The Daily Mail Copyright 2021, Columbia-Greene Media Volume 230, No. 6
Serving Greene County since 1792
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2022
DA awaits result of video analysis By Ted Remsnyder Columbia-Greene Media
CATSKILL — Greene County prosecutors are still waiting for state police investigators to crack the code on footage that could show the death of Scott Myers, District Attorney Joseph Stanzione said Monday. Authorities hope surveillance footage from the night Myers was allegedly stabbed to death by Carrie Weiser of Catskill from cameras that Myers had installed in his apartment will shed light on what happened Nov. 27. “We’re still waiting on the video,” Stanzione said. “We’ve provided substantial discovery to the defense. The defense has to provide me with certain discovery material as well, which they
haven’t done just yet. So basically the judge will have a conference by the beginning of March, and by that point the judge basically wants to know that we’re pretty much in substantial compliance with our discovery obligations.” Court proceedings for Weiser, who is accused of killing Myers, continued Monday morning in Greene County Court as Judge Terry Whilhelm held a virtual conference with the defense and the prosecution. Myers, 68, of Catskill, was stabbed to death two days after Thanksgiving in his West Bridge Street apartment. Weiser was indicted by a grand jury on Dec. 2 on a felony second-degree murder charge for the stabbing and
an additional misdemeanor count of criminal possession of a weapon. After Weiser, 32, pleaded not guilty to the charges at her arraignment Dec. 17, Wilhelm set a Jan. 10 Carrie Weiser conference date to gather updates on the case’s discovery process. Prosectors from the Greene Counity District Attorney’s Office and Weiser’s attorney, Michael Howard of Hudson, participated in the 11:15 a.m. conference Monday. “It was a discussion about where we are and if our discovery is complete
and what else has to be done,” Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione said after Monday’s conference. No dates were set during the Monday morning conference for any future conferences or hearings in the case. “We did have discussions as to where we are in the discovery process,” Stanzione said. “There’s more discovery to be done, then a further conference will be scheduled in the near future.” The district attorney said it was premature to set a possible trial date in the Weiser case. “We’re way too early for a trial date to be scheduled,” Stanzione said Monday. The felony murder charge against Weiser carries a maximum sentence of
life in prison. According to the grand jury report, Myers and Weiser had dinner together at the Catskill restaurant Subversive on the night of Myers’ murder. The authorities believe that the pair subsequently went straight to Myers’ residence at 39 West Bridge St., where he was killed. Weiser made a 911 call at approximately 12:15 a.m. on Nov. 27 to report to the authorities that Myers had been stabbed. The suspect was still at the scene of the crime when police arrived at Myers’ Catskill apartment. When she was questioned by police, Weiser told them that she had difficulty recalling the events that transpired on the night of Myers’ murder.
New restrictions at CMH due to COVID By Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge Columbia-Greene Media
HUDSON — A dramatic increase in the number of COVID cases has prompted changes to the visitation policy at Columbia Memorial Health, officials said Monday. Columbia Memorial recently modified its visitation policy. Patients will be allowed to have up to one healthy visitor at a time for up to 30 minutes. “It certainly coincided with, and was a result of, the increase in transmission of the omicron variant in the community.” Columbia Memorial spokesman Bill VanSlyke said. “So we went from — the hours were 2 to 6 p.m. — and now they’ve been reduced to 3 to 5p.m., one visitor at a time for 30 minutes.” Columbia Memorial currently has 26 COVID-positive patients, VanSlkye said. There had been about 30 over the weekend but that number was reduced to 26 Monday morning, which is about where the number has been for the past few weeks. Children 12 to 17 years old must be accompanied by an adult, according to an announcement about the CMH visitation policy posted on their website. All Columbia Memorial visitors are required to wear a mask. Visitors must remain in the patient’s room for the duration of their visit and must perform proper hand hygiene when entering and before leaving the patient’s room.
FILE PHOTO
Columbia Memorial Health has updated its visitation policy amid rising COVID cases.
Patient-family conferences at Columbia Memorial
may be scheduled outside of the updated visitation time
frame. Columbia
Memorial
encourages visitors to utilize virtual visitation with
the increased prevalence of COVID in the community. To schedule a virtual visitation, call the unit where the patient is rooming and staff can help arrange a virtual visitation. Columbia Memorial officials announced last week they were pausing elective procedures and surgeries. According to the website, they are continuing to perform emergency surgeries as necessary and will resume elective procedures and surgeries when they are able to do so safely. The pandemic has brought on greater use of telehealth, VanSlyke said. The volume of people turning to telehealth went up greatly about a year ago. “Prior to that, there were lower volumes of well visits for minor illnesses and things of that nature,” VanSlyke said. “But now, as providers have become more comfortable with it we’ve seen the utilization include things like followup surgical visits, things where people might have a rash, where they can show a rash via telehealth.” Columbia Memorial Health is among a number of area hospitals updating their visitation policy due to recent increases in COVID-19 cases. St. Peter’s Health Partners on Sunday began limiting visitation to one unique visitor per patient per day st St. Peter’s and Samaritan hospitals. An announcement on their Facebook page Friday said this is due to the increasing test positivity rate of COVID in the Capital Region.
Greene COVID cases soar, death toll nears 100 By Ted Remsnyder Columbia-Greene Media
CATSKILL — As COVID-19 cases continue to proliferate across Greene County, the county recorded three more deaths over the weekend due to COVIDrelated illnesses, bringing the total to 99 COVID deaths in Greene County since the pandemic began in March 2020. The three deaths included an unidentified man in his mid-50s who was unvaccinated and two unidentified women in their 80s who were also unvaccinated. Both women had underlying health conditions. Greene County Public Health announced Monday that 276 new positive COVID cases had been identified in the
county, bringing the total of active positive cases up to a new record of 1,312. The agency noted that due to limited testing capability, the number of positive cases does not fully reflect the current level of positive cases in the county. The county has now recorded 7,675 COVID positive cases since the inception of the pandemic. With the country setting daily records for positive COVID cases, Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said he expected the county to follow that trend in the days and weeks ahead. “I would say yes,” Groden said on Monday. “I would say we have not reached the peak. That’s why you should get vaxxed.” As of Jan. 10, 67% of Greene County
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FRANCINE ORR/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Greene County has seen a new record number of COVID cases.
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residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. There are 41 Greene County residents hospitalized with COVID-related illnesses, while 455 residents are under quarantine orders. Public Health on Monday updated its isolation and quarantine guidance for individuals who test positive for COVID. The guidance is aligned with the state Department of Health’s recommendations, which were updated Jan. 4 in the wake of new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “For the general public, if you’re unvaxxed and you’re exposed, that’s a
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Crews fight cabin fire
Cannoneers roll with six, nab road win over Bluehawks PAGE B1
Blaze began in pipe from wood stove, chief says PAGE A3
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