New York, Albany County | featured news

Kindergarten and first-grade students dressed in golden halos portrayed angels in the manger for the Christmas play put on by St. Thomas the Apostle School in the town of Bethlehem on Thursday, days before the holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus.

Current and former Rensselaer County leaders, along with local women's groups, are calling on state Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin to resign his assembly seat immediately and refrain from taking the oath of office when he settles in for his new job as county executive next month.

WATERVLIET – City property taxes will go up 15.87 percent in 2018 after city officials cut spending and found new revenues to reduce the original tax hike proposal of 19.2 percent.The City Council voted 2-1 Thursday to adopt the $11.39 million budget for 2018 that included nearly $70,000 in spending cuts and $70,000 in additional revenues.

A new study published in the recent Journal of the American Heart Association found that marriage dramatically reduced the risk of heart attack among patients with heart disease who participated in the research.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans to allocate $65 million toward a program to combat and prevent algal blooms that threaten upstate lakes including Lake George."We're literally talking about the quality of drinking water," Cuomo said on Thursday during an appearance in Syracuse where he outlined the plan, which will be explained in greater detail during his State of the State speech in January.

Clifton Park – In an effort to ease anxiety over losing the state and local property tax deduction from individual federal filings, the town has arranged to accept 2018 property tax payments before the end of the year."When it was established that the acceptance of early payments is plausible, we made the decision to accept the payments as soon as possible," said Supervisor Phil Barrett. "As always, we will make every effort to implement policies that accommodate requests from Clifton Park residents."

ALBANY -- A 20-year-old Cohoes man pleaded guilty Thursday to the murder of a 46-year-old man he gunned down at a Father's Day barbecue in the South End.Richard Duckett faces 20 years to life in prison under his guilty plea to second-degree murder before for the June 18 murder of Terrance Roberts.

WASHINGTON _ President Trump basked in the glow of GOP-lawmaker warmth after approval of the Republican tax bill, with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, calling him “one heck of a leader,” and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., commending him for “exquisite presidential leadership.”

The Madison Theater, the 88-year-old moviehouse in Albany’s Pine Hills, will close Jan. 1 for a stem-to-stern cleaning and improvements while its owners decide on purchase offers from two potential buyers.“I really can’t be specific, but I have a couple of interesting deals in front of me that would keep the integrity of the theater and be much more responsive to the community,” said Gunther Fishgold, founder and president of Tierra Farm, which owns the Madison and its two abutting businesses.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday a $2 million program to help Hoosick Falls recover from devastating floods last July.