In a 3-to-2 vote, the Westerlo Town Board got rid of the town’s planning board — which Supervisor Matt Kryzak has described as “rogue” — despite opposition from residents and the Albany County Planning Board.

Sandra Kisselback, President, Berne Historical Society

Berne-Knox-Westerlo salutatorian Katie Joslin is headed to the State University of New York at Binghamton where they will study psychology, hoping to one day go into private practice and help give adolescents a strong foundation during their formative years. 

Jodie Howland, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo valedictorian, is headed to Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, where she plans to get involved with the robust study-abroad program they have there. 

Pop culture and family phrases took center stage at the Berne-Knox-Westerlo graduation this year, as speakers quoted family, the comedian Kevin Hart, and the song “Respect” in their parting messages to the graduates. 

The budget cuts six faculty and staff posts — two teachers, three aids, and one administrative assistant — and eliminates the school resource officer program, Bulldog Club and other after-school programs, next year’s graduation ceremony at The Egg, late bus runs, and field trips, among other things.

At a public hearing on Supervisor Matthew Kryzak’s proposal to eliminate the town’s planning board and hand its duties over to the zoning board of appeals, more than two dozen residents showed up to beg the board to turn it down. 

The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Board of Education had opted not to make slight reductions in its budget proposal after it had failed to reach the 60-percent approval rating it required for going over the tax cap. The district fell even further from the mark on the second go-round.

Richard Luci, Voorheesville

Supervisor John Dolce said that he has a list of 24 properties in the town that are in poor condition, but there were questions about how the town should approach a cleanup process that he worries could cost half a million dollars.