Grace Nichols, Save the Pine Bush

Warren Jones, Surprise, Arizona

Mark Grimm, Guilderland

Christine Duffy, Guilderland

Rebecca Butterfield, Blanca Gonzalez-Parker, Kelly Person, Seema Rivera, Nathan Sabourin, Judy Slack, Gloria Towle-Hilt, Guilderland School Board

GUILDERLAND — After 50 minutes of listening to heated comments about masks being required in school, which escalated to pro-mask speakers being heckled, the Guilderland Board of Education adjourned its meeting on Tuesday night — only to resume again after the crowd of about 30 had left.

The Altamont Fair opens for the first time since 2019 on Tuesday, Aug. 17, and will operate through Aug. 22. And, in spite of the safety measures necessary to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant and other pandemic-related obstacles, the experience should prove to be just as electrifying as in years’ past, organizers say.

ALTAMONT — Richard Louis Tastor, a devoted family man who helped UAlbany students realize their dreams, died Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021 at St. Peter’s Hospice. He was 73.

Born on Dec. 7, 1947, in Utica, New York, he was the son of Robert Tastor and June Kimball Tastor.

Winemakers, since 1993, have been allowed to manufacture and sell wine while waiting for a permanent license. Senator Michelle Hinchey and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo’s bill, if signed into law, would allow all craft beverage makers — breweries, distilleries, cideries, and wineries — to apply for a six-month permit to get their business up and running, giving the State Liquor Authority 45 days to approve or deny a submitted application.