The pandemic has heightened food insecurity nationwide, said McCoy. Albany County, he said, has worked with United Way, the Food Bank of Northeastern Regional, and “nearly 60 food pantries and soup kitchens to get healthy food to families within our neighborhoods that need it most,” committing a quarter of a million dollars to the effort. Also, the county has provided $109 million in food-stamp benefits to 19,000 families county-wide, he said.
School board candidates must be 18 or older, able to read and write, and have lived in the district for at least one year but not be employed by the district. Forty-three signatures of qualified district voters must be submitted to the board clerk by April 22.
With the rural district poised to lose $1.2 million in two years if the governor’s budget proposal is accepted, Superintendent Timothy Mundell said that such a loss would require either a 12-percent property tax increase over those two years, or slashed personnel and programming levels.
An idea floated by Rensselaerville Supervisor John Dolce to reduce the number of polling places in the town fell apart after concerns were raised about voting accessibility and the fact that the deadline to get the number changed before this year’s election has already passed.
The comments at Monday’s meeting were often supportive of library staff. Some expressed warm memories of the café and its owners while others questioned their allegations of racism. Several people of color spoke, saying they had not experienced racism at the library. The most common call was one for answers on whether racism and harassment had occurred — or not.
The 20-student Farnsworth team created He Hika, a city located on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand, which uses hydropower, biomass, geothermal, and hydrogen as energy sources. Able to spend only $100, the students built their model of recycled materials.
A propane heater started a structure fire in Westerlo that damaged an apartment and garage, but left the main attached residence unscathed, according to Westerlo’s deputy fire chief.
Beckmann also received reprieve from having to install a costly sprinkler system when, as part of its approval, the town’s zoning board of appeals granted him a variance from that portion of the law, instead allowing him to install a localized alarm system.
On Friday, the library issued a statement saying investigation has shown the problems were “not driven by discrimination based on any protected class” but rather from disagreement “about roles and responsibilities for library staff versus cafe staff,” and that internal procedures would be overhauled “to ensure that future vendor relationships are cordial and collaborative.”
Reidy is running for the seat now held by Patricia Fahy, representing Albany, New Scotland, and parts of Guilderland. Fahy is running to replace longtime state Senator Neil Breslin, who is retiring from that post after more than a quarter century.
“In the end,” Superintendent Marie Wiles said of flag football, “we felt it was fairest to our existing programs and to the overall process that we use to make really tough decisions about what ends up in the budget to put it in the queue for next year.”
The Berne Town Board voted 5-to-0 last week on a resolution that would allow it to sell Switzkill Farm to Albany County. The sale is subject to a permissive referendum.
