Able to spread more rapidly than other sublineages, XBB.1.5 has the highest rates in the New York City, Long Island, and the Mid-Hudson regions, the health department says, adding that these regions have also had the most elevated case rates in New York State since November 2022.

GUILDERLAND — René Savoie has been a logger for more than 40 years and has never run into a situation like he has been caught up in now in Guilderland.

Savoie has had to stop his operation and has three neatly stacked piles of timber worth about $10,000 that he now can’t move.

VOORHEESVILLE — Julia Young, a student at Clayton A. Bouton High School, is one of 25 seniors in New York State nominated as a Presidential Scholar, a recognition the Regents chancellor called “the pinnacle” — and yet Julia Young is humble.

Several residents have asked the Guilderland Town Board to enact a moratorium while the town’s comprehensive plan is being updated.

 As director of Education and Research at the Association of School Business Officials of New York, Andrew Van Alstyne worked to support members across the state. During the pandemic, he saw what those members had to do to meet the needs that their students and communities faced. “I found it seriously inspiring,” said Van Alstyne, who is now assistant superintendent for business at Guilderland.

Asked about the high turnover, Guilderland Police chief Daniel McNally told The Enterprise this week that police officers leaving their jobs is a state and national trend. He attributed it to the “negative view of police” held by the public.

“Whether we’ll have an XBB.1.5 wave (and if yes, how big) will depend on many factors including immunity of the population, people’s actions, etc.,” said Ashish Kumar Jha, the doctor serving as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator.

The population of Guilderland has more than doubled since the first markers were placed and many residents are not aware of their town’s history.

In Region 2 — New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands — the spread of the new Omicron sublineage XBB.1.5 is even more pronounced than nationwide. For the week between Dec. 25 and 31, the once-dominant BA.5 is now in fifth place, causing just 1.6 percent of new cases, while XBB.1.5 makes up a whopping 72.2 percent of new cases.

Guilderland on Dec. 6 passed its own law that prohibits clear-cutting of one acre or more unless that was part of an approved permit or site plan — or sustainable forestry practice. Supervisor Peter Barber on Friday said the town’s new law would apply to the Prime Capital Development project but said it would “not add new ammunition” to the regulations already in place.