In the midst of the early spring snow and ice storm on Sunday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced “The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced a G4 electromagnetic storm is currently occurring over much of the northern United States, including the State of New York.” NOAA explained on its website that a coronal mass ejection caused by a flare on the Sun on March 23 “arrived at Earth as expected on 24 Mar. Effects are likely to linger but decrease coming into 26 Mar.”

April 19 is the third application deadline for the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service New York

Local libraries and Thacher State Park are offering programs about the eclipse as schools are taking “a potpourri of approaches,” Guilderland Superintendent Marie Wiles told her school board on March 12.

The Capital Area Agriculture & Horticulture Team and Cornell University are calling on farmers and people involved in agricultural businesses to fill out an anonymous survey.

More than 70 high school students will represent Capital Region BOCES on March 18 in a regional competition that challenges the professional skills of more than 350 students from the Capital Region, North Country, Hudson Valley, and beyond.

The game is afoot: New Yorkers of any age are encouraged by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation to make like Sherlock Holmes and observe with care to identify birds in their environs.

The state-level legislation — all the bills are still in committee — would incentivize faster responses to Freedom of Information Law requests, compel governments to reveal how they handle these requests, limit the FOIL exemptions offered to businesses, and put the burden of attorney’s fees on governments that are found to have unreasonably denied a request. 

Volunteers across the state have helped the amphibians safely across roads since 2009, and 1,600 surveys have been provided by volunteers, biologist Laura Heady said, with information that is used to develop recommendations for preserving these “really important amphibians.”

The annual statewide ban prohibiting residential brush burning begins March 16 and runs through May 14, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation announced this week as it cautioned vigilance since snow wasn’t heavy this winter.

ALBANY COUNTY — Thacher Park is among the state parks that will hold special events leading up to the total solar eclipse on April 8.

Thacher will hold what is billed as an “activity hour” on Saturday, March 23, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

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