the testing,” she said. “CMH will be working with us together.”

Only pre-registered individuals and those referred to the county by providers will be considered for testing, Abitabile said.

The clinic announcement follows a week of increased testing by Greene and Columbia county health

office.

Cuomo signed an executive order Wednesday requiring all New Yorkers to wear masks or other cloth face coverings, such as a scarf or bandana, over their nose and mouth when out in public to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Masks must be worn by riders and operators on all public transportation, in private transportation carriers or at-hire vehicles such as Uber or Lyft.

The order goes into effect 8 p.m. Friday and applies to every person over age 2. The mandate does not include a civil violation for people who do not wear a mask, Cuomo said, but a penalty may be enforced if people do not follow it.

Phones are “ringing off the hook” in opposition to the face-covering requirement, Cuomo said, as some residents feel it’s a breach of governmental power. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the state Capitol in Albany on Thursday afternoon saying they will ignore the executive order to wear face masks or coverings in

departments, which each received 100 kits from the state.

With those supplies nearly depleted, officials are renewing their efforts to secure testing kits from state and commercial sources.

Columbia County has used 60 of the 100 testing kits from the state, Abitabile confirmed.

The 100 testing kits provided to Greene County were used within a couple of days, Greene County Legislature Chairman Patrick Linger, RNew Baltimore, confirmed.

An additional 25 testing kits donated by Ulster County have also been used, he said.

“Our public-health team already used those tests on nursing-home staff and patients,” he said.

Linger confirmed that Greene County has placed an order for 1,000 testing kits.

The kits will either be paid for with grant money from the state or with taxpayer dollars

and then reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said.

Greene County has also placed repeated requests with the state for testing kits and personal protective equipment. On Tuesday, a trailer delivered supplies to the county’s Emergency Operations Center, Linger said.

“I spoke with Congressman [Antonio] Delgado and he was going to advocate on our behalf to the state. He was going to make that call on our behalf,” Linger said. “When that PPE showed up, I can only assume it was because those calls were made.”

In a statement, Delgado, D-19, said he will continue to work alongside local partners to advocate for supplies.

“I am glad to see that Greene County was able to obtain needed PPE and testing kits from the state,” Delgado said. “Earlier this week, I spoke with Legislature

Chairman Linger and my office was in touch with the governor’s office to advocate on their behalf. I appreciate the governor’s swift action to get these needed materials to our community,” Linger traveled to Ulster County on Tuesday to receive a donation of testing kits and disposable gowns from the Ulster County Public Health Department.

Ulster County Deputy Executive John Milgrim called Linger to offer the donation after seeing an article in The Daily Mail about Greene County’s lack of PPE and testing equipment.

“He told me he could help us out because they do have several health care providers that are able to get things we cannot,” he said, noting that Ulster County has four times the population of Greene County.

Linger called the donation “advantageous and gracious.”

public.

“We want to see fewer people die,” the governor said. “If you don’t think 600 people died yesterday and you don’t think that’s a problem, I disagree with you. If you don’t think 600 people died, I’ll bring you to see the 600 people.”

“You have a liability, a responsibility, not to infect me. Asking New Yorkers to wear a mask at this time is more than reasonable,” Cuomo said.

States, private-sector companies and the federal government are calling to bring rapid saliva and antibody COVID-19 testing kits to scale, the governor said, and may face a hardship similar to last month’s scramble for ventilators by having to compete with each other.

Cuomo spoke to White House officials about the issue Thursday morning.

“This has to be figured out, and it can only be figured out with partnership with the federal government,” he said. “A state does not have the capacity to do that. I understand that this is a problematic area and the federal government’s not eager to get involved in testing, but the plain reality here is we have to do it in

partnership with the federal government.”

A virus situation is out of control when one person infects two people or more.

If one person infects one other person, the rate of spread is stable. One person infecting fewer than one other person indicates the disease is on the decline, Cuomo said Thursday.

The state’s infection spread rate was 0.9 Thursday, or one New Yorker with COVID-19 is, on average, infecting less than one other person. COVID-19’s spread rate in Wuhan, China, where the virus was discovered in December, was between 2 and 3, or one person infecting two to three other people, at the start of the pandemic. Wuhan’s infection spread rate decreased to 0.3 after enforcing strict stay-at-home orders and social distancing.

New York’s spread rate margin of error is 0.9 to 1.2, Cuomo said.

“We’re at 0.9... we only have a margin of error of 0.9 to 1.2,” the governor said. “[A rate of] 1.2 takes you back to the high projection rate. That does not leave you a lot of wiggle room. If you go to 1.2, you’re going to have a problem again.

You see how narrow the

window is.”

New York will send 100 ventilators to New Jersey as the neighboring state approaches the apex.

New York continues to work with New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Delaware and Rhode Island to coordinate a plan to gradually reopen businesses and restart the economy, but not drive up the COVID-19 infection rate, which has slowed from effective social distancing.

The seven-state task force is establishing guidelines to determine which businesses could open first and where, and how to reimagine a socially distanced workplace until the federal government approves a COVID-19 vaccine, likely more than a year from now.

“It will be a moment of transformation for society,” Cuomo said. “We paid a very high price for it. There are lessons we must learn from this. We can do things differently and we can do things better.”

of tourists who would boost our economy in the spring and summer months are not coming,” Delgado said. “It’s incredibly unfair that local governments under 500,000 people were not given direct action with funding. It is imperative we at Congress focus on our communities in rural areas and note they need separate funding in their response.”

Lawmakers are negotiating Congress’ next COVID-19 relief bill. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., submitted changes to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Gillibrand and Delgado would not specify a time frame for the next federal bill, but said negotiations are continuing.

“It’s happening in real time,” Delgado said. “It’s an ongoing conversation on what that package will look like.”

The House of Representatives passed a historic $2.2 trillion emergency COVID-19 bill March 27 that cuts financial-assistance checks to middle-class and lower-income Americans and increases unemployment benefits to more workers to be paid for four

months. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act is giving economic impact payments of up to $1,200 for individuals, $2,400 for married couples and $500 for each qualifying child, for people who filed their 2018 taxes with adjusted gross income up to $75,000 for a single person and up to $150,000 for married couples filing joint returns.

The bill was the third federal relief bill to combat the pandemic. Lawmakers have referred to the next measure as Coronavirus 3.5, and is expected to be $500 billion with $150 billion slated for state governments and localities, $150 billion to hospitals and additional funding for food banks.

Delgado and Gillibrand are leading an effort to push the U.S. Department of Agriculture to form a rural task force to prioritize the needs of upstate communities.

To see the complete county breakdown of positive COVID-19 cases and deaths statewide, view the COVID-19 map and tracker at hudsonvalley360.com/site/covid19.html.

Atlanta 74/58 El Paso 82/56

Relief

Houston 79/62

Chihuahua 89/53

Miami 86/78

Monterrey 86/69

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ALASKA HAWAII

Anchorage 41/36

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Honolulu 83/72

Fairbanks 44/34 Juneau 55/36

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Hilo 81/67

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NATIONAL CITIES City Albuquerque Anchorage Atlanta Atlantic City Baltimore Billings Birmingham Boise Boston Charleston, SC Charleston, WV Charlotte Cheyenne Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus, OH Dallas Denver Des Moines Detroit Hartford Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Kansas City Knoxville Las Vegas

Today Hi/Lo W 70/44 s 41/36 c 74/58 pc 55/50 c 56/46 r 57/32 s 77/55 pc 63/39 s 51/36 pc 75/63 pc 64/41 r 73/59 s 43/23 s 44/32 sf 55/33 r 40/32 sn 50/32 r 61/46 c 48/26 pc 49/32 c 39/28 sn 52/35 c 83/72 s 79/62 sh 48/30 r 47/30 c 73/49 pc 77/57 pc

Sat. Hi/Lo W 67/43 pc 43/36 c 74/52 pc 54/40 r 57/37 r 52/33 pc 72/52 pc 69/43 pc 44/34 sh 83/58 t 54/34 pc 74/45 pc 50/25 s 55/43 s 56/37 pc 50/39 s 51/34 s 65/60 t 53/32 pc 60/41 s 52/40 s 49/30 sh 83/69 s 75/66 t 56/40 s 61/43 s 64/40 c 72/57 pc

City Little Rock Los Angeles Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Nashville New Orleans New York City Norfolk Oklahoma City Omaha Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland Portland Providence Raleigh Richmond Sacramento St. Louis Salt Lake City San Francisco Savannah Seattle Tampa Washington, DC

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Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

said.

The $50 billion would serve as direct relief to towns with 50,000 residents or fewer and counties with fewer than 200,000 people and would give rural communities funding for emergency management, temporary assistance and to rebuild their struggling economy, Gillibrand said.

“It will be hard for rural counties — especially those who have not peaked yet,” said Gillibrand, adding FEMA is not sending goods or equipment to states based on need, but to states with which the federal government has strong political relationships.

Funding would be administered to small towns, counties and rural communities based on a formula and disease prevalence, Gillibrand said.

Delgado serves the state’s 19th district, which spans 800 square miles and 11 counties.

The district is the eighth most rural in Congress, he said.

“As this disease continues to spread, the normal influx

“The challenges that rural communities face, especially during this pandemic, demand direct and comprehensive solutions,” Gillibrand said. “We have to reimagine how the federal government invests in rural communities.

“We think it’s a good, strong, bipartisan idea,” the senator added. “It’s just common sense.”

HUDSON RIVER TIDES Low tide: 6:02 a.m. 0.9 feet High tide: 11:48 a.m. 3.7 feet Low tide: 6:34 p.m. 0.5 feet

THE PUBLIC NEEDS THE TRUTH; NOT SOCIAL MEDIA HEADLINES & FAKE NEWS.

#SupportRealNews

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Friday, April 17, 2020 A3

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • THE DAILY MAIL

CALENDAR EDITOR’S NOTE: Most events and meetings are being cancelled due to the virus outbreak. Please call ahead to confirm.

Monday, April 20 n Athens Town Board 6:45 p.m.

Town Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518945-1052 n Catskill Village Planning Board Stewart’s Public Hearing 7 p.m. Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill n Greenville CSD BOE/Budget discussion 5 6 p.m. Virtual Meeting only (see website for link) n Greenville Town Board 7 p.m.

Town Hall, 11159 Route 32, Pioneer Building, Greenville

Tuesday, April 21 n Athens Village Planning Board

6:30 p.m. Village Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518-945-1551 n Coxsackie-Athens Central School District Board of Education 6 p.m. (virtual meeting) n Greenville CSD BOE Meeting Questar III Annual Vote & Election 5 p.m. Virtual Meeting Only (see website for link) n Hunter Town Board 7 p.m.

Town Hall, 5748 Route 23A, Tannersville

3 workers hurt when scaffold collapses in Catskill

By Bill Williams Columbia-Greene Media

CATSKILL — Three construction workers were taken to Albany Medical Center on Thursday morning after a scaffold collapsed in Catskill, according to Lt. Ronald Frascello of the Catskill Police Department.

The three, two men and a woman, are employees of Belfor Property Restoration of Queens, a company that is rebuilding a condominium at Catskill Creek Condominiums on Marina Drive, Catskill police said. The condo was destroyed by fire last Christmas eve.

Two men, whose ages were given as 50 and 34, were working on scaffolding to install sheathing on the second floor when the sheathing broke loose and fell, knocking the scaffolding out from under the men, causing

them to fall two stories to the ground, Frascello said.

The 34-year-old was pinned between the scaffolding and the building and had to be freed by Catskill firefighters, Catskill police said.

A third worker, a 44-year-old woman, who was standing on the ground, was hit by the scaffolding when it fell, Catskill police said.

The three workers were transported to Albany by ambulances from Catskill and Coxsackie with non-life threatening injuries, Frascello said. After emergency personnel cleared the scene, construction resumed on the building.

The condominium being rebuilt was destroyed by fire on Christmas eve 2019. The couple, who had just moved in, lost two dogs and several birds in the fire.

BILL WILLIAMS/COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Workers at the scene of a construction accident in Catskill on Thursday.

Cuomo eases process for end-of-life decisions

By Melanie Lekocevic

Wednesday, April 22 n Athens Village Board 6:30

p.m. Village Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518-945-1551 n Catskill Village Board 7 p.m.

Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill 518-943-3830

Thursday, April 23 n Coxsackie Village 2020-2021

Proposed Tentative Budget Public Hearing 6:30 p.m. Village Hall, 119 Mansion St., Coxsackie

Monday, April 27 n Catskill Village Planning Board 7 p.m. Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill

Wednesday, April 28 n Catskill Town Planning Board

canceled 518-943-2141

Monday, May 4 n Athens Town Board 6:45 p.m.

Town Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518945-1052 n Cairo Town Board 7 p.m.

Town Hall, 512 Main St., Cairo

Tuesday, May 5 n Durham Town Board work-

shop meeting 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 7309 Route 81, East Durham

Thursday, May 7 n Ashland Planning Board 6

p.m. Town Hall, 12094 Route 23, Ashland n Cairo Town Planning Board 7 p.m. Town Hall, 512 Main St., Cairo n Coxsackie Village Workshop 6 p.m. Village Hall, 119 Mansion St., Coxsackie 518-731-2718

Monday, May 11 n Ashland Town Board 7:30

p.m. Town Hall, 12094 Route 23, Ashland n Catskill Village Planning Board 7 p.m. Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill n Coxsackie Village Board 7 p.m. Village Hall, 119 Mansion St., Coxsackie 518-731-2718

Tuesday, May 12 n Coxsackie Village Historic

Preservation Committee 6 p.m.

Village Hall, 119 Mansion St., Coxsackie 518-731-2718

Wednesday, May 13 n Athens Village Board 6:30

p.m. Village Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518-945-1551 n Jewett Town Board 7 p.m.

Jewett Municipal Building, 3547 County Route 23C, Jewett

Columbia-Greene Media

ALBANY — Among a raft of executive orders Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic is an order easing regulations for people looking to make legal and medical decisions.

An executive order will allow witnessing of documents such as health care proxies and advance directives to be done remotely through May 7.

The order comes in response to the social-distancing requirements put in place by the state to help stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Under the order, signed April 7, audiovideo technology can be used to witness documents such as wills, advance directives and health care proxies.

Prior to Cuomo’s executive order, two people were required to witness and sign these documents in person. That is all but impossible during the virus outbreak.

Elder care advocates say making it easier to complete these kinds of legal documents, in light of social distancing and the pandemic, is more important than ever.

“Powers of attorney, living wills and

“Powers of attorney, living wills and health care proxies — with all that is going on now, they have become more important and are at the forefront of people’s thinking.

Having those in place now, more than ever, is important.”

— ELDER LAW ATTORNEY PAUL FLINT FROM THE FLINT LAW FIRM health care proxies — with all that is going on now, they have become more important and are at the forefront of people’s thinking,” said elder law attorney Paul Flint from the Flint Law Firm in Chatham. “Having those in place now, more than ever, is important.”

Estate planning documents, including advance directives that formally identify how you want end-of-life issues handled, are required to be legally witnessed.

“The executive order that allows videoconferencing helps immensely with this, specifically with regard to the notarization of documents,” Flint said. “We really couldn’t continue to operate without that and without violating health regulations and social-distancing requirements.”

It is unclear at this time whether the remote witnessing of such documents

could lead to legal challenges in the future, Flint said.

“This is uncharted territory,” he said.

“The question will be, will this open the way for people to challenge these documents? But if people can’t do it otherwise, it is nice to have explicit authority to do it through the executive order. It’s ultimately a matter for the courts to decide.”

At Columbia Memorial Health, the hospital has provisions to allow patients to have visitors remotely, and the same technology can be used to fulfill the governor’s executive order, if it becomes necessary, Columbia Memorial Health spokesman William Van Slyke said.

“When we were compelled to restrict visitation, we acquired tablets to allow for visitation between our patients and their family and friends,” Van Slyke said.

“These devices can be used to meet these

needs as well.”

The easing of the regulations will be in effect through May 7.

“This change in regulation was supported by doctors and lawyers from across the state, including the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State, the New York Legal Assistance Group, and Volunteers of Legal Service,” said Ayana Woods, executive director of the advocacy group End of Life Choices of New York. “I hope other organizations will join in promoting health care proxies and raising awareness about this new option, particularly those in communities of color where COVID-19 has a disproportionate impact.”

Judy Schwarz, clinical director for End of Life Choices of New York, said getting legal documents properly witnessed had caused issues during the pandemic.

“We were hearing about problems that patients were experiencing, not being able to have witnesses present for the signing of health care proxies, given social distancing, at a time when more people are interested in completing them,” Schwarz said. “This changes the options and will allow more New Yorkers to make important plans for their future.”

Support of local farms and agricultural businesses is encouraged ALBANY — State Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball encouraged New Yorkers to continue to support the state’s farms and agricultural businesses. While the State works to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, Ball reminds consumers that food producing farms, farmers’ markets, food and beverage manufacturers, grocery stores, and retail food stores have been designated as essential to the food supply chain and continue to work to produce, process, transport, stock, and sell healthy, local New York food and beverages.

Many farmers markets are open across New York, using guidance from the state, and a number of farms and food and beverage producers are also offering their products on the farm for direct purchase or through their website for delivery.

For additional information, visit the NYS Grown & Certified page, a local farmers’ market website, or go directly to the producer’s website. New Yorkers can look for plant code 36 on dairy products in stores, meaning the product has been made in New York.

The commissioner also announced an additional opportunity to support New York farms and food producers through ShopTasteNY.com, an online shopping portal that allows for consumers to have New

York-produced products delivered right to their door.

State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, “New York’s hardworking farmers and producers and the entire food industry are working around the clock keep us well-stocked and to ensure healthy, local food for our families. Because of their efforts, consumers should know that there is plenty of food being made and brought to grocery stores and farmers’ markets. We are grateful for the dedication of our agricultural community, and want to remind our consumers that now, more than ever, they need your support.

I’m so pleased that Shop Taste NY can also be a useful tool at this time to bring New Yorkers closer to their favorite New York products. We encourage you, while you are shopping for your essentials, to keep New York in mind and to also extend thanks to the industry — from our farmers to grocery store workers.”

Through ShopTasteNY.com, a diverse selection of foods, beverages and gifts from each region of New York state that are available in the state’s Welcome Centers, are now also available on the new mobile-responsive online store.

The new website was launched to support the state’s farmers, producers, and small food and beverage businesses,

and to increase sales and drive revenues to local communities.

It also allows farmers to connect with new consumers in the marketplace.

Shop Taste NY is operated by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County on behalf of Taste NY and the Department of Agriculture and Markets. The site offers a variety of products from across New York, from honey and jams to goat milk soaps, reflecting each region’s offerings. Currently, nearly 100 farms and food and beverage

businesses are showcased on the site. Participating partners and products are featured on a rotating basis to ensure the diversity of the product line and regional representation.

Shipping is free for orders over $50 in the United States and customers can use the coupon code “NYLovesYou” to get 10% off their orders for a limited time.

A full list of current companies with products available by region can be found at ShopTasteNY.com. For more

information or to place an order, visit https://shoptasteny. com/ or email info@shoptasteny.com.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that there is no evidence of food, food containers, or food packaging being associated with transmission of COVID-19.

Consumers should continue to practice social distancing at grocery stores and farmers’ markets and follow proper handwashing guidelines.

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A4 Friday, April 17, 2020

THE DAILY MAIL Established 1792 Published Tuesday through Saturday by Columbia-Greene Media

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OUR VIEW

Working for the greater good Nearly 1 million New Yorkers are out of work and thousands lucky enough to have jobs are enduring pay cuts because of the shutdowns forced by the COVID-19 crisis.

But some local manufacturers, engineers and business owners are channeling the economic pain into an imaginative outlet. They are stepping up to make sure doctors, nurses and support medical staff at Columbia Memorial Health in Hudson are working as safely as possible.

Purpose Co-working and Makerspace Cooperative in Philmont converted its space overnight into a factory that produces face shields using 3D printers to meet the growing demand for personal protective equipment, or PPE. The shields are used by clinical staff members who come into direct contact with COVID-19 patients and suspected cases.

Purpose member Brendan Gaesser, a volunteer for the Medical Reserve Corps for Greene County and an assistant professor of psychology at UAlbany, has been coordinating the group’s activities.

Part of the reason the

shields, which cover face masks and protect eyes, nose and mouth, are so important is that while administering the COVID-19 test, a swab is inserted deep into the nose, which sometimes results in coughs that land on health care workers, Gaesser said.

The group intends to make as many shields as needed for CMH, and then reassess after the need is met.

Businesses from both sides of the river are contributing to this mission.

Local business owner and fundraising organizer Liam Singer offered to use his wide network of contacts to connect manufacturers and develop assembly protocol. Singer and his wife own Hi-Lo and the Avalon Lounge in Catskill.

Purpose member and artist Amelia Toelke had the idea to use layered sheets of laminate to produce the clear visor piece.

Libraries in Chatham, Catskill, Hillsdale and Tannersville offered their stock of laminate sheets for this purpose. It takes two sheets of laminate, or an empty “pocket,” that would usually protect one piece of paper per shield.

It is not as sturdy as a

standard shield, but it will provide health care workers with an additional barrier and can be sanitized for repeated use.

Others are answering the call to action, from Catskill Maker Syndicate pulling an all-nighter to assemble a new machine to Nervous System Designs in Palenville running materials testing.

Once an 1880s industrial factory and known as a center for the arts, Basilica Hudson was converted to a similar purpose, providing space for assembly and sanitizing in preparation for delivery.

Almost every major grocery store and hardware store in Greene and Columbia counties donated paper bags in which to pack and deliver the face shields. Cooper’s Daughter Spirits in Claverack provided disinfectant so the shields can be cleaned before they get anywhere near the hospital.

Given the health care emergency Greene and Columbia counties are facing, all of these businesses, libraries and retailers are doing remarkable work. They deserve our gratitude and our respect.

Texas is using COVID-19 to halt abortions. Will the court let it?

No constitutional right is absolute; the Constitution, we are told, is not a suicide pact. In a pandemic, otherwise sacrosanct rights must yield to the common good.

So, to prevent the spread of the virus, governors can order the cancellation of mass gatherings — even when those gatherings are religious services, so long as their edicts do not single out religion. Similarly, the Second Amendment right to bear arms would probably not prevent orders closing gun shops among other “non-essential” businesses during the pandemic, any more than the First Amendment would prohibit the shuttering of bookstores.

And in the archetypal case involving the power of public health authorities to prevent the spread of disease, the Supreme Court ruled in 1905 that states can compel vaccination even over the objections of those who claim an unconstitutional “invasion” of their “individual liberty.”

But if pandemics can justify intrusions on constitutional rights, they cannot be employed as excuses for interfering with or eliminating them. And that, of course, is exactly what Texas is up to in its order prohibiting abortions during the pandemic.

Now the matter has come before a conservativedominated Supreme Court, where five justices are hostile to abortion rights. Already this term, the justices have before them a Louisiana abortion law that is effectively identical to one from — no surprise — Texas that the court struck down in 2016, before Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh replaced Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

The emergency challenge to Texas’s order, which arrived at the court Saturday, may offer a glimpse into the conservative majority’s willingness to further diminish the right to abortion.

Indeed, a pair of orders from the federal appeals court refusing to lift or even modify the Texas ban offers what could be a chilling foreshadowing. Splitting 2 to 1 (a George W. Bush appointee and a Trump appointee in the majority, a Bill Clinton appointee dissenting), the appeals court panel

WASHINGTON POST

RUTH

MARCUS nonchalantly described the ban as nothing more than “temporary postponement of all non-essential medical procedures, including abortion.”

As if weeks of “temporary” delay mean nothing in the context of pregnancy.

To believe that the Texas ban on abortions during the pandemic was motivated by concerns about protecting public health - in particular, as the state claims, about conserving the supply of personal protective equipment - would be to ignore both the history of Texas and the practice of modern abortion.

For years, Texas has been doing its best to make the right to abortion more theoretical than real. The 2016 case involved the state’s requirement that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital and that abortion clinics have facilities like those of ambulatory surgical centers. The fivejustice majority (Kennedy and the four liberals) found that the law did little if anything to protect women’s health while putting a “substantial obstacle” in the path of women seeking abortions.

The pandemic offers another opportunity. On March 22, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued an emergency order prohibiting “all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately medically necessary,” exempting those that “would not deplete the hospital capacity or the personal protective equipment needed to cope with the COVID-19 disaster.” The next day, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) asserted that providing abortion care, except for an immediate medical emergency, would violate the order.

If your goal is to stop

women from obtaining abortions, this makes perfect sense. If it is to prevent the spread of the virus, to preserve scarce masks and other medical equipment or to protect the health of pregnant women, it is insane.

Women who remain pregnant still require medical care, including interacting with doctors and nurses and further risking contamination. Some women will choose to travel to other states to obtain abortions, risking even more spread.

Forcing women to delay obtaining abortions until later in their pregnancies means the procedures will be riskier to their health. On the other side of the equation, as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has said, “there is no evidence that prohibiting abortions during the pandemic will mitigate PPE shortages or promote public health and safety.”

This is especially true for “medication abortions,” performed in Texas up to 10 weeks of pregnancy by giving women pills — first at a health center, then 24 to 48 hours later at home. Texas insists that the ban applies to these kind of abortions, even though it references “surgeries and procedures” and no other oral medication is prohibited. If Texas were really worried about preventing spread of the virus, it would make it easier for women to obtain these abortions, lifting the requirement of not one but two in-person doctor visits.

The immediate issue at the court is whether to allow medication abortions to proceed, as abortion clinics are seeking and the district judge ordered. The deeper question is whether the justices will follow logic and precedent — or whether they will let the pandemic serve as Texas’s latest bogus justification for trampling on women’s rights.

Ruth Marcus’ email address is ruthmarcus@washpost.com. (c) 2020, Washington Post Writers Group

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Social distance and help keep the mail moving THOUGHT FOR THE DAY ‘The cure for anything is salt water — sweat, tears or the sea.’

KAREN BLIXEN The Daily Mail welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must contain a full name, full address and a daytime telephone number. Names will be published, but phone numbers will not be divulged.

Letters of less than 400 words are more likely to be published quickly. The newspaper reserves the right to edit letters for length, clarity and content.

Letters should be exclusive to this publication, not duplicates of those sent to other persons, agencies

or publications. Writers are ordinarily limited to one letter every 30 days.

SEND LETTERS: n Mail: Letters to the editor

The Daily Mail 1 Hudson City Center Hudson, NY 12534 n E-mail: editorial@thedailymail.net

To the editor: During these challenging times, postal employees are essential workers keeping upstate New York connected through the mail.

Whether medications, a package, a paycheck, benefits or pension check, a bill or letter from a family member, every piece of mail is important.

The Postal Service follows the social distancing precautions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local health officials.

You will see at your next visit to a local post office, with markings on the floor and a variety of cough/sneeze guards now in place.

We also ask people to

not approach our carriers to accept delivery. Let the carrier leave the mailbox before collecting the mail.

With schools not in session, children should also be encouraged to not approach a postal vehicle or carrier.

If a delivery requires a signature, carriers will knock on the door rather than touching the bell. They will maintain a safe distance, and instead of asking for a signature on their mobile device, they’ll ask for the resident’s name. Carriers will leave the mail or package in a safe place for retrieval.

We are proud of the role all our employees play in processing, transporting, and delivering mail and

packages for the American public. The CDC, World Health Organization, as well as the Surgeon General indicate there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 is being spread through the mail.

With social distancing, we can keep the mail moving while keeping our employees, and our community, safe.

HENRY DYNKA DISTRICT MANAGER U.S. POSTAL SERVICE ALBANY DISTRICT The Postal Service’s Albany District extends from the Capital Region to the Finger Lakes and also includes postal operations in the Southern Tier, North Country, Central New York and the Adirondacks.

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Friday, April 17, 2020 A5

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Fritz A. Carlson Fritz A. Carlson, 91, of Route the late Bodil Wadsworth, Eva 23A, Catskill died Easter Sun- Spinner and Ingrid Schuchman; day, April 12, 2020. He was born grandfather of Britt Carlson, in Bergen, Norway, a son of the Beth Carlson Cramer, Kjell-Erlate Algot and Marie Karlsson. ick and Cortney Carlson, Kurt Fritz immigrated to the US as Carter and Sarah McWilliams, an infant. At age 20, Fritz mar- great grandfather of Llanya, ried Vivian E. Nordin on Septem- Zander, Sloane, Colton, Lochber 11, 1948. They moved their lan and Addy, and uncle of many family to Platte Clove nieces and nephews. in 1959 where they A funeral service ran a seasonal boardwas conducted by ing house in Elka Park, Pastor Cathy Schuyler while continuing his cawith interment in Town reer with Esso, Humble of Catskill Cemetery Gasoline and then Exxwhere he was laid to onMobile. In 1990 Vivrest next to his beloved ian and Fritz moved to wife. In lieu of flowers, Catskill where they atmemorial contributions tended Catskill United may be made to the Carlson Methodist Church.

Catskill United MethodLoving husband of Viv- ist Church, 40 Woodland Ave., ian Carlson who died August 4, Catskill, NY 12414. Friends are 2013, father of Eric R. Carlson welcomed to send messages of and his wife Kathleen of Catskill, condolence to MillspaughCamBarbara Carter and her husband erato.com, mail condolences Scott of Columbia, MD and the to the family “c/o” Millspaugh late Fritz Carlson and his wife Camerato Funeral Home, 139 Lynn of Tannersville; brother of Jefferson Hgts., Catskill 12414.

Raymond M. Preiter Raymond M. Preiter, age 79, of Palm Coast, Florida, died Saturday, April 11, 2020. Born in Buffalo, New York to Max and Ellen Berchou Preiter, Raymond came to Florida in 2003. He and his wife, Sandra, were owners and operators for 32 years of the French Gifford & Preiter Funeral Home in Chatham, NY until 2003. As a resident of Chatham, Raymond was a member of the Chatham Fire Department, Lions Club, an honorary member of the Chatham Rescue Squad and was a lifetime member of the Knights of Columbus.

In Florida, Raymond was a communicant at St. Stephen’s

Chapel in Bunnell, FL. Raymond enjoyed model trains, auto racing, Boston Red Sox and his pets. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather.

Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Sandra; 3 daughters, Donna (Howard) Elliott, of Findlay, Ohio; Jeanette Kelemen, of Deltona, FL and Karen Preiter, and her partner, Patrice Mitchell, of St. Louis, Missouri and 3 grandsons.

A private service and burial will be held Thursday with a Catholic Mass to be held at a later date. Condolences may be made online at www.settlewilderfuneralhome.com.

Ann (Lupinos) Skibo Ann (Lupinos) Skibo, 91, of Hudson, passed away April 15, 2020 in Valatie, NY. Born October 12, 1928 in Hudson, NY, she is the daughter of John and Paraska (Raga) Lupinos. A lifelong Hudson resident, Ann was a graduate of Hudson High School Class of 1946. She retired after working for 43 years at the Universal Match Corporation as a printing press operator. Ann was a communicant of Holy Trinity St. Mary’s Parish in Hudson, along with being a member of the Christian Service Committee. She was a former member of Sacred Heart Church and the Ladies Sodality. Ann was also a member of the Greenport Senior Citizens and Greenport Fire Co. Ladies Auxiliary. She loved to read, and will be fondly remembered for her wit, sense of humor,

and always telling a fun joke.

Ann is survived by her son Joseph Jr. and his wife Maria, daughter Kathleen, grandchildren Jason and Emily, along with several nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, Ann was predeceased by her husband Joseph Skibo, brothers Joseph and William Lupinos, and sisters Helen VanWagner, Marion Scheu, and Barbara Olchowy.

Graveside prayers followed by interment will be Monday at 2:00 in Cedar Park Cemetery. Visitation at Bates & Anderson Redmond & Keeler Funeral Home will be Sunday from 12-2pm. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at a future date. Contributions in memory of Ann are welcome to be made to Holy Trinity St. Mary’s Parish P.O. Box 323 Hudson, NY 12534

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos wants to test all employees for covid-19 Matt Day Bloomberg

Amazon.com Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said the online retail giant is developing covid-19 testing capabilities as a first step toward a system of regular checks on its employees globally.

In an annual letter to shareholders, the billionaire founder outlined other steps the e-commerce giant has taken to curb the coronavirus, from shutting down non-essential services like Amazon Books to overhauling processes at Whole Foods.

The next step was regular testing for all staff -- including those who showed no symptoms, he said. On Thursday, Bezos said his company had assembled a team comprising scientists, managers and software engineers to build internal testing capacity, and hoped to build its first testing lab soon.

“Regular testing on a global scale, across all industries, would both help keep people

safe and help get the economy back up and running. For this to work, we as a society would need vastly more testing capacity than is currently available,” Bezos said in the letter, which offers a rare window into the thinking of the world’s richest man and his plans for the company he founded. Bezos in recent years has rarely done media interviews or commented publicly on events.

Amazon is working to keep its e-commerce operations running as the coronavirus pandemic sickens employees and disrupts supply chains. Amid criticism that Amazon wasn’t doing enough to protect workers in warehouses and on delivery routes, Bezos in March wrote to employees, thanking them for their work and predicting the outbreak “will get worse before it gets better.” He subsequently donned a mask and toured a company warehouse near Dallas, where he posed for selfies with workers.

Hollywood pays tribute to Brian Dennehy after the actor dies at 81

By Sonia Rao The Washington Post

The prolific actor Brian Dennehy, known for starring in films like “Tommy Boy” and stage productions such as “Death of a Salesman,” died of natural causes Wednesday night. He was 81.

“Larger than life, generous to a fault, a proud father and grandfather, he will be missed by his wife Jennifer, family and many friends,” his daughter, actress Elizabeth Dennehy, wrote on Twitter.

Dennehy amassed nearly 200 film and television credits, also including “First Blood” and “Cocoon,” but he is primarily remembered for performing onstage. He won his first Tony Award playing protagonist Willy Loman in the 1999 revival of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” and his second LARRY BUSACCA/GETTY IMAGES FOR THE EUGENE O’NEILL THEATER CENTER as patriarch James Tyrone Brian Dennehy, pictured onstage during the 15th annual Monte Cristo Awards in 2015, died in the 2003 revival of Eu- Wednesday of natural causes. gene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” In his bolstered his relationship on his “masterful” perfor- co-star Mia Farrow shared a obituary, Variety described with the Goodman Theatre mances in “Death of a Sales- backstage photo of him craman” and “Love Letters,” Dennehy as “perhaps the in Chicago. dling her dog Bowie, writing Lin-Manuel Miranda on the A.R. Gurney play that reforemost living interpreter of O’Neill’s works,” a de- Twitter referred to Dennehy turned to Broadway in 2014. that there were “few friends cades-long exploration that as “a colossus,” reminiscing Dennehy’s “Love Letters” as valued in my life.”

Governors face a President Trumpinspired backlash to ease virus rules

By David Welch, Gabrielle Coppola and Mario Parker Bloomberg News (TNS)

Conservative groups are stirring a series of protests against stay-at-home orders from Democratic officials in crucial 2020 electoral battleground states, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who’s been cited as a possible running mate for Joe Biden in November.

Governors, many of them Democrats, are facing resistance that forces them to balance public health with anger from President Donald Trump’s base. States throughout the U.S. set rules confining people to homes and closing businesses as Washington’s response to the coronavirus epidemic was halting and sometimes contradictory, and consortiums with common policies are forming on the coasts and Midwest.

In Michigan, a Trump campaign surrogate is leading the protests against Whitmer, who has set some of the more stringent orders, including banning shopping for gardening supplies, boating and golf.

On Wednesday, the Michigan Conservative Coalition, a conservative group connected to Trump, drew thousands to the state capital in Lansing.

Trump banners and Confederate battle flags waved amid what protesters called Operation Gridlock. They blocked streets and defied distancing orders to crowd the capitol lawn. They demanded that people be allowed to go back to work, or at least buy denied products like gardening supplies and paint. Others just wanted to be able to go out on the lake.

The group is led by Meshawn Maddock, a board member of Women for Trump, part of the reelection campaign. Maddock’s Twitter bio says she’s the cochair of the Trump campaign in Michigan, but the Trump campaign said Thursday it hadn’t announced its leadership in the state yet.

Maddock said Whitmer’s program was peremptory.

“Some of her orders are just arbitrary and, like, capricious, like they don’t even seem to have reason,” Maddock said Thursday. There are “many workers who could easily be getting back to work and getting paid for the things that they do, and she won’t allow that because of her rules.”

Maddock said that while she hasn’t coordinated her efforts with the Trump campaign, Whitmer’s increased visibility as a potential running mate has contributed to the tensions in Michigan.

“She has drawn a ton of attention to herself and it feels like shameless self-promotion,” Maddock said.

Michigan has reported more than 28,000 cases of COVID-19, which is fourth in the U.S., and more than 1,900 deaths, which ranks it third in fatalities. Detroit, predominantly black and politically estranged from the state’s whiter, more conservative regions, is the center of the epidemic there.

Whitmer’s stay-at-home order has many businesses nearly shut down, including bars and restaurants as in many other states. It does allow liquor stores to remain open, which Pennsylvania prohibits, and allows religious services.

The pressure has ratcheted up as more workers are laid off by companies that either are deemed non-essential and must close, or those whose customers are stuck at home and aren’t spending.

Michigan has seen more than 1 million people file for unemployment benefits and Ohio has had more than 800,000. Frustration could easily boil over into other states as U.S. jobless claims surpassed 22 million since the virus took hold in the U.S. Whitmer has held her ground, arguing that opening the state too soon could bring a second wave of coronavirus cases just as the rate of new infections is starting to decline.

“Michigan had the thirdhighest rate of cases and deaths, and we are not the third-largest state,” she said.

“As tough as this has been, if we have to come back to this in a month or two it will be absolutely devastating.”

Other Republicans have attacked Whitmer, sometimes inaccurately. Meghan McCain, a conservative pundit and daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, tweeted that Whitmer’s order kept people from buying child car seats, a post that promoted the governor to correct her.

“Hi Meghan! Our Stay Home, Stay Safe executive order does not ban the purchasing of car seats for children,” Whitmer Tweeted in reply.

And the Trump campaign

itself implied that Whitmer was out for publicity.

“The President is doing his job guiding the nation through this crisis, regardless of how certain Democrats are auditioning to be Joe Biden’s running mate,” Tim Murtaugh, a campaign spokesman, said in an email.

Republican governors are also feeling some heat.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was among the earliest and most aggressive chief executives, canceling events and putting in place stay-at-home orders even as the president downplayed the pandemic.

At a capitol press conference in Columbus last week and again Monday, raucous shouts could be heard from protesters outside carrying American flags and signs decrying tyrants, and chanting, “You work for us!”

The protests in Ohio are being organized on Facebook by groups like Ohio Stands United, which claims more than 60,000 members and is dedicated to preserving constitutional rights, and “Anonymous Ohio,” apparently an offshoot of an anarchic hacker group known for wearing Guy Fawkes masks.

Leading the chants on Monday in a red down jacket and a bullhorn was Melissa Ackison, a self-described conservative Republican businesswoman and mother of four who is challenging the Republican incumbent in Ohio’s 26th Senate District.

Ackison has circulated pictures of herself with the president, despite the Trump campaign’s demand she desist, according to cleveland. com.

“I believe that the virus is real,” she said in an interview. “I don’t believe that his response and the emotionally driven talking points and fear tactics are appropriate to shut down an entire economy.”

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has also faced pressure, though a move to force him reopen segments of the state economy on the General Assembly floor failed late Wednesday night.

Six hours before the end of a legislative session, Republicans overhauled a home health aide bill with provisions that would have required every state licensing commission, as well as hospital and restaurant associations, to send Beshear new

plans for how to re-open their industries every 15 days.

There appeared to be broad bipartisan support for the bill in the Republican-controlled House. But Republican Senate leaders never brought the bill to the floor before the session ended.

That saved Beshear from a quandary of either facing blowback from a veto or the overwhelming administrative work of reviewing plans for adjusting his shelter-in-place orders for each licensed industry.

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COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • THE DAILY MAIL

A6 Friday, April 17, 2020

Carbon gardening: Less work, less expense

By Thomas Christopher For Columbia-Greene Media

Thanks to an article in the Ecological Landscape Alliance newsletter, I recently met – first online, and then by telephone – a very interesting gardener in Illinois named Adrian Ayres Fisher.

Adrian is the sustainability coordinator for Triton College in River Grove, a suburb 14 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. As the college’s sustainability coordinator, Adrian has many duties, but gardening is her passion, and it has led her to take a special interest in the landscaping of the college’s 110-acre campus.

“Carbon gardening,” a school of gardening aimed at extracting carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere and sequestering its carbon component in the soil, informs many of her activities in this area. This may sound arcane, but in fact, carbon gardening is something that should concern anyone with a piece of land to cultivate.

Carbon dioxide, after all, is the principal “greenhouse gas” responsible for the ongoing increase in global temperatures, and more locally, for the

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

To protect the humus from breaking down, when feeding plants, dress the soil with compost and let the worms carry the organic matter down into the soil.

upheavals caused by climate change. We’ve been seeing an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when we first began burning fossil fuels on a large scale. In 2018, the most recent year for which I could find figures, the United States alone released 5.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If this transformation of the atmosphere continues unchecked, the consequences are going to

bring dire dislocations over the coming decades.

What can you or I do about that? Change the way we garden, says Adrian Fisher. At Triton College and in her own backyard, Adrian practices a very different style of cultivation. If we all took up this sort of gardening, she says, and applied a similar approach to farms and public lands, we could cut our carbon dioxide emissions by possibly as much as a third. In the United States, Adrian points out, that would be a reduction

National Bank of Coxsackie closes and funds $3M in paycheck protection loans COXSACKIE - The National Bank of Coxsackie closed its first round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans on April 13.

Two weeks ago, Congress passed the CARES Act to provide aid during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“I knew we had to act on this, and act fast,” said NBC President James W. Warren.

“Our staff worked tirelessly nights and weekends to master the program and tool up procedures to close these loans as soon as we possibly could.”

The National Bank of Coxsackie was one of the first banks in the area to accept applications for PPP loans, and uploaded them successfully to the Small Business Administration (SBA) on April 3, the first day allowed.

“I went to a different bank at first — they gave me bad information and the wrong application,” said Bobby O’Brien of O’Brien Construction and Property Maintenance in Glenmont. “After waiting three days, last Friday morning I went to NBC. They had my application completed, uploaded, and approved by SBA before noon.

I can’t say enough about the service and expertise of NBC staff. They’re a community bank that knows what they’re

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

National Bank of Coxsackie President James W. Warren presents Alan Palmer of Excel, Physical Therapy with a PPP check.

doing!”

The $3 million in PPP loans that were closed April 13 at NBC were very different from their normal closings.

Staff members that did have to interact with customers in a limited fashion were equipped with gloves and face masks as precautionary measures.

“I’ve been in banking for a long time,” said Senior Vice President Mark Maraglio.

“I’ve closed a lot of loans in some unique situations. This is the first time I can say I’ve closed a loan with gloves and a facemask on.”

Human Resources Officer Nicole Bliss said, “I’m tremendously impressed with how our staff responded to PPP, working 13 days straight to provide these critical funds to customers and non-customers alike.”

National Bank of Coxsackie is still accepting PPP applications. Businesses can access the application through the bank’s website, www.nbcoxsackie.com.

Once completed and emailed to loans@nbcoxsackie.com, the bank is contacting applicants within 24 hours.

equivalent to taking all of our cars and trucks off the road.

Changing our farming practices and public land management is, admittedly, a challenge, but not so transforming the way we manage our yards. Carbon gardening on that scale is easy, and it brings many other benefits, including less expense and less work.

The first step is to recreate in our yards something like the sort of natural plant communities that existed in our area before the landscape was cleared for farming and home construction. We can accomplish this by planting complexes of compatible native trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. We don’t have to be purists. Adrian admits that she cultivates around 20% non-natives in her yard.

If, however, you cultivate mostly native plants that evolved together, that will set in motion a transformation of the soil. Water and carbon dioxide absorbed by plant leaves will be turned into glucose.

The glucose, in turn, will not only feed plant growth; it will, when secreted by the native plant roots and the network of fungi that interconnect them,

nourish a wide range of microorganisms and soil-dwelling creatures and promote the production of humus.

If left undisturbed, this dark organic matter, which is 60% carbon, can persist in the soil for centuries or even millennia. That’s why an essential second step in carbon gardening is eliminating digging and mechanical tillage; if you expose the humus to the air, it will break down. So, if it becomes necessary to feed your plants, dress the soil with compost and let the worms carry that organic matter down into the soil.

Because the native flora is adapted to the local soils, it should be able to flourish without added fertilizers, especially the synthetic fertilizers whose manufacture requires massive inputs of fossil fuels. Native plants are also better adapted to subsisting on the natural complement of precipitation, so after they are rooted in, they should not need irrigation.

All of this means less work for the gardener and less expense, which makes carbon gardening personally as well as environmentally appealing. Likewise, the native

plants will also feed native pollinators and insects that are the basis of the food chain for birds and other wildlife. In other words, this is not just a win-win situation; it’s better than that, with many more benefits. Why don’t you join Adrian — and me — in giving it a try?

If you want to learn more about carbon gardening, you’ll find an interview with Adrian Ayres Fisher at thomaschristophergardens.com/ podcast.

Be-a-Better-Gardener is a community service of Berkshire Botanical Garden located in Stockbridge, Mass. Its mission to provide knowledge of gardening and the environment through a diverse range of classes and programs both informs and inspires thousands of students and visitors each year.

Thomas Christopher is a volunteer at Berkshire Botanical Garden and is the author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including Nature into Art, The Gardens of Wave Hill. His companion broadcast to this column, Growing Greener, streams on WESUFM.org. berkshirebotanical.org.

AG launches hotline to report hate crimes and bias-based incidents NEW YORK – Attorney General Letitia James announced the launch of a hotline for New Yorkers to report hate crimes and biasbased incidents.

The hotline, which will continue indefinitely, comes in the wake of rising reports of harassment and assaults, as well as rhetoric against Asian-Americans amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As we face an unprecedented and uncertain time for New York, the United States, and the world, we must reiterate the fact that this pandemic does not give anyone an excuse to be racist, xenophobic, or biased,” James said. “No one should live in fear for their life because of who they are, what they look like, or where they come from. I encourage all victims of discriminatory actions stemming from this pandemic to contact my office. We will continue to work with local law enforcement to combat hate in all its insidious forms.”

In the last week alone, there have been numerous reports in New York of Asian-Americans being harassed or physically assaulted as a result of this pandemic. The last several weeks have also seen a rise in anti-Asian rhetoric through the use of terms such as “Chinese virus,” creating a stigma around Asian communities. This comes on the heels of a record number of hate crimes over the past several months in New York, demonstrating the urgent need for action, James said.

The Attorney General’s Office, in its commitment to combating these heinous

acts, implores everyone, from everyday New Yorkers, to individuals at the highest levels of government, to stand united against hate, now more than ever.

“During this public-health crisis, people are fighting for their lives – fighting to keep their families safe. Yet these incessant, irresponsible and atrocious naming of COVID-19 as the ‘Chinese virus’ or ‘Wuhan virus’ is endangering the lives of AsianAmericans. I thank Attorney General James for setting up this necessary hotline for New Yorkers to report coronavirus-related hate crimes or biased-based incidents,” said U.S. Rep. Grace Meng.

“I have repeatedly called on public officials – from the president to the top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives – to abstain from using derogatory language that demonizes Asian-Americans. This must stop. Public officials – and the media – must speak truth to power and refrain from dabbling in misinformation or conspiracy theories. I’m urging all New Yorkers to come together, call virus the coronavirus, and report to the hotline those who would use this uncertain time to make racist, xenophobic or biased attacks.”

“Currently our community is dealing with COVID-19, a global pandemic — but our community is also facing another virus: extreme anti-Asian xenophobia,” said State Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou. “While we battle this crisis, it has become abundantly clear that the coronavirus does not discriminate based on

race. Yet, people are using COVID-19 as an excuse to perpetuate racism and xenophobia throughout New York and the entire country.

There have been so many reports of Asian Americans being attacked because they were just riding the subway or wearing a face mask. The attacks are hateful, and go out of their way to blame our community. It is important that we stand together and remain educated on the growing emergency.

Together we must stop the spread of the unfounded harmful stereotypes and hateful words that people are using to demonize our Asian-American community through thoughtful and reasonable discussions. Thank you to the attorney general for setting up a hotline to address and to better support our community through this devastating time of unfounded xenophobia and hate crimes against our community.”

Although local law enforcement is responsible for criminally prosecuting these perpetrators, the Attorney General’s Office is taking on this issue in other ways, including connecting victims and impacted communities to available resources, launching civil investigations, and supporting local law enforcement, among other steps.

James urges those experiencing hate crimes and bias incidences to report them by emailing the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau at civil.rights@ag.ny.gov, or calling 1-800-771-7755.

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Basilica Hudson announces revised programming for spring 2020 HUDSON — Having postponed its planned 2020 spring season of programming due to COVID-19, Basilica Hudson - the 501(c)(3) non-profit multidisciplinary arts center founded by musician Melissa Auf der Maur and filmmaker Tony Stone — has announced a revised plan centered on continuing to support art and artists through digital programming, the creation of new work, climate action films, and the presentation of a new piece of public art.

“2020 is both Basilica’s ten year anniversary, and the 50 year anniversary of Earth Day and, with that, our Basilica Green Initiative and Net Zero Campus Project are launched,” Auf der Maur said. “While we’re disappointed not to be able to mark these important milestones with the in-person company of our fellow humans, we remain committed to our mission of fostering sustainable community, ecology and economy.”

“As Basilica enters a moment of transformation, we consider what our mission can look like in the wake of this new unknown and the ongoing climate crisis,” she continued. “We are confident and grateful that the creative spirit will persist, and that this moment will inform our communities of how to work together and create a more sustainable future. We invite our friends and neighbors in Hudson to take a solo walk on our grounds and visit Mother Earth, the timely artwork of our longstanding neighbor and collaborator, Kris Perry.”

NEW PUBLIC ARTWORK: MOTHER EARTH Basilica’s revised program launches with the unveiling of artist Kris Perry’s 35’ CorTen steel sculpture “Mother Earth,” which will be on display on Basilica’s grounds until summer 2020.

Rooted in both ancient and futuristic architectural forms, “Mother Earth” compels viewers to contemplate their relationship to the natural world. The sculpture asks viewers to both look inward towards the self and outward towards the cosmos to discover one’s personal and collective responsibility to the planet.

“Since its inception, Basilica has proven itself a thriving hub for the arts in the Hudson Valley,” artist Kris Perry said. “A multinational array of artists, makers, and other creatives have worked in this venue; it has proven to be a welcoming place for all, and has become the epicenter of a vibrant community.”

“While their doors are closed for now, the creativity and community nurtured within lives on,” Perry added. “Basilica’s focus in 2020 is on the natural environment, so I have been thrilled to install my newest steel sculpture, ‘Mother Earth,’ on their grounds. I have worked with their team to create an outdoor space to visit in this difficult time - a perfect place for self-reflection. I hope that during its stay at Basilica Hudson, ‘Mother Earth’ will serve as a symbol of hope and a testament to resilience in the days ahead.”

SRO AMERICA AND LIME ROCK PARK CANCEL TOURING CAR FESTIVAL LIME ROCK PARK CLOSURE EXTENDED UNTIL MAY 20, 2020

Basilica Hudson

RE-IMAGINED PROGRAMMING: 24-HOUR DRONE AND BASILICA GREEN Online and digital reworkings of Basilica’s postponed programs are also being planned, with streaming options for audiences to participate in both Basilica Green and 24-Hour Drome while safely in isolation in their homes.

In celebration of Earth Day, on Tuesday, April 21, Basilica will continue its collaboration with Certified BCorp SunCommon to present a streamed selection of short films focused on solutions to the climate crisis, as part of SunCommon’s Climate Action Film Festival.

Filmmakers will include long-time friend of Basilica Green initiatives Jon Bowermaster, whose award-winning work presents striking and beautiful local and global studies into those working to combat the climate and energy crisis. Further films will tackle topics ranging from the work of Extinction Rebellion, to the innovative activism of two indigenous poets.

Later in April, with 24-Hour Drone’s in-person event postponed until April 2021, Basilica will continue to collaborate with both its long-established local and international community, with web-based Drone programming taking place during its previously scheduled weekend of Saturday, April 25 to Sunday, April 26.

In the continued spirit of creating music without borders, local and international partners will join forces to keep the Drone dream alight, including 24-Hour Drone’s long-standing co-presenters, Le Guess Who?.

Basilica will also be working in partnership with a number of other droners who will present their own streams from around the world. These partners include the newly-formed, Hudson-based initiative Live from Quarantine, collaborators and Sweden-based Lumen Project, Brooklynbased The Lot Radio, The Deep Listening Institute with online festival Music on the Rebound, and Salford, UK-based Fat Out Fest with Islington Mill Public Access TV. The full lineup of partners and artists will be announced

shortly.

Basilica will also be streaming the audio from its inaugural 2015 24-Hour Drone in its entirety on WGXC/Wave Farm Radio.

Tune in at noon on Saturday until noon on Sunday via wavefarm.org or locally in Greene and Columbia counties at 90.7 FM. SUPPORTING THE CREATION OF NEW WORK: HUDSON AS MUSE Thanks, in part, to the support of Basilica Hudson’s first NEA Art Works Visual Arts Grant, the Hudson As Muse Basilica Back Gallery Artist in Residence Series will continue to support the creation of site-specific work centered on Hudson’s unique geographic location and community.

The series will launch later in 2020 when circumstances and schedule permit.

Seven artists in residence have been selected by a Curatorial Advisory Panel and will collaborate with program partners, community members and neighboring cultural institutions to design, create, implement and present new works.

This year’s selected artists include Marka Kiley, Scott Keightley, Kamau Patton, Godfrey Nelson, Erika deVries, Mary Mattingly and Julie Evans. Following each one to four week residency, Basilica Hudson will host a free public culminating event, including exhibitions, artists talks and participatory activities, with digital presentations being scheduled wherever possible to allow for an immersion in art in uncertain times.

EXPANDING THE BASILICA GREEN INITIATIVE: TOOLSHED As part of Basilica Green — Basilica Hudson’s expanded commitment to sharing and informing its audience on sustainable and regenerative practices — the directors and team have also forged a number of new program partnerships that will complement the organization’s expanded mission.

Basilica will launch a new collaboration and partnership with artist duo Susannah Sayler and Edward Morris (Sayler / Morris), who will join Basilica Hudson as artists-and-curators-inresidence for 2020. Sayler/

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Morris are also co-founders of The Canary Project, a collective that has produced more than 20 art and media projects that deepen public understanding of ecological issues such as climate change, extinction, food systems and water resources.

As part of their partnership with Basilica Hudson, Sayler/Morris will be working on a long-term, multi-faceted project called Toolshed that gathers and shares tools for a livable future. Toolshed will be developed in tandem with Basilica’s Net Zero Campus infrastructure improvement project supported in part by NYSERDA. The addition of Toolshed will form the core of Basilica Green, an expanded initiative that enriches Basilica Hudson’s public programming, and supports the creation of new joint initiatives, including site-specific installations, ecological workshops, and educational programming series.

“COVID-19 has only made apparent what was already there beneath the surface: a global emergency; a need for community; a re-centering of our relationship to earth (not The Earth, but earth),” according to Susannah Sayler and Edward Morris of Sayler/Morris and The Canary Project.

“And here is the thing about Basilica Hudson: it already gets all that!” they continued. “Basilica is the sort of cultural institution we need post-virus—ecologically focused, rooted in place, open and forward-thinking. We are so grateful to be working with Basilica to forge this vision for the future and to partner in developing our new project: Toolshed, an ambitious cultural platform where we gather and share tools for a livable future.

We can’t wait to share with the entire Basilica community and invite everyone out there to join in. Launching just as soon as we can!”

More information on all upcoming programs can be found at basilicahudson.org

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LAKEVILLE, Conn. — After reviewing possible dates and struggling with a crowded schedule in the second half of the year, SRO America and Lime Rock Park have agreed to cancel the 2020 Touring Car Festival.

It was previously announced that the weekend, originally scheduled for May 8-9, would be rescheduled due to the COVID-19 crisis; unfortunately, all rescheduling options were exhausted.

“We appreciate the commitment to the event by the entire Lime Rock Park staff,” said SRO America President and CEO Greg Gill. “We kept juggling calendar dates, but inevitably, it was decided that the best approach for a successful Touring Car Festival was to move on to planning for the 2021 season.”

TC America Series Director Jim Jordan added, “We are disappointed with this cancellation, but we look forward to working with Lime Rock Park on a 2021 event. I think next year’s event can be even bigger and better with the debut of the new BMW M2 TC class car, and additional growth in all the SRO TC America classes.”

Fans who have previously purchased tickets for this event will receive a communication regarding their options and next steps in the coming days.

Additionally, Lime Rock Park has extended its

temporary closure through May 20, in accordance with a recent executive order issued by Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, which closes all non-essential businesses across the state in the effort to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

This will affect any previously scheduled track rentals at the facility through May 20. Park staff will continue to work within the “Stay Safe, Stay Home” policy and are available to address questions by emailing info@limerock.com or by calling (860) 435-5000, Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Lime Rock Park continues to place a priority on the health and safety of its staff, fans, spectators and competitors, organizers say.

For more information about recent changes to the Lime Rock Park 2020 schedule, including the rescheduling of the Trans Am Memorial Day Classic to October, visit www.limerock. com/news.

In addition, receive the Lime Rock Park newsletter by visiting www.limerock. com/jointhefanclub or follow updates on the Park’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/limerockpark.

Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association is offering new social distance programs As New Yorkers continue to shelter in place and practice social distancing, you may find yourself seeking entertainment and projects to ease the stress. The Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association (SCVA) has established a few programs to bring back some of that zeal you may have lost.

“We decided to offer opportunities for everyone to keep their minds active and our businesses open, while still encouraging social distancing best practices,” said Roberta Byron-Lockwood, president and CEO of the SCVA. “We also want people to feel engaged in their community; virtually reconnect with their neighbors; plus feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.”

What are the new programs?

Calling all inspiring artists! Create a Sullivan Catskills-inspired dove.

Design Your Dove is for the young and young at heart!

Inspiring artists can create their own Sullivan Catskills Dove design and submit it to receive a fun prize. Inspiration can be found by visiting the SCVA’s online virtual Dove Trail. Those who want to go the extra step and bring their masterpiece to life, can create a 3D version— five of the most creative sculptures will win a Sullivan Catskills gift bag.

Light up Facebook to say thank you! Every night at 7 p.m., the SCVA is rallying partners, businesses and residents to come together and go online to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and thank health care workers, first responders and essential personnel who continue working tirelessly, devoting their time to keeping us safe.

To honor these workers, post a video, message or go live thanking them using the hashtags #SullivanCatskills #MySullivanCatskills #InThisTogether #SullivanCatskillsProud #thankyoufirstresponders #thankyou #healthcareheroes #essentialworkers #frontline #StayHome #forevergrateful @ SullivanCatskills @MySullivanCatskills Take Out Sullivan Catkills In an effort to support the local economy, the SCVA generates a list of member restaurants offering takeout/delivery as well as food purveyors and local shops on a daily basis. All participating business are practicing social distancing to ensure the safety of all Sullivan County residences.

This is an opportunity to help struggling businesses and keep the economy active. Visit the SCVA’s Facebook page and website to find out who is open for business.

Sullivan Catskills Proud Show pride in where you live during these troubling times! Make it fun! Post a local picture, take a video, or share a childhood memory using social media hashtags #MySullivanCatskills #SullivanCatskills #SullivanCatskillsProud. The SCVA will create a collage of postings and feature them on our social media platforms. Join the SCVA in paying tribute to our beautiful County and make us “Sullivan Catskills Proud”!

For more information on these programs, visit the Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association Facebook page www.SullivanCatskills.com or call 845-747-4449.

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A8 Friday, April 17, 2020

Ancram Opera House will host online storytelling workshop The Ancream Opera House will host free online storytelling workshop on Saturday, April 25: “Staying Connected and Creative During the Coronavirus Crisis.”

The two-hour class, an introduction to crafting and telling a compelling personal story, will be led by Ancram Opera House Director Paul Ricciardi, curator and director of AOH’s “Real People, Real Stories” series.

The class will be conducted over Zoom, a remote videoconferencing platform.

Participants can register by emailing paul@ancramoperahouse.org. Registered participants will be emailed log-in information prior to the workshop.

“We are all being challenged to remain connected while isolated,” said

Photo by B. Docktor

Paul Ricciardi, director of the Ancream Opera House.

Ricciardi. “At AOH, we’ve begun looking for ways to create work within our community.

Online classes give us a new way to stay purposeful and creative while fending off

anxiety and loneliness during this coronavirus crisis.”

The Storytelling Workshop is limited to 15.

Participants may schedule individual follow-up sessions

online with Ricciardi at $40 per session.

Ricciardi, a 2018 recipient of the Kennedy Center National Teaching Artist Award, teaches voice and acting at the City University of New York/Kingsborough Community College. Since coronavirus closed CUNY-KCC closed last month, Ricciardi has taught all of his spring semester classes online.

Ancram Opera House in southern Columbia County is an intimate showcase for fresh, contemporary work by emerging theater and musical artists where audiences can connect with performers in immersive, unforgettable ways. The theater is located at 1330 County Route 7, just north of the corner of Route 82.

Will Lady Gaga’s ‘One World’ concert be the socially distanced Live Aid?

By Dan DeLuca The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)

Is Lady Gaga the new Bob Geldof?

Or, to pose the question differently for those unfamiliar with the Boomtown Rats singer known for organizing enormous charity concerts on multiple continents: Is Gaga’s One World: Together at Home the new Live Aid? That question will be answered April 18 when the starstudded One World concert, instigated by Gaga and presented with the World Health Organization and the antipoverty organization Global Citizen, will aim to raise coronavirus awareness while celebrating health-care workers who have been putting their lives at risk.

The One World bill is loaded with big names. Stars scheduled to be joining Gaga from socially distanced locations include Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, John Legend, Billie Joe Armstrong, J Balvin, Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, Eddie Vedder, Kacey Musgraves, Burna Boy and Chris Martin. (So far, the bill is light on hip-hop, the musical lingua franca that unites the world.)

In a show of late-night TV unity, the special will be carried live on CBS, ABC, and NBC (but not Fox) and hosted by Stephen Colbert as well as Jimmies Kimmel and Fallon. It will also be streamed on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

The event, organized by Gaga, is by far the biggest virtual music gathering mounted since the global pandemic shut down the concert business and spurred an explosion of live-streamed performances by quarantined musicians.

As a mega concert that corrals music superstars on short notice to unite people in service of a common cause in a time of crisis, One World has many predecessors.

Chief among them is Live Aid, the 1985 benefit galvanized by Geldof and Ultravox singer Midge Ure in support of African famine relief. It was staged at JFK Stadium in South Philadelphia and Wembley Stadium in London.

Coming up on its 35th anniversary in July, Live Aid stands as an event of epic proportions.

The charity concerts drew 72,000 to London, where U2 and Queen played well-remembered sets, and McCartney sang “Hey Jude” into a microphone that didn’t work for the first two minutes. (He and Elton John are the two Live-Aid alums playing One World.)

Some 90,000 came to South

Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Lady Gaga during arrivals at the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, Calif.

Philly. Jack Nicholson hosted.

Joan Baez said, “This is your Woodstock, and it’s long overdue.” Madonna, Tom Petty, the Hooters, Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass, Mick Jagger, and Tina Turner performed.

Bob Dylan made an offhand remark that would lead Willie Nelson to create Farm Aid. The question of how much Live Aid benefited starving Ethiopians has been hotly debated. But even skeptics of the concert’s messianic “Feed the world” message would acknowledge Live Aid’s success at raising money and focusing attention.

The concerts and their telethon generated $127 million, the equivalent of $330 million today. Philadelphia promoter Larry Magid — who would later work with Geldof on 2005’s Live 8 featuring Kanye West, Destiny Child, and Stevie Wonder — teamed with the West Coast promoter Bill Graham to pull Live Aid together in five weeks.

JFK ticket sales generated $3 million, Magid said this week.

“Tickets were $35,” he recalled with wonder. “We sold a ton of merchandise, too. Nothing was free, so we had all the acts backstage lining up to buy T-shirts for their kids and families. Mick Jagger, everybody. I didn’t see Dylan in line, though.”

More impressive than the amount it raised were the number of eyes and ears Live Aid attracted: It’s estimated that 1.9 billion people watched. In 1985, that was almost 40% of the world’s population.

Live Aid was the crest of a benefit wave that began in 1971 with the Concert for

Bangladesh, organized by exBeatle George Harrison at the urging of his friend Ravi Shankar to benefit refugees in East Pakistan.

It featured Eric Clapton and Dylan, and established a template. Faced with a global crisis or seeking to highlight a cause, musicians would come together to help save the world.

There have been many noteworthy efforts since.

Bruce Springsteen stole the show at 1979’s No Nukes concerts following the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Harrisburg.

McCartney organized the Concert for New York City after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Four years later, Live 8 was timed to a meeting of the G-8 summit, with Geldof — by then, Sir Bob — urging industrial nations to forgive African debt.

The message was muddled, but the free Live 8 show on the Ben Franklin Parkway (one of several globally) drew a crowd of over 600,000 — that’s 10 times what Made in America sees on any one day.

Gaga’s One World event has plenty in common with these noble efforts. It’s come together quickly, in an urgent situation. It aims to be entertaining, as well as an informative and inspiring.

At a news conference, Gaga said “my heart is very achy and warm for those who are ER doctors as well as nurses who are sleeping in cars to make sure they don’t infect their families or their patients. ... We all salute you.”

The A Star Is Born star (who we can hope will sing a surprise, socially distanced “Shallow” duet with Bradley

Cooper) also talked about “the singular kind global community that is arising right now.

We want to highlight the gravity of this historical, unprecedented cultural movement.”

Her strategy is twofold. The singer also made an appeal to the United Nations-led initiative Call for Code asking global software developers to invent COVID-19 solutions to help communities at risk.

“We need you right now,” she said in a video message.

“Your time, your talent, to use technology and data to change the world before it changes us, even though it already has. ... I have the voice, but you’re the tech rock stars.”

One World is not a telethon.

Gaga said last week that she had raised $35 million from donors, but added, “put your wallets away and enjoy the show you deserve.”

One World will differ from all previous mega awarenessraising musical events in another important way — as it must because of how COVID-19 has so suddenly altered our shared reality.

At this communal event, no one will be physically together, save for the skeleton crews that might be broadcasting the performers from their homes.

The logistics of a charity concert like Live Aid or any festival typically involve assembling an enormous crowd and staggering amount of talent in one place, and maybe even having Phil Collins take a supersonic Concorde jet across the Atlantic to play on two continents in one day.

For One World, the challenge will be to create a sense of unity among musicians and fans isolated around the planet, living in fear and uncertainty.

Musicians and fans have already adapted ingeniously to the coronavirus shutdown in their live streams — from Questlove’s DJ sets to songwriters strumming on Instagram. The revelation here is that intimacy can arise amid isolation when both the performer and the audience are stuck at home alone.

One World is set to be the superstar manifestation of that phenomenon, with acts big enough to fill arenas coming to you in your living room, from theirs.

National Historic Site to host virtual National Park Week events KINDERHOOK, – National Park Week is going virtual at Martin Van Buren National Historic Site! Join in for a variety of special programs and activities from Saturday, April 18, through Sunday, April 26.

In addition to highlighting some of the site’s favorite partners and programs, they will be posting activities your whole family can do from home throughout the week.

The organization will also be speaking with park rangers across the service about their parks’ stories during the Coffee with a Ranger Facebook series. Virtual visitors will have the opportunity to ask their own questions and post their own experiences on Twitter and Instagram.

Bookmark the website and follow them on Facebook, twitter, and Instagram in advance.

Please see the complete Virtual National Park Week schedule below: SATURDAY, APRIL 18: National Junior Ranger Day Social Media Challenge: History Haiku (all platforms) At-Home Activity: National Park Service Rangers: Preservationists of “Forever Moments” (all platforms) 8-9 pm: Ask a Ranger: Join in on Twitter to chat about the history of park rangers SUNDAY, APRIL 19: VIP (Volunteers in Parks) Day 9 a.m.: Coffee with a Ranger on Facebook All-Day Spotlight: Volunteers-In-Parks (all platforms) MONDAY, APRIL 20: Military Monday 9 a.m.: Coffee with a Ranger on Facebook All-Day Spotlight: Abraham Van Buren, Soldier and Son (all platforms) TUESDAY, APRIL 21: Transportation Tuesday 9 a.m.: Coffee with a

Ranger on Facebook Instagram Challenge: Post a photo of a road or transportation route that means something to you and why.

Tag it with #TransportationTuesday WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22: Earth Day 9 a.m.: Coffee with a Ranger on Facebook 3 p.m.: At-Home Activity: A Trip Around the World Without Leaving Home (all platforms) THURSDAY, APRIL 23: Throwback Thursday 9 a.m.: Coffee with a Ranger on Facebook 8-9 p.m.: Ask a Ranger: Join in on Twitter to chat about preserving and interpreting history!

FRIDAY, APRIL 24: Friendship Friday All-Day Spotlight: The Friends of Lindenwald (all platforms) 3 p.m.: Martin Van Buren – Friend to Poets? (video series on Facebook) SATURDAY, APRIL 25: Park RX Day All-Day Spotlight: Veterans Art Program (all platforms) Instagram Challenge: Share your experiences of solace and healing in national parks with an image and quote, poem, or phrase that best represents your experience. Tag it with #ParkRX SUNDAY, APRIL 26: Bark Ranger Day 9 a.m.: Coffee with a Ranger on Facebook (with special Bark Ranger guest host) 3 p.m.: At-Home Activity: “Sorry Mr. President, No Tigers Allowed in the White House” (all platforms) For more information, check the website at https:// www.nps.gov/mava/learn/ news/virtual-national-parkweek-2020.htm

Pamela Salisbury Gallery The Pamela Salisbury Gallery’s website is now live!

Please visit www.pamelasalisburygallery.com to view an online catalogue and price list for the current exhibition “Seth Koen: Selected Work.”

The exhibit will remain on display from April 15 through May 15.

In the next few weeks, the gallery will be adding new information about gallery artists and upcoming exhibitions, so please check back often by visiting the website www.pamelasalisburygallery.com.

(c)2020 The Philadelphia Inquirer Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Seth KoenAtlanna, 2015, thread and plastic pellets, 4 x 4 x 14 inches

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SECTION

NFL Draft preview

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B

2020 NFL draft: Top linebackers.

Sports, B2

& Classifieds

Friday, April 17, 2020 B1

Tim Martin, Sports Editor: 1-800-400-4496 / sports@registerstar.com or tmartin@registerstar.com

Baseball, and all sports, should return when it’s safe, not politically expedient Thomas Boswell The Washington Post

I pay as little attention as possible to President Donald Trump and his daily Me Show. However, I do pay attention to Anthony Fauci. He’s one of those elite scientific experts who tells the truth, or else says, “I don’t know,” and then tries to find out.

On Tuesday, Trump said he is tired of “14-year-old baseball

games” on TV, and wants to talk to honchos in every major sport about how soon they can resume play.

That’s just political hot air. Owners and players will nod respectfully, then ignore him and do whatever they think is in the best interests of their sport after consulting with actual experts such as Fauci.

That’s why what Fauci said Tuesday snapped my head back: MLB by July 4, maybe.

In a podcast, Fauci said, “It’s really going to depend on what evolves over the next a couple of months” with the novel coronavirus pandemic. But, if public health concerns stay on track, he could imagine MLB playing games, in empty stadiums, by the Fourth of July.

What?!

“If you could get on television, Major League Baseball, to start July 4. Let’s say, nobody comes to the

stadium . . . People say, ‘You can’t play without spectators.’ Well, I think you’d probably get enough buy-in from people who are dying to see a baseball game. Particularly me,” Fauci said. “I’m living in Washington. We have the world champion Washington Nationals.

You know, I want to see them play again.”

The earth contains more epidemiologists, public health experts

and state government officials than Fauci. Much more data must arrive, perhaps eight more weeks, and many more voices must be heard than just one 79-year-old Nationals fan.

But it certainly sounds like Fauci is, very tentatively, saluting some variation of the trial balloon MLB floated last week. That preliminary notion called for all 30 teams to stay See BASEBALL B3

ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan celebrates after winning Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz on June 19, 1998.

Michael Jordan docuseries ‘The Last Dance’ is a cultural event Matt Brennan Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — In 1998, on the home stretch of his sitcom’s final season, Jerry Seinfeld submitted to a courtside interview about the era’s premier sporting dynasty.

“The similarity between ‘Seinfeld’ and the Bulls?” he repeats for the camera, before heading to the locker room to greet the game’s star, Michael Jordan. “The show of the ‘90s, the team of the ‘90s.”

By the time spring turned to summer, his comparison would be borne out: Love it or hate it, the series finale of “Seinfeld” became an epochal TV event (76.3 million total viewers), and Jordan led Chicago to its sixth NBA championship in eight seasons before retiring, not for the last time, at age 35.

While it’s the latter that forms the backbone of Jason Hehir’s extraordinary new docuseries “The Last Dance” — a co-production of ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, and Netflix, the worldwide leader in just about everything else — it’s the series’ attention to Jordan’s place in the broader cultural firmament that suggests its ambition, and its achievement.

Woven from archival video, in-depth interviews with Jordan and his contemporaries, and neverbefore-seen footage shot by a camera crew embedded with the Bulls for the 199798 NBA season, “The Last Dance” jumps between the basketball dynasty’s farewell tour and the arc of Jordan’s

remarkable career, with detours into the lives of teammates Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman and coach Phil Jackson.

In the process, its multilayered treatment of what sportscaster Bob Costas calls “one of the most consequential teams in American sports” emerges as the latest in a line of TV series, fiction and non-, to reconsider that decade and its defining figures: the post-Cold War, pre9/11 period in American life that was the monoculture’s last dance too.

It seems at once a cruel caprice and an eerie reminiscence, then, for the 10-part, five-week event to arrive at a moment marked by the shared experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the vast majority of us are staying home to halt the spread of the coronavirus and the world of sports is in suspended animation.

When the first two episodes of “The Last Dance” premiere on Sunday, they will of course compete with other new TV shows, streaming movies, video games, beloved albums, countless books, not to mention TikTok dance challenges, stress baking, doomscrolling, sex.

But for the diehard (and fairweather) sports fans missing March Madness, The Masters and Major League Baseball’s opening day, the series may feel like manna from heaven: For the time being, “The Last Dance” is one of the only games in town.

For anyone capable of feeling a flutter at what one See JORDAN B3

CHRISTIAN PETERSEN/GETTY IMAGES

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young warms up before the Fiesta Bowl against Clemson at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on December 28, 2019.

What NFC, AFC East teams seek in NFL draft Sam Farmer Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer analyzes team needs by divisions in four parts ahead of the NFL draft, to be held April 23-25. Today the East in order teams will draft: NFC East Redskins: With Ron Rivera as head coach and Jack Del Rio as defensive coordinator, it’s logical to think Washington will be focused on building a defensive beast. That likely will start with Chase Young, the top defensive talent in this draft. But a lot of quarterback-needy

teams might want to trade into that No. 2 spot. And do the Redskins really have an answer at quarterback?

Giants: The Giants need playmakers on defense. Markus Golden was their only player to reach five sacks last season.

They can get a stud with the fourth pick.

Then again, they still need to fortify the wall of protection for second-year quarterback Daniel Jones, so offensive lineman is a possibility too. At this point they have a line as porous as cheesecloth.

Cowboys: In Dallas, “Big D” does not stand for defense. The Cowboys need help on that side of the ball, and they’re

in position to draft a replacement for departed cornerback Byron Jones. But they need run-stopping defensive tackles as well, and edge rushers who can get after the quarterback. Watch for the Cowboys to focus on that side of the ball high in the draft.

Eagles: Good thing this draft is deep with receivers, because the Eagles need some help for Carson Wentz. Last season, he became the first quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards without any individual receiver reaching 500. The desperate need See DRAFT B3

Giants coach Joe Judge has four separate calendars to prepare for season Charles McDonald New York Daily News

NEW YORK — Giants head coach Joe Judge’s extremely detailed approach is coming handy at the best possible time.

During his press conference call on Wednesday, Judge noted that he has four calendars set up depending on how the United States progresses with their battle against coronavirus.

“Well, it’s my job to be prepared,” Judge said. “As the head coach, I need to have a plan for everything that’s going to come up. When we got the memo from the NFL the other day of how the spring is going to look, I sat down and we’ve made four calendars already in anticipation of different scenarios that could come up.

“We have them color coded, so if we get the players as scheduled, we’re working off the blue calendar. If we don’t get the players, we’re working off the red calendar. If we get them later in the spring, we’ll pull up the purple calendar. We have different scenarios mapped out, so we have a plan of attack when that time comes.”

KIRBY LEE/USA TODAY

New York Giants coach Joe Judge speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine on Feb. 25 at the Indiana Convention Center.

The timing of that announcement by Judge couldn’t have been better. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he hopes the city will get back on track in the fall.

“By September, then we are hopeful we can be back to something more like normal,” de Blasio said during an interview on Fox News.

“We have to be smart about doing it in stages,” de Blasio said later. “Making sure that we can

confirm that we’re containing the disease more and more.”

It’s not the most important thing, obviously, but it’s good to know Judge has a plan that will keep the team safe and allow them to prepare for whenever the regular season does start.

Judge is also aware that getting football back is very low on the list of priorities as the country attempts to recover from coronavirus.

“The biggest thing is beyond

football,” Judge said. “I hope everyone out there is safe, I hope everyone is healthy, I hope everyone is staying in good spirits.

We’re doing our best right here to get back to work for you guys so you have something to watch and be proud of.”

“You find out how essential life is, how about essential employees, how we really would be struggling to function without people to do the everyday things for us,” Judge continued.

“Look, it’s tough sitting in your house. It’s a lot tougher going out there every day, being exposed to the virus and doing your job, and then having to go home and look your family in the eye. We can’t take lightly the sacrifices all those people are making for us, and we appreciate it.”

No one knows for sure when the season will return, but Judge has a plan to make sure his team is where they need to be when football starts back up. Judge will get to address his team for the first time officially when the Giants begin their virtual offseason program on April 20.

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B2 Friday, April 17, 2020

Golf WORLD GOLF RANKING Through March 13 1. Rory McIlroy 2. Jon Rahm 3. Brooks Koepka 4. Justin Thomas 5. Dustin Johnson 6. Adam Scott 7. Patrick Cantlay 8. Patrick Reed 9. Webb Simpson 10. Tommy Fleetwood 11. Tiger Woods 12. Xander Schauffele 13. Bryson DeChambeau 14. Justin Rose 15. Marc Leishman 16. Tony Finau 17. Matt Kuchar 18. Gary Woodland 19. Louis Oosthuizen 20. Shane Lowry 21. Tyrrell Hatton 22. Hideki Matsuyama 23. Sung-jae Im 24. Paul Casey 25. Matthew Fitzpatrick 26. Bernd Wiesberger 27. Rickie Fowler 28. Francesco Molinari 29. Abraham Ancer 30. Kevin Na 31. Lee Westwood 32. Henrik Stenson 33. Danny Willett 34. Billy Horschel 35. Cameron Smith 36. Kevin Kisner 37. Chez Reavie 38. Sergio Garcia 39. Jazz Janewattananond 40. Victor Perez 41. Shugo Imahira 42. Erik Van Rooyen 43. Matt Wallace 44. Collin Morikawa 45. Scottie Scheffler 46. Rafael Cabrera Bello 47. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 48. Brandt Snedeker 49. Graeme McDowell 50. Byeong-Hun An 51. Jason Day 52. Sung-Hoon Kang 53. Bubba Watson 54. Brendon Todd 55. Adam Hadwin 56. Jordan Spieth 57. Viktor Hovland 58. Ian Poulter 59. Tom Lewis 60. Shaun Norris 61. Phil Mickelson 62. Keegan Bradley 63. Andrew Putnam 64. Lucas Herbert 65. Eddie Pepperell 66. Corey Conners 67. Robert MacIntyre 68. Kurt Kitayama 69. Chan Kim 70. Joel Dahmen 71. Max Homa 72. Jason Kokrak 73. Thomas Pieters 74. Branden Grace 75. Michael Lorenzo-Vera 76. J.T. Poston 77. Charles Howell III 78. Joaquin Niemann 79. Ryan Palmer 80. Paul Waring 81. Nate Lashley 82. Matthias Schwab 83. Cameron Champ 84. Jorge Campillo 85. Jim Furyk 86. Lanto Griffin 87. Li Haotong 88. Danny Lee 89. Lucas Glover 90. Marcus Kinhult

NIR ESP USA USA USA AUS USA USA USA ENG USA USA USA ENG AUS USA USA USA SAF IRL ENG JPN KOR ENG ENG AUT USA ITA USA KOR ENG SWE ENG USA AUS USA USA ESP THA FRA JPN SAF ENG USA USA ESP SAF USA NIR KOR AUS KOR USA USA CAN USA NOR ENG ENG SAF USA USA USA AUS ENG CAN SCO USA USA USA USA USA BEL SAF FRA USA USA CHL USA GBR USA GER USA ESP USA USA CHN KOR USA SWE

9.45 8.48 7.73 7.41 6.45 5.97 5.87 5.87 5.84 5.58 5.44 5.38 5.15 5.02 4.79 4.62 4.43 4.38 4.33 4.27 4.23 4.14 4.04 3.99 3.79 3.77 3.50 3.46 3.13 3.11 3.07 3.06 2.86 2.73 2.72 2.70 2.69 2.62 2.60 2.60 2.59 2.58 2.49 2.46 2.40 2.40 2.39 2.38 2.38 2.36 2.34 2.28 2.26 2.18 2.13 2.11 2.10 2.07 2.05 2.05 1.97 1.97 1.97 1.90 1.89 1.88 1.87 1.86 1.85 1.85 1.83 1.82 1.81 1.81 1.81 1.80 1.79 1.76 1.76 1.75 1.75 1.69 1.68 1.68 1.67 1.65 1.65 1.64 1.62 1.58

Transactions FOOTBALL NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE Chicago Bears - Re-signed DT Roy RobertsonHarris to a one-year, $3.26 million contract.

Detroit Lions - Cut LB Steve Longa. Waived TE Paul Butler and WR Jonathan Duhart.

Jacksonville Jaguars - Signed LB Joe Schobert to a five-year, $53.75 million contract.

Kansas City Chiefs - Signed RB DeAndre Washington to a one-year contract.

NCAA FOOTBALL Penn State - Announced WR Mac Hippenhammer has left the program and will transfer to Miami (Ohio).

Wofford - Announced DL Thad Mangum has left the program and is expected to transfer to South Florida.

Wofford - Announced OL Josh Burger has left the program and is expected to transfer to Texas Tech.

BASKETBALL NCAA BASKETBALL Drake - Announced F Liam Robbins has left the program and will transfer to Minnesota.

Kentucky - Announced F EJ Montgomery will enter the NBA draft.

Loyola Marymount - Announced G Seikou Sisoho Jawara has left the program and will transfer to Weber State.

Mississippi State - Announced G Nick Weatherspoon will enter the NBA draft.

New Mexico - Announced G Vance Jackson has left the program and will transfer to Arkansas as a graduate.

Northern Kentucky - Announced G Jalen Tate has left the program and will transfer to Arkansas as a graduate.

Washington - Announced F Jaden McDaniels will enter the NBA draft.

West Virginia - Announced F Oscar Tshiebwe will enter the NBA draft.

Western Michigan - Announced F Brandon Johnson has left the program and will transfer to Minnesota as a graduate.

HOCKEY NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Nashville Predators - Signed D Alexandre Carrier to a three-year, $2.07 million contract extension.

Pittsburgh Penguins - Signed D William Reilly to a two-year, entry-level contract.

Pro football NFL CALENDAR April 17 — Deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets.

April 23-25 — NFL draft, remote locations.

May 19 — Spring owners meeting, Marina del Rey, Calif.

Late July — Training camps scheduled to open.

Aug. 6 — Hall of Fame game, Canton, Ohio.

Aug. 8 — Hall of Fame inductions, Canton, Ohio.

Sept. 5 — Final roster cutdown to 53.

Sept. 10 — Kickoff game to open regular season.

Sept. 13 — First full regular-season schedule.

Pro hockey NHL Eastern Conference Atlantic Division GP W L OT SO Pts Boston 70 44 14 5 7 100 Tampa Bay 70 43 21 5 1 92 Toronto 70 36 25 4 5 81 Florida 69 35 26 4 4 78 Montreal 71 31 31 8 1 71 Buffalo 69 30 31 6 2 68 Ottawa 71 25 34 7 5 62 Detroit 71 17 49 3 2 39 Metropolitan Division GP W L OT SO Pts Washington 69 41 20 5 3 90 Philadelphia 69 41 21 2 5 89 Pittsburgh 69 40 23 6 0 86 Carolina 68 38 25 5 0 81 Columbus 70 33 22 11 4 81 NY Islanders 68 35 23 7 3 80 NY Rangers 70 37 28 3 2 79 New Jersey 69 28 29 6 6 68 Western Conference Central Division GP W L OT SO Pts St. Louis 71 42 19 7 3 94 Colorado 70 42 20 7 1 92 Dallas 69 37 24 5 3 82 Winnipeg 71 37 28 4 2 80 Nashville 69 35 26 5 3 78 Minnesota 69 35 27 4 3 77 Chicago 70 32 30 4 4 72 Pacific Division GP W L OT SO Pts Vegas 71 39 24 6 2 86 Edmonton 71 37 25 7 2 83 Calgary 70 36 27 6 1 79 Vancouver 69 36 27 3 3 78 Arizona 70 33 29 4 4 74 Anaheim 71 29 33 8 1 67 Los Angeles 70 29 35 3 3 64 San Jose 70 29 36 4 1 63

GF GA 227 174 245 195 238 227 231 228 212 221 195 217 191 243 145 267 GF GA 240 215 232 196 224 196 222 193 180 187 192 193 234 222 189 230 GF GA 225 193 237 191 180 177 216 203 215 217 220 220 212 218 GF GA 227 211 225 217 210 215 228 217 195 187 187 226 178 212 182 226

2020 NFL draft: Top linebackers Eddie Brown The San Diego Union-Tribune

Welcome to draft season! This is one of 11 positional breakdowns leading up to the NFL draft (April 23-25). Here are Eddie Brown’s top 10 linebackers: 1. Isaiah Simmons (Jr., Clemson, 6-foot-4, 233 pounds) Simmons is a Swiss Army knife if it could also grant three wishes. Versatile doesn’t come close to describing his capabilities. He could be the antidote to the next generation of zone-read quarterbacks. Projected: Top 10 2. Patrick Queen (Jr., LSU, 6-0, 229) One-year starter who plays fast, physical and makes plays sideline-tosideline. Projected: 1st round 3. Kenneth Murray (Jr., Oklahoma, 6-2, 241) Dynamic three-down tackling machine if he’s kept clean. Strong character points to future leadership position within a locker room. Projected: 1st round 4. Logan Wilson (Sr., Wyoming, 6-2, 241) Uber-productive three-year team captain with elite instincts and everydown capability. He shines in coverage (10 career interceptions). Projected: 3rd or 4th round 5. Zach Baun (Sr., Wisconsin, 6-2, 238) Baun’s versatility and ability in coverage is the cherry on top of a dynamic pass rushing sundae. Projected: 1st or 2nd round 6. Jordyn Brooks (Sr., Texas Tech, 6-0, 240) Decorated four-year starter who hoarded tackles like it was toilet paper.

He’s shaky in coverage despite NFL size and prototypical athleticism for the position. Projected: 2nd to 4th round 7. Troy Dye (Sr., Oregon, 6-3, 231) Dye led Ducks in tackles previous four seasons. He’s an adequate blitzer who wins with speed and elite instincts.

MIKE EHRMANN/GETTY IMAGES

Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons (11) celebrates a defensive stop against LSU during the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans on January 13.

Projected: 3rd to 5th round 8. Evan Weaver (Sr., California, 6-2, 237) Off-the-charts producer (341 tackles the past two seasons) and elite competitor who overcomes athletic limitations with a non-stop motor. Projected: 3rd to 6th round 9. Malik Harrison (Sr., Ohio St., 6-3, 247) Former high school quarterback who wanted to play wide receiver, but found a home at linebacker. Harrison is an aggressive playmaker rushing the passer

and against the run, who is inconsistent in man coverage. Projected: 2nd or 3rd round 10. Akeem Davis-Gaither (Sr., Appalachian St., 6-1, 224) Size might scare some teams off, but he’s a talented playmaker with a nose for the ball. He could be special teams ace early on. Projected: 3rd to 5th round BONUS. Shaquille Quarterman (Sr., Miami, 6-0, 234) Four-year starter and old-school thumper. Quarterman is a potential team leader who could serve as a

centerpiece of a stout run defense. Projected: 4th to 6th round BONUS. Cam Brown (Sr., Penn St., 6-5, 233) Brown’s speed allows him to make plays all over the field. Added bulk could unlock pass rush potential. Projected: 4th to 6th round BONUS. Willie Gay Jr. (Jr., Mississippi St., 6-1, 243) There’s significant talent here, but lack of a defined role in the NFL could hinder his draft stock. Projected: 4th to 7th round

2020 NFL draft: Top defensive tackles Eddie Brown The San Diego Union-Tribune

Welcome to draft season! This is oneof 11 positional breakdowns leading up to the NFL draft (April 23-25).

Here are Eddie Brown’s top 10 defensive tackles: 1. Derrick Brown (Sr., Auburn, 6-foot-5, 326 pounds) Brown was an unstoppable force without an off switch his senior season.

He would have been a first-rounder had he left after his junior season. An underwhelming performance at the combine in Indy might cause him to slide a bit.

Projected: Top 10 2. Javon Kinlaw (Sr., South Carolina, 6-5, 324) Elite physical gifts make him a wrecking ball against the run or pass. Consistency and a tightened technique is on the to-do list of his future defensive coordinator in the NFL. Projected: Top 15 3. Neville Gallimore (Sr., Oklahoma, 6-2, 304) The Canadien features rare speed for a defensive tackle (he ran a 4.79 40-yard dash in Indy). Projected: 2nd round 4. Ross Blacklock (Jr., TCU, 6-3, 290) Blacklock is inconsistent against the run, but he’s a relentless pass rusher who will command double-teams. Projected: 1st or 2nd round 5. Jordan Elliott (Jr., Missouri, 6-4, 302) The Mizzou defensive line factory

JOE ROBBINS/GETTY IMAGES

Defensive lineman Derrick Brown of Auburn runs a drill during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on February 29.

has done it again. Elliott is a versatile, powerful prospect who handled his share of double-teams. He’ll face more one-on-one opportunities in the NFL, which should elevate him as a pass rusher. Projected: 2nd or 3rd round 6. Rashard Lawrence (Sr., LSU, 6-2, 308) This former top-20 recruit is a team leader on and off the field. He gobbles up blocks, allowing his teammates to

shine and makes plays when called upon (especially in big games). Injuries are a concern, but it’s hard to keep him sidelined (even when he’s hurt). Projected: 3rd to 5th round 7. James Lynch (Jr., Baylor, 6-4, 289) The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year is a powerful, productive prospect who could thrive in multiple schemes.

He had 13.5 sacks, 19.5 tackles for loss, broke up five passes, caused three

Packers great WillieDavis dies at 85 Field Level Media

Pro Football Hall of Fame member Willie Davis, a key member of the Lombardiera Green Bay Packers, died Wednesday morning at age 85.

The Packers said he died at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., but did not reveal the cause of death.

A defensive end, Davis played for the Packers from 1960-69 and was part of Green Bay’s Super Bowlwinning teams in 1967 and ‘68 – and five NFL championship teams. Davis also was the first African-American captain in the team’s history.

In 12 NFL seasons, he never missed a game.

Davis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981. He holds the Packers’ career record for fumble recoveries with 21. “Willie’s extraordinary athleticism was an undeniable factor in Green Bay’s winning tradition of the 1960s under Coach Lombardi,� said Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker. “He helped the Packers through an unprecedented championship run and to two Super Bowl victories. Willie was a man of true character on and off the field. The Hall of Fame will forever keep his

legacy alive to serve as inspiration to future generations.�

Davis played his college ball at Grambling under legendary coach Eddie Robinson and was a 15thround draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 1956.

After two years in the military, he joined the Browns in 1958 and was traded to the Packers before the 1960 season.

Davis played in 162 career games, earned All-Pro accolades five times and was named to the NFL’s 1960s All-Decade Team.

After his retirement, he was an analyst for NBC for five years.

fumbles and blocked two kicks as a junior. Projected: 2nd or 3rd round 8. Marlon Davidson (Sr., Auburn, 6-3, 303) It’s hard to miss him if you’ve watched any tape of his better-known teammate (Derrick Brown). He’ll be a day two value as a pass rusher (7.5 sacks his senior season) and on special teams (three blocked kicks last season). Projected: 2nd or 3rd round 9. Raekwon Davis (Sr., Alabama, 6-6, 311) Davis possesses elite physical traits and the ability to dominate, but hasn’t truly flashed those skills since the Crimson Tide’s 2017 title run. Projected: 2nd or 3rd round 10. Davon Hamilton (Sr., Ohio St., 6-4, 320) Still scratching the surface of his potential as a pass rusher, but almost a third of his career tackles were for a loss. Projected: 3rd to 5th round BONUS. Leki Fotu (Sr., Utah, 6-5, 330) Impressive athletic ability for his size. His massive frame and natural strength will suit teams in need of a prototypical nose tackle to combat the run.

Projected: 3rd or 4th round BONUS. Justin Madubuike (Jr., Texas A&M, 6-3, 293) Undersized prospect who wins with quickness and strength. Could be scheme limitations at the next level.

Projected: 2nd or 3rd round

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CMYK

Friday, April 17, 2020 B3

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Sports with no fans in the stands would be strange, but we all would adjust Teddy Greenstein Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — Over breakfast on Sept. 10, 2005, one sports writer set to cover that evening’s jam-packed Texas-Ohio State game at Ohio Stadium expressed concern about accessing the media parking near the ‘Shoe.

He proposed: Let’s do a dry run.

Wait, practice driving to the stadium rather than simply arriving three hours before kickoff?

It spoke to the jittery nature of the writer.

But more so, it speaks to the nature of college football.

No sport is more linked to its fans, starting with pregame traditions such as tailgating on the golf course at Michigan, lining the path of LSU’s Tiger Walk and holding up goofy signs behind the set of ESPN’s “College GameDay” (“SABAN BOWLS WITH BUMPERS”).

Basketball? Stream a pickup game featuring LeBron James and Steph Curry and we’d watch.

The only observer you really need is a ref.

Baseball? Yeah, it would be weird. When Wrigley Field is empty during batting practice, the crack of the bat creates an unmistakable echo off the seats. But let’s get real: Last year the White Sox resumed a suspended game against the Royals on a Tuesday afternoon with fewer than 100 fans in the house. They could hear Ed Farmer’s call from the radio booth.

Taiwan has limited outdoor mass gatherings to 500 people, so the Rakuten Monkeys supplemented masked baseball fans with mannequins and drum-playing robots. It still might be wise to leave the Bartman seat empty, just in case.

Hockey? Ugh. An empty building would be another gut punch to the Blackhawks fans who learned Wednesday that their annual fan convention scheduled for July 26-28 had been canceled. But it’s doable.

The NFL? The last Soldier Field game I attended was Jets-Bears in a cold drizzle. The first

Jordan From B1

thickly accented Chicago fan calls Jordan’s “poetry in motion,” there’s no shortage of fodder. In the absence of postseason fever, “The Last Dance” employs the star’s on-court fireworks to approximate the playoffs’ particular intensity — with his outrageous, record-setting 63 points against the ‘86 Boston Celtics, for instance, or with the buzzer-beater known as “The Shot” against the ‘89 Cleveland Cavaliers.

But the series — reliant as it

Draft From B1

at cornerback was quelled by the trade for Darius Slay and signing of Nickell Robey-Coleman.

AFC East

Baseball From B1

in different hotels in Phoenix, so they could play games at the Arizona Diamondbacks home park, plus 10 spring training ballparks, as well as three college fields in that baseball hotbed.

“Regarding sports [in general], I think this is going to be implemented by the initiative of the people who own these clubs,” Fauci said. (Psst, Tony: Always mention the unions!)

“There have been some proposals both at the level of the NFL, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, to get these people tested, and to put them in big hotels, you know, wherever you want to play,” Fauci said. “Keep them very well-surveilled . . . have

Todd Bennett/Getty Images

The stadium is empty beforehand as Clemson prepares to take on Boston College at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C., on September 23, 2017.

half featured one interesting play and about 37 TV and injury timeouts. Stay home, watch RedZone and curse your flawed fantasy lineup.

Golf? A Masters without spectators would be like a cheeseburger without meat. But when we’re this hungry, we’d settle for grilled cheese.

Golf Digest reported Tuesday that the PGA Tour intends to restart tournaments with a June 11-14 event in Fort Worth, Texas, without spectators.

PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh said the PGA Championship, slated for Aug. 6-9 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, is still worth holding even if players don’t have to shout, “Fore!” after stray drives.

“We believe that having it as a television

event is worth doing regardless of whether there’s fans there or not,” Waugh said on SiriusXM Radio. “Obviously that’ll change the experience, but we think the world is starved for entertainment — particularly in sports — and we think golf has the unique ability to be first out among sports in that we’re played over a couple hundred acres.”

The specter of spectator-free sports grew even more real Wednesday with the release of a new Snapchat interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci. The nation’s top expert in infectious diseases strongly implied there’s only one option for major sports in 2020.

“There’s a way of doing that — nobody comes to the stadium,” he said. “Put (the

players) in big hotels (near) wherever you want to play. Keep them very well-surveilled. ... Have them tested like every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family. Just let them play the season out.

“People say: You can’t play without spectators. Well, I think you’d probably get enough buy-in from people dying to see a baseball game, particularly me. I’m living in Washington. We have the world champion Washington Nationals. I want to see them play again.”

And Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said this Tuesday on CNN: “We’re not going to allow sports to reopen, major-league sports, unless we have all of these preconditions set because I’m not going to have tens of thousands of people getting into an arena together and giving each other COVID-19.”

OK, OK. We get it.

What seems weird now will eventually seem normal.

What looked completely normal about a month ago now seems weird.

I rewatched the episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in which Larry David picks up a random magazine in a friend’s house and draws a Hitler mustache on the cover subject. My thoughts: 1) Real nice, Larry; and 2) Ewwww, who would pick up a magazine that others have touched?

We lived decades without hesitating before shaking a hand, and now it’s unthinkable.

So, yes, college football would be absolutely bizarre without fans.

“One hundred percent different,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald texted Wednesday. “The passion of our fans is a major part of our great game.”

“It would be eerie, for sure,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said Wednesday. “Certainly eerie to hear other (coaches) screaming across the field. But we need to keep everybody safe and healthy. Any football is better than no football.”

is on the “SportsCenter” segments and Finals broadcasts of yore — is as much about the media landscape Jordan swept into as his athleticism or competitive drive. Even its rendering of the locker-room drama swirling around the ‘97-98 season has a familiar tabloid feel, like a purloined special of “Inside Edition” in which the Bulls come to reflect the tropes of fiction: the epochal hero, his trusty sidekick, the misunderstood rebel, their inscrutable sage. (There’s even a villain of sorts in general manager Jerry Krause, though he is the most underdeveloped, and thus unsatisfying, of the central figures. Krause died in 2017.)

Hehir and company lean into this angle from the outset, with an operatic score and a title sequence that emphasizes “back-stabbing” over points and rebounds; to wit, one of the most compelling subplots in “The Last Dance” is the bitter rivalry between the Bulls and the Detroit Pistons, which can be understood even if your primary point of reference is Sharks versus Jets. For every comparison of Jordan to Babe Ruth or Muhammad Ali, there is another to Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, the Beatles, the pope. McDonald’s sponsors an international basketball exhibition in Paris. Spike Lee appears as Mars Blackmon to promote Nike’s Air

Jordans. Gatorade commands us to “Be Like Mike.”

“It was the first time that sports were being sold in a cultural way,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver says of The Dream Team’s dominant performance at the 1992 Olympics, comparing the U.S. export of sports to that of fashion or music. “You were selling Americana.”

And what is modern Americana if not salesmanship itself? As I once wrote of Jordan’s friend and fellow sports icon Tiger Woods, our nostalgia for the monoculture’s mid’90s zenith — in which a sitcom’s finale could attract fully one quarter of the U.S. population, and Game 6 of the NBA

Finals more than one-tenth — cuts both ways. One person’s “fracture” or “fragmentation” is another’s hard-won time to shine.

“The Last Dance” trades on this nostalgia, and given the strange, fraught moment of its debut, may do more than that: It is not only an ode to the years in which “everyone knew Michael Jordan,” as journalist Willow Bay says in the series, but also an attempt to recapture their magic. As such, while Hehir’s vision is not terribly sophisticated when it comes to race or politics or the long arc of social history, it is extraordinarily perceptive about celebrity — what makes it, what breaks it, what shapes

its character and magnitude.

Without downplaying Jordan and his teammates’ remarkable prowess, the series tacitly acknowledges that fame, even in sports, is a function of framing, of timing — that what the show of the ‘90s and the team of the ‘90s had in common, as Seinfeld intuited, was first and foremost the ‘90s.

The nature of change means the phenomenon of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, like that of the “Seinfeld” finale, is unlikely ever to be replicated. But it can be relived, or at least revisited, in the cultural time machine of “The Last Dance.”

Dolphins: Miami has three picks in the first round so it has the ammunition to trade up from the No. 5 spot to get the quarterback it wants.

Looks like it will come down to Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or Jordan Love. The Dolphins need a left tackle, too, after trading away Laremy Tunsil last season. Let’s

face it, they need help all over the field.

Jets: Sam Darnold was sacked 52 times last season, fourth-most in the NFL, so the Jets need to fortify their offensive line. They’re in position to do so with the 11th pick, even after signing a tackle, center and guard in free agency. The Jets were

terrible at corner last season too, and haven’t alleviated that need despite the signing of corners Arthur Maulet and Pierre Desir.

Patriots: For the second time in three years, the Patriots have the 23rd pick.

They are in the market for a quarterback and could try to trade up for Tagovailoa. That

would take a lot, though, and it’s more likely they stay put or trade down for a defensive player and more picks. It’s logical that they would look for a versatile linebacker to replace Kyle Van Noy. Bills: No picks in the first round for the Bills, thanks to the trade for receiver Stefon Diggs. Their pass rushers

have gone gray, and the addition of 33-year-old Mario Addison doesn’t help in that regard, so that’s an area they will look to fill. The Bills also could use a bookend to cornerback Tre’Davious White, their terrific first-round pick from three years ago.

them tested, like every week.

By a gazillion tests. And make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family. And just let them play the season out. That’s a really artificial way to do it, but when you think about it, it might be better than nothing.”

Part of me is as infantile as the next sports fan. I’d love to see a return of sports if it is safe and smart, two terms that may be impossible to define before there is both an effective treatment and a vaccine for the coronavirus.

But I also grasp the longterm damage to MLB if just one player, or a family member, or team employee, dies of covid-19 because MLB got impatient and greedy.

The TV revenue from a 100-game MLB season that ends in mid-October with a five-week postseason that finishes by Thanksgiving, would

be worth billions to owners and players.

Here’s where we need to hit the brakes - hard. All sports, but especially MLB because it would provide so many games, need to make sure they don’t become political tools.

If you want to talk cynically about bread-and-circus for a still-ailing, economically damaged, severely underemployed country, then MLB is the perfect game. To beat the Arizona heat, start games at 10 or 11 a.m., giving East Coast cities a 1 or 2 p.m. matinee.

Then have an indoor Gameof-the-Day in the Diamondbacks park that starts at 2 p.m., 5 p.m. in the East. Finally, play games for West Coast teams at 7 p.m. in Phoenix. Voilà, an MLB triple-header on TV every day!

The combination of fun plus money doesn’t always lead to wise decisions.

Fauci may have a bipartisan record of serving under four Presidents, but he’s still part of the Trump pandemic team.

What pressures is he under?

And what trade-offs would he, perhaps subconsciously, make so that he felt he’d have leverage with Trump on larger issues than just the risks to several hundred elite young athletes and a few thousand support personnel?

Even straight shooters don’t always hit the bull’s eye.

If anyone plays big-time sports in 2020, MLB probably is going to be the canary in the covid-19 coal mine. MLB players could get to game speed in two to three weeks. The return of the Summer Game would carry a lot of emotional weight in a country that has been restricted for so long. Even a partial MLB season that started in August likely would be the first out of the box, in part because

baseball naturally has some degree of social distancing.

Yes, batters are only a few feet from catchers. Players slide into fielders. And runners are held by first basemen. But that’s nothing compared to the constant contact in the NBA, NHL and NFL. No sportswriter has the scientific qualifications to evaluate these issues. The players, and their unions, in each sport will be the central “deciders.”

They are ones at the most risk - by far. The owners can stay back in their home cities or watch games from remote suites.

For those who don’t know, locker rooms are great incubators, and spreaders of teamwide diseases. Almost every year in MLB some teams get “hit by a bug” with several guys “playing sick” or even missing games. Every team makes fighting germs and viruses a

priority. They still lose - a lot.

And it spreads to those around the team. Every longtime MLB beat writer (me) is now coughing, sneezing and wondering if he or she has a fever just thinking back on it.

Right now, many weeks from any decision, there is little harm in enjoying the thought that someone as credible as Fauci would suggest, even with many “ifs,” a specific date, sport and logistical method so he could watch his Nationals.

Stay tuned. But stay very cautious. What happens if just one player tests positive on one team? Does that team go into 14-day quarantine? Does that cancel or forfeit all its games? Then what happens to your “league season?” Does it fall apart on one test result?

We all want our sports back.

But let’s not lose our minds, or players’ lives, in the process.

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Arts of Org. filed with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 1/14/2020. Cty: NOTICE TO BIDDERS Columbia. SSNY de- The Board of Educasig. as agent upon tion of the Greenville whom process against Central School District may be served & shall will receive separate mail process to 1232 sealed bids for: REMOVAL Rte 20, PO Box 98, REFUSE West Lebanon, NY and RECYCLING For SCHOOL 12195. General Pur- 2020-2021 YEAR pose.

The Board of EducaICHABOD CRANE tion reserves the right to reject any or all bids CENTRAL SCHOOL and waive any inforPO BOX 820 malities or defects in 2910 RT. 9 such bids.

VALATIE, NY 12184 Sealed bids will be reNOTICE TO BIDDERS The Board of Educa- ceived in the District tion of the Kinderhook Office of Greenville Central School District, Central School until: popularly known as the DATE: Thursday, April Ichabod Crane Central 30, 2020 School, in accordance TIME: 10:00 a.m. with Section 103 of Ar- Specifications and bid ticle 5-A of the General forms may be obtained Municipal law, hereby on the District’s webwww.greenvilinvites the submission site of sealed bids for the lecsd.org or at the Office, 2020-2021 school Business Greenville Central year: #2020-01 – Mainte- School, 4982 SR 81, nance Cleaning Sup- Greenville, NY 12083.

Robyn Bhend plies Bid #2020-02 – Garbage Business Official and Recycling Bid #2020-03 – Propane NOTICE Bid Village of Athens #2020-04 – Fuel Oil The Village of Athens Bid will be holding 2 Public #2020-05 – Paving Bid Hearings on April 22, Bids will be received 2020 at 6:30PM. until 1:00 p.m. prevail- The first Public Hearing time on THURS- ing will be held for the DAY, MAY 14, 2020, in purpose of receiving the Central Administra- public comment on tion Office located on proposed Local #1 of the south end of the 2020 regulating shortHigh School Building, term rentals in the vilValatie, NY, 12184, at lage. which time and place The second Public all bids will be publicly Hearing is being held opened. for the purpose of reSpecifications and bid ceiving public comforms may be obtained ment on the proposed from the office of the adoption of local law District Clerk, located #2 of 2020 which in the Ichabod Crane would override the Central School, 2910 property tax cap for Route 9, PO Box 820, the coming fiscal year.

Valatie, NY, 12184 or Copies of both proby E-mailing – posed laws are m p o t t s @ i c h a b o d - available by request crane.org. from the Village ClerkThe Board of Educa- Treasurer at voation reserves the right clerk@yahoo.com or to reject any or all calling the clerk’s ofbids. Any bid submit- fice (518) 945-1551 ted will be binding for between the hours of thirty (30) days subse- 9AM – Noon Monday quent to bid opening. through Friday.

BOARD OF EDUCA- This meeting is being T I O N held in accordance Kinderhook Central with the Governor’s School District Executive Order 202.2 Mindy M. Potts, Dis- and we will be contrict Clerk ducted electronically.

Valatie, NY The public may join the Dated: 04/18/20 meeting using the following link or call in Lexem Consulting number: Join: LLC. Filed with SSNY h t t p s : / / m e e t . g o o on 4/7/2020. Office: gle.com/pwh-iwgf-ygg Columbia County. +1 573-569-9899 PIN: SSNY designated as 535097312# agent for process & M. Wynne shall mail to: 151 Dupier Rd Ghent NY 12075. Purpose: any PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE OF FORMAlawful TION OF A LIMITED Notice of formation of LIABILITY COMPANY B Point Property LLC (LLC) Art. of Org. filed The name of the LLC is w/Sec. of State of NY Zincio Construction, (SSNY) February 28, LLC. Articles of Or2020. Office location: ganization filed with Greene Co., NY; SSNY Secretary of State of designated as agent of New York (SSNY) on LLC upon whom pro- April 15, 2020. New cess against it may be York office location: 84 served. SSNY shall Summit Street, Village mail copy of process of Philmont, Town of to 1347 East 36th Claverack, County of Street, Brooklyn, NY Columbia and the 11234. Purpose: any State of New York. lawful activity. Latest SSNY has been desigdate upon which LLC nated as agent of LLC is to dissolve: No spe- upon whom process cific date. against it may be served. The post office NOTICE OF FORMA- address to which the TION OF CASSAR LLC SSNY shall mail a copy A DOMESTIC LIMITED of any process against LIABILITY COMPANY the LLC served upon (LLC) him/her is: Zincio ConArticles of Organiza- struction, LLC; 84 tion filed with the Sec- Summit Street, Hudretary of State of the son, New York 12534.

State of Purpose/Character of New York on April 7, business: Any lawful 2020 business purpose perNew York Office Loca- mitted under the New tion – Ulster County. York Limited Liability Secretary of State of Company Law. This the State of New York notification is made is designated as agent pursuant to Section upon whom process 206 of the Limited against the LLC may Liability Company be served. Secretary of Law. State of the State of New York shall mail a copy of any process Town of Austerlitz against the LLC served Columbia County upon him/her at: c/o New York LLC, 1387 Glasco A N N O U N C E M E N T: Turnpike, Saugerties Due to public health and safety concerns NY 12477 PURPOSE: To engage related to COVID-19, in any lawful act or ac- the Town of Austerlitz will not be meeting intivity. person for the April 23, Town Board Notice of Formation of 2020 In accorRamshackle Manage- Meeting. with the ment LLC. Arts of Org. dance filed with New York Governor’s Executive Secy of State (SSNY) Order 202.1, the April on 2/18/20. Office lo- 23, 2020 Town of AusTown Board cation: Columbia terlitz County. SSNY is des- Meeting will be held ignated as agent of via videoconferencing.

The public will have an opportunity to see and hear the meeting live.

The public can listen or watch the live meeting through the Zoom App. If any interested members of the public would like to provide comments or ask questions, either can be submitted via email before the Town of Austerlitz Town Board Meeting to any of the Town Board Members.

Email addresses can be found on our website at www.austerlitzny.com INSTRUCTIONS TO ACCESS THE VIRTUAL MEETING: If you have a computer, tablet or smartphone, you can register, log in and see the video and hear the audio of the live session. Please check our website at www.austerlitzny.com for further instructions to access the virtual meeting and for updated information.

On the evening of April 23, 2020, 5 minutes before 7:00 pm, log in with your computer, smartphone or telephone. You will be placed on hold until the meeting starts.

Questions about accessing the Zoom videoconference should be emailed to shaag@austerlitzny.com.

Village of Valatie Public Notice-Budget Hearing Meeting April 20, 2020 6:00 pm Due to Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order No. 202.1 which suspends the Open Meetings Law to permit any public body to meet due to COVID-19, the Village of Valatie will hold a Public Hearing to pass the Tentative Budget by telephone conference on Monday, April 20, 2020 at 6:00 pm. If anyone would like to review the budget or would like to submit questions regarding the budget, please contact the Village of Valatie at 518-7589806. Questions can be emailed to the Village of Valatie via the Village website at www.valatievillage.com.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Layoffs are in effect at Charlotte Motor Speedway and seven other NASCAR tracks after parent company Speedway Motorsports, LLC announced Wednesday that it has laid off 180 employees across its facilities and furloughed another 100 employees due to the coronavirus pandemic. Approximately 15% of Speedway Motorsports’ overall staff was affected by the job cuts that took place Tuesday and Wednesday.

In addition to Charlotte Motor Speedway, the motorsports entertainment company owns and operates Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway.

About one third of the staff at Texas Motor Speedway was let go, according to the Fort Worth-Star Telegram.

Speedway Motorsports, LLC said the company is providing a severance package to each person affected by job eliminations. Some of the impacted staff may also be re-hired as event day staff once racing resumes.

“The extraordinary circumstances presented by this pandemic and the subsequent shutdown of the economy have had a significant impact on our business,” a company statement read. “Since the beginning of the shutdown four weeks ago, we have kept our entire team on full pay while our properties remained dormant. In that time, it has become clear that we must be a more nimble, more efficient organization.”

The layoffs and furloughs impacted all departments across all Speedway Motorsports subsidiaries. Departments at Charlotte Motor Speedway include Public Relations, Marketing, Ticket Office, Operations, Corporate Sales and Events.

Speedway Motorsports, LLC also owns souvenir merchandising company SMI Properties, race car manufacturer U.S. Legend Cars International, radio network Performance Racing

STREETER LECKA/GETTY IMAGES

Drives negotiate the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on September 29, 2019, in Charlotte, N.C.

Network and zMAX Micro Lubricant, which all maintain operations in the Charlotte region.

The restructuring at the speedways follows pay and job cuts at NASCAR, as well as individual teams. In late March, NASCAR announced 25% pay cuts for executives and 20% pay cuts for other employees.

“We understand this is a difficult time for all of you and your families, but these steps are necessary measures for our company without races on track each week,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said in a letter to employees. “A lot of time and thought was put into how to approach this in a manner that results in the least impact to our employees.”

On April 3, NASCAR further announced company-wide layoffs that were the result of October’s merger with International Speedway Corporation, which owns and operates tracks such as Daytona International Speedway,

Talladega Superspeedway and Richmond Raceway, among others, in addition to radio network Motor Racing Network.

Those layoffs primarily impacted staffing at Iowa Speedway, which dismissed a majority of its staff, according to NBCSports.com, but NASCAR has not confirmed the total number of layoffs across the company.

As NASCAR, its speedways and teams juggle staff reductions, the organizations and its fans are looking ahead to when the season will likely be able to resume. NASCAR’s next event is scheduled for May 9 at Martinsville, but the timing of that race is unlikely given Virginia’s stay-at-home order that extends through June 10.

When the order went into effect March 30, NASCAR said in a statement that it was “aware of the stay-at-home order issued for Virginia” and that it “will continue discussions with

public health officials and medical experts as we assess rescheduling options.”

An updated schedule has not yet been released by NASCAR. In a call with reporters in early March, Phelps was adamant that NASCAR run all of its Cup Series points races and the non-points All-Star race, even if that meant weekend double headers and/or Wednesday night races.

“At this particular point, we would like to finish the season at Phoenix and keep the Playoff portion intact,” Phelps said in March.

If racing does resume, it might not include fans. Wednesday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper tweeted that “the only sporting events or concerts that you may be able to watch for awhile will have no in-person crowds.”

“A new normal can get us back to work, back to school and back to play, but in a new way for a while,” Cooper’s Twitter thread continued.

“Experts tell us it’d be dangerous to lift restrictions all at once. We have to monitor for troubling signs of a spike in cases that could overwhelm our hospitals and risk lives.”

Earlier Wednesday, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said he thought there was a way for sports such as baseball and football to resume without fans.

“Nobody comes to the stadium,” Fauci said.

“Put (the players) in big hotels, wherever you want to play, keep them very well surveilled.”

Fauci also said that players could be tested weekly to ensure they don’t infect others, and could still play out the season. In addition to Fauci, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he is in favor of sports returning fan-free, with NASCAR and golf resuming first.

“If NASCAR does a race and can televise it without having large crowds, I think that’s a good thing,” DeSantis said.

Meanwhile, the White House said it is working with key executives across various industries to determine a plan for reopening the economy. For NASCAR, that representative is CEO of International Speedway Corporation and EVP of NASCAR Lesa Kennedy.

NASCAR needs iRacing now more than ever Alex Andrejev The Charlotte Observer

In a virtual second, Kyle Larson’s NASCAR career crashed out when he uttered a two-syllable word he later admitted “should never, ever be said.”

From the second the n-word shockingly, cringingly left his lips late Sunday night and was broadcast over a Twitch live stream, to the resulting pileup of sponsors terminating their relationships with Larson on Monday, it was like watching a devastating NASCAR crash that wipes out the entire field and doesn’t leave a single participant unscathed. One after another, partners spun out until eventually Larson’s Chip Ganassi team exited the race, too.

And even though each action transpired digitally — from the initiating second during an iRacing event, followed by Larson’s necessary, but ultimately futile apology video on Twitter and then the various sanctioning statements shared on social media — this was not a virtual wreck. This was a real-life crash with real-life implications, repercussions and as Larson acknowledged, irreparable damage.

“I feel very sorry for my family, my friends, my partners, the NASCAR community, and especially the African-American community,” Larson said in his apology video.

As the wreckage began to cool Tuesday night (if it yet has), the NASCAR world was left wondering how it can recover from this. Where does the sport go from here, and has the unfiltered access to drivers that the iRacing platform allows become more trouble than it’s worth for NASCAR? Last week, iRacing’s executive producer Steve Myers told the Observer that the Pro Invitational iRacing Series, the premiere virtual exhibition race that now occurs almost every Sunday, was intended

CHRIS GRAYTHEN/GETTY IMAGES

In an image computer-generated in-game, Ed Carpenter, driver of the #21 Sonax Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, races during the IndyCar iRacing Challenge Chevrolet 275 at virtual Michigan International Speedway on April 11 in Brooklyn, Mich.

to be a “fun” diversion from reality while sports remained postponed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Decisions are minute-by-minute in an effort to get something, anything on-screen for fans. The result has been a clean broadcast with the two most recent races on FOX drawing more than 1 million viewers each.

“I think it’s irresponsible and probably unfair to try to shoehorn everyone’s problems into something iRacing has to solve,” Myers said last week. “That’s not why we’re doing this. We did this because we found an opportunity to be able to do something fun for the fans that allows them to take a break from the reality of what a pandemic is and how it’s impacting their lives.”

Myers’ comment was in the context of drivers frustrated with

iRacing for excluding them from the premiere lineup, and followed an incident at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks ago in which driver Bubba Wallace quit mid-race after crashing out. Wallace lost a sponsor from the move, and before Sunday, was NASCAR’s most controversial iRacing figure.

“Y’all have a good one. That’s it.

This is why I don’t take this (expletive) serious,” Wallace said on his Twitch live stream before the screen went dark. “Peace out!”

The incident with Wallace seems minuscule in the context of Larson, but it was an early indication that the initial goal of lighthearted “fun” would ultimately conflict with the unpredictability of a new, live platform for NASCAR and its drivers.

Although the rise of full-time

NASCAR drivers competing in iRacing events might be new, as are many of the virtual series the platform has added (Larson was competing in a practice round for a “Monza Madness” exhibition race), the problem of toxic behavior in esports is not. Racist, sexist and homophobic comments have long plagued the gaming community with players removed from face-to-face confrontations and masked by their computer screens, usernames and headsets.

While that is an unfortunate reality, it also means there are models in place for NASCAR to look toward as it forges ahead with its iRacing partnership rather than shutting down drivers’ Twitch channels, live streams or virtual events. The popular global esports league Overwatch

League, for example, launched a public “Player Discipline Tracker” during the 2020 season in which players are named with their infraction and the resulting action taken if they violate the league’s code of conduct in order to promote transparency and accountability among players. Twitch also updated its Community Guidelines in 2018 to include a “zero-tolerance” policy against hateful conduct and harassment.

Larson does not have a personal Twitch channel, so the decision from iRacing to suspend him indefinitely prevents him from using the live streaming service, and NASCAR, Chip Ganassi Racing and Larson’s sponsors have already reacted with a quick and heavy hand to the transgression.

“NASCAR has made diversity and inclusion a priority and will not tolerate the type of language used by Kyle Larson during Sunday’s iRacing event,” a statement from NASCAR said. “Our Member Conduct Guidelines are clear in this regard, and we will enforce these guidelines to maintain an inclusive environment for our entire industry and fan base.”

While Larson remains indefinitely suspended from NASCAR and is required to attend sensitivity training before he is reinstated, virtual races are set to continue each day this week, and hopefully long after that.

Perhaps now is the time for the NASCAR world to stop considering iRacing a second-hand escape, and instead seize the opportunity to propel itself into the future by engaging in the difficult racial discussions that have haunted its history. Now more than ever, transparency and access to drivers should be embraced. Sports have always conflated with social issues, and in that way, iRacing just became a little more real.

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B6 Friday, April 17, 2020

Liberty trade Tina Charles for Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Tayler Hill and draft picks Sarah Valenzuela New York Daily News

NEW YORK — For the first time in six years, Tina Charles will no longer wear seafoam green.

The Liberty traded the seven-time All-Star in a three-team deal on Wednesday. Charles will go to the Washington Mystics in exchange for guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, the No. 12 pick in Friday’s WNBA draft and a 2021 first-, second- and third-rounder. The Liberty traded that 2021 first-round pick and their own 2021 second-rounder to the Dallas Wings for guard Tayler Hill and Dallas’ 2020 Nos. 9 and 15 picks.

The trade has answered a few key questions with what the Liberty, Mystics and Wings plan to do with their rosters for the upcoming season.

The Wings, until Wednesday, controlled the first round of this year’s draft. Dallas held four picks, but already had a full roster and leaders in Arike Ogunbowale and Katie Lou Samuelson looking to rebound from last season. And the Mystics, who won their first WNBA championship in 2019 — and are still

waiting to have their championship parade thanks to the coronavirus pandemic — resigned reigning MVP Elena Delle Donne and Finals MVP Emma Meesseman.

Liberty head coach Walt Hopkins had said on Monday that “Tina Charles is with the Liberty ... Anybody else you haven’t heard of ... we’ll just keep our options open.”

But the first-year coach never actually committed to Charles or any of the other players when asked for updates of the 2019 roster. When Hopkins inked his deal with the Liberty, general manager Jonathan Kolb said the plan for the coming season would be to outfit the team to put Hopkins and the Liberty in the best position.

Charles’ name had mostly been left out of the conversation — save for rumors the famed center would be heading to the Phoenix Mercury — until Monday. But like Hopkins also said: “We’re really trying to feel out any possibility to make our team better.”

The 10-year veteran had been with the team since 2014 and had been named to four All-WNBA teams and earned All-Defensive honors twice during her time in New York.

Charles, a Queens native, who attended Christ the King High School before becoming a UConn Husky, entered the league as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft by the Connecticut Sun. The two-time Olympic gold medalist, 31, made 200 starts for the Liberty during which she joined fellow Christ the King star and WNBA legend Chamique Holdsclaw in an exclusive category — leading the league in points and rebounds in the same season (2016 for Charles, 2002 for Holdsclaw).

“Tina Charles is a name that will forever be synonymous with New York basketball,” Kolb said in a statement. “Over the past six seasons, Tina has cemented herself not only in the Liberty record books, but in the hearts of New Yorkers everywhere due to her tireless and selfless work in the community. On behalf of the New York Liberty organization I thank Tina and wish her well in Washington.”

The Liberty now control six picks in the 2020 draft — three in the first round (1, 9 and 12), two second-round picks (13 and 15) and a third-rounder (26) — the most picks the franchise has ever held in a single draft.

Hopkins had reviewed all the prospects in this year’s pool, including standouts from Oregon, South Carolina and Baylor. Each powerhouse program has at least two players expected to go early in the draft, headlined by Ducks star Sabrina Ionescu.

Hopkins referred to each of the prospects he was interested in as “a cornerstone depending how you use them,” “a player to build around,” and “someone who would fit the system well.”

Ionescu is the presumed No. 1 pick, so it’s safe to conclude that not only are Hopkins and Kolb looking to build around her, they’re also looking to rebuild their roster — starting with Friday’s draft.

Barring a shocking move on Friday night, Ionescu will join All-Star Kia Nurse, 2019 No. 2 pick Asia Durr, French guard Marine Johannes and veteran point guard Layshia Clarendon as the foundation of the franchise as it moves to the Barclays Center under new owner Joe Tsai. But the rebirth of the franchise will take place without Charles.

XFL gambled by linking game action to sports betting Jack Harris Los Angeles Times

FILE PHOTO

The 2019 Travelers Championship, won by Chez Reavie, generated over $2 million for 150 local charities, tournament officials announced Tuesday.

Connecticut governor supports plan to hold Travelers Championship without fans in June Dom Amore The Hartford Courant

HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday he supports the possibility of holding the Travelers Championship golf tournament in late June as scheduled, so long as there are no fans in attendance.

The Travelers Championship, one of the best-attended stops on the PGA Tour and long one of the biggest sporting events in Connecticut, is slated to go on as scheduled, according to a Golf Digest report. The Tour, and most professional sports, have been at a standstill since the outbreak of coronavirus in the U.S. in early March.

“I don’t think that’s too soon,” Lamont said, of the tournament scheduled to be held June 25-28. “We are going to be getting back to normal.

It will be a new normal. Playing the Travelers, not in front of a crowd, is a normal, just for this cycle. I like that report, if it turns out to be true. We’ll have a chance to, at least on TV, enjoy a sport that shows the best of Connecticut in a safe way. I don’t think it’s too soon.”

Lamont’s stay-at-home orders are in place through May 20, and he has indicated that, in conjunction with neighboring states, any easing of restrictions will happen gradually. Lamont is working with governors from other states to decide when businesses can begin re-opening as the virus subsides. Although Lamont has said “the worst is behind us” in Fairfield County, COVID-19 infections continue to rise in New Haven and Hartford counties and are expected to continue to for a few weeks.

Travelers Championship officials are proceeding dayto-day as if the tournament is on.

“We saw the same article

but haven’t seen anything official from the PGA Tour,” Tara Gerber, Travelers Championship senior director of strategy and partnerships, in an email to the Courant.

TPC at River Highlands officials also declined comment.

Last week, tournament director Nathan Grube told the Courant officials are working with local health officials and the PGA Tour.

“These are unprecedented times, and the health and safety of fans, volunteers, sponsors, media, partners and players is our top priority,” Grube said in a statement.

“While there are currently no scheduling changes related to our tournament, we are closely monitoring the situation related to Novel Coronavirus COVID-19. We will continue communicating with the PGA TOUR and local health officials — who ultimately would have the final say in any changes to our tournament schedule — to review the available facts and ensure the environment is safe for everyone.”

According to the Golf Digest story, the PGA plans to restart its schedule June 11 with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, and is attempting to reschedule the RBC Heritage for the following weekend at Hilton Head in South Carolina.

The Travelers would be the third event, as the PGA looks to preserve as many events as possible through the summer, even if the earliest tournaments are played without spectators, but only the golfers and essential staffers practicing social distancing guidelines.

The Travelers typically draws close to 300,000 spectators to Cromwell through its normal week of activities.

The XFL’s obituary is short.

The spring start-up existed for only five weeks of games before suspending operations late last week and filing for bankruptcy Monday.

The XFL was creative in introducing 3-point conversions, modified kickoff coverages, a shortened play clock and a propensity for trick plays, but it might be best remembered for how it embraced sports betting.

There’s an old sportsbooks adage — you’re not really a true sport until you’re on the betting boards in Las Vegas — and the XFL took it to heart. League President Jeffrey Pollock described gambling as “absolutely fundamental” to the XFL’s foundation.

“A core business strategy, and really a core fan-engagement strategy for us, is to embrace the spread,” he said during the season, leaning on hyperbole to add: “Betting and sports gaming are as essential to the football experience in 2020 as the helmet, the jersey and the ball.”

The XFL established a partnership with an online sportsbook and hired a research firm to collect data that helped set betting lines. It also coordinated “BetCasts” with VSiN, a gambling-oriented internet television outlet, for online broadcasts of games produced with a slant toward the side action.

It pitched its product to the industry’s power brokers, putting itself on the extreme end of sports’ larger pro-gambling trend. Since a 2018 Supreme Court decision paved the way for legalized sports betting, 21 states now allow the activity according to the Action Network.

“They had a great open attitude toward figuring out how to be sports-betting friendly,” VSiN founder and chairman Brian Musburger said, noting the wave of small wagers it garnered from general football fans.

“They were able to take a leadership position. I think some of the other leagues have been waiting for more states to legalize (sports betting). The XFL jumped in before it was legal in some of the states that had teams. It was very progressive thinking on their part.”

GABRIELLA ANGOTTI-JONES/LOS ANGELES TIMES

XFL footballs alongside a Los Angeles Wildcats team hat during a Feb. 5 practice at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium at Long Beach City College.

The XFL’s prized national broadcast time on Fox/FS1 and ESPN/ABC bent traditional TV norms in other ways as well.

From a club-level broadcast booth at Dignity Health Sports Park during Week 3 of the season, Fox Sports announcer Curt Menefee routinely called on sideline reporter Jenny Taft for between-play interviews and fell silent during several crucial third-down situations so live audio of the coaches’ play-calls could be patched in.

And when the L.A. Wildcats opened up a two-touchdown lead late in the first half, Menefee segued right into a sportsbetting angle.

“Fox Bet said DC was an 8 ½-point favorite,” Menefee said, turning to a topic once deemed taboo for live sports coverage. “Right now, they’re down 14 points, and it’s only the second quarter.”

The XFL hoped that these little moments would build long-term loyalty. The league said it had research that showed “football fans, young football fans, avid football fans, want gaming as an essential part of the modern-day experience,” Pollack said.

David Hill, who brought several innovations to football broadcasts as president of Fox Sports and as a longtime executive for 21st Century Fox, said when he launched Sky Sports in England early in his career, “The first thing I’d do when I’d get to a ground, before I’d have

a production meeting, is I’d go to a bookie’s tent and I’d put bets down. I’d bet on who had the first throw-in, who’d score the first goal.”

Fox producer Chuck McDonald, who jumped into the XFL season after working on some of Fox’s top college football broadcasts in the fall, compared on-air conversations about gambling to those concerning the weather.

“You come out at the top of the show and establish what is the over-under, who is the favorite by how many points,” he said. “Then, throughout the game, be aggressive as it comes up, as necessary. ... It’s an obvious thing to weave in.”

Menefee, best known for his role hosting Fox’s Sunday morning NFL pregame show, noted that the XFL embraced gambling talk that was mostly avoided during NFL broadcasts.

“There’s no tap-dancing,” he said. “There’s no secret. Yeah, this team is favored by 6 ½ and they’re up by seven right now, so you know a lot of people are nervous whether or not this touchdown happens. It’s just an honest way to look at it from a fan standpoint.”

Musburger credited the league’s straight-forward approach with helping its television numbers outpace modest expectations. The league’s Week 1 games averaged more than 3 million viewers. Its average overall audiences, which

routinely surpassed 1 million, roughly matched national NBA and NCAA basketball games.

“There was a real grassroots following that was building,” Musberger said.

But even before its debut season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, the XFL was struggling to fill NFL-sized stadiums and failing to generate the volume of action the gambling industry had hoped for.

“There was more discussion than action,” said Jay Kornegay, vice president of race and sports book operations at the Westgate Las Vegas, noting that most league games brought in less business than a Mid-American Conference college game.

“They had some great TV coverage, which obviously helps.

We thought it was going to be a little more popular than it was.

However, it really takes time for the general public to warm up to these leagues.”

Time the XFL didn’t have.

Despite an abundance of ideas, the league’s Cinderella story ended at noon instead of midnight. A half-season’s worth of games was not enough to engineer a fairy-tale ending.

“Across the board, the enjoyment, satisfaction, camaraderie, and the great working environment that everybody is going to leave behind is the punch in the gut,” said Chuck Price, director of football administration for the Los Angeles franchise.

“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”

#SupportRealNews

- Daniel Patrick Moynihan

CMYK

Friday, April 17, 2020 B7

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Son won’t accept mom’s relationship with old friend Dear Abby, I was married for more than 20 years and am recently divorced. I should have done it years ago, but my son, “Nicky,” begged me not to.

He’s 22.

I am now dating a gentleman, “Clyde,” and am very happy to be in this relationship.

DEAR ABBY Clyde treats me like a queen. I have known him longer than I’ve known my ex-husband. He and his family (including his exwife) are close friends.

Before we started dating, Clyde called my ex, told him we were going to start seeing each other and that he wanted my ex to hear it from him, not through the rumor mill. My ex said he was fine with it and thanked him for letting him know.

We then informed Clyde’s kids and my son.

Everyone was fine with it except Nicky. He’s upset that we started dating three months after my divorce. Mind you, my marriage to Nicky’s father was over years ago. Clyde had nothing to do with it. Now my son has an “attitude” with Clyde. He hardly speaks to him and never spends time with us.

I have always been there for Nicky. His actions hurt. He can’t seem to accept that I’m happy and that Clyde and I are more than friends now. Before we started dating, Nicky and Clyde had a good relationship. How do I get my son to come around?

Second Chance In Michigan

JEANNE PHILLIPS

Nicky may be hoping that you and his father might one day reconcile and regard Clyde as an interloper. Explain to him that the divorce may

seem recent to him, but for you and his dad, it was the final step in disengaging from a marriage that had been over for years. Tell him you love him and are sorry he is upset, but it’s no excuse for treating Clyde badly, and you expect him to treat Clyde with respect, if not affection. Then go on and enjoy your life because you deserve it.

Dear Abby, My children attend a school where they are in three different buildings. One is in high school, one in middle school and the youngest is in elementary. Recently, the married elementary school principal had an affair with a married teacher’s assistant. A few years before, the married middle school principal had an affair with a married teacher.

My concern is that the administration knows this but does nothing about it. I have addressed them with my concerns. I believe there was an abuse of power. If they are willing to sweep this under the rug, what else have they swept?

Should I mind my own business or pursue the issue further?

Mom On Patrol In New York Because of the litigious environment we live in, many businesses and educational institutions have policies that discourage fraternization.

What you consider an abuse of power may be a relationship between consenting adults. You say you have brought this to the attention of school administration. I think you have done enough.

From now on, stay out of this unless you have absolute proof there is coercion involved.

Blood infection should prompt rapid assessment of pacemaker My son had a pacemaker placed in 2013 and got it checked every four months. He developed an ulcer on his coccyx. He was being seen every two or three weeks in a wound clinic, and I was told it was 98% healed. The visiting nurse came between visits to the doctor and sent him to the emergency room because of a bad odor.

TO YOUR The ER said he had a wound GOOD HEALTH and blood infection. Because he had a pacemaker, they said they would check it. It was checked a week later, and he died two days after that. I was told he died because his pacemaker wires were infected.

Should someone have caught this problem? I am thinking my son died due to a medical error.

DR. KEITH ROACH

I am very sorry about your son. I don’t have enough information to say for sure a medical error was responsible for his death; however, the story is concerning.

An ulcer on the sacrum is usually a sign of debility and immobility, which puts a person at risk for medical complications. If the wound was deeper than the doctors realized, it could have led to bacteremia. People with ANY kind of medical hardware need to be very concerned about bacteremia, since no matter how well the device is put in, it is at risk for being infected by the bacteria. Bacteria can go anywhere blood goes. Infection around a pacer wire is extremely serious and usually requires surgical removal of the infection.

A week seems too long, especially in hindsight,

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — Environmental factors will take a toll today, but you can face them with strength and confidence and come through virtually unscathed.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — Now is no time to make excuses for something that went wrong on your watch. Your time is better spent ensuring that

Classic Peanuts

Garfield

Blondie

to let the pacemaker leads go without evaluation.

I’m publishing your letter in hopes that other people in a situation like your son’s know to get prompt evaluation in a situation of bacteremia (blood infection).

I’m a 78-year-old woman with shingles. It is between the left side of my butt and my vagina. It feels like I’m sitting on broken glass. I had to go to the emergency room because of the pain. I am now on gabapentin three times a day. The doctors said they have never had a case where my shingles are.

A friend just had them on his arm. Is it just a coincidence I got them just after being in his company? I did get a shingles shot five years ago.

Shingles is caused by reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, which lays dormant in the nerve roots after a person had chickenpox as a child. Under stress, or as we get older, the virus can reactivate in a specific body location. The genital area, including the vulva and vagina, is unusual, but it’s by no means unheard of. However, I recommend being sure of the diagnosis, since genital herpes can look a lot like shingles. A laboratory can tell the two related viruses apart.

The shingles shot from five years ago (Zostavax) is seldom given now. A newer vaccine (Shingrix) is more effective, although it requires two doses.

I recommend the newer vaccine even for people who have had the Zostavax in the past.

Horoscope

By Stella Wilder Born today, you are one of the most capable individuals born under your sign, but you don’t blow your own horn, and you’re never one to suggest you can do something that you cannot.

You are realistic above all else, but this enables you to face challenges head-on, without any illusions, and do what is necessary to overcome obstacles and reach your objectives — which, despite the fact that you have your feet on the ground, can be rather lofty. You have a great many good ideas, both large and small, and you are generous with them.

There is a complexity about you that is likely to be underestimated by anyone who doesn’t know you intimately, and you may grow quite adept at taking advantage of that in both your personal life and your professional endeavors.

You are capable of wrapping your mind around the most complicated issues and staying ahead of your rivals.

Also born on this date are: Victoria Beckham, singer; Jennifer Garner, actress; Sean Bean, actor; Olivia Hussey, actress; Luke Mitchell, actor; Rooney Mara, actress; William Holden, actor; John Pierpont Morgan, entrepreneur; Thornton Wilder, playwright.

To see what is in store for you tomorrow, find your birthday and read the corresponding paragraph. Let your birthday star be your daily guide.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18

Family Circus

Hagar the Horrible

Zits

Baby Blues it won’t happen again.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — You’re not about to compromise where your rights are concerned; you must find a way to stand up for yourself without causing a fight.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — You’ll have to pick and choose between options that are presented one after another all day long. Someone you know may be hiding something.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — You can maximize both effectiveness and efficiency today through the simple act of repetition. You don’t want to quit prematurely.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — The problems you are facing today are likely to multiply if you’re not able to identify a cause quickly and accurately, but damage can be avoided.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Those who know you best can step in just in time and prevent you from doing something harmful. Something attractive proves dangerous to you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — You may feel compelled to take up a cause in someone’s name today. What happens next may put you to the test in more ways than one.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — You’re not about to stop just because someone tells you to — but continuing along your current course may prove ill-advised.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — You may not be able to keep someone from doing what he or she is determined to do, but you can step in to prevent lasting harm just in time.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — The time has come for you to put your foot down and insist that your personal space be respected. A good friend shows up at an odd time.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) — While others may continue to point out the mistakes you have recently made, you’re moving on and are taking steps to prevent a recurrence.

COPYRIGHT 2020 UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.

Beetle Bailey

Pearls Before Swine

Dennis the Menace

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B8 Friday, April 17, 2020 Close to Home

SUPER QUIZ

THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek Get the free JUST JUMBLE app • Follow us on Twitter @PlayJumble

Unscramble these Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

CMISU NSALT CUEQHN DOWNEO ©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.

Score 1 point for each correct answer on the Freshman Level, 2 points on the Graduate Level and 3 points on the Ph.D. Level.

Coastline Level 1

2

3

(e.g., Which of the 50 states has the longest coastline? Answer: Alaska.)

Freshman level 1. Which of the 48 contiguous U.S. states has the longest coastline?

2. Which country has the longest coastline?

3. Which European country has the longest coastline?

Graduate level 4. Which Asian country has the longest coastline?

5. Which country in the Western Hemisphere has the longest coastline?

6. Which country in South America has the longest coastline?

PH.D. level 7. Which American state that does have a coastline has the smallest one?

8. Which African country has the longest coastline?

9. Which country has the longest coastline on Africa’s mainland?

4

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

“

”

Yesterday’s

(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: CREEK FUNNY VERIFY BETTER Answer: They were in the process of turning on the home’s power, which made it a — CURRENT EVENT

4/17/20

Solution to Thursday’s puzzle

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9.

For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit

Heart of the City

sudoku.org.uk © 2020 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

SUPER QUIZ ANSWERS 1. Florida. 2. Canada. 3. Norway. 4. Indonesia. 5. Mexico. 6. Brazil. 7. New Hampshire. 8. Madagascar. 9. Somalia.

18 points — congratulations, doctor; 15 to 17 points — honors graduate; 10 to 14 points — you’re plenty smart, but no grind; 4 to 9 points — you really should hit the books harder; 1 point to 3 points — enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0 points — who reads the questions to you?

Mutts

Dilbert

Pickles For Better or For Worse

Get Fuzzy

Hi & Lois

Crossword Puzzle Mother Goose & Grimm ACROSS 1 Facial feature 5 __ in; wearing 9 Canyon bounceback 13 Solitary type 15 Scalp problem 16 No-__; absentee 17 Taper off 18 Surgery 20 Group of whales 21 First calendar pg.

23 Constructs 24 Avoid a big wedding 26 Speak dishonestly 27 Declare innocent 29 Gloomy 32 Make butter 33 Prayer before meals 35 Tablet of paper 37 Shipbuilder’s wood 38 Nobleman 39 Gray wolf 40 Plopped down 41 Out of __; irritable 42 Shoe parts 43 “Cool!” in a past decade 45 Peter __ of “Lawrence of Arabia” 46 “Wow!” 47 Street talk 48 European capital city 51 Ring around the collar 52 American __; ND’s state tree 55 __ lace; French town’s specialty 58 10:1 or 3 to 2 60 Playwright Moss 61 Small bottle 62 __ down; diets successfully 63 High-pitched barks 64 Nervous 65 “Get lost!”

DOWN 1 Applaud 2 Bum 3 Not good enough

Bound & Gagged

Created by Jacqueline E. Mathews

4 Volleyball court divider 5 Duplicate 6 Cold sore site 7 Biggest spade 8 __ in duty; negligent 9 Great respect 10 In fashion 11 Owl’s comment 12 Possesses 14 Become a member of again 19 Go skyward 22 Tenement bldg. unit 25 Prowl furtively 27 Biblical book, for short 28 Inexpensive 29 Blocker & Rather 30 Contrite 31 Can wrapper 33 Bloody, as a horror film 34 Track made by wheels 36 Two teaspoons, perhaps 38 Like a group that sticks together

4/17/20

Thursday’s Puzzle Solved

Non Sequitur

©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.

39 Diving bird 41 Pleasant smell 42 Elevator alternative 44 TV’s “__ of S.H.I.E.L.D.” 45 Bullfight shout 47 In a devious way 48 Like a strained muscle

4/17/20

49 Asian language 50 Stringed instrument 53 Bean variety 54 Lion’s share 56 Tupperware top 57 Remain behind 59 Pacino & Yankovic

Rubes