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The Daily Mail Copyright 2017, Columbia-Greene Media Volume 225, No. 258

Windham Journal SEE PAGES A6 - A7

The nation’s fourth-oldest newspaper • Serving Greene County since 1792

All Rights Reserved

Price $1.50

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2017

Bracing for early tax payments

n WEATHER FORECAST FOR CA TODAY TONIGHT

FRI

By Richard Moody and Kaitlin Lembo Sunny, windy Increasing and frigid clouds; frigid

HIGH 15

LOW 1

Mostly cloudy and frigid

17 4

Complete weather, A2

n SPORTS

Fitzmaurice leads Section II Greenville senior tops area in scoring. PAGE B1

n WORLD

Symbol of mourning A black pine tree — the lone survivor of the 2011 Japanese tsunami — is cut down in ceremony. PAGE A2

n LOTTERIES Daily Numbers: Midday 2, 9, 4 Lucky Sum 15 Evening 7, 0, 0 Lucky Sum 07 WinFour: Midday 8, 1, 7, 8 Lucky Sum 24 Evening 0, 0, 0, 2 Lucky Sum 02 Mega Millions: $306M Powerball: $337M

n INDEX Region Opinion State/Nation Obituaries Sports Comics/Advice Classiied

A3 A4 A5 A5 B1 A8-A9 B4-B5

On the web www.HudsonValley360.com Twitter Follow: @CatskillDailyMail Facebook www.facebook.com/ CatskillDailyMail/

Columbia-Greene Media

Taxpayers in the Twin Counties may be able to pay their 2018 taxes before the start of the new year as the counties scramble to comply with a recent executive order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo authorized counties and towns to collect property taxes for next year early, a response to Congressional Republicans passing and President Donald Trump signing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which will disproportionately raise taxes on certain New Yorkers through its partial elimination of itemized deductions of state and local property, income and general sales taxes. The Tax Cuts and

RICHARD MOODY/COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

The Columbia County Board of Supervisors plans to approve the 2018 tax warrant at its year end meeting Thursday so taxpayers can pay their property taxes early.

Jobs Act will allow the partial deduction of such taxes up to $10,000. Cuomo said the order is an

attempt to allow taxpayers to claim all or some of the federal deductions they will lose when the new law takes effect at the

start of next year. “As Washington wages an all-out assault on this state and this nation, I have authorized

local governments to allow property owners to pay part or all of their taxes early,” Cuomo said. “New York has made unprecedented progress reducing the burden of taxes on our middle-class families, and we will not allow this attack to roll back all that we have achieved. This executive order will allow property owners to deduct either part or the full amount of their payment from their federal taxes before the GOP tax bill goes into effect.” U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-19, who voted against the tax reform bill twice citing the SALT provision as his main reason for opposition, posted information on social media about prepaying taxes following See TAX A12

Greene, Columbia bundle up in brutal cold By Amanda Purcell Columbia-Greene Media

HUDSON — Christmas weekend brought snow. New Year’s weekend will be brutally cold. Officials urged Twin County residents Wednesday to take precautions as the temperatures plunge to teethchattering levels over the next week. “Bitterly cold winter temperatures have settled in across the state and New Yorkers need to make sure they are prepared for this dangerously cold weather,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. “I encourage New Yorkers to stay informed and safe during this inclement weather. We will continue to monitor conditions and stand ready to assist any communities in need.” Temperatures are expected to plummet to below-zero in the Upper Hudson Valley, said Joe Cebulko, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albany. And, it’s going to stick around for a while. “The forecast high for Thursday is going to be low to mid-teens throughout the mid-Hudson Valley,” Cebulko said. “Tomorrow [Thursday] night, lows are going to be even cooler, with lows ranging from 0 to 10-below over both of the regions [Greene and Columbia counties]. It’s definitely going to get pretty cold over the next couple of days.” A wind chill advisory is in effect for much of Columbia and Greene counties until 1 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Wind chills, when the cold air and wind combine to lower the

JADA KITSON/COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Temperatures will reach below zero over the next few days in the Twin Counties, according to the National Weather Service.

temperature, are expected to range from 0 to minus 25 degrees. These conditions can cause frostbite in as little as 30 minutes to exposed skin, according

to the National Weather Service. “Even into the weekend, we’re looking at pretty cold temperatures, although not quite as cold as Thursday

night,” Cebulko said. “We’re still looking at lows in the single digits or just See COLD A12

Plan to haul trash to Lafarge plant under fire By Melanie Lekocevic Columbia-Greene Media

COEYMANS — Local officials and environmental advocates voiced their vehement opposition Wednesday to a proposed plan that if enacted, would send 116,000 tons of garbage to the Lafarge Cement Plant each year for incineration. Town and county officials, along with local environmental advocates, held a standing-room-only press conference at Coeymans Town Hall on Wednesday morning to discuss the proposal that was revealed by a Pennsylvania environmental lawyer two weeks ago. Mike Ewall, executive director with the Energy Justice Network, informed town officials that Lafarge was included in a proposal by Mustang Renewable Power Ventures as one of three

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MELANIE LEKOCEVIC/COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Officials and advocates held a press conference at Coeymans Town Hall opposing a proposal to burn 116,000 tons of trash at the Lafarge plant each year.

options considered by the state of Connecticut to deal with trash from 70 towns with the impending closure of

ORDER NOW 518-819-8225

an existing incinerator. It was the first time local officials had been told of the proposal.

Jefferson

ADJACENT TO

“What is not recycled would be sent to the Lafarge plant in Ravena where it would be shredded and then burned in the cement kiln. We just learned about this two weeks ago from a national environmental group in Pennsylvania,” said Judith Enck, an environmental advocate with Rensselaer County and a former official with the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The proposal refers to the trash as a “process engineered fuel” that is an alternative, renewable fuel for cement kilns. “This is basically shredding garbage and then burning it, but putting a fancy name on it,” Enck said. An estimated 116,000 tons of Connecticut waste would be sent to the plant, “and it would be for 30 years,” See TRASH A12


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