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Region A3Opinion A4State/Nation A5Obituaries A5Sports B1Classified B4Comics/Advice B7-B8

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Register-StarCopyright 2020, Columbia-Greene Media All Rights Reserved

Volume 236, No. 256 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020

Traffic stopDutchess County man held

in Columbia County Jail A3

The nation’s second-oldest newspaper • Serving Columbia and Dutchess counties since 1785

— #6 — — #5 —

TOP 10 STORIES OF 2020 COUNTDOWNThrough the end of the year, the Register-Star and The Daily Mail will be featuring its top 10 stories of 2020,

based on HudsonValley360.com’s website analytics, which measures readership.

n SPORTS

New England no match for BillsInside Gillette Stadium represented the end of one era and the begin-ning of another.

PAGE B1

By Nora MishanecColumbia-Greene Media

The city woke up to a pair of familiar faces Tuesday.

Al Roker and Savannah Guthrie filmed “Today” on Warren Street in the early hours of the morning, surrounded by Hudson’s picturesque shops and church steeples.

The broadcast, which marked the first time that Roker and Guthrie had been together in person in more than three months, put a spotlight on the re-opening efforts of local businesses.

Guthrie praised downtown Hudson’s

beauty and said “Today” sought to high-light a quintessential river town in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I hope there’s traffic on the Taconic, all the people driving up here right now,” Guthrie said.

Production managers first scouted locations on Thursday and spent the following day walking on Warren Street with Mayor Kamal Johnson to plan the logistics of the shoot.

The location in front of Nolita’s Cafe was chosen for its hillside view of the

‘Today’ visits Hudson, praises city’s resilience

Mary Dempsey/Columbia-Greene Media

Savannah Guthrie, left, and Al Roker of “Today” share a laugh as they reunite on air for a special broadcast from Nolita’s Cafe in Hudson.

By Bill WilliamsColumbia-Greene Media

FREEHOLD — A massive fire in Greene County destroyed a house Saturday and threatened adjacent buildings in Freehold.

Freehold and Greenville firefight-ers responded to reports of a large brush fire at 1:54 p.m. Saturday, at 3493 County Route 67, after being dispatched by Greene County 911.

Initial reports indicated the fire was located behind a house at Smiley’s Equipment. Police re-sponded to the scene at the request

of firefighters, to make sure the home’s occupants were evacuated.

The fire spread quickly, engulfing the home.

The flames appeared to spread to some of the equipment on the property. Small explosions could be heard coming from the fire scene. The cause of the explosions is not yet known.

Fire officials put in a call for mutual aid, including a battalion response for tankers. A tanker fill station was set up at the Freehold

Fire destroys Freehold home, property

Bill Williams/Columbia-Greene Media

A fire destroyed a home in Freehold on Saturday.

See TODAY A2 See FIRE A2

By Kate LisaJohnson Newspaper Corp.

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a four-month ban on evictions and residential mortgage foreclosures into law Monday night, after both parties clashed in a rare December legislative session and denied multiple amend-ments posed by Republicans, to pass the measure as the coronavirus pandemic will persist through much of 2021.

The COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020 passed both houses of the state Legisla-ture to block eviction proceedings with a moratorium through May 1, after Cuo-mo’s executive order halting evictions expired in September.

The state measure, which first passed through the Senate’s Housing, Construc-tion and Community Development and Rules committees and the Judiciary and Rules committees in the Assembly on Monday afternoon, is aimed at protect-ing tenants and homeowners facing fi-nancial hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legislation requires tenants, homeowners and small landlords own-ing 10 rental properties or fewer to

submit a legal declaration of financial hardship. The declaration will halt evic-tion proceedings that started within 30 days of the effective date of the legislation for at least 60 days, or a two-month mora-torium.

“This by no means solves the prob-lem,” Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, D-Queens, said from the floor. “We have not provided real relief to help people pay their rent and retain their housing. The last thing we want to allow

is to allow people to become homeless by the thousands.”

The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 96-50, and 91-55 in the Assembly.

Between 800,000 and 1.2 million households are behind in paying rent of the state’s 4.1 million tenant households, lawmakers said, citing statistics from state housing agencies.

The bill will prevent evicting people from their homes — a public health threat as COVID-19 cases, hospitaliza-tions and deaths continue to rise across the state and nation, Gianaris said.

Both Democrat-led houses reached an agreement on the legislation over the weekend, Cuomo said during a coro-navirus briefing in the state Capitol on Monday, before voicing support for the measure.

“We have an agreement and as soon as that bill is passed, I’ll sign it,” the governor said. “We want to make sure that homeowners are protected, that it doesn’t affect their credit rating, there’s no mortgage foreclosure. We want to get to May 1 and we’ll see what happens by May, but we want to protect tenants.

Parties clash over NY extended eviction moratorium

File photo

The New York State Capitol in Albany. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a four-month ban on evictions and residential mortgage foreclosures into law Monday night.

See CLASH A2

n NATION

Trump lashes out at GOPTrump takes aim at fellow Republicans over election grievances and baseless claims of voter fraud

PAGE A5

n NATION

COVID cancels Biden lunchThe committee planning Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremonies canceled the traditional inaugural lunch

PAGE A5

By Natasha VaughnColumbia-Greene Media

HUDSON — Several local businesses are allowing em-ployees to wear plastic face shields and health authorities say they might not be as safe as face masks in protecting against the novel coronavirus.

Store employees at Han-naford Supermarket in Livings-ton, ShopRite in Hudson and Lowe’s in Greenport have been seen wearing clear face shields instead of face masks.

Plastic face shields, which are affixed to the wearer’ head with a headband, may not pro-tect against COVID-19 as well as face masks, according to the

Columbia County Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-tion.

“The face shield’s as not as protective as a mask is,” Jack Mabb, director of the Columbia County Department of Health, said Tuesday. “It is an alterna-tive that the CDC allows for in-dividuals who truly can’t wear a mask.”

Businesses must require their employees to wear a face covering, but a business is not violating any laws or rules if the employee is wearing a shield, Mabb said.

“It’s not a best practice, if you will,” Mabb said, “but it’s not

breaking any of the governor’s orders because it is a face cover-ing. It is somewhat protective, but it’s not ideal.”

The governor’s mandate requires that any person older than two years who is able to medically tolerate a face cover-ing is required to cover their nose and mouth with a mask or face covering when in a public place where they are unable to maintain social distance. Face coverings can include, but are not limited to, cloth masks — including homemade, sewn, quick cut or bandana — surgical masks and N-95 respirators, ac-cording to the state’s COVID-19

Authorities: Face masks edge shields

See MASKS A2Lance Wheeler/For Columbia-Greene Media

The ShopRite store in Greenport.