Community Power Segment 4 airing this week on WGXC!

Tune in to WGXC this week for the fourth segment in the Community Power series. In the coming weeks, I'll be posting each segment that has aired already on Soundcloud, so that you can listen to them at your leisure.

• Part I: Wednesday, July 15 at 6:15 PM
  The first part of my interview with Pam Kline, organizer of Farmers and Families for Livingston, in which we talk about her restoration of her home, a Dutch farmhouse from the colonial era, which is along the proposed route of power line upgrades.
• Part II: Thursday, July 16 at 6:15 PM
  "The second part of my interview with Pam Kline, organizer of Farmers and Families for Livingston (http://www.farmersandfamiliesforlivingston.com/), in which we talk about the organizing of resistance to proposed the Energy Superhighway's local impacts.

Latest Employment figures for Columbia and Greene Counties

If you want more numbers (and who doesn't?) than were on offer in this story, you can look at the Labor Department's State and Area Unemployment Rates here. Otherwise, know this: Columbia County remains among the counties with the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 4.5% in September, while Greene County's unemployment rate was 5.7%. Both counties saw significant reductions in their unemployment rates from the previous September, dropping from 5.9% and 7.4%, respectively. Unfortunately, in both cases, although the number of unemployed fell, so did the number of employed. The former outweighed the latter in both counties, thus the reduction in the unemployment rate. In September there were about 400 fewer unemployed, but also 300 fewer employed in Columbia County, while in Greene County there were also 400 fewer unemployed with only 100 fewer employed. So, once again, lower unemployment rates hide something else: either people leaving the county or just leaving the workforce.

More interesting discussions of Ginsberg's

This past Wednesday, October 15, the Columbia County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) held a meeting at which the Payment in Lieu of Taxes arrangement for the facility being proposed by Ginsberg's in Ghent and Claverack was to be discussed. As predicted, it was well attended. A large crowd showed up, many of whom were Ginsberg's employees or people who work with Ginsberg's. Ken Flood in his role as IDA Executive Director, asserted that the project would create $10 in benefits for the county for each dollar of incentives. The main points made by opponents of the PILOT for this project is that it wasn't at all clear that Ginsberg's needed it. David Ginsberg cited an example of a competitor receiving $18.5 million in tax breaks to build a comparable facility. Residents argued that the deal would pace a burden on school and property tax payers. The latter is a little fuzzy, since there's no one paying taxes on the property now. The proposed deal means that that would continue for the first six years, with payments kicking in afterwards. More will be revealed, I guess. No word yet when a final decision will be made.

Show #027 Is it hot in here, or is it me? Tomorrow morning at 10!

Join me for local News, the Paul Ryan budget, and reactions to the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed rules for reducing carbon emissions! Listen at 90.7 FM in Greene and Columbia counties or on line at wgxc.org. I will talk at you then!

Latest housing market news for Columbia and Greene Counties

Source: Median home prices up statewide and even higher in lower Hudson Valley - Lohud Real Estate - Politics on the Hudson.

Detailed data from the April report from the New York State Association of Realtors is here. In Columbia County, there were fewer listings in April than the prior year and about the same number of sales. The median sales price rose by about 7% in the previous year to $235k, $20k above the New York State median, and inventory* fell from over twenty-two months to less than sixteen. In Greene County, there were also fewer listings but the number of sales jumped by a third. The median sale price was only slightly higher than the previous year, and at $165k, well below the Columbia County and New York State levels. Nevertheless, inventory also dropped significantly in Greene County from nearly twenty-eight moths to under twenty-one. Overall, then a continued improvement in our area, with prices continuing to lag in Greene County.



* measured by dividing the number of homes for sale by the current sales per month.