In a settlement this month, Albany County and the city of New York agreed to pay four inmates close to $1million and also agreed to follow the Rules of the City of New York concerning punitive segregation although Chief Deputy William Rice, of the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, told The Enterprise in May, “We don’t have solitary confinement.”

“Most people think the Pine Bush is done … They think the rest is all developed, that it’s all been lost,” says Christopher Hawver, executive director of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission. On the contrary, he said, There’s another 2,000 acres out there … We still have a lot of work to do.”

For the contested races at both the town and county levels, we are adding a new element. In addition to being able to read profiles of the candidates, you may also watch videos of them, answering the same series of issues-based questions.

KNOX — Elizabeth Walk is running unopposed for tax collector in Knox.
She has worked as the town’s assistant tax collector for the past three years.

Walk, 72, has lived in Knox since 1981. She has a degree in accounting from Albany Business College.

KNOX — Two candidates are vying for a judgeship in Knox as James Corigliano is not seeking a third term.

A retired Guilderland music teacher, Corigliano was appointed to fill a vacancy and then won the next election, in 2011. He was unopposed in 2015, running on the Democratic and Independence party lines.

KNOX — Traci Schanz says she loves her job as the Knox town clerk, a post she was elected to two years ago when the Republicans made a sweep of all town offices.

Schanz is enrolled in the Independence Party and is also running on the Republican and Conservative lines.

KNOX — Joan Adriance feels qualified to be town clerk both because of her professional background and because of her far-ranging community service.
She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in secondary education.