ALBANY — Told that she brutally took her son’s life, Tracey Zetzsche accepted her sentencing on Nov. 1 as she recalled not how he died, but how much she loves him.

Zetzsche, 53, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter based on extreme emotional disturbance, reduced from second-degree murder after both parties in the case determined she had legitimate amnesia, unable to remember any of the facts surrounding the killing of 22-year-old Gabriel Philby-Zetzsche by knives to his heart and a hammer to his skull. From July 26 to 30 during the summer of 2012, his body remained on the floor of their Westerlo apartment.

Judge Stephen Herrick described the “horrific nature” of the injuries to Philby-Zetzsche and said that evidence showed his mother tried to remove signs of his murder.

These local students have recently distinguished themselves:

— Cecilia Snow of Schenectady plays Sarah in the musical Ragtime, being performed at the State University of New York College at Potsdam;

— Anthony DeSousa, of Schenectady, received a bachelor of science degree in engineering from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island.

It is hard to watch someone you care about battle cancer, says Rhonda Flansburg who is marshaling battalions of friends to help Tammy Ferriero.

Clearly defined choices are the heart of America's democracy. The heart is what pumps the life blood into the body politic.

These local students were recently awarded a degree from Binghamton University:

Sorrow and horror show in kids’ faces, lower left, as they watch a film telling Smokey Bear’s story: He was created in 1944, and now Smokey and his current motto — “Only you can prevent wildfires” — are recognized by 95 percent of Americans. The first living symbol of Smokey was a cub rescued in 1950 from a wildfire in New Mexico.

ITHACA, N.Y. — The longtime educational program known as the Highway School, which Cornell University had labeled a low priority and had threatened to shut down last summer, has been re-imagined and is expected to continue thanks to statewide support, according to the director of the program.

These local students have recently distinguished themselves:

— Jonathan Bintz of Altamont, majoring in music performance at the State University of New York College at Potsdam, was awarded the Jean Kettler Truimpho ’39Scholarship;