The Altamont Enterprise & Albany County Post

The Altamont Enterprise & Albany County Post The newspaper of record for Guilderland, New Scotland, and the Helderberg Hilltowns in Albany County, New York. Subscriptions keep our newsroom going.

The cover photo is of a painting by Laurel Dover Searl of her farm in Berne.

Three of the candidates chosen at the Republican caucus have the GOP line on the ballot but are not being supported fina...
09/18/2025

Three of the candidates chosen at the Republican caucus have the GOP line on the ballot but are not being supported financially or with publicity by the committee: Highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger; Town Clerk Kristin De Oliveira; and Stephanie Audino, who is running for tax collector.

Joseph Martin, who chairs the GOP committee in Berne, told The Enterprise on Tuesday, “We’re extremely optimistic. We’re running a bipartisan slate, supporting candidates on both lines. And every single resident tells us that they want normalcy back in town and are so tired of the toxic environment from past administrations.”

Highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger believes the motive for the lack of support is revenge. Read the story here: https://altamontenterprise.com/09172025/berne-gop-deserts-3-candidates

Fifty counties, including Albany, are now under a drought watch, according to an announcement from the governor and the ...
09/17/2025

Fifty counties, including Albany, are now under a drought watch, according to an announcement from the governor and the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

The drought watch is triggered by the State Drought Index, which reflects precipitation levels, reservoir and lake levels, and stream flow and groundwater levels in the nine drought regions of the state.

To protect water resources, homeowners are encouraged to voluntarily reduce outdoor water use and follow this advice:

— Water lawns only when necessary, choose watering methods that avoid waste, and water in the early morning to reduce evaporation and maximize soil hydration;

— Reuse water collected in rain barrels, dehumidifiers, or air conditioners to water plants;

— Raise lawn mower cutting heights. Longer grass is healthier with stronger roots and needs less water;

— Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks;

— Fix leaking pipes, hoses, and faucets;

— Wash only full loads of dishes and laundry;

— Take shorter showers or fill the bathtub partly;

— Install water-saving plumbing fixtures;

— Don’t run the tap to make water hot or cold; and

— Wash cars less frequently.

[— Map from NYSDEC]

Altamont’s first Constitution Day, on Sept. 17, attracted many families with children who learned about the nation’s fo...
09/17/2025

Altamont’s first Constitution Day, on Sept. 17, attracted many families with children who learned about the nation’s founding document through a variety of crafts and displays.

Benjamin Franklin, portrayed by David Grapka, demonstrated the use of a quill pen at his table showing some of Franklin’s many accomplishments. Keyrose Joseph, 14, standing at right, said his younger brother told him about the Constitution Day celebration in Altamont. “It’s about America — let’s go,” he told his brother.

Michelle Dworkin helps her 6-year-old daughter, Ilona, at left, string acorns into a necklace at a display put together by Diana Greene. Greene had real oak branches representing the branches of government and said she wanted to plant the seed for children to learn about them. Dworkin said she came to Altamont’s Constitution Day because she had been fired on Sept. 2 from her job working for the United States Agency for International Development; she had been a foreign-service officer for 17 years. Dworkin also said that her daughter’s name means “oak tree” in Hebrew.

Suffragist Alice Paul, portrayed by Katie Fahrenkopf, gives a heartfelt answer to this girl’s question: “Why didn’t they let women vote?” Fahrenkopf’s table at the celebration included a craft where kids could make buttons like those worn by the suffragists; she suggested this girl draw a sunflower, a symbol used by those who fought for the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

[Photos by Melissa Hale-Spencer]

Cassidy Zyskowski died on Sept. 10 after a long struggle with breast cancer, leaving behind her son, Hunter, a fourth-gr...
09/16/2025

Cassidy Zyskowski died on Sept. 10 after a long struggle with breast cancer, leaving behind her son, Hunter, a fourth-grader at Altamont Elementary School.

Her aunt, Stacey Zyskowski, has started a GoFundMe drive to raise money for “funeral costs, medical expenses, and the trip that Cassidy was trying to do for her son, Hunter, before cancer took her away.”

As of Tuesday evening, the GoFundMe drive — titled “Help Fulfill Cassidy's Dream for Hunter” — had reached 60 percent of its $20,000 goal with 113 contributions totaling $11,935. https://gofund.me/7013f6b06

“Cassidy poured her heart into everything she did,” her family wrote in her obituary. “She built a small business with passion and talent, crafting stunning suncatchers that now hang in homes near and far, casting rainbows just as bright and colorful as her spirit.”

“There are no words to describe the pain that Cassidy’s family and friends are going through,” her aunt wrote in her GoFundMe post, “knowing that she will no longer be here especially to see her son grow up.

“Cassidy planned a trip for her and Hunter last October because their favorite holiday is Halloween. They were going to go to Disney in Florida during the Halloween season.

“Unfortunately, in August 2024, Cassidy learned that the cancer had spread to her brain, and she would have to go through radiation and chemo treatments that would make her very sick and weak. She had to cancel the trip and never got the chance to take Hunter because her cancer only got worse.”

Remembering the fallen: Altamont and Knox commemorated the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Thursday with s...
09/13/2025

Remembering the fallen: Altamont and Knox commemorated the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Thursday with solemn ceremonies. Knox residents gathered at their firehouse to hear taps and the national anthem played by Berne-Knox-Westerlo High School students as Supervisor Russell Pokorny spoke in remembrance of those who died 24 years ago on that day. [Photos by Sean Mulkerrin and Frank Dees]

The developer of the proposed 285-unit Foundry Square complex at the corner of Western Avenue and Foundry Road looked to...
09/10/2025

The developer of the proposed 285-unit Foundry Square complex at the corner of Western Avenue and Foundry Road looked to entice the town into approving the project by designating 10 percent of units as “workforce housing,” a definition that doesn’t exist under current zoning. The Guilderland Industrial Development Agency is now looking to define the phrase as developers start to seek tax breaks for including it in their projects.

The IDA — whose function in town government is largely financial, determining which projects receive applied-for tax benefits — began to define workforce housing in April.

Workforce housing doesn’t have a hard-and-fast definition like affordable housing, which is defined by the federal government as “housing on which the occupant is paying no more than 30 percent of gross income for housing costs, including utilities,” according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Read more at https://altamontenterprise.com/09032025/ida-set-define-workforce-housing-four-developers-propose-it

[Image from Guilderland Village LLC submittal to the town of Guilderland]

A trio of large-scale battery energy storage systems were recently submitted to the New Scotland Planning Board for its ...
09/10/2025

A trio of large-scale battery energy storage systems were recently submitted to the New Scotland Planning Board for its review and approval. New Leaf Energy’s applications identify the properties as 37 and 128 Wormer Road.

Read the article here: https://altamontenterprise.com/09052025/more-battery-storage-proposed-new-scotland

The New Scotland Planning Board has set an Oct. 7 public hearing for the large-scale battery energy storage system proposed for Indian Fields Road in Feura Bush by RIC Energy.

Read more about that proposal here: https://altamontenterprise.com/09082025/public-hearing-set-firefighters-being-trained-proposed-feura-bush-battery-storage-facility

The campus of the Hilltown Commons has a storied century-long history but that very history, embodied in old buildings a...
09/08/2025

The campus of the Hilltown Commons has a storied century-long history but that very history, embodied in old buildings and sweeping grounds, can also be a liability.

“The path towards sustainability is to be able to generate enough revenue to cover our overhead annually. We are in year one of this,” said Doug Parvis who started as the acting director of the Hilltown Commons in February.

Parvis envisions a venue that ultimately attracts local Hilltown residents as well as artists, writers, scientists, and others seeking interaction with one another and with the natural world — an antidote to the current “loneliness epidemic,” he says where people focus on screens rather than on one another.

Read more at https://altamontenterprise.com/09032025/hilltown-commons-wins-first-grant-reinvents-itself-creative-campus

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