State University of New York College at Oneonta has announced students achieving honors for the fall 2021 semester.

These local students were named to the provost's list with a grade-point average of 4.0:

— Natalia Gibbons of Delmar, majoring in sport management;

These local students were named to the fall 2021 dean’s list at University of New Hampshire, with a grade-point average of 3.30 or higher:
 

— Kaitlin Davitt of Delmar, with highest honors;

— Katherine O'Keeffe of Delmar, with highest honors;

— Erich Fischer of Delmar, with highest honors;

The announcement follows changes in federal guidance on mask-wearing, announced on Friday, which Hochul said “surprised a lot of people.” Mask requirements remain in effect “for the time being,” Hochul said, in state-regulated health-care settings, state-regulated adult-care facilities and nursing homes, in correctional facilities, in homeless shelters, and in domestic violence shelters.

I live in Guilderland. Every day since the coronavirus hit town, Guilderland’s supervisor, Peter Barber, has sent out an advisory message in an email to residents.

Another Albany County resident, a man in his nineties, died of COVID-19 on Thursday, according to a Friday morning release from Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy. This brings Albany County’s COVID-19 death toll to 528.

Following are descriptions of the eight non-fatal hunting incidents recorded by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation in 2021.

Small-game hunting:

The 2021 hunting seasons in New York were the safest ever, with the lowest number of hunting-related shooting incidents, since record-keeping began, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

As the number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to plummet from the mid-January Omicron peak, both statewide and in Albany County, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that all hospitals across the state can now perform elective procedures. The state had kept a list of hospitals, which Albany Medical Center was initially on, where staffed bed capacity was less than 10 percent, meaning elective procedures couldn’t be performed.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy opened his Feb. 21 Black History Month forum by saying he was proud that the county had brought COVID-19 testing into minority communities and also partnered with an ambulance company to bring vaccines to residents. According to the county’s records, a disproportionate number of white, rather than Black or Hispanic, residents died of COVID-19.

These local students were named to the dean’s list at Hamilton College in Clinton for the fall 2021 semester with a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher: 

— Emily Borden of Altamont, Borden, a sophomore, is a graduate of Guilderland Central H.S.;