The new law will allow discrimination complaints to be heard locally rather than at the state level. A local administrative law judge can award up to $25,000 in damages.

Ulster County will have three elections this year, at a total cost of around $1 million.

Kingston mayor talks about building projects, says city will take on gentrification.

County Executive Mike Hein’s surprise announcement last week that he’s stepping down to take a post in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, along with a quirk in the county charter, has upended Ulster County’s political scene as candidates emerge for a novel  back-to-back electoral contest to succeed him.

This is not going to be an amicable divorce.

VanBlarcum lost the sheriff’s race by a decisive 6,367 votes. But compare that with the county totals in the congressional race, where John Faso lost by three times as much, and that doesn’t look so bad. In a less politically engaged year, he might have won.

The city is putting together a zoning task force and is seeking qualified applicants to volunteer their time to work on multiple facets of Kingston’s zoning-related issues.

Noble is likely to touch on 2019’s zero-growth budget, a pending merger between Ulster County Area Transit and Citibus and last month’s passage of a municipal ID law sought by immigration rights advocates. Noble can also point to millions in new grant funding and the expected redevelopment of a city-owned parking lot Uptown into a mixed-use residential and commercial hub dubbed “The Kingstonian.”