C M Y K Local Man charged in sexual-abuse Register-Star case. Inside, A3 Copyright 2020, Columbia-Greene Media All Rights Reserved The nation’s second-oldest newspaper • Serving Columbia and Dutchess counties since 1785 Price $1.50 Volume 236, No. 178 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 n FORECASTWEATHER FOR HUDSON/CA TODAY TONIGHT WED Police: Driver dies in Austerlitz crash By Bill Williams autopsy were available at Chatham Rescue Squad were Columbia-Greene Media press time Monday. at the accident scene for AUSTERLITZ — A Clifton At about 12:45 a.m., the ve- nearly three hours Sunday Humid with Mostly Park man died Sunday in a hicle Jones was driving was morning, providing traffic Mainly clear clouds and cloudy and and humid traffic accident a local fire traveling on Route 22, north control and assisting state sun humid chief called the worst acci- of county Route 5, at a high police, Pilkington said. HIGH LOW 85 dent he has ever seen. rate of speed, and was unable A LifeNet helicopter was Kevin Jones, 30, was the to stay in the lane, said Aaron placed on standby, but was 86 63 62 driver in a one-car accident Hicks, public information of- not needed. on Route 22. He was pro- ficer for state police Troop K. In a separate accident in Complete weather, A2 nounced dead at the scene by The car struck a utility pole Austerlitz on Sunday eve- Columbia County Coroner and several trees before com- ning, an unidentified Mas- n SPORTS Michael Blasl. ing to a rest, Hicks said. sachusetts woman was taken An autopsy was scheduled It was one of the worst ac- by Chatham Rescue Squad to to be performed Monday at cidents Austerlitz Fire Chief Westchester Medical Center Courtesy of Austerlitz Fire Department Ellis Hospital in Schenect- Eric Pilkington has ever seen, with severe burns to her arm, Fire and rescue crews on the scene of a fatal accident early ady, Blasl said. No further Pilkington said. Sunday morning in Austerlitz. details on the results of the Austerlitz firefighters and See CRASH A8 Twin County unemployment spikes High school fall By Kate Lisa were not available to return to Johnson Newspaper Corp. work. sports to begin Twin County unemploy- “This, however, opens op- NYSPHSAA releases ment numbers spiked in the portunities for those workers month of July as the state and who may not have been called guidelines for sports local economies continue to back to their jobs,” Tucker PAGE B1 be affected by the COVID-19 said. pandemic. The county reported a low Columbia County boasts unemployment rate of 3.8% n NATIONAL the state’s third-lowest unem- in March before the pandemic ployment rate in July at 9.9% hit, soaring in April to 10.9%. — tied with Tompkins County Columbia County Chamber in the Southern Tier, accord- of Commerce President Jeffrey ing to the most recent statis- Hunt noted the area’s larger tics from the state Department businesses, such as Flanders of Labor. Precision of NY in Hudson, The figure is low compared continue to struggle to hire with the rest of the state, but employees. reflects a spike from 8.8% un- The air filter manufacturing employed in the county in plant energized the local econ- June. omy and has a push to hire 25 Trump eyes 3rd F. Michael Tucker, presi- employees, Hunt said, as the dent and CEO of the Colum- state mandates MERV-13, or quarter growth bia Economic Development higher-rated filters in air cir- Mnuchin: Trump pleased Corporation, said he could not culation systems, in New York explain the primary reason for gyms and malls to cleanse CO- with economic recovery the surge as businesses con- VID-19 from the air. PAGE A2 tinued to reopen through the Filter installation was re- summer. quired upon reopening. “The true test will be when More than 85% of Colum- n SPORTS they see the third quarter bia County establishments sales tax numbers,” he said. are classified as small busi- “...There are still a significant nesses. Tucker said local small number of county residents business owners continue to out of work. As business own- be among the most deeply af- ers continue to ramp up in fected. response to growing demand “We’re particularly seeing for their goods and services, difficulties for restaurant and hopefully those out of work retail owners,” he said. will return to their jobs,” he A recent state Restaurant added. Association survey showed Several furloughed employ- 90% of New York restaurant Orioles rookie ees found other work during See TWIN A8 Source: New York State Department of Labor tops Yankees the pandemic shutdown, and Pitcher dominates on Ripken 25th anniversary PAGE B2 Chromebooks bring the classroom home By Aliya Schneider technology available to support our n INDEX Columbia-Greene Media students,” Prestipino said. HUDSON — Chromebooks are be- Students are allowed to use other Region A3 ing issued to all students in grades K-12 devices at home, but there are enough Opinion A4 in the Hudson City School District this Chromebooks for everybody to have State/Nation A5 year to accommodate remote learning. the option, she said. Obituaries A5 In past years, students in grades 9-12 Student online accounts, which stu- Sports B1 were given school-issued Chrome- dents need to log into for their remote Classified B4-5 books to take home, and K-9 classes learning, block inappropriate web- Comics/Advice B7-8 could use shared Chromebooks in sites regardless of the device. On the their classrooms, Hudson City School Chromebooks, the school is notified On the web District Assistant Superintendent for when students make inappropriate www.HudsonValley360.com School Improvement April Prestipino searches, Prestipino said. said. The hybrid model will have in- Twitter In March 2020, in response to emer- person instruction every day except Follow: gency school closures, students in all Wednesdays, when the school will un- @HudsonRegisterstar grades who were in need of devices dergo a deep cleaning, she said. for remote learning could take home It will be the expectation that Facebook school Chromebooks. Now that the Chromebooks go home with most stu- www.facebook.com/ Hudson City School District has a hy- dents for remote learning on Wednes- HudsonRegisterstar/ brid in-person and remote learning days, she added. model for the new school year, and the Melanie Lekocevic/Columbia-Greene Media Although some younger students sharing of laptops is still considered Revonda Smith, who has three children in the Hudson district, shows off one of the used school Chromebooks at home for unsafe due to COVID-19 concerns, three Chromebooks her children received for distance instruction this academic remote learning in the spring, this will Chromebooks are available for all stu- year. be the first time elementary and mid- dents. dle school students will be taking the “Our IT (Information Tech- amazing job having everything ready have an immediate need now, or if nology) department has done an for the families, so whether they the need arises later, we will have the See CHROMEBOOKS A8 Polls don’t elect the president New York offers online voter registration. You can register by mail to vote in YOU DO New York by printing a voter registration form, filling it out, and mailing it to your local election office. You can also register to vote in person if you prefer. Go to: www.voterreg.dmv.ny.gov/MotorVoter/ to register to vote online OR Go to: https://www.elections.ny.gov/NYSBOE/download/ voting/voterregform-eng-fillable.pdf to download a voter registration form C M Y K A2 Tuesday, September 8, 2020 COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA Weather Mnuchin says Trump is pleased FORECAST FOR HUDSON/CATSKILL TODAY TONIGHT WED THU FRI SAT with how recovery is progressing By Craig Torres, Tony Czuczka and Jordan Yadoo Bloomberg News (TNS) Humid with Mostly Clouds Mainly clear Partly sunny Showers WASHINGTON — Presi- clouds and cloudy and and sun, a and humid and cooler possible dent Donald Trump “couldn’t sun humid shower be more pleased” with how HIGH LOW 85 89 74 72 the recovery is progressing but wants more stimulus to move ahead, said U.S. Treasury Sec- 86 63 62 56 51 61 retary Steven Mnuchin, who Ottawa called on Congress to pass a 67/52 Montreal “targeted” bill. 71/57 Third-quarter growth will Massena 70/54 be “phenomenal,” snapping Bancroft Plattsburgh 75/57 back from the huge second- 60/48 Ogdensburg quarter contraction, as the 68/57 Malone Peterborough 72/59 impact of coronavirus shut- Kingston Potsdam 63/48 72/57 Burlington 67/57 downs fade, Mnuchin said on 81/61 “Fox News Sunday.” He noted Watertown Lake Placid 71/55 74/58 that some are predicting GDP growth of 30% to 35%. Mnuchin again called on Rochester Democrats, led by House 73/60 Utica Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to work 80/62 with the administration on Chris Kleponis/Pool/Abaca Press/TNS Batavia Albany what some have called a “skin- President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., Syracuse 82/62 Buff alo 74/61 81/64 ny” economic relief measure. on Friday, Sept. 4, 2020. 76/64 Catskill “I’d like to call it a ‘more tar- Binghamton 86/63 geted bill.’ But yes, our expec- expected, by almost 2 percent- adding to the estimated $3.3 low-paying, will need more Hornell 81/63 tation is we’ll move forward age points, to 8.4%. trillion fiscal 2020 deficit. support from both Fed policy 84/63 Hudson 86/62 with that next week,” he said.