Ulster County (NY)

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    New York Resident Dies of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Infection

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    Gov. Kathy Hochul declared the mosquito-borne illness a public health threat after the first confirmed case in the state in nearly a decade resulted in a death.The first person to be diagnosed with Eastern equine encephalitis in New York in nearly a decade has died, prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare the rare, mosquito-borne viral illness an imminent public health threat on Monday.Ms. Hochul announced the death, in Ulster County, in a news release outlining the steps that state officials are taking to reduce New Yorkers’ risk of exposure to the disease, also known as E.E.E.The death in New York appears to be the second linked to E.E.E. this year in the United States. The first involved a 41-year-old New Hampshire man who died in August. Human cases of the disease have also been reported this year in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Ten human cases of E.E.E. had been reported nationwide as of Sept. 17, before the New York case was confirmed, according to the C.D.C.New York officials have not provided details about the Ulster County resident, who was confirmed as having the illness on Sept. 20. The infection was the first human case of E.E.E. in New York since 2015.To combat the disease’s spread, Ms. Hochul said, the state’s parks agency will make mosquito repellent available to visitors at its offices, visitor centers and campgrounds; post signs at parks and historic sites to raise awareness about E.E.E.; and consult with local health departments about limiting park hours and camping availability during times of peak mosquito activity.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Elections

      This ‘I Voted’ Sticker Has 6 Legs, 2 Eyes and 158,500 Votes

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      “This is how we all feel about politics right now,” a Twitter user wrote of one submission for a New York county’s “I voted” sticker design contest.Ashley Dittus, an election official in Ulster County, N.Y., vividly remembers her excitement when the first submission for this year’s countywide youth “I voted” sticker design contest appeared in her email this spring. The entry, from Hudson Rowan, 14, was an electric concoction of colors: a pink and purple and turquoise creature with a wild bloodshot stare, a toothy neon grin and spiderlike legs. To the right, scrawled in red letters: I VOTED.Ms. Dittus, the county’s Democratic commissioner of elections, immediately printed out the design and started showing it to people in her office. Everyone’s reaction was the same, she said: It made them smile.“This design is colorful and crazy and kind of weird,” she said. “It’s just not what you think of when you think of a traditional ‘I voted’ sticker, so we all kind of love it.”The Republican election commissioner, John Quigley, agreed. “I found it best when someone tweeted, ‘This is how we all feel about politics right now,’” he wrote in an email.The response to his submission surprised Hudson, who will start his first year at Rondout Valley High School this fall.After his mother persuaded him to enter the competition, he said in an interview, he didn’t dwell much on it, thinking his interpretation wasn’t “classically” patriotic but wanting it to reflect his style anyway.The creature in his drawing has been described as many things, he said, but he’s not exactly sure how to describe it himself. Besides, he said, “it’s more just for the individual to decide what it is.”“Politics right now in the world is all kinds of crazy,” he added, “and I feel like the creature that I drew kind of resembles the craziness of politics and the world right now.”Whatever it is, the “chaotic, random lines” of his drawing, as he describes it, have resonated with many online.Since voting for the winning entry began in July, Hudson’s entry has received more than 158,500 votes, out of the about 169,500 total votes cast — completely overtaking last year’s roughly 2,200 votes. The county has a population of about 180,000 people and about 122,000 active registered voters, but the contest is not limited to county residents.Hudson’s mother, Molly Rowan, said in an interview that she had encouraged him to enter the competition as a way to get him more civically engaged. “I just thought it would be a good way to be involved with politics and a community at the age that he’s at,” she said.“Hudson has always drawn with a lot of feeling,” she said. “I love that he stayed true to his style.”Hudson is one of six finalists whose logos are up for a public vote that will close on July 29. The five runners-up will have their designs printed on stickers for the special election in August. But only the winning logo, which will be announced on Aug. 1, will receive an award from the Ulster County Legislature and appear on stickers distributed in the county’s general election on Nov. 8.Launched last year as part of the election office’s youth engagement initiatives, the contest is open to the county’s 13- to 18-year-olds, Ms. Dittus said, with submissions accepted from early April through the end of June.For its first two years, it was slow to take off, with only 14 submissions this year and 12 last year — until interest in Hudson’s design exploded online.On top of coverage from local and national media, the design has garnered a number of fans on Twitter and TikTok. Ms. Dittus said she hopes that the attention will lead to increased interest from teenagers in the county around voting and that more youth-oriented initiatives will be launched by elections offices across the country.“We just want to leave our mark in the realm of civic engagement so that people know that, No. 1, that we exist and that we’re here as a resource for all voters and people that are interested in voting,” she said.As for Hudson, he’s planning on spending the summer before starting the ninth grade visiting his grandparents, hanging out with his friends and dabbling in new drawings.“I’m trying to think up some ideas,” he said. “You’ll see.”Ana Ley More