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GUILDERLAND — Danielle Poirier likes a challenge. And she’s in for one.

Last week, Poirier was named transportation director for the Guilderland schools. On March 5, she’ll take the reins from Christine Sagendorf who is retiring.

KNOX — A 1990 Chevrolet pickup truck crashed in Knox early Wednesday morning. The driver was killed but so badly burned, he could not be identified, according to Albany County Sheriff Craig D. Apple.

will raise funds to help those now battling to rebuild in Central Bridge

A third Civil War concert will be held to benefit survivors of Tropical Storm Irene.

GUILDERLAND — The revenue gap faced by the school district for next year’s budget has narrowed to $2.6 million — down from $3.2 million — because the amount Guilderland has to pay to the Teachers’ Retirement System is less than had been anticipated.

GUILDERLAND — Although Superintendent Marie Wiles will not present her budget for next year until March 1, she indicated Tuesday she will recommend a spending plan that eliminates the popular high school advisory period.

Sometimes seeds that are planted take a long time to grow.

A Berne native, Michele Von Haugg, has made it her mission to plant trees on the other side of the world — in Tanzania. These are blackwood trees, known as mpingo in Swahili. The mpingo grows slowly, taking three decades to reach maturity.

BERNE — Surviving with a bare-bones contingency budget after two years of defeats at the polls, Berne-Knox-Westerlo is looking at sharing services with other districts as a way to keep taxes in check while maintaining programs.

Michele Von Haugg struggled to find time in her busy life to promote herself. We scheduled an interview for 11:30 on Friday night because that’s when she finished her restaurant job. We talked into the wee hours of the morning.

GUILDERLAND — The school district on Tuesday asked those most affected by budget cuts — the students — for advice on how to proceed with next year’s spending plan.

“For the first time, we decided to go right to the source,” said Superintendent Marie Wiles.

GUILDERLAND — The school district estimates it may save about half-a-million dollars by rearranging schedules, thereby cutting some staff.