Applications are now being accepted for the 2017 New York State Summer School of the Arts. High school students throughout New York State are encouraged to apply. Auditions begin in January and will be held across the state.

These local students have received scholarships from Clarkson University for the 2016-17 academic year:

— Matt Reluzco of Schenectady, a senior majoring in civil engineering, received the Wallace H. Coulter Endowed Scholarship and the David A. Walsh '67 Endowed Scholarship;

One of five bills designed to improve services for adults with autism was signed into law by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on Nov. 29. They offer housing loans, job support, and state identification cards.

Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP, the Capital Region’s largest law firm, has three new associates: Paul J. Buehler, Christine M. Carletta, and Max T. Lindsey.

A new contract agreement guarantees CDPHP members continued access to care at St. Peter’s Health Partners’ facilities, but tensions remain.

These local athletes have recently excelled on their college or university teams:

Fazana Saleem-Ismail, a follower of Islam who lives in Guilderland, has gone from explaining her religion at a library forum in June to helping to lead a march in Albany Saturday.

The intention is to equip responders in the case of an oil-train derailment, but local responders say it will likely prove useful for things like gas leaks or car accidents.

Hundreds of people — young and old, black and white and Asian, gay and straight, Christian ministers, Jewish rabbis, Muslims, and a Quaker poet — gathered in Albany on Saturday to “stand up against all forms of hate"” as organizer Fazana Saleem-Ismail put it.