The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Rensselaer County

Primary and Special Elections

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Early voting for the Tuesday, August 23 Primaries and Special Elections has begun, and will run through Sunday, August 21. The primaries are the result of contested redistricting boundaries which weren’t settled in time for the original June 28 primaries. Early voting in Rensselaer County will take place at the Town of Brunswick office building, 336 Town Office Road, Troy; Schodack Town Hall, 265 Schuurman Road, Castleton; and 500 Federal St. office building, 500 Federal St., Troy.

The Special Election is to fill the remaining four months of the term for the U.S. House District 19 seat, which was vacated when Antonio Delgado resigned to become Lt. Governor. That race is being contested between Pat Ryan for the Democratic/Working Families Party and Marc Molinaro for the Republican/Conservative Party. 

Also in Rensselaer County are the primaries for the new 20th and 21st U.S. House Districts. The 20th District will be contested between Democratic candidates Rostislav Rar and incumbent Paul Tonko to see who will oppose Republican/Conservative candidate Elizabeth Joy in the November 8 General Election. The 21st District will be contested between Democratic candidates Matt Castelli and Matthew Putorti to find out who will oppose Republican candidate Elise Stefanik in the November 8 General Elections. 

To find a polling location and information, visit https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.

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County Recognized for Innovative Programs

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Rensselaer County was recently honored by the National Association of Counties (NACo) for four innovative programs that have been implemented or expanded to serve residents. The annual NACo Achievement Awards program recognize innovative County government programs from across the nation that are the cutting edge of public service or government efficiency and effectiveness. The following four services and initiatives were recognized:

Naloxone Now
This effort provides residents with an opportunity to obtain Narcan through curbside delivery to help fight often fatal drug overdoses, and is done on a no-questions asked basis. This was instituted during the pandemic to combat the opioid crisis.

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Upcoming Elections

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Early Voting Starts Saturday

Submitted by the LWV of Rensselaer County
Early voting begins Saturday, August 13 through Sunday, August 21. Voters can cast their ballot at whichever of the three following locations is most convenient:

Town of Brunswick office building
336 Town Office Road, Troy

Schodack Town Hall
265 Schuurman Road, Castleton

500 Federal St. office building
500 Federal St., Troy  [Read more…] about Upcoming Elections

Congressional Gold Medal

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Submitted by the Office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Ben Cardin recently introduced a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Benjamin Ferencz, the last living Nuremberg prosecutor, in recognition of his work prosecuting Nazi war criminals, most notably the Einsatzgruppen, and his service in World War II. The bill passed the House in May and was introduced by Representatives Lois Frankel, Joe Wilson, Ted Deutch, Gus Bilirakis, Jim McGovern, and Chris Smith.

Ben Ferencz immigrated to the United States from Hungary when he was ten months old and his family settled in New York City, where he grew up, and attended The City College of New York and Harvard Law School. [Read more…] about Congressional Gold Medal

Welcoming New Girl Scouts

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Local Girl Scout Service Unit 154 would like to welcome your girls to join Girl Scouts this year. We will be holding meetings after school for grades K through 5 in the elementary school, and will choose the day of the week when all registrations have been received. We have other troops in place but are happy to create new ones depending on the interest. Please call Robin Conner at the Girl Scout council at 518-489-8110 x153 and she will be able to help you get registered and get you into a troop in our area. 

County Receives DEC Funding

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New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently announced $255,240 for two projects to improve water quality, increase flood resiliency, and conserve natural resources in Ulster and Rensselaer counties. Funding for these projects is provided by the State’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) and is administered by DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program in partnership with NEIWPCC.

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2022 Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Events

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Submitted by the Rensselaer County Legislature
Rensselaer County, the City of Troy and the Town of Bethlehem are partnering on an inter-county Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) disposal program for 2022. The program consists of six events. 

These events, currently scheduled throughout the second half of the year, provide residents of the participating municipalities the opportunity to safely dispose of hazardous materials not accepted through normal garbage collection service.

The next event will be Saturday, July 30, at the Town of Schodack Highway Garage in Nassau at 3776 U.S. Route 20.

Participating Municipalities for the July 30 event are the Town of Schodack, the Town of Nassau, the City of Troy and the Town of Bethlehem. [Read more…] about 2022 Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Events

Early Voting Underway in Gubernatorial Primary

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Minor Party County Judge Race Also on Ballot

by Doug La Rocque
Both Republicans and Democrats have several people vying for their party’s nod to run for Governor this November. Sitting Governor Kathy Hochul, elevated to that post with the August 2021 resignation of former Governor Andrew Cuomo, is battling two challengers for the Democratic Party nomination, those being Congressman Thomas R. Suozzi (Long Island/Queens) and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. Many polls, including the respected Siena College Poll, have Governor Hochul with a healthy double digit lead on her opponents.

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Swearing-In Ceremony

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On Friday, June 17, the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Department held a special ceremony at the County Public Safety Building for eleven new recruits to become corrections officers. With family, friends, Rensselaer County Legislators and County Executive Steve McLaughlin looking on, Sheriff Pat Russo administered the oath of office to the eleven new members of the corrections bureau and discussed the important role they will have in protecting residents. The new hires will help fill a number of recent vacancies. Rensselaer County thanks the new members for their willingness to serve and protect our County.

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Special Congressional Election Candidates Picked

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Two weeks ago, when former 19th Congressional Representative Antonio Delgado was named New York State’s Lt. Governor, Governor Kathy Hochol set Tuesday, August 23 as the date for a special election to replace Mr. Delgado. Earlier this month, the Democratic Party nominated Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan and on Friday, June 10, the Republican Party picked Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro (a former gubernatorial candidate). The winner of this contest will represent the current 19th district until the end of the year. The 19th includes many portions of Rensselaer County.

Who ever the winner is, will only represent the district for about 4 months, as the newly drawn congressional districts take effect on Janaury 1, 2023. All of Rensselaer County except the western side will become part of the 21st district, currently represented by Elise Stefanik.

Another interesting twist in this topsy turvy election year, is on the very same day voters are choosing a new representative for the 19th district, Democrats will also be voting in a Congressional primary to a pick a candidate for the new 21st district. Matt Castelli and Mathew Putorti are on that ballot. The winner will face off against Representative Stefanik in November for the right to represent most of Rensselaer County in  the new year. Troy remains in Representative Paul Tonko’s 20th Congressional district.