Increasing frequency of extreme disasters like Hurricane Helene are driving high demand, says a release from the American Red Cross Eastern New York Region.

The chapter is issuing an “urgent appeal” for volunteers who are willing to travel this fall to support emergency shelters for major national disaster relief efforts.

Albany County is first in the state and among the top counties nationally for its increase in new business applications, rising 34 percent last year, according to data from the United States Census Bureau, and 130 percent since 2020.

To soften the blow of rising emergency medical service costs, New Scotland and a number of other municipalities that rely on the Albany County Sheriff’s EMS service lobbied for a special district that would move the expense from local budgets to the county one, but hit resistance from county officials. 

The local program will develop a new “jail re-entry” case-management model for people released from Albany County’s jail, particularly those with severe and pervasive mental illness.

“Mosquitoes, once a nuisance, are now a threat,” said Commissioner James McDonald. “I urge all New Yorkers to prevent mosquito bites by using insect repellents, wearing long-sleeved clothing and removing free-standing water near their homes. Fall is officially here, but mosquitoes will be around until we see multiple nights of below freezing temperatures.”

The New York State Union of Teachers convened experts and educators for a discussion about how phones and social media are influencing children’s lives both at home and at school as Governor Kathy Hochul, who kicked off the event, is fighting to ban phones in classrooms statewide. 

The number of overdose deaths in Albany County dropped at a similar rate that overdose deaths have decreased nationwide last year. However, unlike the national trend, which saw fewer deaths from fentanyl and other opiates, Albany County saw a higher density of fentanyl-involved deaths in 2023.

Sadako Sasaki, in 1955, folded a tiny origami crane using the red wrapper of a methotrexate medicine container, a treatment for her leukemia. That crane is now on display at the state museum.