“I think we should be recognizing other significant events in the town’s history,” said Guilderland supervisor Peter Barber. “I do know that there are a lot of very famous town residents … that served in the state legislature, but also on the forefront as abolitionists or with women’s suffrage … We should try to do more.”

“It’s essentially an approach that some very ill-intentioned people are using to create chaos through the lens of our first responders,” said Guilderland Superintendent Marie Wiles. “So they initiate calls, often through a 9-1-1 center, that makes first responders jump to action because there is an alleged active shooter or bomb scare or hostage situation.”

GUILDERLAND — Conor Webb is a student with a mission, a big one: to make not just his school but his nation a safer place.

A Guilderland High School junior, Webb is a founder of the first local chapter of March For Our Lives.

Superintendent Marie Wiles concluded of the 2023-24 budget, “On some levels, this was a fortunate year that we were able to maintain everything that we have been doing and lower the class sizes in the middle school, which was a huge priority, and begin to transition items that were funded by our federal dollars into he general fund. So I think we’re in a very good spot.”

ALBANY COUNTY — The Albany Pine Bush Preserve will host its annual Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 22, from 9 a.m. to noon.

A new initiative puts Narcan cabinets in easily accessible places. Cabinets are already installed at the Berne Library, at the Washington Avenue branch of the Albany Public Library, at the University at Albany, and at the Capital City Rescue Mission. “If you want one of these in your building, we’ll make it happen,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy.

“He brought the topic to life in a very powerful way, really basing his talk out of the actual words of our students who have experienced some version of hate speech,” said Guilderland’s superintendent about Matthew Pinchinat, the district’s DEI coordinator. Pinchinat used that, she said, “to make sure every child, every student, every adult knows that they are valued and affirmed and cared about.”

The board’s March 28 meeting began with an orchestrated chorus of students and parents pointing out space and safety issues with practice rooms and storage spaces for musical instruments.

ALTAMONT — George Pratt wore a stetson hat and cowboy boots that made his lean frame seem even taller. In his old age, he worked as a cowboy on the Florida range after retiring from a 20-year career as Altamont’s police chief.

A special enrollment period has been set up by Health and Human Services to help people who lose Medicaid between March 31, 2023 and July 31, 2024, move to the Obamacare marketplace: https://www.healthcare.gov/.