ALBANY COUNTY — On Thanksgiving Day, the county sheriff said he wasn’t enforcing the 10-person restrictions for gatherings, and the governor downplayed Wednesday night’s United States Supreme Court decision striking down New York’s orders limiting religious gather

Part of the state’s winer plan for dealing with COVID-19 is keeping schools serving kindergarten through eighth grade open. The infection rate in those grades, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday, “is generally lower than the local community, so you want children in school because it’s safer, not to mention they’re getting an education, their parents can go to work, et cetera.”

Two more county residents have died of COVID-19 and the county is in its fourth of 10 consecutive days of meeting a threshold that would declare it a precautionary yellow zone.

With every early, in-person, and mail-in ballot counted, Democrat Michelle Hinchey bested GOP-backed Richard Amedure, 77,272 to 74,647, to win the 46th District State Senate seat. 

On Tuesday, Albany County was on Day Three of 10 with COVID infection-rate numbers that would have it declared a yellow zone.

These local students have recently distinguished themselves:

— Emma DeFrancesco of Slingerlands, majoring in Spanish and psychology, has earned a national award for contributions to College of the Holy Cross' Chapter of National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society Sigma Delta Pi;

Albany County’s health commissioner and executive have frequently urged residents to stay home with their immediate families for Thanksgiving. Both McCoy and Whalen have said that they themselves are not gathering with extended family but rather dining just with immediate family members at home.

Two not-for-profit conservation organizations have together received a $88,744 grant to look at wildlife connectivity in Glenville Hill in the town of Glenville, and the “Noses” in the town of Sprakers.

Today, Governor Andrew Cuomo finally signed into law a ban tailored specifically to keep Norlite, in Cohoes, from burning fire-fighting foams — aqueous film-forming foam, known as AFF.

The foam contains PFAS which can cause health problems.

As sales-tax revenues continue to fall short of last year’s mark and as New York State residents continue to pay more in federal taxes than the state gets back in programs, according to new reports from the comptroller’s office, Governor Andrew Cuomo has sent a letter to congressional leaders urging quick passage of more federal pandemic relief.