The new Guilderland law grants an exemption of 10 percent on town taxes to active firefighters with two years of service; a volunteer with 20 years of active service gets a lifetime exemption. The law also grants exemptions for surviving spouses.

GUILDERLAND — The school board here voted unanimously on Tuesday to refund Macy’s $373,623 in taxes because of a settlement on its assessed value.

BERNE — Anita Martin talks to horses.

As a certified equine sports massage therapist, she helps horses in pain.

“When horses are in pain,” she says, “they need help. They can’t tell us with words, but they certainly tell us with body language and action,” which can include biting, bucking, and kicking.

Board members Rebecca Butterfield and Kimberly Blasiak are certain they will run again. Judy Slack is taking a wait-and-see approach while still gathering names so she is prepared to run if need be, she said.

If a call to 518-665-7860 results in a gun seizure, the caller could get a $500 reward.

“The classroom disruptions caused by the pandemic have hurt New York’s students,” said Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli this week as he announced the results of his analysis. “Academic losses were greater for younger students, with fourth grade scores dropping more than the national average. School districts must act quickly to take full advantage of available resources to help students that are most in need get caught up, before time runs out.”

NEW SCOTLAND — When is a coat a work of art? When is a coat the center of a play?

When it is Joseph’s Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The character Joseph wears his coat in this weekend’s school production in Voorheesville — where it takes on a life of its own, swirling in its many-splendored colors.

The estimated tax levy increase, at 2.76 percent, stays under the state-set limit, requiring only a simple majority to pass the budget on May 16.

“Continued Federal Reserve Board actions to raise interest rates in response may dampen national and local economic prospects, which, if not carefully managed, risks causing a recession,” says the state’s comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli in his report on the executive budget.

ALBANY COUNTY — After a mild winter while on the cusp of spring, the county has been walloped with three wet snowstorms in quick succession.

The first of the three March storms began on Friday, March 3, and continued into Saturday.