KNOX — Kenneth D. “Kenny” White, a kindergartner at Berne-Knox-Westerlo, of Thacher Park Road in Knox, died Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, at home.

Born on Aug. 22, 2009 in Schenectady; he was the son of Jayson and Christine VanAlstyne White.

After hearing protests, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School Board agreed not to wait for a new superintendent to hire a new high school principal but it stopped short of forgoing its traditional selection process.

BERNE — At the darkest time of the year, nine hundred people stood shoulder to shoulder, holding candles and singing. Snow fell lightly Monday night, the flakes turning wet as they landed on faces and mittens and boots while the crowd stood in front of the elementary school at Berne.

They were there to mourn a little boy the vast majority of them did not know. Kindergartner Kenneth White was slain in his home last Thursday, police said, his body pitched over the snow bank across from the trailer where he lived with his twin sister and their younger sister. The 19-year-old daughter of their aunt and legal guardian stands accused of murder. Tiffany VanAlstyne, too, had once attended the school where the crowd gathered.

On Monday, Dec. 15, I knew I had to get the news ready as my daughter, Kathy Carnevale, had a very relaxing day planned for me and her daughter, Kassi Neal.

We started the day out by having lunch at a new Mexican restaurant in the Delaware Plaza. Then we went to a salon and had a pedicure and a manicure.

LOUDONVILLE — John Allan Erickson, known to his family and friends as Leif, was a hard-working business owner, an avid race car fan, and a loyal father, grandfather, and companion. He died on Dec. 15, 2014, in Albany. He was 80.

KNOX — While 5-year-old Kenneth White’s aunt and legal guardian was away for 30 minutes to visit his school Thursday afternoon, he was strangled in his home, police say.

Marcia Pangburn, who was arrested for resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration last summer, said she felt the hearing, where her attorney asked questions for most of the three hours, did not go well for her.