The Capital Area Agriculture & Horticulture Team and Cornell University are calling on farmers and people involved in agricultural businesses to fill out an anonymous survey.

Timothy J. Albright, Meadowdale

More than 70 high school students will represent Capital Region BOCES on March 18 in a regional competition that challenges the professional skills of more than 350 students from the Capital Region, North Country, Hudson Valley, and beyond.

The game is afoot: New Yorkers of any age are encouraged by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation to make like Sherlock Holmes and observe with care to identify birds in their environs.

The state-level legislation — all the bills are still in committee — would incentivize faster responses to Freedom of Information Law requests, compel governments to reveal how they handle these requests, limit the FOIL exemptions offered to businesses, and put the burden of attorney’s fees on governments that are found to have unreasonably denied a request. 

Volunteers across the state have helped the amphibians safely across roads since 2009, and 1,600 surveys have been provided by volunteers, biologist Laura Heady said, with information that is used to develop recommendations for preserving these “really important amphibians.”

The annual statewide ban prohibiting residential brush burning begins March 16 and runs through May 14, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation announced this week as it cautioned vigilance since snow wasn’t heavy this winter.

ALBANY COUNTY — Thacher Park is among the state parks that will hold special events leading up to the total solar eclipse on April 8.

Thacher will hold what is billed as an “activity hour” on Saturday, March 23, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Three candidates, including Rensselaerville’s Hébert Joseph, are vying for the Democratic line in the race for the 102nd New York State Assembly seat, currently held by Republican Chris Tague. 

The pandemic has heightened food insecurity nationwide, said McCoy. Albany County, he said, has worked with United Way, the Food Bank of Northeastern Regional, and “nearly 60 food pantries and soup kitchens to get healthy food to families within our neighborhoods that need it most,” committing a quarter of a million dollars to the effort. Also, the county has provided $109 million in food-stamp benefits to 19,000 families county-wide, he said.