ALTAMONT — St. Lucy’s/St. Bernadette’s Church in Altamont is sponsoring two spring trips, both leaving from Albany.

The "Best of Spain" travelers will leave on March 30, escorted by Jean Gagnon of the Plaza Travel Center, and return April 10, 2017. Space is limited to 40 participants.

A two-year-old nonfiction residency program at the Carey Institute for Global Good has received long-term support in the form of a Logan Family Foundation grant.

WESTERLO —  The preliminary $2.8 million town budget does not ignore “the elephant in the room,” says town board member William Bichteman.

RENSSELAERVILLE — The proposed  $2.5 million town budget for 2017 has numbers not so different from those in the 2016 budget. The plan has moved through a series of town board workshops, has been approved as preliminary, and will receive public comment at a Nov. 9 hearing before it’s finally adopted.

This was a marked contrast to the state comptroller’s audit conducted three years ago, which found  that layers of accounting practices spread over several years had generated inaccurate financial records and overstated tax revenues.

The Berne-Knox-Westerlo board will decide in November whether to increase the exemption and, if it does vote to increase it, by how much.

RENSSELAERVILLE — Many places in distant lands bear the imprint of John “Jack” Robert Long, Jr.