This Wednesday, I saw “Ragtime” at the Park Playhouse in Washington Park – and I cannot convey enough that this show is a must-see! It's free and runs through July 29th at 8 PM (Tuesdays through Saturdays). Ragtime is a soaring and culturally-important musical based on E.L. Doctorow's award-winning novel, which chronicles the lives of three different families from three different worlds at the start of the 20th Century in pursuit of the American Dream. The themes in the production are especially relevant in today’s political climate, and I highly recommend you see this excellent production.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie Announces Statewide Tour. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced plans for a statewide regional tour of New York earlier this week. The tour will take place over the course of this summer to learn about the challenges unique to each area of the state. The tour kicked off this week in Central New York, and the Speaker is expected to visit the Capital Region late in the summer.

Silver Case to be Re-Tried. This Thursday, Second Court of Appeals in NY overturned former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s 2015 conviction. The Court based their ruling on the fact that jury had been given improper instruction on what constitutes an “official act” for the purposes of a bribery charge - due to a the impact of a more recent US Supreme Court on a similar case involving a former Virginia Governor. Notably, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York has indicated that he intends to retry the case, and noted in a press statement that the Court of Appeals stated in their ruling that sufficient evidence exists to re-convict the former speaker if proper instructions were to be given to the jury. I spoke with the Times Union to discuss the impact of this case and noted the November ballot question for voters to decide if NYS should strip convicted officials of their pension coming up this November, and stressed the urgent need for ethics reform in New York. The bill which sent the proposal to strip former members convicted of corruption charges of their pensions to the voter passed overwhelmingly in the legislature earlier this year.

City of Albany School Board Elections Moved to May. City School District of Albany Board of Education elections will move from November to May, in sync with nearly every other school district in New York, under new legislation which I sponsored in the Assembly, which Governor Andrew Cuomo signed Monday. The provisions in this new law will align the district’s fiscal and academic cycle with the process for electing and installing new members of their governance team. The Albany School District will no longer be the only district in the state which elects school board members in November and approves a budget in May, a system that has proven to be as confusing to school board members as it is to voters.

Applications for ’Enhanced Tuition’ Scholarship now Open! Applications for the new "enhanced tuition" program, which gives eligible students at certain NYS private colleges such as The College of Saint Rose $6,000 off their tuition bills, are now open! The new program was designed to give students at New York’s many private institutions some of the same benefits of the new Excelsior Scholarship program. The application is available here, and the deadline to apply for the scholarship is August 21.

Community Updates

Albany County Legislature Authorizes Conservation Easement for Bethlehem. At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Albany County Legislature, the legislature passed Local Law B, which means that Bethlehem’s Conservation Easement exemption will now apply to county taxes, as well as town, fire district and Bethlehem Central school taxes. The conservation easement program is designed to enable owners of large parcels of open space, which are often assessed at a high value for property tax purposes, to preserve that valuable open space by lessening their property tax burden. This new law means the exemption will provide an even stronger incentive for long term planning and an effective tool to help Bethlehem plan for smart growth and preserve open space - while having the most minimal of impact on the overall tax base, depending upon other growth in the town.

Completion of Updates to Rensselaer Rail Station Announced. The Governor announced on Wednesday the completion of The Albany-Schenectady Double Track Project constructed a second railroad track for 17 miles between Albany and Schenectady to significantly reduce congestion. The project doubled capacity between the two cities and eliminated a critical bottleneck for the entire Empire Corridor, improving performance time for all trains between Albany and points west.

Additionally, the new Fourth Track at Rensselaer Station Project constructed a new track at the station and were extended to better serve the longest train, the Lakeshore Limited. The improvements – completed this spring – make it easier to board and disembark from trains at the station and reduce train delays. Until now, trains have had to wait outside the station for as long as 20 minutes for a platform to become available, causing congestion at the station and delays for passengers.

Ride-Hailing Survey. Have you used a ride-hailing service like Uber of Lyft since their launch in Upstate New York in late June? The Capital Region Chamber of Commerce wants to hear from you about your experience! They are collecting a survey to see what improvements might be made to the system since its launch, and your input will help them make those suggestions.

Free App: Upper Hudson Library System. Public libraries in Albany & Rensselaer counties now offer an app called UHLS Mobile, available for free in both Android and Apple app stores. The app’s features include the ability to search the UHLS catalog; check the status of a library card account; place physical items (such as books, CDs and DVDs) on hold so they can be picked up at the library; access digital items like ebooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines; and connect users to other information such as library hours and program calendars. The app even can scan the ISBN barcode of any book to see whether our libraries own a copy of a specific title—and place a request for that book right away.

Upcoming Community Events

DEC Public Hearing on Volkswagen Settlement Funds. Volkswagen has agreed to settle allegations that it violated the federal Clean Air Act by selling vehicles with "defeat devices" that allow vehicles to exceed air pollution limits. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation will be conducting several public outreach events across the state on possible uses of the funds for diesel mitigation projects. They will be holding public comments event in Albany on July 20th at both 4PM and 6PM at NYSDEC Central Office at 625 Broadway. For a list of outreach events and acceptable proposals for the use of the funds, visit DEC’s website here.

Honoring Guilderland's Major General Harold Greene. One of the bills I am most proud of authoring this legislative session was a bill naming a portion of Route 20 in honor of the late Major General Harold Greene of Guilderland. The town of Guilderland will be holding a dedication ceremony on July 27 at 3:00 Pm at Guilderland Town Hall, to observe the dedication of the highway with Major General Greene’s father, Harold Greene Sr. Major General Greene, who grew up in Guilderland, was the first military officer to be killed in a combat zone since the Vietnam War in 2014. He spent a 34 year career serving in the US military. He joined the ROTC while studying at RPI to fulfill a physical education requirement, but quickly took to military life, eventually achieving the rank of Major General.

Cycle the Erie Canal Finish Line Event. Last year, I became the first state legislator to cycle the length of the Erie Canal during the week-long Cycle the Erie Canal event. This year’s participants will be finishing their trek at Albany’s Heritage Area Visitor’s Center Quackenbush Square this Sunday July 16 at noon. Help welcome and cheer on cyclists at the finish line and welcome them to the other side of the historic Erie Canal.

Job Opportunities: New York State has set up a new job portal entitled Jobs Express, where thousands of private and public sector jobs are listed. Visit jobs.ny.gov for more information on how to apply for these opportunities.

As always, for the latest news or for upcoming events, please visit my office online, on Facebook, on Twitter, or my Times Union blog. If you would like to reach my office, please feel free to send us a note.