Times Union knows a good weather picture when they see it
Technically, it was not a tornado, since it never touched the ground, but a funnel appeared over the Kingsbury/Hudson Falls area Saturday afternoon Sept. 18. The Times Union reports that it took meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Albany by surprise, as the conditions were not really conducive to a funnel. Still, the Times Union reached out to FoothillsBusinessDaily.com for the photos taken from Lake George. Reid Kisselback of WNYT replied to our tweet—a tweet erroneously labeling it a "tornado"—that it was a “cold air funnel cloud.”
Steve Thurston (2021)
A "cold air funnel cloud" seen from Lake George, formed over Hudson Falls, Sept. 18, 2021. It never touched ground or damaged anything, so it was not, technically, a tornado.
Fewer loans to carbon emitters?
Environmental groups want Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, to rein in lending to greenhouse gas-emitting companies, the Washington Post published over the weekend. The push comes as part of a general hedge against the risks to the economy from climate change, the story says, and it would push Treasury to use a financial review process to keep Wall Street banks from lending to big carbon polluters. Although Yellen has been open to more reporting on the financial risks related to climate change, she does not appear ready to back a plan to curb banking, the story says.
Ballston Spa pot sales in, lounges out
Ballston Spa has moved to allow sales of marijuana in the village but to ban use at “cannabis lounges,” which are a bit like bars but with pot instead of alcohol, the Times Union is writing this morning. All localities in the state have two questions before them: to allow sales or not, and to allow on-premises use or not. People in town were against lounges, a survey revealed.
Unemployment Trust Fund in $9B debt
New York's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund has double the debt, roughly $9 billion, than it had at the end of the Great Recession, the Times Union is reporting. The debt is owed to the federal government, and the governor and legislators are attempting to limit the increased unemployment insurance rates that business owners may need. The state could use $5 billion in excess revenue from the America Rescue Plan to pay down the debt, the story says.
Wood pulp and scrap iron helps Port of Albany
The Port of Albany is having its best year since 2018, answering the call for wood pulp and scrap iron, the Albany Business Journal is reporting. Wood pulp by the truck- and trainload are leaving the port destined for paper and toilet paper producers in the northeast the story says. Longshoremen logged nearly 34,000 hours by Aug. 31, more than either 2019 or 2020, the story says. About 240,000 tons of material shipped through the port by the end of August, the story says.