The CDC has tracked data that shows, from January 2021 to March 2022, Americans 18 and older who were unvaccinated were about five times more likely to be hospitalized than those who were up to date on vaccinations. Also, Americans age 12 and older who were unvaccinated were 17 times more likely to die from COVID-19.

In the end, seven residents launched write-in campaigns to serve on the 11-member board, which has unpaid posts.

“This is an activity about community,” says Perlee, a lawyer and Albany County legislator who describes himself as an amateur historian.

“As the Omicron variant emerged in New York State, the number of people who have been infected with COVID for a second time has increased dramatically,” the state’s health department reports.

The winning slate was made up of three current school board members — Kelly Person, Gloria Towle-Hilt, and Kimberly Blasiak along with teacher Katie DiPierro. They supported work done by the district’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and also supported teachers being trained to be respectful of LGBT kids.

WESTERLO — “I tilt at windmills a lot,” says Bonnie Kohl-Laub.

When she and her husband, Leonard Laub, moved to Westerlo, they immersed themselves in local issues and made a difference.

Now they have sold their historic farmhouse and are packing to move to southern France.

When Governor Kathy Hochul on Sunday afternoon, May 8, tweeted that she had tested positive for the virus — “Thankfully, I’m vaccinated and boosted, and I’m asymptomatic,” she posted — her followers were divided in their advice and remonstrances.

Governor Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday morning that $25 million will be used to expand access to abortions as she anticipates women will be coming from the 26 states poised to ban abortion once the Supreme Court hands down its decision. Another $10 million will be used to beef up security for abortion providers.

High school Principal Michael Piscitelli said that the late bus arrivals this year “created a laissez-faire attitude about the start of school.”

Neil Gifford, the conservation director for the Albany Pine Bush Preserve, got his first job at the preserve literally setting fires, controlled burns.