Wear Your Masks

154 Jeﬀ erson Heights Catskill, New York 12414 “Ask For The Pines” www.pinescatskill.com Call 518-943-5151 n FORECASTWEATHER FOR HUDSON/CA TODAY TONIGHT SAT School’s open: Wear your masks By Melanie Lekocevic September, with face masks Columbia-Greene Media required for students and staff It’s like deja vu all over when on school grounds and Showers A t-storm A t-storm around; not again. buses. around around early as warm As the COVID-19 pandemic Today, as another school COURTESY OF TRIBUNE NEWS HIGH LOW 74 inﬁltrates a third school year, start looms for the 2021-22 ac- SERVICE students and teachers will be ademic year, Hochul imposed Students and 86 62 68 required to wear face masks a mandate that face masks will staff will be under a new state mandate by continue to be required at this required to Complete weather, A2 Gov. Kathy Hochul, regardless time. wear face of vaccination status. Catskill District Superinten- coverings as Schools statewide were shut dent Ronel Cook said Thurs- the 2021-22 n SPORTS down and learning moved day the district will follow the school year online in March 2020 when state requirement. begins in the virus outbreak began, and “The goal from the onset September. most schools incorporated a and moving forward is to re- hybrid approach of remote turn students to school five and in-person learning for the 2020-21 school year last See MASKS A2

Changed hearts and minds When Colin Kaepernick gently knelt during the national anthem in 2016, he set off an earthquake. PAGE B1 n LOCAL Committee to spearhead Athens cannabis decision

Maintaining a watchful eye Greene County Sheriff’s Office joins nationwide network to monitor COURTESY OF TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE registered sex offenders A display at Mountain View Naturals, a retail marijuana shop in Hood River, PAGE A3 Oregon, on March 14, 2016. By Melanie Lekocevic — and then the first thing this committee Columbia-Greene Media will have to look at is, do we want to opt n STATE ATHENS — Could legal marijuana dis- out?” pensaries or bars be headed for Athens? Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed New woes for The village board held an informal legislation March 31 legalizing recre- community discussion Wednesday to ational adult-use cannabis. There will be ethics board gauge local reaction to the state’s legal- a 9% state excise tax imposed on mari- An unidentified JCOPE ization of adult-use cannabis and wheth- juana sales and a 4% local tax. Counties er the village should opt in or out. will receive 25% of the local tax revenue commissioner suspected COURTESY OF GREG GARRISON/AL.COM “We want to talk about how we are and 75% will go to the city, town or vil- of leaking information The village of Athens is considering whether to opt in or opt out of feeling moving forward,” Mayor Amy lage, according to the legislation. said to remain on panel permitting legal cannabis sales. Serrago said. “We have a committee as- PAGE A5 sembled — we will appoint them tonight See CANNABIS A2 n INDEX Region A3 Hochul introduces Benjamin: ‘We are partners’ Opinion A4 State/Nation A5 Obituaries A5 By Kate Lisa house in the coming weeks. Various news outlets report- Sports B1 Johnson Newspaper Corp. “I am so delighted to an- ed Hochul’s pick Wednesday, Classified B4-B5 HARLEM — Gov. Kathy Ho- nounce my partner — and the but the governor would not Comics/Advice B7-B8 chul and state Sen. Brian Ben- word ‘partner’ means some- comment on her selection until jamin stood with their hands thing to me,” Hochul said just Thursday’s event. On the web clasped in solidarity Thursday, before announcing Benjamin. Hochul announced Ben- www.HudsonValley360.com calling themselves partners, to “Someone who works side by jamin’s lieutenant governor- mark the Manhattan senator’s side in the trenches. Someone ship with the Rev. Al Sharpton, Twitter selection as the state’s next lieu- who will be out there cham- founder of the National Action Network; and NAACP New York Follow: tenant governor. pioning our policies and our State Conference President Ha- @CatskillDailyMail Benjamin will be sworn in as administration’s agenda in zel Dukes at the Adam Clayton the state’s next second-in-com- every corner of the state with a Powell Jr. State Office Building Facebook mand soon after Labor Day. real focus on New York City be- in Harlem. www.facebook.com/ A Harlem native, Benjamin cause New York City needs our CatskillDailyMail/ Democrats have champi- has represented the state’s 30th help. This individual is someone oned Benjamin during his Senate District, which encom- who’s been through the trench- time in the Senate as a leader passes Harlem, East Harlem and es, starting locally where he was on criminal justice reforms COURTESY OF GOV. KATHY HOCHUL’S OFFICE Gov. Kathy Hochul and Sen. Brian Benjamin stand together and the Upper West Side since 2017, on his community board, where and affordable housing. He wave at a crowd in Harlem on Thursday after Hochul announced and sits ready to vacate his posi- he worked his way up to elective chairs the Revenue and Budget tion as senior assistant majority office and someone I’ve become Benjamin as her official pick for lieutenant governor. Benjamin is leader in the Legislature’s upper a dear friend of in the Senate.” See HOCHUL A2 expected to be sworn in immediately after Labor Day.