Archive » August 2022 » News

To prevent drowning, remember two things: location and life jackets

by Noah Zweifel

Following a spate of local drownings, The Enterprise spoke with Sergeant Neil Case, who leads the New York State Police Underwater Recovery Team, about how to avoid drowning and what people should do if they come across someone having difficulty in water. 

VCSD board seeks replacement for Coffin’s vacated seat

by Sean Mulkerrin

New Voorheesville School Board President Rachel Gilker said the board had “several options legally available” to fill a vacancy.

YMCA declares crisis, seeks child-care workers

The Capital District YMCA is holding a series of job fairs to hire more than 150 staff members for its before- and after-school child-care centers.

Auctioneer wants to sell Switzkill Farm for Berne

by Noah Zweifel

Collar City Auction President Randy Passonno told the Berne Town Board what an auction of Switzkill Farm would look like for the town, which is interested in selling the property.

VCSD plans $25M capital project, 2.5% tax hike

by Sean Mulkerrin

The Voorheesville School Board was presented with the project at its Aug. 17 meeting. 

Parents sue GCSD and teacher they say hit their daughter, district says no policy violation

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

Her teacher, Jon Kauffmann, said in a 2019 email to the girl’s mother, “I was referring to a joke from the show NCIS, and meant no harm when I tapped the back of her head. I am devastated that she felt uncomfortable.”

Great Oaks apartment proposal slimmed down

by Sean Mulkerrin

Jeff Mirel, a principal with Rosenblum, told the Guilderland Town Board at its Aug. 16 meeting, “As the project design has evolved, you know, we found it would be more efficient to construct a single building than two buildings and reduce the overall unit count, but include more units in the single building to achieve efficiencies.”

County DA seeking ‘persistent felony offender’ status for Gibson

by Noah Zweifel

A persistent-felon designation would make it so that Andrew Gibson, who pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, a class B felony, would be sentenced as though it were a class A-I felony, which carries a minimum prison sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life. 

After rape arrest, police look for other victims

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

GUILDERLAND — A woman says she was “held against her will” between Aug. 11 and 17 and “repeatedly sexually assaulted” by Wyatt J. Bleau at his residence, according to an Aug. 17 release from Guilderland Police.

Week CXXVII: The CDC relaxes rules as Hochul extends state’s disaster emergency

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

On Aug. 11, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed standards, continuing a trend it had started earlier this year. In February, the CDC had shortened isolation times. The changes are part of a movement away from institutions enforcing COVID rules — the Albany County Health Department like others in New York State long ago stopped tracking COVID cases — and towards individuals taking their own measures to protect themselves.

Drought watch expanded, fire risk is high

Most counties in New York State, including Albany County, are now under a drought watch — the first of four levels of state drought advisories, which are watch, warning, emergency, and disaster. No mandatory restrictions are in place under a state drought watch.

Almost half of state pollinators at risk of local extinction, survey finds

by Noah Zweifel

New York State’s first-ever pollinator survey, conducted over a three-year period, found, by conservative standards, that 38 percent of the state’s native pollinators are viable to be wiped out of the state completely, and that it could be as high as 60 percent of species when considering those that are known only by historical records.

New Scotland tables proposed property-maintenance law

by Sean Mulkerrin

After hearing over a dozen people speak on Aug. 10, the New Scotland Town Board decided to table a vote on Proposed Local Law C of 2022.

Man drowns in Thompsons Lake

The victim was 58-year-old Mahbeer Magasa, of Guyana, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said. 

Ringmaster: Bielik’s show is about preserving an historic way of marbling paper

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

John Charles Bielik is a teacher, a designer, an historian, and a preservationist.

He makes marbled paper — the sort of colorful patterned paper that you see in centuries-old books — the traditional way.

“It is a profession and I am a professional,” Bielik says in this week’s Enterprise podcast.

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