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Register-Star Copyright 2020, Columbia-Greene Media Volume 236, No. 122
All Rights Reserved
Lesson plans Reopening schools is a study in uncertainty Inside, A3
The nation’s second-oldest newspaper • Serving Columbia and Dutchess counties since 1785
FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2020
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A harrowing story of abuse
nFORECAST WEATHER FOR HUDSON/CA TODAY TONIGHT
SAT
By Nora Mishanec Columbia-Greene Media Partly sunny A t-storm in Partly cloudy and humid spots
HIGH 86
LOW 64
85 63
Complete weather, A2
nSPORTS
Tiz the Law favored at Belmont
OLD CHATHAM — A local woman says she was kidnapped from her home in West Africa and forced into marriage with a Columbia County man. Alima Bonsa alleges that Allen Stack, of Old Chatham, traveled to her village in the West African country of Burkina Faso in 2001 and paid to marry her, despite her vocal opposition to the marrage. “I was bought like an animal at the market,” Bonsa said at a virtual press conference Thursday. Five months after the forced marriage, Bonsa said Stack brought her to the United States, where she alleges
he continued to inflict physical, sexual and verbal abuse on her for years. Human trafficking is defined as “the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act,” according to the the Department of Homeland Security, which has launched the Blue Campaign to address widespread human trafficking in the United States. Bonsa alleges Stack also brought her mother, sister and niece to the United States, forcing the family to perform back-breaking physical labor on a farm in Old Chatham for no compensation. The farm, registered with the state as Faso Farm LLC located at 106 Percy
Contributed photo
Alima Bonsa alleges that Allen Stack, of Old Chatham, kidnapped her and brought her to the United States from Burkina Faso, her native country.
See ABUSE A2
Opposing rallies occupy Kinderhook Square
The 2020 Triple Crown season begins with a dialed-back version of the Test of Champions PAGE B1
Bill Williams/Columbia-Greene Media
A Back the Blue rally and Black Lives Matter rally were side by side in Kinderhook.
n NATION Bill Williams/Columbia-Greene Media
A Back the Blue rally showed support for Police, Thursday in Kinderhook.
New tragedy in California The brother of a man found hanging from a tree in California is killed in a shootout with police PAGE A5 By Bill Williams
n LOCAL
Columbia-Greene Media
42 months in federal prison A US judge sentences Brian Northup of Hudson for selling child porn over the internet PAGE A3
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KINDERHOOK — Protesters on both sides of the police brutality issue lined Kinderhook Village Square on Thursday afternoon as two separate but peaceful rallies took place. A planned Back the Blue rally to show support for police officers that was scheduled to
begin at noon was met by supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement. There were some heated moments between the two groups, but for the most part, they remained civil to one another, and competed for the attention of passing motorists on Route 9, See RALLIES A2
NY cracks down on reopening rule violators By Kate Lisa Johnson Newspaper Corp.
NEW YORK — Businesses that violate the state’s coronavirus COVID-19 reopening rules and guidelines can immediately lose their liquor license or be ordered to shutdown, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared in an executive order Thursday. The state mandate strengthens state enforcement to ensure business compliance during New York’s four-phase gradual reopening of nonessential businesses. The governor also signed a second executive order making bars responsible for the area immediately outside their establishments, expanding the State Liquor Authority enforcement area. SLA investigators are out monitoring enforcement. “Local governments must get
their act together,” Cuomo said Thursday during a pandemic briefing at his Manhattan office. “If you ignore the rules, then it’s not a phased reopening.” The state has received 25,000 complaints, including phone calls and letters, about businesses that are not enforcing socialdistancing guidelines, minimizing crowds or enforcing patrons wear face masks since New York started reopening nonessential businesses last month. The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s plan to repeal the popular Obama-era order that protected “Dreamers,” or the nearly 800,000 young immigrants brought to this country illegally as children. See VIOLATORS A2
Courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed two executive orders Thursday strenghtening state enforcement of New York’s four-phased reopening of nonessential businesses during a coronavirus briefing in his Manhattan office.
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