Philipstown for Democacy, part of the recently-formed Hudson Valley Consortium for Impeachment, is sponsoring a protest rally at 1:45 p.m. tomorrow at the historic Putnam County Courthouse on Gleneida Avenue.

Participants want to educate the public about the process and the need to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Bush and the vice president. They expect to tape the event and broadcast it on YouTube.

The above comes courtesy of our intrepid western Putnam reporter, Barbara Nackman.

The Hudson Valley’s own Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today officially endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton’s bid for president. The campaign said he is scheduled to campaign with her in Eastern Iowa today.

â€Å“Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience to bring the war in Iraq to an end and reverse the potentially devastating effects of global warming,â€? Kennedy said in a statement. â€Å“I watched proudly as Hillary won over New Yorkers across the state in her race for the Senate seat my father once held. Since then, she’s been reelected in a landslide victory and proven that she is ready to lead this nation from her first day in office. Hillary will inspire the real change America needs.â€?

Kennedy serves as Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and President of Waterkeeper Alliance. He is also a Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney at Pace University School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic and is co-host of Ring of Fire on Air America Radio.

After nearly 5 years without a contract, corrections officers in Putnam are preparing to vote on a tentative agreement with the county.

Stalled contracts in the sheriff’s department have demoralized staff, cost the county more in overtime and turned Putnam into a training ground for other departments, Sheriff Donald Smith has told county officials.

The 72-member Putnam Sheriff’s Employee Association has been without a contract since January 2003. The union includes correction officers, clerical workers, dispatchers and cooks at the county jail.

The major sticking point in negotiations has involved health-care insurance for retirees.

Adam Sandler played it serious in the courtroom scene from “Big Daddy,” shot in the Yonkers City Council Chamber in the late 1990s. But it was another movie that City Council President Chuck Lesnick and supporters of a proposed living-wage law hoped to conjure up yesterday.

A â€Å“Mr. K. Kringle of North Yonkersâ€? had signed up to testify at yesterday’s public hearing on the legislation. Nearing the end of the list of speakers, City Clerk Joan Deierlein seemed a little mystified as she looked around the room and called his name. Moments later, Kris Kringle appeared bearing a canvas bag stuffed with 1,000 letters supporting the bill, which he then presented to Deierlein. If you don’t know by now, it was reminiscent of another movie courtroom scene, this one from the holiday classic, â€Å“Miracle on 34th Street.â€?

In his Yonkers testimony yesterday, Kringle touted the law which would set a base hourly wage of $11.85 for those working in affected workplaces. And then, before returning to his home in North Yonkers, Kringle presented a lump of coal to Mayor Phil Amicone who has been skeptical about the law.

Today mayoral spokesman David Simpson suggested that Santa made a mistake with Amicone’s coal, however. “I wish he had checked his list twice,” Simpson said.

  Fans and critics of Eliot Spitzer will be running out to newsstands today to grab the new Vanity Fair magazine (or going to http://www.vanityfair.com) to view veteran political journalist David Margolick’s take on the governor’s first year in office. 
    Like other observers, Margolick comments on the huge promise Spitzer came into office with almost a year ago, which he then then seemed to fritter it all away in a series of political blunders caused mostly by his overweening ego and taste for battle. But he concludes that the freshman governor may still present the best chance to actually change the Capitol’s famously dysfunctional culture.

  But unlike newspaper commentaries, Margolick gets to strinkle his tome with obscenties that tansmit more of the flavor of some of the governor’s confrontations.

Don’t miss this story this morning from Jonathan Bandler and Jorge Fitz-gibbon that details how the Mount Vernon Urban Renewal Agency loaned $617,000 in 2002 to rehabilitate a property on which he had worked as a private architect, and for which he was still owed money. Davis maintains the deal was proper. The URA has been trying to foreclose on the property, claiming the owner has since defaulted on the loan.

Meanwhile, in separate stories, Desiree Grand details the lawsuit filed  by the fired Fire Commissioner and new layoffs—and sudden vacations —at City Hall.

As the Republican presidential contenders get set to take part in tonight’s CNN/YouTube debate from St. Petersburg, Fla., the Democrats find themselves with one less contest on their schedule.

The Democratic National Committee has canceled the Dec. 10 presidential debate in Los Angeles because of a potential strike by CBS news writers.

â€Å“Due to the uncertainty created by the ongoing labor dispute between CBS and the Writers Guild of America, the DNC has canceled the December 10 debate in Los Angeles. There are no plans to reschedule,â€? DNC Communications Director Karen Finney said in a statement.

The Politico’s Ben Smith posted a story this afternoon raising questions about Rudy Giuliani’s expenses as mayor of New York City.

According to the story, Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses that were amassed during the time he was beginning an extramarital relationship with Judith Nathan. Many of the expenses came from trips the then-mayor took to the Hamptons, where Nathan lived.

Hillary Clinton has locked up the support of most of New York’s top Democratic officials, but that’s not stopping Barack Obama from trying to have at least some impact in the state.

The latest evidence of that comes Thursday when he hosts a fundraiser at the famed Apollo Theater on 125th street. The event, which is being billed by the campaign as “A Night at the Apollo,” begins at 7 p.m. with tickets costing $50.

It’s Obama’s first trip to Harlem since he announced his presidential campaign in February.

Westchester Legislator Michael Kaplowitz, a Somers Democrat, will have a new role in the legislature when the session begins in January – vice chairman.

Kaplowitz, who currently chairs the Board of Legislators’ powerful Budget and Appropriations Committee, will take over the post being vacated by Clinton Young, the mayor-elect of Mount Vernon.

The selection of Kaplowitz as vice chairman was made during a caucus of Democratic legislators Monday night. The Democrats also decided, as expected, to re-elect Legislator Bill Ryan as board chairman and Legislator Martin Rogowsky as the majority leader. Legislator Judy Myers was voted to the post of majority whip.

Republicans are sticking with Legislator George Oros as minority leader. Legislator Jim Maisano of New Rochelle will serve as minority whip.

The new post for Kaplowitz, however, may just be temporary. The buzz in the legislature this week has Kaplowitz challenging Assemblyman Greg Ball, a Republican, next fall.

Kaplowitz, who lost a bid to unseat state Sen. Vincent Leibell in 2006, sidestepped questions today about his political future, saying he wanted to get through the county’s ongoing budget process before making any decisions.

“Everything is on the table,” Kaplowitz added.