Schenectady News

An investigation is underway into the cause of a two-alarm fire in Schenectady. Firefighters were called to the Steinmetz Homes apartment complex in the Woodlawn section of the city around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

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While most New Yorkers are fretting over filling their gas tanks during the summer traveling months, some state assemblymen Wednesday warned that winter heating fuel could be even more expensive.

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Because sex should not be pleasurable under any circumstances Parents in Schenectady, NY are up in arms because the sex education in their school district dares to talk about sexuality as if it was a good The nerve!

Several Fonda-Fultonville school district residents on Tuesday criticized the use of a Planned Parenthood educator to conduct sex education classes for seventh- and eighth-graders beginning today.

The parents said they had collected 163 signatures of residents opposing the introduction of Planned Parenthood materials or organization-developed instruction in the school.

Deborah Young said she started researching Planned Parenthood education guidelines and found passages that suggested masturbation is a source of pleasure.

“I went in, I could not believe what I saw,”

Young said.

Seriously, how dare an educator tell the truth about sexuality! Where's the shaming and misinformation about how sex is dirty, wrong and bad?!

Despite the fact that the PP educator has already been instructed not to mention abortion (at all), people are still concerned.

Dr. Michael Rochet, a physician, said the school district should search for alternatives for Planned Parenthood programming because he believes the instruction will facilitate curiosity among students.

“It will lead to more sexual activity,”

he said.

Sure it will. Never mind that this particular county has the second-highest teen pregnancy rate in the state, much better that they stick to abstinence only education and pretend they've done their job.

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Police said that after two cars crashed Friday evening on Western Avenue, one car sped away and the occupants of the other fled on foot.

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A plan to expand the main branch of the Schenectady County Library has been shelved in favor of renovating its heating, cooling and electrical systems, officials said.

Library trustees voted in favor of the change Thursday when, trustees said, it became clear the board and the County Legislature could not agree on how to expand. Public outcry met a plan offered by the legislature that would have required the library to close for at least a year during construction.

"We basically walked away from the elaborate plan for expansion," board of trustees President Esther Swanker said. "When you have 1,800 people signing a petition, you have to listen."

Renovations to the 40-year-old building will cost the county about $1 million and should be completed this summer with minimal closures at the main branch.

"We would have been in danger of closing during the winter otherwise," she said. "Going forward with the old systems would have done no good."

The expansion project would have added more than 9,000 square feet to the main branch in addition to the construction of a new entrance and the systems replacement.

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SCHENECTADY -- A Polish parish that dates to 1892 would close under a proposal expected to be presented to the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese by next month.

St. Mary's Church, an imposing Gothic structure on Eastern Avenue, could remain available as an "oratory" under the plan. That means there would be no official weekend Masses, but the church would be a sacred space for events like weddings, funerals and traditional Polish prayers.

"We've tried to do it in a way that minimizes the agony,"

said Eileen Shirey, employed as a local facilitator in a sweeping restructuring under way across the 14-county diocese.

The St. Mary's proposal is one small piece of that process, known as "Called to BE Church." It will lead to some church closings in a diocese grappling with population shifts and fewer priests. Bishop Howard Hubbard is not expected to announce any final decisions until January.

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Senate and Assembly Republicans have proposed legislation to increase the nine-year-old Metroplex Development Authority's borrowing limit, though it comes with caveats for reform.

The initial legislation capped the authority's borrowing or bonding limit at $50 million in addition to dedicated annual county sales tax revenues it receives. This new legislation would increase the bonding limit to $75 million, sponsors said.

"Metroplex is an important public authority that has aided in Schenectady County's continued economic renewal, revitalization and rebirth, we believe that politics should be taken out of Metroplex so it can continue its mission of attracting and retaining the kind of smart, long-term investment that grows our local economy and pays real dividends for Schenectady's future.""

said Assembly GOP Leader James Tedisco and fellow Republicans Sen. Hugh Farley and Assemblyman George Amedore in a prepared statement.

To that end, the legislation contains language to ensure that board members are not or haven't been political chairpersons in the past four years.

Gillen said he was pleased with the legislation. "They want to continue the successful record that we've had for the past four years," he said.

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A Schenectady teenager is behind bars, arrested for shooting off a rifle in broad daylight.

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It seems fitting that Charlie Kaufman's directing debut, which offers enough enigmatic ideas to fry viewers' brains, should also come with a title that will twist their tongues.

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A city teen was arrested late Thursday in connection with a shooting earlier in the day on Delamont Avenue, police said.

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