GUILDERLAND — On Feb. 6, a jury found Harry Bonilla guilty of two felonies — second-degree attempted kidnapping as a sexually motivated felony and first-degree sex abuse — and a misdemeanor, third-degree assault.

The case was heard before Judge Roger D. McDonough in Albany County Supreme Court.

In back-to-back court filings, Stewart’s Shops states that its lawsuit against the village of Voorheesville should not be dismissed because the village’s adoption of a new zoning code was “far from an ordinary municipal comprehensive planning and zoning enactment process.” Voorheesville responded, again, that the case should be dismissed because Stewart’s latest argument does nothing to alter “the conclusion that the Village lawfully changed its zoning code for the district in which the subject property is located.”

Tensions rose but manners prevailed as the Berne Planning Board submitted a letter to its newly appointed chairman, Thomas Spargo, announcing its desire to see a member reinstated who was effectively fired in the middle of her term to make room for Spargo. The planning board cited a recently-filed lawsuit against the town and Spargo as one aspect of the fallout Berne is experiencing after the controversial decision.

The opposing attorneys disagreed over whether Samuel Groezinger had taken appropriate responsibility. 

Neighbors expressed empathy after hearing from the homeowner’s relatives, but remain concerned about their property values. 

Robert Baron, the former Voorheesville girls’ varsity basketball coach, suffered a setback on Jan. 28 in his lawsuit against the school district.

Peter Hotaling, who was Westerlo’s assessor for 19 years before the town replaced him with Garth Slocum, has filed an Article 78 proceeding against the town, requesting that he be reinstated with back pay and that the town reimburse him for medical costs he accrued after losing his insurance.

Stewart’s announced in September 2019 it was suing Voorheesville, claiming the village was targeting the company to keep it from building a new shop in the village. The village, in its first response to the lawsuit, asked that the suit be tossed. 

Obstructions to Stewart’s Shops building a new shop at its Altamont location continue to fall by the wayside, as the company receives once-already approved rezone requests and, more recently, the lawsuit that had brought the project to a halt was dropped. 

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy has been accused in a federal lawsuit of exacting revenge on one of his former political pals.