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.

“The need is urgent and this unexpected situation creates a risk for health, public safety, and the conservation of public resources,” said a Feb. 21 memo, outlining the immediate need for a new Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition system.

“The next person we’re going to reach on the waiting list applied in 2019,” said James Mastrianni whose company administers the federal program for the town.

The annual statewide ban prohibiting residential brush burning begins March 16 and runs through May 14.

Since 2009, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation has enforced the annual brush-burning ban to prevent wildfires and protect communities during heightened conditions for wildfires.

“Inflation is not only driving increased service to community members in need,” said Natasha Pernicka, director of The Food Pantries for the Capital District, “but is also impacting food pantry operations to keep shelves stocked. Our fuel expense to distribute food nearly doubled in 2022.”