“We’re selling ourselves short by just going to add more parking,” said Senator Patricia Fahy, as she gestured to the parking lot around her. The “multiplier effect” of investment in the Wadsworth Public Health Laboratory project, she said, could be “limitless.”

“This shelter will now serve as a place where families can stay together, where mothers and fathers can feel secure, and where children can sleep peacefully surrounded by care and support,” said Apple.

UAlbany’s largest economic impact — nearly three quarters of the $1.1 billion — is from university operations, which creates 6,705 jobs and contributes $814 million per year. That is followed by construction impact, which makes up about one-fifth of the $1.1 billion, creating 1,396 jobs and contributing $212 million annually.

The $1.5 million announced on Friday follows $2.3 million the county awarded to 14 community organizations to stem the tide of opioid addiction. The money from opioid settlements with drug companies that promoted opioids is expected to continue through 2039, said Stephen Giordano, the county’s mental health commissioner.

Veterans Miracle Center Executive Director for Community Relations Michelle Viola Straight told The Enterprise that it will lose around 90 percent of its dry-food donations, creating a massive hole for the not-for-profit as the need rises drastically. 

ALBANY COUNTY — About $80,000 of the nearly $32 million Albany County received in federal pandemic funds, through the American Rescue Plan Act, will be used to upgrade transmission of the county legislature’s meetings.

Legislators voted unanimously on Dec. 16 to spend $150,000 for the upgrades.

ALBANY COUNTY — Parking will be free on New Year’s Day at Thacher State Park and Five Rivers Environmental Education Center.

The Albany County Legislature has authorized an increase of the hotel occupancy tax rate from 6 percent to 6.5 percent as a way to fund tourism initiatives, with all GOP members opposed to the measure. 

“Some of the recommendations in this report may appear at first reading to be too big or too bold, but significant change is warranted,” the report says, noting the formula’s use of “old, outdated information” as well as its “outmoded modeling to measure pupil needs and local school district wealth.”