ALTAMONT — William J. Smith III was a hardworking man who held many jobs over the years to provide for his wife and son. “Family came first,” said his son, William James Smith IV.
Mr. Smith “went home to be with his Heavenly Father” on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, his family wrote in a tribute.  He was 88.

GUILDERLAND — In 2015, John Haluska took it upon himself to start sprucing up Guilderland’s historic markers.

Tom Capuano, Vice President Guilderland Historical Society

Peter G. Barber, Rosemary Centi, Laurel Bohl, Christine Napierski, Amanda Beedle, Guilderland Town Board

Jane Quay Willey, Guilderland

Marie Wiles, Ph.D., Superintendent Guilderland Central School District

B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation brings back its “Synagogue Scholars” series with a discussion, led by University at Albany Professor Emerita Martha Rozett, of “Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued Millions of Yiddish Books” by Aaron Lansky, the founder and president of the National Yiddish Book Center.

GUILDERLAND — The chamber of commerce here is kicking off its 50th anniversary celebration on Feb. 9, the day it was incorporated a half-century earlier, in 1972.

The celebration will last all year with new branding, events, programs, and a 50 New Member Challenge.

Transportation Supervisor Inho Suh is proposing spending just under a million dollars to purchase eight new 66-passenger school buses next year, three of them with chains. The projected cost of $976,000 is about $10,000 lower than last year for the same number of buses. 

“First of all, Eid is like Christmas for us,” wrote Arisha Ahmed, one of the Muslim students lobbying the Guilderland School Board to have the day off from classes. “Imagine having to go to school on Christmas. It is as simple as that.”