SARATOGA SPRINGS — Congressman Paul Tonko announced $143,240,822 in COVID-19 relief for colleges, universities and students in the Capital Region to help institutions with the financial fallout from the pandemic and continue serving their students safely. At least half of the funding each institution receives will be distributed in the form of emergency cash assistance grants to students who are facing hunger, homelessness, and other hardship.

The American Rescue Plan provides $36 billion for nearly 3,500 public and private, nonprofit colleges and universities nationwide.

Funding for Capital Region colleges, universities, public and nonprofit institutions include: $44,253,101 to State University of New York at Albany, $1,135,556 to Albany Schoharie Schenectady Saratoga BOCES: $9,324,647 to College of Saint Rose; $14,846,000 to SUNY Empire State College; $18,397,446 to Hudson Valley Community College; $13,642,165 to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; $4,953,656 to Russell Sage College; $6,901,679 to Siena College, and $4,175,642 to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. 

“A strong investment in our students is a strong investment in our future,” Congressman Tonko said, in a statement. “Our colleges and universities have been hit hard by COVID-19, and our nation cannot hope to recover without federal support to these institutions. I am proud our American Rescue Plan is continuing to deliver that critical support. I will continue to work alongside the Biden Administration to ensure that our federal response meets the needs of our students and higher education institutions across the Capital Region, New York State and America.”

County Lowers Firearm Deer Hunting Age to 12 

BALLSTON SPA — The county this week voted to approve its participation in a pilot program that allows a hunting license holder who is 12 or 13 years of age to hunt deer with a crossbow, rifle, shotgun or muzzle loading firearm. 

The activity must take place “in areas where and during the hunting season in which such implements may be used,” as well as when accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or mentor, according to the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors’ resolution. 

In his 2021-22 budget, Gov. Andrew Cuomo included legislation that would allow 12 and 13-year-olds to hunt deer with a firearm or crossbow. Shortly after the budget was signed in April, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors promptly initiated action to hold a public hearing and vote on a Local Law authorizing county participation in the pilot program.  The public hearing was held just prior to the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday afternoon.

“Youth hunting has been a priority for me almost since I first took office,” Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner told the Board prior to their vote. “We have a good program for youth hunting that I hope will be the foundation for a permanent program as we move forward.” 

The new legislation will be treated as a pilot for upstate counties through 2023. New York had been the only state to not authorize young hunters to use such weapons for larger game.

“This is an exciting development for the youth hunters in Saratoga County. Hunting is a formative activity for many families in our community, and we look forward to providing new opportunities for our young hunters to safely and effectively learn techniques to grow and improve their hunting season experience. We encourage the public to educate themselves on new and existing guidelines as we welcome the deer hunting season,” said Todd Kusnierz, Chairman of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors.

The new deer hunting guidelines were included in this year’s New York State Budget to enhance the economic opportunities of the local hunting industry and cultivate a strong initiation of new hunters. 

“Thanks to the efforts of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors for joining this statewide initiative, young people in Saratoga County will have the opportunity to safely learn to use crossbows and firearms and engage in these outdoor activities and traditions,” Sen. Jim Tedisco told the board. 

In line with the new legislation requirements, each qualified county is required to “opt-in” on the adoption of the new program for 12 and 13-year-olds. If completed and notified by June 1 the accepted counties’ decision will be published in the DEC’s annual hunting and trapping regulations guide. The final date to notify officials is Sept. 1.

Click Here for Sweeney’s Schuylerville Expansion: Dinner Is Served

CLIFTON PARK — The New York Animal Agriculture Coalition (NYAAC) presented a $1,000 check on Friday, May 7 to Shenendehowa Middle School students and Technology Teachers Andy Mink and Rock Travis, for volunteering to help build life-size cow displays. The dairy cows are part of a statewide effort to educate New Yorkers on all things dairy. The cows will be traveling across the state beginning in June, which is National Dairy Month. A total of 12 students participated in the effort to build the bases for the cows. 

The cows were picked up from the school on Friday, May 7 by NYAAC Executive Director Eileen Jensen. They are now traveling to Central New York to be delivered to artists who were selected through an RFP process to paint the cows, highlighting dairy farms, dairy products, and farm facts. 

Once complete, the cows will kick-off #DiscoverNYDairy – a social media campaign aimed at highlighting the faces and farms behind our food, and to educate New Yorkers on all things dairy. The cows will visit well-known landmarks, destinations, and restaurants across the state. The cows will travel from Central New York down to Long Island and back up again, stopping at familiar places where dairy products are sold to help New Yorkers discover delicious dairy products, and the faces and farms that help get those products to our kitchen tables.

How to #DiscoverNYDairy 

NYAAC’s Discovery NY Dairy campaign will launch on social media during National Dairy Month in June. You can follow along on NYAAC’s social media pages.

SARATOGA — On May 12, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik sent a letter to her Republican colleagues asking for their vote in Stefanik’s bid for House Republican Conference Chair. Republicans voted to remove Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming from that leadership post earlier the same day – the ejection ranked as punishment for repudiating former U.S. President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election, Reuters reported Wednesday. 

Stefanik voted in line with former President Donald Trump’s position 77.7% of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight, which tracks how often every member of the House and the Senate votes with or against the president. 

“It is imperative that we not only go on offense against the Socialist Democrats, but we need to be on offense when dealing with the biased mainstream media,” Stefanik wrote in her Letter to Colleagues, as being among her goals as potential Conference Chair. She also noted spotlighting members’ conservative policy solutions and providing a disciplined message to “offensively prosecute the disastrous and destructive Biden and Pelosi agenda.”    

The House Republican Conference chair is the third-ranking House Republican, behind Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Minority Whip Steve Scalise. By description, the House Republican Conference is the organizational vehicle for all Republican members of the house and their staff, hosts regular meetings of house Republicans and is the primary vehicle for communicating the party’s message to members. The Republican Conference Chairman directs day-to-day operations of the Conference office and staff. 

Stefanik was first elected to the 21st Congressional District in 2014 and has been re-elected to the post in successive terms in 2016, 2018 and 2020. The 21st Congressional District includes a portion of Saratoga. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Congressman Paul Tonko announced this week that the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) Program has officially launched, and he is encouraging constituents to check if they are eligible to receive a discount on their monthly internet bill through the program. 

The new Emergency Broadband Benefit Program will help millions of lower-income Americans afford their monthly internet bill. Congress created the $3.2 billion program as part of the last omnibus appropriations bill in December. 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) confirmed that open enrollment in the program began May 12. This broadband safety net program will provide between $50 and $75 off the monthly cost of home internet service for families in need, and may also provide an additional subsidy for a computer. Internet providers who participate in the program can apply to the FCC for reimbursement.

According to the FCC, a household is eligible if a member of the household meets one of the following criteria below: Has an income that is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, or Lifeline; Approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision in the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school year; Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; Experienced a substantial loss of income due to job loss or furlough since February 29, 2020 and the household had a total income in 2020 at or below $99,000 for single filers and $198,000 for joint filers; or Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating provider’s existing low-income or COVID-19 program.

“With more of us working, learning and connecting with friends and loved ones remotely than ever before, every American family needs to be able to access reliable, affordable broadband internet. That’s why I have worked for years to improve and expand internet access, including writing and delivering my Access Broadband Act into law and helping lead the charge to create this new and vital broadband link in America’s safety net,” said Tonko, a Democrat whose district includes a large portion of Saratoga Springs. 

Households interested in learning whether they qualify are encouraged to visit the FCC’s new enrollment website at: getemergencybroadband.org and then sign up through their internet service provider. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Saratoga Springs will host its Tenth Annual Plant Fair on Saturday and Sunday, May 22 and 23, the weekend before Memorial Day. 

Taking place in the church’s parking lot at 624 Broadway, the sale will offer a wide variety of tomatoes, herbs, and greens grown organically from seeds and cuttings.

“We’ll also offer exceptional perennials from splittings grown in Saratoga,” said accomplished gardeners Elisabeth Collins and Linda Miner. “Since they’re local, we know they’ll do well here.”

Purchases may be made Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 3 p.m. Masks and social distancing will be required. All sales will be cash and check only. 

Free tree seedlings will be given to the first 50 attendees on Saturday. As in past years, this year’s sale is a group effort with dozens of UU Saratoga volunteers pitching in. Seedlings are being cultivated by church members Murray Penney and Art and Julie Holmberg. 

Herbs to be sold will include tarragon (rooted from cuttings from the Pitney Farm herb garden), oregano, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. 

Among the six varieties of tomatoes being offered are Beefsteak, Celebrity, and Sun Gold cherry tomatoes. 

“These are among the varieties that are both exceptionally tasty and grow best in our locality,” said Penney, the retired GE engineer who launched the annual sale as a fundraiser for the Church in 2011. “It’s fun giving people the opportunity to try them and getting back the ‘Wow!’ reports.”

“This is a labor of love,” added tomato co-chair Julie Holmberg. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Jewish Community Arts and Temple Sinai present a Zoom discussion of the film, “Losing Ground” at 7 p.m. on May 23.

Kathleen Collins’ film Losing Ground, a 1982 independent romantic drama of an imploding marriage of two intellectuals, a university professor and her artist husband, struggled to find distribution at the time of its conception. And even though it made history as one of the first feature films written and directed by a Black woman, Losing Ground remained largely unseen by the time Collins died of breast cancer in 1988, at the age of 46. Collins shattered artistic barriers, but her work remained in obscurity for nearly 40 years. 

Losing Ground can be seen on YouTube. Registration is required for the Zoom meeting link at sjca.sjcf@gmail.com. For updates please follow saratogajewishculturalfestival.org; saratogasinai.org and on Facebook.

In honor of Memorial Day, the Saratoga County Alliance to End Homelessness would like to spotlight the tireless efforts of local service provider, Veterans & Community Housing Coalition (VCHC), to support our Veteran community members in need. 

Since 1983, VCHC has served homeless or at-risk Veterans in Saratoga County. In 2013, VCHC was awarded the Supportive Services for Veteran Families grant which allowed VCHC to expand to six other local counties. Now, VCHC serves Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Fulton, Montgomery, Warren, and Washington counties. In 2016, VCHC recognized a lack of affordable decent housing for Veterans in Saratoga County. In response VCHC, along with funding from HUD, formed the Saratoga Veterans Apartment Program (SVAP). This program now provides 17 apartments scattered throughout Saratoga County for low income, disabled veterans and their families. 

Over the past year, Veterans & Community Housing Coalition has established a food pantry for the local community, served over 250 individuals and Veteran families with housing stability resources, as well as assisted over 25 homeless Veterans with emergency housing during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

VCHC offers transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, support services for veteran families, and affordable apartments for eligible veterans and their families. If you or someone you know is a veteran struggling with financial stability and housing, please call 518-885-0091 for assistance. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A crew of workers descended this week upon the city’s east side, where U.S. Navy veteran Leslie Carroll received a new roof as part of the Owens Corning Roof Deployment Project. The collaborative effort included Pinnacle Roofing, Glens Falls Habitat for Humanity, and Owens Corning. 

“We appreciate what the veterans do for the country, so we like to help out and try to pay them back,” said Jeff Patrick, co-owner of Pinnacle Roofing, a Schenectady-based company that has been taking care of roofs for residential homes and commercial buildings in the Capital Region and Southern Vermont for over 15 years. 

The project was established in 2016 by Owens Corning Roofing and its network of independent roofing Platinum Contractors to identify, honor and help protect veterans by installing new roofs. In its first year, 23 roofs were installed for military families across 14 states. To date, more than 250 military members have received new roofs.

Carroll was selected and approved as the recipient for the roof replacement. “This is our second one this year. We did one earlier this year in Corinth for another veteran up there, and we do several a year usually,” Patrick said. 

A team of 10 worked to remove the existing roof as well as some plywood due to roof leakage. The work was anticipated to be completed in less than two days. 

Owens Corning – which develops, manufactures and markets insulation, roofing and fiberglass composites – runs the Roof Deployment Project. The company donated roofing materials and Pinnacle Roofing donating the labor. The Saratoga Springs project would have cost about $10,000 to $12,000, Patrick said. 

For more information on the Roof Deployment Project, or to learn more about getting involved, email roofdeployment@owenscorning.com.