ALBANY COUNTY — In a cathedral-like setting, prayers were offered Thursday morning for love and healing, peace and understanding.

We advise patience and cohesion rather than inflaming divisiveness in a society fraught with fear where some people are struggling to meet basic needs.

If businesses and customers follow protocols and the metrics set by the state hold, the Capital Region would begin Phase 3 on June 17.

To stem the spread of COVID-19, Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered that school district and library votes — for budgets and candidates — this year be pushed from the third Tuesday in May to June 9, and that voting be conducted by mail instead of through traditional polling booths.

Hazel Parshall (Carl) Holden was a wife and mother, a grandmother and great-grandmother, who had a strong faith in God.

She died peacefully on Saturday, May 30, 2020, at St. Peter’s Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Albany, New York. She was 94.

Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said of recent protests that “a large part of this anger is due to an underlying systemic problem that occurs across this country, and that is racism.”