Ten days after the long-planned merger of Kingston’s Citibus system with Ulster County Area Transit, county officials say ridership is up so far. But some users of the newly unified bus systems say the service changes have left them high and dry.
Among the most significant changes is a proposal to introduce “Medication Assisted Treatment” to the Ulster County Jail. MAT programs, which include the use of opioid substitutes like methadone and Suboxone have been proven effective in reducing deaths from opioid overdose and reducing addicts’ dependence on street drugs. But, until recently, corrections officials have almost universally resisted their introduction into jails and prisons.
In a historic legislative session last month, New York lawmakers passed a long-bottled flood of progressive bills covering everything from early voting to rent control. But legalized recreational marijuana failed to make the cut, despite support from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and strenuous efforts by Democrats in the state’s two houses.
Three men accused in the December 2018 murder of a man during an alleged marijuana robbery may get separate trials after prosecutors said in court this week they planned to use texts between two of the codefendants to make their case.
Every January, state lawmakers convene for their annual legislative session accompanied by lobbyists for everything from banning cat declawing to new gun control measures. For 13 of those sessions, Kingston resident Claudia Corrigan D’Arcy has showed up to push a proposition at once both simple and controversial — a law that would allow adoptees to have the same access to their birth certificates as any other New Yorker.
In February, after Kingston Republicans failed to find a nominee to challenge Mayor Steve Noble, it appeared that the incumbent Democrat might have a free ride to a second term. Four months later, Noble has gone from no opponents to three.
“In light of statements and threats coming out of Washington, D.C., we are here to make a clear, unequivocal statement about our values as a county and about our values as a community,” said County Executive Pat Ryan. “We reject division, we reject fear-mongering, we reject xenophobia.”
The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office has formed a Conviction Integrity Unit to review cases with an eye towards identifying instances where an innocent person may have been convicted for a crime they didn’t commit.
Newly installed County Executive Pat Ryan said this week that a proposed solar array in Saugerties and an executive order he issued calling on county government to be 100 percent dependent on renewable energy by 2030 are concrete steps in his campaign trail pledge for a “Green New Deal” for Ulster County.
The new law opens the door for rent control, caps security deposits, toughens regulations on evictions, bans “blacklists” of troublesome tenants, and more. The law was opposed by New York’s real estate interests, one of the most powerful lobbies in the state, and is the product of unified Democratic control of state government for the first time in over a decade.