The Albany Alternative Treatment Court will be the first mental health court in the 3rd Judicial District, one of 31 such courts across the state with four more being planned. It was the “missing piece” in a continuum of services Albany County offers to mentally ill residents.

Over 25,000 people have signed up on the county’s online pre-registration tool for COVID-19 vaccination appointments; 19,000 are Albany County residents. “It overwhelmed us,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy. “It was a lot more people pre-registering than I imagined … It really shows the need.”

On Thursday, President Joe Biden addressed, remotely, the National Governors Association, which Andrew Cuomo chairs. Biden stressed his theme of uniting Americans and urged support of the American Rescue Plan.

ALBANY COUNTY — The 20-acre Lansing Farm on Lisha Kill Road — all that remains of the original 1,000-acre farm — in suburban Colonie has been conserved.

Falling COVID-19 infection rates have led to the relaxing of rules for quarantining at schools in the county and for the state opening up a variety of economic sectors and allowing visitors in nursing homes.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that 18 new cases of B.1.1.7 — the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant first identified in the United Kingdom — have been identified in New York State. This brings the state’s total of known B.1.1.7 cases to 154.

The Guilderland committee for police reform assembled arrest records according to race and found that a much higher percentage of Blacks than there are Black residents in town were charged. This is largely due to arrests of out-of-town suspects made at Crossgates Mall, according to Police Chief Daniel McNally. The public is encouraged to read the draft and respond.

The state and federal governments together have opened mass vaccination sites for Black and brown communities, which have disproportionately been hurt by the pandemic. One of those sites is at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany. Appointments begin on March 3 for residents of these ZIP codes: 12202, 12206, 12207, 12209, and 12210.

Movie theaters in New York City will be brought in line with the rest of the state at 25-percent capacity, weddings and catered events can be held at 50-percent capacity, billiard halls — having won a lawsuit — can reopen statewide at 50-percent capacity, and nursing homes will be open to visitors.

“This variant was first identified in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa, in samples dating back to the beginning of October 2020,” reports the CDC, and also says, “Currently there is no evidence to suggest that this variant has any impact on disease severity.”