Archive » December 2020 » News

Berne is one action-item short of qualifying for Clean Energy Communities designation

by Noah Zweifel

Berne has submitted documentation to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority for three out of the four action-items needed to qualify the town for a clean-energy community designation, which allows the town to apply for certain grants.

Knox establishes 80-acre MRD after 4-year battle

by Noah Zweifel

The proposal, long-championed by Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis, passed by a unanimous vote at the Knox Town Board’s Dec. 8 regular meeting.

The Home Front Café will never die, it will just fade away

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

“It’s like I’m the keeper of their stories,” Cindy Pollard once said of using her Home Front Café as a memory trove for veterans. “They’re important, each and every one of them … For the ground soldiers in the Pacific, it was kill or be killed. They saw such horror, they can’t talk about it … If they do, they’re back there. They smell the smells and have weeks of bad dreams.”

Peter Young, priest who lifted up the downtrodden, dies at 90

by Sean Mulkerrin

Father Young “spawned a movement,” The Enterprise editorialized in 2014, that eventually treated more than 18,000 people each day at 121 not-for-profit addiction treatment and rehabilitation programs across New York State. 

Guilderland High School students go remote again

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

Beginning on Thursday, Dec. 10, Guilderland students in eighth through 12th grade will learn from home due to staff shortages caused by quarantine requirements.

With 205 new COVID cases, county urges residents to consult website

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

With a continuing surge in COVID-19 cases, the county’s health department is deluged with calls and is experiencing a backlog, its commissioner said. She urged residents who test positive for the virus to look at guidance for isolation on the department’s website, and residents who have been exposed to COVID-19 to look for guidance on following quarantine protocols.

Berne’s uncertified code-enforcement officer tried to evict occupants from their home

by Noah Zweifel

Chance Townsend, who has been serving as Berne’s code-enforcement officer for the past year despite lacking state certification, left an order to vacate on a resident’s door one week after The Enterprise publicized his lack of qualification for the role. 

Unanimous: Albany County adopts $719M budget for 2021, taxes steady

by Sean Mulkerrin

The county’s $719.3 million spending plan for next year is down significantly from this year’s adjusted budget, which is now set to be $747.3 million — up about $14 million from what was originally proposed around this time last year.

Anthony Fauci

Cuomo gears up for winter surge, talks with Fauci

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

ALBANY COUNTY — Governor Andrew Cuomo today directed the state’s health department to begin the surge-and-flex protocol that will have all hospitals expand their bed capacity by 25 percent to handle surges of COVID-19.

Trustees listen to Guilderland library staff concerns and delay public browsing

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

Public browsing at the Guilderland Public Library will wait until at least mid-January since massive construction work as well as restrictions to control COVID-19 make the planned reopening unsafe, trustees decided after hearing staff concerns. “Our lives depend on it,” said one library staffer of the delay.

Guilderland to appeal judge’s decision that halted Pyramid projects

by Sean Mulkerrin

The vote was taken after the Guilderland Town Board had exited an executive session to discuss pending litigation. Councilwoman Laurel Bohl cast the sole dissenting vote. Supervisor Peter Barber made the motion to file the appeal in the lawsuit brought against the town and Pyramid over the company’s Rapp Road and Western Avenue projects; Councilwoman Rosemary Centi seconded the motion. 

COVID-19 death brings county’s toll to 168

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

Albany County announced 143 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, continuing a recent trend of over100 new cases a day.

Podcast: Judy Carey Nevin — "All Kinds of Kindness"

Judy Carey Nevin, right, says kindness and compassion are important to her. “Kindness is so easy and it’s free,” she says on this week’s podcast.

In battle against virus, McCoy says, ‘We’re one in the Capital District’

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

ALBANY COUNTY — Leaders from nearby Rensselaer and Schenectady counties joined Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy, a Democrat, at his Saturday morning press conference to present a united front in the battle against COVID-19.

Governor Andrew Cuomo

Hospitalization is the new key, says Cuomo

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

Since the springtime surge of COVID-19, the length of hospital stays for COVID patients has been more than cut in half, says the governor, and the death rate of hospitalized patients has gone from 23 percent to 8 percent.

Pages