By DIANE VALDEN
COPAKE—Three people were hurt in a two-vehicle crash at 159 Yonderview Road, September 27 at 4:52 p.m.
Hillsdale firefighters, the Community Rescue Squad and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched.
Haunna Sniffen, 26, of Millerton was driving a 2012 Volkswagen northbound on Yonderview Road. Ann McChord, 88, of Ghent was driving a 2016 Honda southbound.
Sheriff’s Office Captain Kevin Skype told The Columbia Paper this week, that the McChord vehicle was making a left turn into a driveway when it crossed into the path of the oncoming Sniffen vehicle and they collided.
The Community Rescue Squad took a passenger in Sniffen vehicle to Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington, MA; Northern Dutchess Paramedics took Ms. McChord and the Chatham Rescue Squad took a passenger in the McChord vehicle, both to the Berkshire Medical Center, Pittfield, MA, for treatment of injuries.
Ms. McChord was ticketed for failure to yield the right of way.
Firefighters were back in service at 6:19 p.m.
Austerlitz
Austerlitz and Spencertown firefighters along with the Community and Chatham rescue squads and State Police were dispatched by Columbia 911 for an accident involving a tractor trailer on State Route 22 in the area of Fog Hill Road, October 4 at 2:36 p.m.
First arriving units on scene found the truck blocking the entrance to Fog Hill Road after colliding with several trees and a truck towing a camper, according to a Spencertown Fire Company Facebook post.
The operator of the tractor trailer was able get out of the truck cab before collapsing in the road due to injuries sustained. The occupants of the truck with the camper were not hurt.
One lane of traffic on NYS Route 22 was closed during the duration of the incident.
The operator of the vehicle was transported by ambulance to the Albany Medical Center by the Chatham and Community Rescue Squad.
Units that responded were: Spencertown Rescue 51-46, Austerlitz Engine 80-12, Austerlitz Fire Police, Austerlitz cars 1 and 2, Red Rock cars 1 and 2, Chatham and Community rescue squads and State Police, according to the post. Units were back in service at 6:28 p.m.
To contact Diane Valden email dvalden@columbiapaper.com
New assessment team helps identify domestic threats
HUDSON—The Columbia County Threat Assessment Team is up and running, according to a September 25 press release from Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Matt Murell.
“The main functions of the Columbia County Threat Assessment and Management Team are to ensure there are ways to report threats of domestic terrorism in the county, that we educate the public, that we support victims of targeted violence, and to assist with someone or a company managing domestic terrorism activity,” Director of Emergency Management David W. Harrison and County Sheriff Donald Krapf said in the release.
“This is an opportunity to have multi-faceted organizations come together for the improvement and protection of…those in Columbia County and surrounding areas,” Sheriff Krapf said.
Following a May 2022 Executive Order from New York State Governor Kathy Hochul calling on all counties and New York City to develop and maintain a domestic terrorism prevention plan to identify and confront threats of domestic terrorism, Chairman Murell appointed Director Harrison and Sheriff Krapf to co-lead the newly-formed threat assessment team.
“Since January 2023, it’s been a matter of putting a team together, developing an operating policy and guidelines, and applying for state grant funding. We did receive $175,000, which enabled us to do things such as hire a consultant to assist with putting the policy together, as well as training on doing threat assessment,” Director Harrison said in the release.
Many of the departments that worked on the plan were asked to transition into the Columbia County Threat Assessment and Management Team (CCTAM).
The team relies on public reporting of a threat, concern, suspicious activity to undertake an assessment. Reports are considered confidential, as well as anonymous in nature if so requested.
As an example, said Director Harrison, “If someone, or a company or organization, is dealing with concerning activity, CCTAM can assist. Perhaps a company has an employee that seems to be exhibiting targeted violence behavior, talking as though they’ve been radicalized or talking about committing violence. If they contact us, we may be able to help assess the situation and provide them with resources to manage it.”
CCTAM is a collaborative group of Columbia County public, government, human services, non-profit, religious, education, law enforcement and private entities. From the county, these include: the Sheriff’s Office, the Office of Emergency Management and its religious liaison chaplains, 911, the EMS Coordinator’s Office, the Fire Coordinator’s Office, the County Attorney’s Office, the Department of Health, the Probation Department, Managed Information Systems, the Human Resources Department, the Coroner’s Office, the Office for the Aging, and the Department of Social Services.
Also involved are the NYS Police, the NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, the six county school districts, Columbia-Greene Community College, the Columbia-Greene Humane Society, Mental Health Association of Columbia & Greene Counties, Columbia Memorial Health, Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, among a number of others.
To learn more about the threat assessment team and/or to file a report of a perceived domestic terroristic threat, visit the CCTAM website at https://cctam.columbiacountyny.com
If violence is imminent, call 911. Otherwise, report concerning activity by calling the Columbia County Domestic Terrorism line at 518-697-5557.