radioNOVO News NY News Roundup for July 7, 2026

Good morning. Turning to news from across the Empire State.Ulster County emergency responders are mourning the sudden line-of-duty death of a dedicated community leader. Cottekill Fire Chief David Gagnon was killed Friday afternoon while responding to an emergency call involving a downed tree blocking a roadway in the town of Rosendale. Authorities report a large, damaged section of the tree unexpectedly snapped and struck Gagnon while he was working at the scene. Fire officials called his tragic passing a profound loss for his family and the entire fire district. Widespread public visitation services have been finalized for this Wednesday inside the Ulster County Community College gymnasium.Meanwhile, Albany police detectives are actively searching for suspects following a fatal weekend shooting. Officers responded late yesterday afternoon to the intersection of Washington Avenue and Sprague Place after receiving multiple frantic reports of gunfire. Responding units discovered a thirty-nine-year-old woman suffering from a critical gunshot wound to the chest, and she was tragically pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests have been made, and the victim's identity is being withheld pending family notification.In political news, Republican State Assemblyman Robert Smullen has officially announced his withdrawal from the race for the twenty-first congressional district. Smullen declined to continue campaigning on the Conservative Party line after losing the G-O-P primary nomination to technology executive Anthony Constantino. Smullen made the announcement following a private meeting with President Donald Trump and pledged his support to keep the vacant congressional seat under Republican control this November.And the New York State Department of Transportation has officially greenlit the launch of the next major phase of the multi-billion-dollar Interstate eighty-one viaduct project in Syracuse. State transit officials formally awarded an over two-billion-dollar infrastructure contract to the C-N-Y Alliance consortium. Construction crews will begin immediate operations to completely dismantle the existing elevated city viaduct structure and build a new ground-level neighborhood business loop.For more news from across the state, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News.