eedition The Daily Mail January 18 2022

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The Daily Mail Copyright 2021, Columbia-Greene Media Volume 230, No. 11

Serving Greene County since 1792

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2022

In-person classes to resume at CHS By Ted Remsnyder Columbia-Greene Media

PHOTO COURTESY OF CATSKILL CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

In-person classes will resume at Catskill High School on Tuesday, 12 days after the district shifted to remote learning amid a COVID outbreak.

CATSKILL — Catskill High School is set to return to inperson classes Tuesday, 12 days after the school shifted to remote learning amid a rise in COVID-19 cases. On Jan. 5, Catskill Central School District officials announced the high school would switch to remote learning after an increasing number of COVID cases had been identified at the school. The district’s elementary

and middle schools continued to hold in-person classes while the high school went strictly to remote learning. At the time of the move to virtual classes, Catskill School District Superintendent Ronel Cook said the district intended to resume in-person classes Jan. 18, a date the district has kept. “I personally thank our staff, parents and most importantly our students for understanding the need to shift to remote instruction,” Cook declared in

a statement. “Again, all district schools will be open for inperson instruction on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022.” On Jan. 10, Cook sent an update to district parents to inform them that five students ahad tested positive for COVID-19, with all five pupils having last attended the school between Jan. 5 and Jan. 7. “Contact tracing was required and all close contacts have been notified,” Cook wrote in the letter. Greene County Public

Health has revised contact tracing guidelines pertaining to school buses to include only students or staff sitting in the same seat as the individual who tests positive, as long as other protocols such as wearing masks at all times have been adhered to. All other students and staff members on the bus will not be required to quarantine. The Hunter-Tannersville School District moved strictly See CLASSES A9

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Left, Lisa Zucker, senior attorney for legislative affairs at the New York Civil Liberties Union and activist Grace Ortez speak during a virtual press conference Monday afternoon to push for higher wages and safer working conditions for state prisoners.

Campaign launched to raise pay for prisoners By Kate Lisa Johnson Newspaper Corp.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Fix The 13th NY campaign to fight for higher wages and safer working conditions in state prisons launched Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Activists kicked off a new push Monday to increase wages for incarcerated New Yorkers and improve working conditions in the state’s prison system. Organiziations with the Fix The 13th NY campaign — referencing the desire to amend the 13th Amendment — will work with lawmakers and legislative leaders in Albany this session to

enact minimum wage for incarcerated people in New York and amend the state Constitution to prohibit prisoners from being forced into involuntary labor, such as making license plates, or state-issued hand sanitizer NY Clean at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “This is not going to be easy,” said Lisa Zucker, senior attorney for legislative affairs at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “But what structural change has ever

been easy to do?” The 13th Amendment states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Advocates said the six words “except as a punishment for crime” allow for legalized slavery of the See PAY A9

Power outage blamed for Columbia Memorial flooding By Bill Williams Columbia-Greene Media

HUDSON — The Emergency Department at Columbia Memorial Health returned to normal on Sunday evening, after flooding earlier in the day closed part of the unit and put rescue squads on diversion protocols. Part of the Emergency Department and the Imaging areas of the hospital were affected, when a sprinkler head on the hospital’s sprinkler system froze and burst, spraying water to some ceiling tiles in a small number of bays in the emergency department and in the adjacent CT imaging suite, Columbia Memorial spokesman Bill Van Slyke said Sunday. Crews made the necessary repairs

and the Emergency department was back to full capacity and off diversion protocols by 6 p.m. Sunday, Van Slyke said. The problem was blamed on large power outage that affected more than 5,000 Columbia County homes early Sunday morning. The power outage resulted in cold air infiltrating a mechanical area above the Imaging unit and Emergency Separtment. The cold air caused the sprinkler head to freeze and burst, Van Slyke said. Columbia Memorial ran on generator power for several hours before the sprinkler head froze. When the generator is activated, air louvers are automatically opened. The opened louvers let enough cold air in

the building to freeze the sprinkler head, Hudson Fire Department Second Assistant Chief Nick Pierro said. Columbia County 911 sent Hudson Fire Department to the scene at about 5:42 a.m. after automatic fire alarms sounded. When firefighters arrived, they requested mutual-aid assistance from Greenport and Stottville fire departments. Crews found multiple ceiling tiles that had fallen and a lot of water, Pierro said. Firefighters went to the second floor and shut the sprinkler system off, Pierro said. See FLOODING A9

BILL WILLIAMS/COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Firefighters, and county officials, were at Columbia Memorial on Sunday, after a burst pipe caused flooding.

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n SPORTS FORECAST FOR HUDSON/CA

n LOCAL

n WEATHER Page A2 TODAY TONIGHT WED

Decreasing clouds

HIGH 26

Increasing Cloudy and clouds; colder not as cold

LOW 9

38 30

n INDEX

Boys basketball

Drug operation

Panthers out-muscle Cats on the road, win ninth straight PAGE B1

3 men get prison time for Ulster-Greene drug trafficking PAGE A5

Region A3 Opinion A4 State/Nation A6 Obituaries A6 Sports B1 Classified B6-7 Comics/Advice B9-10

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