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Two uncontested Hilltowns elections went smoothly, with Matthew Schanz becoming the Knox Highway Superintendent and Karla Weaver becoming the Westerlo Town Clerk. Both had been serving in their respective positions on an interim basis after the sudden resignations of their predecessors.

Ten months into the coronavirus pandemic, Mary Beth Peterson, program coordinator for Hilltowns Community Resource Center Program, lays out her perspective of the state of the Hilltowns, which saw a spike in domestic-violence referrals and an explosive increase in donations — and clients — in the early months of the shutdown. 

Typically, in Albany County, about 140,000 to 144,000 residents vote in a presidential election. Matthew Clyne, the county’s Democratic election commissioner, estimated that — combining the early voters with the mail-in voters — about half that number had already cast their ballots before Election Day.

After a rent increase following the COVID shutdown, photographer Chelsea Sylvester was forced to relocate her studio from Colonie to Altamont’s Maple Avenue, a stressful last-minute change that Sylvester nevertheless describes as a “dream come true.” 

To keep donors safe, a table for holiday gifts will be set up at Crossgates Mall in Guilderland from Nov. 8 to 13 and there will also be a drive-through for gifts to be dropped off on Nov. 21.