The state’s first Free Fishing Weekend of 2022 is on Feb. 19 and 20, when freshwater anglers are permitted to fish for free without a license.

Dr. Ward Stone, Troy

While hospitals, physicians’ offices, outpatient care centers, and other health-care facilities have nearly reached or surpassed pre-pandemic staffing levels, long-term care facilities are still experiencing substantial job losses, according to a new report from the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living.

ALBANY COUNTY — Dion Lewis, on Feb. 10, pleaded guilty in Guilderland Town Court to driving while ability impaired.

Lewis, 31, had been arrested on Dec. 19 for first-offense driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and for several infractions: improper right turn, illegal signal, and refusal to take a breath test.

Qualified landowners may apply for a free bag of 25 tree and shrub seedlings for planting near streams, rivers, or lakes to help stabilize banks, protect water quality, and improve wildlife habitat.

The emergency assistance supplement is provided to households that do not ordinarily receive the maximum allowable benefit per month on SNAP. Those households already near or at the maximum benefit level — $835 for a household of four — will receive a supplemental payment of at least $95.

Among the $76.4 million from the state for freight-rail infrastructure upgrades is $5 million to Norfolk Southern Railway “toward safety and service reliability enhancements, including the rehabilitation of 15 miles of track along the Voorheesville corridor, grade crossing resurfacing, the installation of welded rail, and other enhancements.”

ALBANY COUNTY — Starting on Thursday, the statewide mask-or-vax mandate for businesses is lifted, Governor Kathy Hochul announced at a press briefing on Wednesday.

Governor Kathy Hochul said on Friday she would talk to her health experts “and then make some decisions in the next few days, the next few weeks about the requirements that we have in place to keep us safe and whether or not they’re going to be as necessary.”