On the move
New Paltz Central School District bus driver Tersa Faso was recently named Ulster County School Bus Driver of the Year by the MidHudson Transpor- tation Supervisors Association.
The award, which recognizes Faso’s service and safety record, is issued in conjunction with the Ulster County Traffic Safety Board and “Operation Safe STOP.”
Faso has been a driver for the NPCSD for 13 years, having started for the district as a bus attendant. The award factors in community service, which the Kerhonkson resident has achieved through Parent Teacher Association involvement, sports roster volunteerism, and more. Faso’s character and professionalism in her role were lauded in letters from students’ families noting her punctuality, dependability, caring demeanor for children, and attention to safety.
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Jasmine Graham has been hired as executive director for Mid-Hudson Energy Transition, a community choice aggregation energy program administrator, which is set to include Kingston.
At MHET, Graham “helms an organization poised to be a key leader in helping Hudson Valley communities provide equitable access to clean and healthy energy resources to their residents, especially low-income families and communities of color that disproportionately experience the most harmful effects of air pollution and climate change along with high energy costs,” the company said in an announcement.
Graham comes to the non-profit organization with more than five years of leadership experience working to advance climate and environmental justice in the clean energy transition at the national level as well as in New York City and the state.
Most recently, she worked at the Building Decarbonization Coalition as the senior equity and affordability advisor, and prior to that served as the energy justice policy manager for WE ACT for Environmental Justice. Graham serves on New York City’s Local Law 97 Advisory Board. Graham also worked at Sustainable Westchester, where she managed New York state’s first community choice aggregation program, which is also the state’s largest.
Founded in 2021, MHET administers the community choice aggregation program for Kingston, called Kingston Community Energy. CCAs are municipal-level clean energy programs that purchase bulk energy supplies on behalf of their customers, allowing them to access renewable energy resources often unavailable through their utility companies.
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