Amazon opens in Schodack

Massive Amazon fulfillment center opens in Schodack
The company's first so-called fulfillment center in upstate will eventually employee 1,000, company says

SCHODACK — Amazon opened its new fulfillment center in this Rensselaer County town on Friday, marking the end of a years-long - and at times contentious - process to build the first such facility for the company in upstate New York.

The facility will eventually employ more than 1,000 full-time workers who will stack, pack and ship items to customers across the region, including bulk paper goods, sports equipment, pet food and supplies, electronics, and household goods.

Pay at the fulfillment center starts at $15 an hour and full-time employees will get health, vision and dental coverage along with a 50 percent match in 401K plans. Minimum wage in upstate New York currently stands at $11.80 with an increase to $12.50 scheduled to go into effect on Dec. 31.

The company will also pre-pay 95 percent of tuition for courses in high-demand fields such as game design, visual communications, nursing, radiology and IT programming.

This is the company’s first fulfillment center in upstate New York, and second in the state. Amazon launched its first fulfillment center in Staten Island in 2018.

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In case you missed Schodack CSD's Tweet

In case you missed Schodack CSD's Tweet

Things are going to be different when school starts in September. Check out this video with @MapleHill_HS Principal Jacqueline Hill to see how classrooms will look at the high school. https://pic.twitter.com/GcAj9otaQ4

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Modern Love comes to Albany

Amazon's 'Modern Love' shooting scene in Albany's Washington Park
Production crew expected to spend several days shooting exterior shots around park and Center Square

"Modern Love" is expected to shoot at six or seven Albany locations through Friday, said Debby Goedeke, Albany's film commissioner. 

She declined to give specific locations, saying only that no major public buildings would be used, but a city advisory about parking restrictions and street closures suggested shooting would be mainly in Washington Park and on Dove Street in the adjacent Center Square neighborhood.

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Albany police announce road closures, parking restrictions
ALBANY Police will be prohibiting parking and closing roads in portions of Albany this week due to film production.

Albany police say Washington Park Road will be closed between Robin Street and Sprague Place from 6 a.m. until midnight Wednesday. Central Avenue will be closed between Robin Street and North Lake Avenue starting at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

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Help from above?

Albany man rescued from Lake George by priests on a floating tiki bar

Mark Mulholland

LAKE GEORGE - It was a choppy afternoon on the lake and Jimmy MacDonald from Albany was paddling in a kayak.
As Jimmy tells it, he drifted away from his wife and stepkids because he was taking pictures with his new smartphone "and not really paying attention."
As he tried to make his way back, the water got choppier and he paddled harder before he tipped over and lost his paddle.

MacDonald laiughed about it, "How funny is it that I've been sober for seven years and I get saved by a tiki bar?"

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Albany-Hudson Electric Trail

AHET Trail will be a shared-use bicycling and pedestrian trail along the 35 mile Albany-Hudson Electric Trolley corridor from Hudson, NY to Rensselaer, NY – running through Rensselaer and Columbia Counties. This website will be periodically updated with plans, reports, meeting dates, project status reports, and other information.

The AHET Trail is an important part of the Empire State Trail, providing a key link between the Capital Region and the Mid-Hudson Valley. The Empire State Trail, when completed in 2020, will create a 750-mile biking and walking trail from New York City to Canada and from Albany to Buffalo.

Historically, the Albany-Hudson Electric Trolley operated along the proposed trail corridor. The trolley was an interurban third rail system that operated along 35 miles from the City of Albany to the City of Hudson from 1899 to 1929. The trolley was powered by electricity supplied by the Stuyvesant Falls hydro-electric power plant. The 12,000 volt output of the dam was converted to 600 volts at three substations located in the City of Hudson, North Chatham, and East Greenbush.

The trolley line transported millions of passengers over its three decades of service. In the late 1920’s, railroads saw a decline in ridership due to the growing popularity of personal automobile travel. This, coupled with the beginning of the Great Depression, led to the closure of the trolley line in 1929.

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East Greenbush sees major apartment proposal for Columbia Turnpike

East Greenbush sees major apartment proposal for Columbia Turnpike
Kenneth C. Crowe II


EAST GREENBUSH – The town Planning Board next week will look at a planned development district for a proposed 300-unit apartment complex, the largest to be proposed in the town in more than a decade, that some consider important to the revitalization of Columbia Turnpike.

The 300 units of luxury apartments and 12,000 square feet of commercial space are proposed by 580 Columbia Turnpike LLC. The 35-acre site is where the Weathervane Restaurant stood for decades before it became derelict and was torn down in June 2016.

“It brings people to a really important part of the turnpike,” said Adam Yagelski, the town director of planning and development.

Community Support

Community Support
Posted on August 6, 2020 by Admin

On an afternoon in mid July an Officer came to work and found an object sitting on the picnic table directly outside the Nassau Police Station. It turned out to be a small rubber duck thought to be a child’s toy but after taking a closer look it was a rubber duck with a police officer hat, a thin blue line flag across the front and a hand written inscription that said “Thank You Nassau PD”. Within feet of the picnic table is the Village Pond, and floating in the pond were over a dozen identical ducks with the same hand written inscription. It is unknown who took the time and effort to make this heartfelt and thoughtful gesture and show of support to the Nassau (and all) Police Department(s) but we would like to Thank You!

The Ducks currently remain in the pond except 2, 1 of which is on display in the Police Station and 1 is in the Village Clerks Office.

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New York’s ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’ campaign begins August 19

by: Mariann CabnessPosted: Aug 18, 2020 

NEW YORK (WWTI) – New York State Police and law enforcement agencies statewide will be ramping up enforcement of impaired driving beginning August 19.

The STOP-DWI “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign is designed to reduce alcohol and other drug-related traffic crashes. The campaign lasts through September 7.

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