Business Briefs
REconnecting people with the outdoors Poughkeepsie A public listening session on President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative will be held Friday, Aug. 6, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Marist College Student Center in Poughkeepsie. The session and discussion are an opportunity for leaders of the initiative to hear from voices in the Hudson Valley about solutions for building a 21st-century conservation and recreation agenda and for reconnecting people with the outdoors. Senior representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies will be present. This event is free and open to the public. Pre-register by Tuesday, Aug. 3 by sending an email to joseph.heller@ny.usda.gov. Anyone unable to participate in person should submit their comments and stories at www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors. For more information call Heller at 883-7162, ext. 104. Hospice now offers Caregiver Support Group Newburgh Hospice of Orange & Sullivan Counties, Inc. is now offering a new Caregiver Support Group for caregivers of chronically ill or terminally ill loved ones. This support group is open to the community and will meet at the hospice, located at 800 Stony Brook Court, in Newburgh, starting on Wednesday, Aug. 11, at 5 p.m. Following the initial meeting, the support group will meet every month on the following dates: Sept. 8, Oct. 6, Nov. 3 and Dec. 1. For more information call Eva Ottesen at 561-6111. Tax cap, sugar tax on special session agenda ALBANY, N.Y. Gov. David Paterson is forcing the Legislature to reconsider some of his ideas that have already been rejected. Paterson announced the agenda for the session he called for July 28 to finally close the state budget that was due April 1. Items on the agenda include his proposed cap on local property taxes, a plan to allow the public universities to set higher tuition without legislative approval, a tax on sugar products and authorization to sell wine in grocery stores. The Democrat-led Senate needs to approve a single revenue bill to complete the budget. Paterson added the additional items. When a governor calls an extraordinary session compelling the Legislature back into session the governor sets the agenda.