Just as John L. Schoolcraft's 19th-Century mansion is being restored, piece by piece, town historian Alice Begley has assembled the story of his life.

In the 19th Century, her father learned to dance on logs rolling down a Nova Scotia river. Vera Brooks, who turns 100 on Oct. 4 has navigated her own life with equal finesse and good balance.

If Albany County ever became like a war zone, its sheriff wants to be ready. He's added an armored truck to the county's fleet of free Army surplus vehicles, and also has plans for a $20 million interoperable countywide radio system.

Many aids and monitors work part-time for the school district just to get health insurance for their families, according to a Guilderland negotiator. For their next contract, the unit's president says, they will push for health benefits after retirement.

Tahlia Hadley will never forget the warmth of the elderly woman, a stranger, whose home she painted. Now the youth minister for St. Madeleine Parish, she is organizing a Christian work camp to help the needy in Guilderland next July.

For years, the mayor of Altamont says, he has begged and begged to get the state to repair the entry roads to the village. This summer,, Route 146 fro the east was repaved; next week, work will start on repaving Route 156 from the south.

Harold Miller left the Hilltowns and the family farm where he was raised. But now, in his old age, he has, through assiduous research of online vital statistics, pieced together a view of the Helderbergs' settlement that rights the long-held local lore.

Yvonne Lustenhouwer's father was a master carpenter in Holland. She uses her hands, too — to quilt, to  garden, to embrace. Her friends appreciate the oasis she has created.

Growing up in a segregated Wichita, André Thomas found a place where race didn't matter — the choir. But he eschewed spirituals, seeing them as a way whites put down blacks, until his mentor, Jester Hairston, led him to embrace his heritage. Now, he's an authority on spirituals and most recently sought his African roots.

SLINGERLANDS — Victor Shear, of Canajoharie, was arraigned on Sept. 9 on charges that he robbed the TrustCo Bank on New Scotland Road in Slingerlands.

The indictment alleges that, on Aug. 21, he entered the bank, demanding money while brandishing a gun and then, after taking the money, fled.