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NYS Coronavirus Update

Attorney General Bill Barr Issues DOJ Memo: “The Constitution is Not Suspended in Times of Crisis”…The U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Bill Barr, has issued a memo (pdf here) citing a needed balance between COVID-19 mitigation efforts and U.S. civil rights under the constitution. Notably AG Barr identifies both “religious freedom”, and “undue interference with the national economy” within his memo.

Governor Cuomo has outlined a phased plan to safely reopen New York at the appropriate time, taking a regional approach. Phase one will be to reopen low-risk construction and manufacturing businesses in parts of the state that have experienced a 14-day decline in the hospitalization rate. Phase two will open certain industries based on priority and risk level. (Businesses considered “more essential” with inherent low risks of infection in the workplace and to the customer will be prioritized.) Officials are closely monitoring the hospitalization rate, the infection rate, and other key health indicators, and will make adjustments to the plan based on this crucial data.

Washington County was able to distribute OVER 8,000 cloth face coverings and get them in to the hands of many in our communities who need them.

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NYS Coronavirus Update

NY State has released the preliminary results from the state’s antibody study. The survey developed a baseline infection rate by testing 3,000 people at grocery stores and other box stores over two days in 19 counties and 40 localities across the state. The preliminary results show 13.9% were positive for COVID-19 antibodies. As more detailed results come in, NY State has indicated that it will share these results.

Congress is finally replenishing President Trump’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Operated by the Small Business Administration, the PPP ensures that employers can continue to pay workers and cover costs during the global coronavirus outbreak.

Seven more big cats at the Bronx Zoo have now tested positive for Coronavirus. Earlier this month, a four-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia tested positive for the virus. Now three lions and five tigers have tested positive. The cats are behaving and eating normally.

Certain types of pets can catch the coronavirus.

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Boat Inspection Program to Start May 21st

The Lake George Park Commission has amended its decision on the opening date of the Mandatory Boat Inspection Program on Lake George.

The inspection program will now begin on Thursday, May 21, ahead of the busy Memorial Day weekend. However, there are already boat launches open on Lake George.

People can launch their boats before the Mandatory Boat Inspection Program starts and many public launches are now open. Remember, it is always the boater’s responsibility to arrive “Clean, Drained, Dry” – but that is even more critical until the inspection program is started for the season.

Up until this year, the Park Commission has started this program on May 1st.

Congratulations on one small bit of normalcy that accompanies this welcome decision.

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NYS Coronavirus Update

New York will allow golfers to hit the course and boaters to hit the water during the coronavirus pandemic after all. Empire State Development, the state authority in charge of determining essential and nonessential businesses, updated its guidance for golf courses, allowing them to open. This past weekend, New York joined the states of Connecticut and New Jersey in opening up marinas, boatyards and boat launches for recreational use.

The Lake George Park Commission will hold their next meeting via teleconference. Tuesday, April 28, 2020 at 10:00 am. Boats have already been seen in Lake George.

Assemblyman Dan Stec (R,C,I-Queensbury) today applauded the announcement by Governor Cuomo that New York State will use a regional approach to reopening New York State’s economy. This move comes on the heels of the bipartisan advocacy of Assemblyman Stec, local and regional leaders and area small business owners to abandon a one-size-fits-all approach for one that more accurately reflects the situation on the ground in different parts of the state.

“I welcome the Governor’s announcement that our state will reopen region-by-region,” Stec said. “As I’ve personally said to the Governor’s office during daily updates and heard from local business owners and elected officials, we need to acknowledge that the needs of the North Country and other parts of the state at this time are simply not the same as the needs of New York City and downstate suburbs. Today’s announcement is a sign that the Governor has listened and is responding to what I and so many upstate leaders have said and encouraged.”

DEC personnel from across agency divisions and regions statewide continue to support the State’s response to the COVID-19 public health crisis. Personnel from more than 20 New York State agencies are working on response efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. DEC Forest Rangers’ expertise in the Incident Command System (ICS) and experience in applying ICS to wide area searches and large wildland fire have made them a key part of this statewide effort.

A statewide antibody testing survey has now begun. This survey will randomly sample 3,000 New Yorkers to estimate the percentage of the population that has already had COVID-19 and may now be immune. This will be the first true snapshot of what NY is dealing with.

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Bigfoot Wears a Mask


The sculpture on Route 4 in Whitehall now has the Bigfoots wearing masks and holding a sign asking people to “Stay Back 6 feet.” (Click image to see larger version.)

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NYS Coronavirus Update

Starting last night (Friday, April 17th) at 8 PM, if you are in a public space where social distancing is not possible, you MUST cover your mouth and nose in New York. This week Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an Executive Order requiring all people in New York to wear a mask or a face covering when out in public and in situations where social distancing cannot be maintained, such as on public transportation.

The Governor has said he will sign an Executive Order directing all public and private labs in New York to coordinate with the State Department of Health to prioritize Coronavirus diagnostic testing. A key component to “un-pause” New York is ramping up the state’s testing capacity. The Executive Order will help ensure the 301 laboratories and hospitals in the state that are licensed to perform virology testing operate in a coordinated way to help get us reachthe testing capacity we need.

The Federal government has announced new guidelines for reopening states:

The Opening Up America Again guidelines say states that show a downward trend in COVID-19 cases will be able to reopen restaurants, bars, theaters, workplaces, sporting centers and gyms as soon as May 1st.

Phase 1: which recommends continued social distancing, closure of schools, teleworking and sheltering in place for vulnerable individuals. Non-essential travel would be discouraged, public establishments should remain closed and visits to nursing homes and hospitals should remain prohibited, the guidelines warn. “If a vulnerable population needs to return to work, there should be special accommodations for all vulnerable populations. If the schools are already closed, they should remain closed,” Dr Deborah Birx said. “All visits to senior living facilities should continue to be prohibited. Large venues can only be operated under strict physical distancing protocols. Gyms could open if they adhere to strict physical distancing.”

Phase 2: allows schools, and restaurants to reopen with diminished occupancy. Non-essential travel can resume, and people can gather in groups no larger than 50, but teleworking is still encouraged. “This is for the employers. We still would like to encourage telework, and the common areas should remain closed or be physically distant,” Dr Deborah Birx said. “Visits to senior living facilities however should remain and hospitals prohibited.”

Phase 3: allows workplaces to reopen with no restrictions, and visits to senior care centers and hospitals can resume. “It is essentially returning to our new normal. With all of the what we talked about through all phases: continuing the good hygiene practices, continuing the respect for spaces between individuals, because we know that we still have an issue with asymptomatic spread,” Dr. Birx said.

President Trump Comments Today on Governor Cuomo’s ‘Complaining’ & NY’s Terrible Coronavirus Numbers

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NYS Coronavirus Update

“New York on PAUSE” will be extended until May 15th. Non-essential workers must continue to stay home and social distancing rules remain in place. Governor Cuomo says that New York will re-evaluate after this additional closure period.

Assemblyman Dan Stec (R,C,I-Queensbury), who is running for State Senate in the 45th District, today issued the following statement concerning Governor Cuomo’s plan to continue “New York State on Pause” through May 15:

“While I understand the need to be cautious during these uncertain times, the Governor’s decision is both a bit premature and fails to recognize the need for some regional-based strategies.

The state was already on pause until April 29. There was no need, with two weeks remaining in that time frame, to extend this pause until mid-May. As we’ve all seen, most recently, with the threat of seizing ventilators that became unnecessary within a few days, the situation with the coronavirus pandemic changes from day-to-day and week-to-week, so this decision could have waited until more information comes in.

But more importantly, and I expressed this today to the Governor’s office, our upstate economy simply cannot continue to be tethered to the situations in New York City and downstate suburbs. I fully understand keeping a pause on operations in that part of the state, but our region has not been hit anywhere near as hard and plans going forward need to reflect that the situation on the ground isn’t the same everywhere.

Our region’s economy was already lagging before this crisis hit and is now more vulnerable than ever. The 45th Senate District has been fortunate enough to avoid bearing the brunt of COVID-19 cases, and as long as the risk of exposure remains low in this and other areas upstate, we need to start reopening our economy.

I’ve heard the message loud and clear from small business owners in this district that a pause until May 15 could sink their business for good. We need to avoid these situations and taking a regional-based approach to this pause is just common sense.”

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NYS Coronavirus Update


Slide from Governor Cuomo’s press conference today mandating people have face coverings in public beginning Friday April 17th.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that he is ordering all people to have a face covering while in public and that they must wear it when they are in a situation where they cannot maintain social distancing. The executive order will take effect on Friday after a three-day grace period, Governor Cuomo said at his daily news conference in Albany.

Glens Falls Hospital announced yesterday that effective immediately, the Whitehall Medical Center will be temporarily CLOSED until further notice. See the announcement here.

President Trump said the administration was halting funding to the World Health Organization, the international body that said in January that COVID-19 could not be spread by human-to-human contact.

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Four School Board Seats Up for Vote

Four of the nine seats on the Whitehall School Board will be up for a vote in this year’s election.

Interested candidates have until Monday, April 20th at 5 pm to submit a petition to the school district clerk, Kim Manney.

Tom Baker, James Brooks, Richard Lachapelle and Pat Norton are the members whose terms are expiring. Baker was appointed to fill Michael Rocque’s seat this past October when Mr. Rocque resigned.

The election will be held on Tuesday, May 19th from noon to 8 pm at the high school.

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NYS Coronavirus Update

For the first time since NY began recording the data, the total number of hospitalizations has dipped down in New York State. We also saw a drop in the number of intubations for the second day in a row. That’s the good news; it shows that what we are doing is working. But the tragic news is that we lost 778 New Yorkers to this virus on April 14th. The number of daily fatalities has been essentially flat — but at a horrifying rate. We mourn every New Yorker we’ve lost.

Due to Coronavirus, there is a shortage of blood and blood donations are desperately needed. New York State is working with blood banks to ensure safe social distancing protocols are being followed. Learn how and where you can donate at ny.gov/donateblood.

President Trump met with former Coronavirus patients who have fully recuperated from the illness. He invited them to the White House to share their recovery stories with the American people.

First Lady Melania Trump recorded a special message for America’s children.

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DEC Forest Ranger Rescue on Black Mountain

On April 11 at 7:35 p.m., DEC’s Ray Brook Dispatch received a call from a hiker reporting his brother was overdue returning from Black Mountain in Dresden NY. The caller stated that they last saw the 15-year-old male from Hudson Falls on the summit of Black Mountain at 5:30 p.m., when he proceeded down the trail alone. The teen was reported as having only his cell phone and the clothes he was wearing.

Forest Rangers Evan Donegan and Mark St. Claire responded to the location, and at 8:15 p.m., Dispatch established text contact with the hiker and advised him to call 911. Washington County 911 got coordinates from his call, which placed him by a stream off the trail but near a road. Ranger St. Claire proceeded down the road from the trailhead where he was able to see the hiker’s cell phone light. Ranger St. Claire located the hiker, escorted him out of the woods, and gave him a ride back to the trailhead where he was met by his family. All Rangers were cleared from the scene at 9:26 p.m.

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School Enrollment Falls Again

School enrollment figures for school districts across the state were updated recently for the 2018-2019 school year (last year) and the Whitehall School District’s total enrollment fell to 699 students. This is the lowest number since I have tracked this and the first time the number has fallen below 700.

The complete enrollment figures for 2018-2019 school year can be found here.

I have been tracking and reporting on the enrollment for a number of years. To put this number of 699 students into historical context I have updated my yearly enrollment chart below:

School Year 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13
Students 885 860 858 845 815 779 753 742 755
School Year 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19
Students 757 736 736 758 708 699

The district has now reached the lowest enrollment since I have been tracking this.

During this time, local property taxes have increased every year. State aid has also increased every year. Sadly, the Board of Education has not passed on any savings from this plummeting enrollment to the local taxpayers, in spite of increased state aid during the same time period.

Instead of managing the decline in enrollment to help the taxpayer, we are in this perpetual cycle where enrollment falls and taxes go up.