It’s the final word on a 4.4-megawatt solar proposal from RIC Energy that technically originated in 2020, and has been a source of community consternation ever since. 

Democrats have endorsed Patricia Byrnes for town council and incumbent Gregory Bischoff for justice, while Republicans have endorsed Randall Bates for town council and Richard Tollner for justice. Both parties endorsed incumbent town council member Brian Wood for re-election. 

The Knox Republican Party has endorsed political newcomer Jamie L. Berenger for town supervisor and the incumbents for all the other open positions, which include two town board seats, tax collector, highway superintendent, town clerk, and town justice. 

The Albany County Planning Board took no action on RIC’s proposed solar farm in Knox, after two members voted in favor of the project and two voted against. Project manager Nancy Vlahos said that the current plan “already addresses or will address all of the county’s concerns.”

As the Albany County Sheriff’s Office increases compensation for its EMS staff, the leaders of towns that use the county’s emergency medical services are in favor of better-paid county workers, but worry about the impact it will have on their tax rates. They hope that a new system will relieve them of the burden of acting as a middleman for the county. 

The first gathering will be a “night of film and video” presented by Otto Ohle, a filmmaker and photographer based in Catskill, on July 7 at Conkling Hall. The second will be the annual local artist showcase at the Grist Mill, which will open on July 21 with a reception and be open to the public over the next two weekends.

The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Class of 2023 graduated from high school at a ceremony on June 24 at The Egg, in Albany.

New York State’s Master Plan for Aging is a monumental effort to catalog and solve the problems of the state’s seniors, including issues like housing, transportation, and digital inclusion. 

With full, opposing slates from both major parties, Westerlo’s 2023 general election promises to be a far cry from 2021’s, when Republicans and Democrats endorsed all the same candidates for the town board.

A joint report from the New York Coalition for Open Government and the Cornell University State Policy and Advocacy Clinic calls for the state to require and help fund the live streaming of public government meetings, but acknowledges that cost is not a substantial barrier.