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“While we cannot say this is a completely risk-free environment, we’re in a pretty good place,” said Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen of schools reopening in the county. “We’re probably in the best place possible.”

About 140 people gathered for a peaceful, home-grown Black Lives Matter rally in Berne on Sunday. Most of them listened to speeches in the park pavilion while two dozen stayed near their motorcycles and pickup trucks on the edge of the parking lot — several saying they saw themselves as protectors since they view the BLM movement as destructive.

Following an inquiry from The Enterprise, New York State’s Committee on Open Government has issued an opinion that the Berne Town Board has been calling for executive sessions under inappropriate pretenses.

The statewide school boards association as well as the state’s largest teachers’ union supported the reopening of in-person learning but with caveats.

In a poll released today, half of the members of New York State United Teachers say they are reluctant or unwilling to go back to in-person instruction this fall amid ongoing concerns over the health and safety of reopening school buildings.

A Black Lives Matter rally planned by Berne resident Laurie Searl has drawn strong criticism on Facebook, leaving some would-be attendants worried about a counter-protest that could turn violent, as has happened both locally and across the country.

The New York State Department of Health has set maximum levels for three emerging drinking-water contaminants: perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulfonate, and 1,4-dioxane.