The Thomas O'Brien Academy of Science and Technology (TOAST) is putting on a production of "Annie Jr."

The masks can finally come off.

It's the end of the flu season that looked like it would never end.

Eight months after the first cases were recorded in October, following two spikes of flu that afflicted at least 37,000 New Yorkers in every age group, state health officials on Thursday declared flu "no longer prevalent." The announcement means hospital workers who did not get flu shots this season are no longer required to wear masks.

It also means hospitals have a short breather before the next busy season hits.

"It is June, that is a late end to (flu), no doubt about it," said Dr. Dennis McKenna, medical director at Albany Medical Center. "But there's no rest for the weary, now we'll be into the trauma season."

Injuries, including those by the pool, tend to spike in summer, he said.

After 24 weeks when influenza cases were widespread statewide, the number of laboratory-confirmed flu cases dropped 33 percent from the previous week, to 143, and showed up in fewer than half the state's counties, for the week ending May 31.

In an unusual season, flu spiked twice, first in mid-January, and then again in early April. The first wave of cases were mainly H1N1, a subcategory of influenza A that hit more young and middle-age adults.

Influenza B was nearly unreported in New York until early February, then surged as H1N1 was ebbing — and flu was subsiding throughout most of the rest of the country. Influenza B struck more children and the elderly.

The second wave of flu took doctors by surprise, and had health experts scratching their heads.

"I have yet to read anything that has given a clear-cut answer" to what caused the surge of influenza B, McKenna said.

Health workers who come into direct contact with patients were required to wear surgical masks for the first time this season if they did not get vaccinated. The controversial measure, which followed failed attempts in previous years to require health workers to get inoculated against the flu, was intended to prevent patients from getting sick from nurses, aides and others caring for them.

In January, local hospitals also implemented restrictions against ill visitors to prevent the flu's spread.

"I'm glad to announce as of today the visitor restrictions will be lifted," McKenna said Thursday.

Other area hospitals generally join in implementing and lifting the rules simultaneously.

chughes@timesunion.com • 518-454-5417 • @hughesclaire

Imagine a job interview at which qualifications are hardly mentioned.

It's an experience Amy Joyce and Jennifer Corona say they had when seeking consideration for judgeships by the Albany County Democratic Committee.

Both recently went public with concerns about a lack of diversity on the state Supreme Court trial bench in the Third Judicial District.

It is a court where all 10 elected judges are white males.

And there is now a vacancy created by the retirement of Albany-based state Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi.

Both women say their outspokenness about the lack of female and minority judges was the first thing brought up by an all-male panel at the party's law committee interviews.

Not everyone had the same experience. Judge Margaret Walsh, who was also interviewed by the law committee, said she was asked about her experience and background, though she was not the chosen candidate.

Neither was Judge William Carter, a black and Japanese city court judge in Albany, who said he pressed the panel to consider that in the Appellate Division, which is composed of elected Supreme Court judges, there has never been a black or Hispanic Supreme Court justice in the Third Department, a 28-county area that encompasses about a quarter of the state.

"I wanted them to understand they had the opportunity to make history," said Carter. "It's actually a blight on the Democratic party as a whole in the state. But they chose not to."

Instead, the law committee opted to recommend the candidate everyone expected it would: Albany County Legislator Justin Corcoran. He's been a trial and appellate lawyer for 20 years, and is a close ally of the county Democratic chairman, Matt Clyne. He is also white and male. Word among Albany County Democrats has been that Corcoran had already been decided on, so much so that it wasn't clear until very recently that the law committee would even hold interviews.

"This was not a close call ... Nobody else had even half or a third" of the experience Corcoran had, said Clyne. He said litigation experience was a primary consideration.

The Supreme Court trial bench is the only court in the state in which political parties, through a judicial-convention nominating process, have complete control over who appears on the ballot; aspiring judges do not have the option to square off in primaries.

Walsh will challenge the party leadership's selection in the only way she can: by running her own slate of delegates for slots in the judicial convention to challenge the party's pick — a very unusual move.

"It seems to me pretty unlikely that I would be chosen by the Albany County Democratic Committee, at least in the foreseeable future," said Walsh. "I feel strongly that I am the most qualified candidate," she said, referring to her 10 years as a family court judge and five years as an acting Supreme Court judge.

Her choices for 30 delegates, including Albany Common Council President Pro Tempore Richard Conti and County Legislator Chris Higgins, are mostly members of the party's progressive wing. If her delegates win, the nomination could turn into a showdown between the party establishment and those trying to change the party's power base.

Some feel the entire process was rigged from the get-go, and that the party scheduled interviews only after public pressure mounted.

Some of that pressure is due to a letter sent by Joyce to more than 600 members of the Albany County Democratic Committee seeking support for nomination to the bench, saying that the Supreme Court's "lack of diversity" is a "well-recognized concern."

Joyce said as soon as she sat down for her interview, "they immediately asked whether I believed it was fair to criticize the Democratic party for not supporting women," which she said was "unnerving."

Joyce is the principal law clerk for Albany-based state Supreme Court Justice Michael Lynch, and she is the daughter of former Albany County Democratic chairman Harold Joyce.

Corona, an Albany attorney and the immediate past president of the Capital District Women's Bar Association, said she recently wrote a letter, with the Black and Hispanic Bar Association, to the New York Law Journal pointing out the lack of judicial diversity. She said both bar associations "sent a joint appeal to local party chairs requesting that they consider including women and minority candidates to their slates to address the issue of lack of diversity in the judiciary."

Corona interviewed with the law committee for an opening on the family court, but said "the majority of the time was spent discussing that letter. They felt that the criticism was not fair."

Was asking about the women's criticism of the party relevant to the positions they were seeking?

Yes, said Rich Jacobson, chairman of law committee.

"The party has been facing criticism based on the notion that there are not any female Supreme Court judges, when in fact there are," he said, referring to Leslie Stein (elected in 2001) and Karen Peters (elected in 1992). Both have since moved up to the Appellate Division.

"Its kind of a warped perspective to say we're not supporting female candidates," Clyne said.

And for family court, Clyne pointed out, the law committee did recommend Judge Richard Rivera, who is Hispanic.

"People say, well, you're too insular, you don't look at other things," said Clyne. "But we don't conduct our affairs based on appearances."

Albany

An attorney for the state Commission on Judicial Conduct asked New York's top court on Thursday to remove Albany County Surrogate's Court Judge Cathryn M. Doyle from the bench, saying she wasn't even honest about her well-publicized candidacy for Supreme Court in 2007.

"She denied even that she was a candidate," Edward Lindner, deputy commissioner of the watchdog panel, told the Court of Appeals, referring to Doyle's sworn testimony.

Doyle, elected in 2000, faces removal for taking action in cases between 2007 and 2010 without disclosing personal conflicts with lawyers who included her former campaign manager, Matthew J. Kelly; her personal attorney, William Cade, and a personal friend, Thomas J. Spargo.

On Thursday, several judges said that despite the conflicts the outcomes did not hurt anyone. But they also were openly perplexed that, regardless of the nature of the cases, Doyle did not recuse herself from them.

Doyle was censured by the commission in 2007 for evasive and deceptive testimony during its inquiry into a trust fund to help Spargo.

On June 26, 2007, Doyle held a news conference outside Albany County Judicial Center to announce her candidacy for Supreme Court. At the conference, Doyle was introduced by Kelly, who told reporters she had no blemishes on her record despite being censured just months earlier.

At the time, Doyle told reporters that qualifications, not political connections, should dictate who becomes a judge. She said a Supreme Court justice "needs to respect people ... to respect the people who appear before the court."

On Thursday, her attorney, William Dreyer, said that Doyle was not officially a candidate for the judgeship. She ran again in 2010.

The state Commission on Judicial Conduct voted to remove Doyle from her job last November after finding that she committed three counts of misconduct. Two members of the commission dissented, saying that censure was more appropriate.

Doyle said she acted in good faith.

Dreyer told the court that Doyle was dealing with a load of 14,000 cases over the years involved. He said she was "sincere and credible."

The surrogate is responsible for handling wills, estates and adoptions.

Doyle, who attended the hearing, declined to comment.

rgavin@timesunion.com • 518-434-2403 • @RobertGavinTU

Gardnerville, Nev.

Theirs is an unexpected love affair, which began with a slap on the knee and the words, "Let's dance."

Steve Coburn and Carolyn Black were in their 40s and relationship-weary from marriages gone bad. They were introduced at a party, and Coburn wanted to dance. He found Carolyn "real pretty"; she found him "kind of loud."

"He taught me to do the two-step," Carolyn said softly, smiling at the recollection. "He comes across kind of red-neckish, but he's such a gentle soul."

Coburn sipped his Coors. "Oh, I know how to dance," he said. "I can do the 'Fat Boy Boogie' pretty damn good."

The Coburns, married now for 20 years, believe the planets aligned to bring them together. In the same way, they hold firm that some greater force handed them another improbable gift: a thoroughbred they call Junior, known to the world as California Chrome, the copper-colored colt with flashy white markings who has a date with destiny Saturday as he tries to win horse racing's Triple Crown.

The Coburns are part-owners of Chrome — as they also call him — who after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes will try for racing's holy grail at Belmont Park. The horse has taken the couple on the ride of their lives, inspired a seen-it-all 77-year-old trainer to dance until dawn, and given an overlooked jockey — who grew up in Mexico riding donkeys — one final chance at racing immortality.

And Chrome's defy-all-odds precociousness has made the Coburns — he works in a factory, clocks out for lunch, and is a gunsmith on the side — the blue-collar antidote to the Kentucky bluebloods.

"We have pissed off a lot of people in Kentucky, and in the thoroughbred industry," chuckled Steve, sitting in his favorite local lunch spot, Hamdogs, where beer is the drink of choice and meat sandwiches are small mountains. "They've thrown everything at this colt, and he's proved them wrong over and over again — and they just can't figure it out."

Watch a video of Steve and Carolyn Coburn talking about California Chrome

Looking for respect

What people can't figure out is how the Coburns hit the equine lotto with the first ticket they bought, at a store no one particularly liked. They are first-time thoroughbred owners, put just $10,500 into the mare and sire who produced Chrome, and recently turned down more than $8 million in offers for a stake in Chrome and his mom. Junior was born in California to a filly deemed nervous and a stallion dismissed as washed up. The colt was never supposed to be a running machine that has won his past six starts by a combined 271/2 lengths.

A California-bred horse has never won the Triple Crown. Only four "Cal-breds" have won the Derby in its 140-year history, and a Cal-bred has never won the Preakness, first raced in 1873. More than 20,000 thoroughbred foals are born in the United States every year, and only 19 3-year-olds made it to the start of this year's Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Chrome's saddle pad for the Derby, made by the folks in Kentucky, had "California" spelled "Califorina."

"How the hell do you misspell 'California,' " said Steve, whose 61st birthday was on Derby day, May 3. "The state is on the map. It shows they didn't think much of a Cal-bred."

The Coburns were pulled into racing by Carolyn's interest in playing the ponies.

"I went on a junket to the Santa Anita racetrack with a bunch of people in the '80s and thought it would be so boring," said Carolyn, 63, who recently retired as an accountant. "I fell in love with it: the horses, the game, going to the track. I learned how to read the racing form. I learned how to bet."

Steve chimed in: "She taught me everything she knows, and she wins and I lose."

Carolyn rolled her eyes. "That's because you don't listen."

$8,000 investment

Their hobby took a serious turn in 2009, when they bought into a syndicate with 15 other people who owned a filly named Love the Chase. The horse loved people and looked pretty, but lacked speed, winning only one start in six races. When the syndicate wanted her sold, the Coburns — along with another couple, Denise and Perry Martin, who live near Sacramento — stepped in and bought her outright. The Coburns spent $8,000: $4,000 initially for a 5 percent stake and another $4,000 to share ownership with the Martins.

"We were told we were dumb asses if we planned to buy and race this filly," Steve said. "But we loved that horse from the moment we met her. I never know when she's going to do it, but at some point during our visits, she'll come over and put her head over my shoulder and just rest it there."

The Coburns and Martins bred Love the Chase at Harris Farms in Coalinga (Fresno County) to a stallion named Lucky Pulpit, who had breathing problems and never won a major race.

"Perry (Martin) looked at their pedigrees and thought they would be a good match," Steve said of his partner, who runs a materials testing facility at the former McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento County.

He added, "When you go back generations, the bloodlines of both horses are pretty impressive," and include Seattle Slew, Secretariat and Numbered Account, the granddaughter of Swaps, the 1955 Cal-bred Derby winner.

'Junior's guardian angel'

On Feb. 18, 2011, Love the Chase delivered the muscular 137-pound California Chrome, who dragged a hoof on the way out and lacerated his mother's uterus.

"She started bleeding pretty bad and we almost lost her," Steve said. "She had an IV and they kept her and Chrome in the stall for about a month, which is unusual for a colt. He got that time with his mom, and also saw people come in and help. That's where he learned to be with people and trust people."

The Coburns went to visit Harris Farms in the Central Valley as often as they could, and Steve had a feeling about Junior from the moment they met.

"He was born on my sister's birthday," Steve said. "My sister Brenda died of cancer at 36. It's been 36 years since anyone has won the Triple Crown. When I saw Junior, when I saw this baby, I just had a rush of emotion fill me. I told Carolyn, 'I don't care what it takes, I don't care what we have to do. This horse is going to be something big and we need to make sure he gets to do what he's bred to do.' "

He looked down at his hands. The tough cowboy, who drives an old truck, has roped cattle, and works long hours in a nearby factory that puts magnetic strips on credit cards, grew emotional.

"Before every race, I step aside and say a prayer to my sister," he said. "I believe she's Junior's guardian angel. And I say a few words to my mother-in-law, Mary, who passed away this year. She thought Chrome was just fantastic. And she told me I was the only cowboy she ever loved. I call her my Mother Mary. So, we've just got a lot of angels on this horse."

The Coburns — who have five children and eight grandchildren from prior marriages — talk about Junior as proud parents describe a child. At 3 months, Junior would see them coming, run to the fence and whinny for the Mrs. Pastures horse cookies proffered by Steve. "He'd eat a handful of cookies and then go to his mama and suckle," Steve said, laughing. "Milk and cookies, milk and cookies."

Horse is a character

Junior soon became the alpha male of the herd, and had his share of nicks and cuts.

Steve said, "What's amazing about this horse is that before the race, Chrome is just walking and checking things out. His lead rein is loose. I honestly believe — and people think I'm crazy, though I've been called crazy before — that when this horse steps out on the track, he's getting a mental picture of his surroundings. He knows what's fixin' to happen, and what needs to happen. He conserves his energy for the race."

Junior also happens to be a character. "He likes to pose for pictures," Carolyn said. After every race, Steve kisses Chrome on the muzzle.

"Seriously, this horse loves the game. He's got the heart and will, and he never gives up. He's what you call a push-button horse. You can get him up to speed, hold him at that pace and then ask for a burst of speed."

The Coburns expect about 40 friends and relatives to join them for the race on Saturday. And all of Gardnerville — a town of 5,600 with the saloon Buckaroos on the main drag — will be rooting for their hometown heroes.

Following their dream

Carolyn, who still laughs at the way the two met, when the brash cowboy swatted her on the knee, said the best part about their amazing ride has been seeing Steve's dream realized.

"It started really with Love the Chase," Carolyn said. "If you only knew how much he believed in Love the Chase, when everyone else had given up on her. He felt in his heart she had something. Then with Chrome, he would get under the fence and bond. He's like a horse whisperer."

Steve still looks at Carolyn with the same admiration he felt when the two first met.

"I got fat and old," Carolyn demurred.

"Well so did I," Steve said. "So did I."

Getting up to leave, Steve and Carolyn found themselves surrounded by well-wishers.

"This is turning the sport of kings upside down," he said, noting that he and the Martins named their racing operations Dumb Ass Partners. "We're just dumb ass partners who did our homework and came up with a fantastic horse."

Heading to the parking lot, to his truck with about 500,000 miles on it, Steve paused.

"You look at past generations, and when all of the moons and stars in the universe line up, you get a horse like ours," he said. "People are willing to spend millions and millions to achieve it. We got lucky."

Smiling at Carolyn, he added, "This is a miracle story and we're blessed. We're very blessed."

jguthrie@sfchronicle.com, @JulianGuthrie

Troy

An anonymous benefactor has stepped up to donate $3,000 for the repair of the vandalized Uncle Sam float.

The float was found torn to pieces in a warehouse where it was stored at 400 King Road days before it was to be in the Lansingburgh Memorial Day parade. Now, it is expected to be repaired enough to appear in Sunday's Flag Day parade in Troy.

But John Rustin, Uncle Sam Parade Committee president, said the float would not be fully restored until after the parade.

"It won't be all the things we wanted to do with it but it will run," he said.

Rustin said the chairs and the large hat on the float had to be fixed after the vandalism.

"The big, beautiful — and heavy — hat was broken," he said. "I don't know how they did that."

Elizabeth Reynolds, who is now storing the float at her home while it is being repaired, said the donation would cover the cost of rebuilding the float.

"If it wasn't for him we probably wouldn't have this float ready in time for this weekend," she said.

Reynolds said her mother-in-law, Uncle Sam Pageant Director Alta Reynolds, had been paying for the repairs before the donation.

The elder Reynolds said she would not disclose the donor's identity, but said she planned on inviting him to a banquet and presenting him with a plaque for his generosity.

She also said she would like to put a plaque on the float to honor the other businesses and donors who helped as well.

Rustin and Alta Reynolds both said they did not know where they would store the float once it was repaired.

"I know one thing," Reynolds said, "I am not putting it back in that garage."

Reynolds said she had her idea for a punishment for the vandals:

"What I'd like to do is give them a sign and have them walk next to the float that said 'I vandalized the float.' "

Troy police did not immediately return a call for information on whether the vandals have been identified or apprehended.

The 47th annual Troy Flag Day Parade takes place at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Nick Niedzwiadek • 518-454-5035

Local governments will get $11.7 million to help fix roads, install traffic signals and encourage drivers to share the road.

The Capital District Transportation Committee's policy board approved the distribution of federal highway funds to towns, cities, counties and the Capital District Transportation Authority for 27 different projects.

The committee directs those funds to communities in Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties.

The largest sum, $1.9 million, will go to the Capital District Transportation Authority. The smallest, $15,000, will help Malta add "Share the Road" signs.

"This is a really important role that CDTC plays," Executive Director Michael Franchini said.

The CDTA already has installed new fare boxes on all its fixed-route buses to enable riders to use cellphones and smart cards to buy tickets, said CDTA spokeswoman Jaime Watson.

"They are a lot more technologically advanced," she said.

Sometime next year, riders should be able to buy reloadable cards that they can tap on the fare box to record their payment.

The $1.9 million will fund improvements to CDTA's technology for purchases that occur off the buses: online and at kiosks at places like Price Chopper, she said.

Albany County will gain $1 million in funding for resurfacing County Route 151: Albany Shaker Road and Peter Dalessondro Boulevard.

Schenectady will get $705,000 to pave Guilderland Avenue from Broadway to the city line and $525,000 to pave Broadway downtown from State Street to Millard Street.

Schenectady County has several big projects as well: $697,000 to pave Aqueduct Road, $622,000 to resurface Consaul Road and $436,000 for paving Broadway.

In Albany, $512,000 will be used to make improvements to Ten Broeck Street, $489,000 will be used for Cardinal Avenue improvements and $429,000 will go toward Whitehall Road.

In Saratoga County, the town of Halfmoon will get $425,000 to preserve pavement on Sitterly Road, with another $132,000 shared by Halfmoon and Clifton Park for improvements to the corridor on the same road.

Rensselaer County will get $452,000 for pavement work on County Route 51, Burden Lake Road.

The money will also help pedestrians and bicyclists.

A $448,000 grant will be used for reconstructing 2,800 feet of sidewalk on the west side of Helderberg Avenue in Rotterdam plus 800 feet of new sidewalk on the east side of the avenue from Morning Glory Drive to the existing mid-block crossing.

A flashing beacon and displays will notify drivers of their speed in the area near Mohonasen Middle and High School.

Albany will get $550,000 to help redesign Madison Avenue to make it easier for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists to share the road.

The Mohawk Hudson Hike Bike Trail that runs through Schenectady County received $145,000 to upgrade safety features on the trail in Rotterdam.

Niskayuna will receive $229,000 to construct a multi-use path from the Flower Hill cul-de-sac to the Mohawk Hudson Hike Bike Trail via Rosendale Road and an existing trail spur along Ferry Bridge Road.

Niskayuna will also receive $100,000 to construct a new multi-use path connecting the Niskayuna Soccer Complex and the Mohawk Hudson Bike Trail.

tobrien@timesunion.com • 518-454-5092 • @timobrientu

The 2014 graduates of Saratoga Central Catholic School celebrated commencement Friday at St. Clement's Church in Saratoga Springs.

Niskayuna

The mention of Tiananmen Square is greeted with a mix of silence and confusion in the local Chinese-American community, a kind of third rail better left untouched in discussions of the Communist-controlled country's record on human rights.

The 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre passed on Wednesday with hardly a public mention in the Capital Region, which is home to an estimated 7,000 Chinese who range from college students to restaurant workers to white-collar professionals.

On June 4, 1989, hundreds of young Chinese citizens were killed by government troops and columns of military tanks. They opened fire on the civilians on orders to clear away college students who led a pro-democracy demonstration that grew in size and power over weeks in Beijing's large central square, angering Communist Party leaders.

Although banned in China, the Tiananmen anniversary remains a potent underground force today, referred to by many Chinese people in the shorthand of 6/4. Even that reference is blocked by censors in mainland China today. There have been reports of people in China being detained or placed under house arrest to prevent them from organizing public activities marking the banned anniversary.

One of the only local programs was held Wednesday at Union College, where the Asian Studies faculty showed a portion of a documentary film on a century of revolution in China and led a discussion with students,

"For a historian, the idea of erasing history is really troubling," said organizer Joyce Madancy, associate professor and acting chair of Union's history department. "I wanted to ask our Chinese students why they think it's so important that their government keeps this information from them."

The number of Union students from China has grown from a dozen four years ago to about 50 currently, Madancy said. They were born after the 1989 crackdown and government censorship kept them from learning about the historic event. "I'd like to say my American students know more about it, but that's not true," Madancy said.

She said a recent book's title sums up the situation in China: "The People's Republic of Amnesia."

Meanwhile, there were no events at two local Chinese churches or at the Chinese Community Center of the Capital District in Latham.

"It's a very difficult topic and a lot of people are still afraid to talk about Tiananmen Square in public, even here in America," said the Rev. Keh-Minn Chang, pastor of the 150-member Chinese Bible Church on Balltown Road in Niskayuna, which is Southern Baptist. "I've got some older parishioners who were in Beijing in 1989 and they'll give you their perspective privately. I've got college students and other young people who weren't born yet and have no idea what happened."

"I feel free to speak my personal opinion and I believe that absolute power leads to absolute corruption," said Chang, 63, who was raised in Taiwan after his parents fled the Communist-controlled mainland in 1949. "The government abused its authority and covered up the facts of the killings. We still don't know the truth about Tiananmen."

He founded the church in 2005 and does not address political issues from the pulpit. "I believe church and state should be separate," said Chang, whose wife, Hwa-gan, works for the state Department of Health.

"I feel very sympathetic for those who died or were hurt in the 6/4 event," said Xiaoqiang Zeng, a General Electric Co. engineer and president of the Chinese Community Center of the Capital District in Latham, which has about 1,000 members. He conceded the government's declaration of martial law and use of deadly force to dispel protesters remains a controversial and divisive topic.

"Both the Chinese government and the leaders of the protests need to be blamed for this tragedy," he said. "The leaders of 6/4 were very young and emotional and they didn't know how to compromise. The government made compromises. If the students had more experienced leadership, it might have ended differently. That's just my opinion. It's hard to judge who was right and who was wrong."

At the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, two college interns born after 1989 felt compelled to mark the anniversary Saturday at its wide-ranging Freedom Festival.

Interns Ian Romaker, a junior writing major at Syracuse University, and Bekka Gable, who recently graduated with a degree in communications studies from Rowan University in New Jersey, produced a poster featuring the iconic image of a young man in a white shirt standing his ground and facing down a line of four tanks in Tiananmen Square. He was dubbed "tank man" on the Internet.

"To have that kind of courage is inspiring," said Romaker, of Colonie, who was born in 1994 and first learned about the event in an eighth-grade history class. "It's incredible to see one person willing to stand up against the full force of the Chinese government."

"I never learned about it at all in school," said Gable, who was born in 1992 and grew up in Ventura, Calif. "I learned in college classes about the power of images and the impact of censorship. We want to bring awareness to the fact that it's the 25th anniversary of the tragedy of Tiananmen."

People can write their thoughts on the anniversary as part of a larger discussion about freedom.

The Tiananmen Square poster will be included in a participatory art project creating freedom flags patterned after Tibetan prayer flags.

In the Buddhist tradition, each color of the vibrant flags represent concepts such as peace and health and hope.

China and Tibet have been locked in a combative standoff since Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959. Tibetan monks protested more vigorously for independence after the Tiananmen Square massacre, which sparked a government crackdown that in turn spurred dozens of monks to set themselves on fire in fatal acts of protest.

"We're being very careful not to make this an anti-China event," said Jillian Hirsch, youth arts coordinator and the Tibetan prayer flags project organizer. "It's definitely about expressing freedom, whether standing in front of tanks or making prayer flags for the neighborhood."

"We're celebrating the complex ideas of freedom," said Branda Miller, arts and education coordinator and an RPI professor. "We're bringing history alive."

pgrondahl@timesunion.com • 518-454-5623 • @PaulGrondahl

Schenectady

Several dozen residents from the Stockade and surrounding neighborhoods gathered at Arthur's Market Saturday to send a clear message about their opinion on a proposed casino nearby on the Mohawk.

They don't want it.

"I want to be part of this city because it treats its people like they count, not just because the dollars count," said David Giacalone, who organized the event.

Rotterdam-based Galesi Group and Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming have proposed a $350 million project called the Rivers Casino & Resort at Mohawk Harbor. The 50,000-square-foot gaming hall is proposed as a major part of a residential and retail building project on a 60-acre Erie Boulevard site, the former ALCO property, owned by Galesi.

Giacalone organized Saturday's rally after a decision by the Stockade Association, a neighborhood group, to remain neutral on the casino. Giacalone said he wants government leaders to realize there is opposition to a casino within the tight-knit community known for its Colonial-era homes.

Some 30 residents were willing to bypass Saturday's glorious sunshine to gather on couches and around tables at the corner meeting place to join him. They shared concerns about the proposed casino and urged each other to speak against it at a City Council meeting Monday, when a resolution to support the project is on the agenda.

Five council members support the proposal and two are opposed, according to Councilman Vince Riggi, who attended the rally and received cheers for his opposition. The council has received letters of support for the casino from city businesses, including Ellis Medicine and Mohawk Ambulance, he said.

"I'm not going to say it's a done deal," Riggi said. "Things could change before Monday. It could change dramatically."

Residents decried a slew of potential negative impacts of the casino on the city: Crime would increase, they said. And traffic. And gambling addiction. They cited academic studies, reports from cities where gambling has taken a nosedive, and even religious texts.

Resident Donna Lagone, a former substance abuse counselor, said she has seen addiction lead to child abuse and domestic violence.

"Addiction is addiction, whether it is drug, whether it is food, whether it is gambling," she said.

Developers have promoted the plan as a boon to the economy that would create 1,200 jobs and add to the tax base, potentially reducing residents' property tax burden. But opponents worried that employment at the casino would not represent a net gain for the city, but be taken from the restaurants, hotels and other businesses that would shut down when the casino opened. Riggi said residents — and especially those with lower incomes — would funnel money out of their own pockets into the casino, in exchange for whatever tax reductions come their way.

"I simply see this as a regressive, predatory tax on those who can least afford it," he said.

Among residents' most frequently repeated complaints was that no public hearing on the proposal is required.

Residents questioned how city leaders could come to any conclusion about siting the casino before hearing from them, or conducting studies on its impact on the environment, traffic and the economy.

"They want to shove this down our throats," said resident Mohamed Hafez.

A few people suggested the group write to state officials and extol the virtues of a different proposed casino site, in Rensselaer. Laughter followed the suggestion.

But one Stockade resident didn't like that idea. Casinos are a bad idea wherever they're sited, she said. "We have to fight this," she said. "But then we have to have an attitude of let's just not give it to Rensselaer."

Casino opponents plan a 6 p.m. rally Monday at City Hall before the City Council vote.

chughes@timesunion.com • 518-454-5417 • @hughesclaire

The Schenectady Children's Art Festival took place Saturday in Schenectady. The festival was sponsored by the ElectriCity Arts District.

Albany

New York's dairy industry is thriving with the Greek yogurt boom, but deaths and injuries on farms have gone unnoticed as federal rules often prevent regulators from investigating many of the incidents.

Public records indicate that more than three dozen people have died on state dairy farms since 2007, the year that Chobani first started selling cups of its popular yogurt from its plant in South Edmeston, Otsego County. Since then, several yogurt companies have opened plants in the state, including Fage, Siggi's, Muller Quaker Dairy, and Alpina.

Often touted as the "Yogurt Capital" of the nation, New York ranks third in milk production behind California and Wisconsin, and slightly ahead of Idaho.

In January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that $21 million would be available for dairy farmers to expand their operations to meet the yogurt industry's increased demand. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a staunch supporter of the New York's yogurt industry, has said that in the Capital Region alone, dairy farmers needed to increase production by nearly 200 million pounds per year to keep up with demand.

But over a six-year period, from 2007 to 2012, New York had 34 deaths on dairy farms, while there were far fewer fatalities during that period in other milk-producing states such as California and Idaho. In the last two years, there have been at least five more deaths on New York's dairy farms, according to published reports, police records and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

"I think a lot of accidents happen that could be prevented," said Kimberly Brayman, whose father, Richard Fesko, 59, died in a manure pit accident in 2011. Brayman and her family own a farm in Onondaga County and said some of the milk they produce is sold to Chobani.

"You know when you do something every day you have a tendency to get lax with it, and unfortunately we have a business that is very dangerous, that we are involved with 24/7," Brayman said.

OSHA, which oversees workplace safety, is scheduled to begin a new program in July to provide more oversight on New York dairies. But OSHA regulations do not allow the agency to inspect many farms due to their small size, and it hasn't sought additional authority from Congress to expand its reach.

Lazaro Alvarez, 39, was working in a barn at Flanagan Farms in Chenango County last September when a bull charged toward him, slamming Alvarez against metal bars that encircle the cows' sleeping area.

"I went flying against the metal bars, face down" Alvarez recalled in Spanish. "The blow was really, really intense."

When the owner fended off the bull and picked up Alvarez, his face was covered in blood.

While bulls are notoriously dangerous there are many other ways to get injured or die on a dairy farm.

Farmers and workers fall into manure pits or can get entangled in skid steers, small tractor-like vehicles for moving feed and materials. Workers are sometimes trapped or crushed in equipment such as manure spreaders and corn choppers.

Farmers say that accidents happen because they're rushing or don't take precautions in a job where they're working with large animals, heavy equipment and noxious chemicals.

"Farming is a wonderful way of life but it does have its risks," said Crystal Grimaldi of Ideal Farms, a Washington County dairy farm. Grimaldi is the office manager and several relatives also work on the farm. She recalled an incident years ago where her father experienced a chemical burn in his eye while cleaning the milking parlor.

"He certainly knew the risks," Grimaldi said. "Sometimes accidents still happen."

The Workers' Center of Central New York, an advocacy group based in Syracuse, is leading a campaign for more OSHA oversight of state dairy farms.

"If you're an owner, you take risks, fine," said Rebecca Fuentes, a member of the group. But she said it's different for dairy workers, many of whom are undocumented immigrants.

"Workers won't complain because it's the culture of the job," she said. "It's like, you're going to get hurt and that's it."

Fuentes said workers aren't trained properly, may not have protective equipment and work very long hours, often without a day off. In part, that's because New York farm workers are not entitled to days off or overtime pay.

Alvarez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was working on the Chenango County farm for a few weeks when he was attacked by the bull. He spent a night in the hospital with a broken jaw and a torn tear duct that required stitches below his right eye. For several months, he took prescription painkillers for injuries to his ribs and shoulder, where the bull head-butted him. He said he was fired after the accident and now works at a farm north of Fonda. The owner of the farm where Alvarez was injured could not be reached for comment.

Still, there is no statewide database to measure how many injuries like Alvarez's have taken place.

"In virtually every other industry in the country ... there are reasonably good statistics on how many injuries are occurring," said Dr. John May, director of the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health. The center is developing new methods for tracking farm deaths and injuries, including reviewing death certificates.

"Nobody actually has a clue about the types and incidences of injuries in agriculture," May said.

Greek yogurt requires three times more milk than regular yogurt and yogurt companies trumpet the fact they buy product from local farms. But the Greek yogurt boom didn't create the problem, as dairy farming has always been dangerous. In fact, the number of deaths is lower that it was in the 1990s.

"This is a testament to the ongoing safety efforts that will continue to take place to make farms even safer throughout the state," said Steve Ammerman, a spokesman for the New York Farm Bureau.

A spokesman for Chobani said the company supports "the responsible, safe growth of New York's dairy industry and support every local farm, regulator and official in exploring avenues to improve workplace safety and ... reduce accidents in the state to zero."

The deaths can also be costly.

Several years ago, a Columbia County jury awarded $4.2 million to the family of a dairy-farm worker who died in 1998 after being overcome by poisonous gas in a corn silo. Lawyers for the family told the jury the owners knew about the dangers but didn't adopt necessary safeguards.

While OSHA inspects workplaces and investigates injuries and deaths, the agency has been noticeably absent in dairy deaths, according to public records.

Last fall, OSHA acknowledged that it needed to step up enforcement on New York dairies.

"Traditionally, OSHA involvement in dairy farm operations has been limited to responding to reports of fatality events from law enforcement agents," OSHA wrote in an announcement about its new program to perform random inspections on dairy farms.

Since 2007, only four deaths have been investigated by OSHA in New York, and the agency levied fines in only two of those cases, according to records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. An OSHA spokesman said in an email that an inspection was underway at a fifth farm where a worker died in late March after being crushed by a grain truck in Onondaga County.

OSHA said the deaths it did not investigate "most probably" fell outside its jurisdiction.

Several of those who recently died were dairy farm owners. Self-employed and family farm workers are exempt from OSHA regulation, which is why OSHA didn't investigate Fesko's 2011 drowning in a manure pit.

After Alvarez was attacked by a bull, the Workers' Center helped him file a complaint with OSHA against Flanagan Farms. But OSHA said it couldn't do anything because farms with fewer than 11 workers fall outside their jurisdiction.

In interviews with more than a dozen farmers and farm groups, they spoke haltingly about the new OSHA program, saying they support the program but are nervous about potential fines.

"Those fines are hefty," said Sarah Noble-Moag, owner of Noblehurst Farms in Livingston County. "That's just one more thing we need to worry about financially."

OSHA has fined seven New York dairy farms since 2007, ranging from $500 to $7,000.

The $7,000 fine was levied against Donnan Farms, in Livingston County, after Cornell graduate Collin Haight died in 2007. The 23-year-old worker, who was working as a herdsman to gain farming experience, was run over by a feed truck that wasn't equipped a reverse-warning beeper.

Haight's brother, Seth, said the family was dissatisfied with the penalty.

"It didn't really make any impact," he said. "Any fine that they levied was really a drop in the bucket compared to what any of these farms yield."

The farm's co-owner, Robert Donnan, wouldn't reveal the farm's profits but said that dairy farming is a "break-even business."

Donnan said that Haight's death was "really emotional" and that the farm stepped up safety training after the accident. He said the fines hurt.

"It cuts down on our bottom line so you don't have cash to improve your facilities," he said.

Fines are particularly low for non-fatal violations.

Last year, Donnan Farms was inspected again by OSHA and fined $3,000 for a complaint by a worker who said he was attacked by a bull. Another farm in Jefferson County was recently fined $1,625 for a number of violations, including workers being "exposed to electrocution hazards" and "falls of up to eight feet into manure storage pits located at the end of barn floors."

Still, while earnings rose for dairy farmers last year, farmers said the popularity of Greek yogurt doesn't mean higher profits.

"I wouldn't say we have seen an impact that we would relate directly to the Greek yogurt boom," said Grimaldi, whose Washington County dairy farm has been in her family for over a century.

That's because the price of milk is fixed by the federal government, using a complex formula, which farmers say has not kept pace with rising production costs. Over the years, small farms have been hit particularly hard and been forced to expand — at a cost — or to shut down. The average net income for dairy farms varies dramatically per year, from a profit of over $745,000 in 2011 to a loss of more than $120,000 in 2009, according to a recent Cornell University survey.

Politicians who champion the Greek yogurt boom rarely, if ever, talk about dairy farm safety.

In fact, when OSHA announced its plan to randomly inspect dairies, upstate legislators pushed back. U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna of the Utica area, a strong supporter of the Greek yogurt industry, led a group of upstate legislators calling for an "indefinite delay" in the OSHA program.

"Farm funding is better spent improving internal farm protocols and infrastructure instead of on punitive fines," Hanna and his group of bipartisan congressmen wrote in a letter to David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA.

The program, which was supposed to start last October, was delayed until July. The delay means OSHA might only conduct random inspections for three months because the program is scheduled to end this fall, when OSHA will decide whether to renew it.

OSHA made another concession in its inspection program and informed a farm advocacy group, PRO-Dairy, in April that only "large dairies" would be inspected between July and September 2014. The move would exclude inspections of small farms with temporary worker housing, which are normally subject to OSHA jurisdiction because of their lodging facilities.

Fuentes, from the Workers' Center, said she's frustrated.

"It's just so pathetic," Fuentes said. "There's so many deaths and ... it's an industry with so many vulnerable workers."

Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein is a graduate of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Glenville

With a yearly pay and benefits package of more than $2 million, Robert J. McCormick of TrustCo Bank is the highest-paid CEO at any publicly traded company in the Capital Region.

And the 50-year-old McCormick, who has been chief executive of the $4.6 billion bank since 2004, stands well apart from his peers, according to 2013 compensation data compiled by the Times Union.

McCormick makes twice as much as the next CEO on the list, which is composed of leaders of local "public" companies — those that must disclose the compensation of their top executives and board members to federal regulators as a requirement of their stock market listing.

Number two on the list is Thomas D'Ambra, who earned $1.09 million in 2013 as CEO of Albany Molecular Research Inc., an Albany drug maker. However, D'Ambra, one of Albany Molecular's founders and consistently one of the region's highest-paid executives, retired at the end of last year.

While McCormick's earnings may seem excessive to the average worker, TrustCo board members and the majority of TrustCo stockholders believe he's worth every penny.

Two weeks ago at Mallozzi's banquet hall in Rotterdam, TrustCo shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favor of McCormick's compensation package, is a base salary of $880,000, plus stock, retirement benefits and other perks that total $2,127,828.

The non-binding vote was never in doubt, with 92 percent of the ballots cast approving the compensation for McCormick and his four top lieutenants.

It's unclear how the average TrustCo stockholder voted because large institutional shareholders such as mutual funds that own millions of shares control large blocks of the voting.

However, 4.2 million shares — roughly six percent of the total that voted — were against the packages given to McCormick and his management team, including chief financial officer Robert Cushing, who earned nearly $1.4 million in 2013.

TrustCo did not respond to a request for comment on this story, and neither did Joseph Lucarelli, chairman of TrustCo's board of directors.

Lucarelli, 73, is president of Traditional Builders, a residential homebuilding company based in Schenectady. He also led the board committee that sets McCormick's annual pay.

However, documents that were filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show that Lucarelli and the rest of TrustCo's independent directors, who earn $130,000 annually from the bank as board members, were methodical in determining what McCormick is worth.

Although McCormick's total compensation has risen 20 percent over the past two years, the board has kept McCormick's base salary frozen since 2009.

Much of the rest of McCormick's package, which includes a mix of stock, options and cash, is incentive-based and depends on the bank achieving certain financial targets.

TrustCo had a very good 2013. Earnings were up 6.1 percent over 2012, and key metrics such as return on equity, desposits-per-branch and loan quality also improved.

Another factor that favored McCormick was the surge in TrustCo's stock, which appreciated 42 percent in 2013, compared with 31 percent for the bank's "peer" group, which includes 21 similarly sized banks that compete in TrustCo's markets in New York, New Jersey and Florida.

The bank's board "attributes this exceptional performance in part to the efforts of the company's executive officers ... whose efforts are encouraged and rewarded by the company's executive compensation program," Lucarelli and the other board members wrote in a letter to shareholders before the annual meeting, according to SEC filings.

McCormick's compensation total also includes some perks that most workers could never dream of, including a company car and a country club membership. Most other local CEOs don't get that treatment, especially in this post-recession economy.

But it's a common practice in the financial sector, where a lot of business is still done on the golf course, says Hal Gueutal, a professor at the University at Albany's School of Business who studies executive compensation.

"This is more common among small- to mid-sized banks where personal networks are critical and often the business community is smaller," Gueutal said. "Albany would be a prime location for this type of business development."

lrulison@timesunion.com • 518-454-5504 • @larryrulison

Q: I was wondering why in this day of advanced technologies that the Thruway traffic advisories are so outdated.

I travel the Thruway south to New York City from Albany on a regular basis. Occasionally I see the traffic advisory lights blinking to inform motorists to tune to the radio for updates.

When you try to tune to these radio stations, whether you are near Albany or near NYC, the stations are barely audible. It would seem to me that we should be able to get better reception when tuning to these alerts.

There have been times I could not make out what the alert was due to such poor reception.

This has happened while traveling in various vehicles.

Are there any plans to enhance this valuable system to alert motorists of traffic issues?

— Jeff Vigliotta, Saratoga Springs

A: The strength of the radio signal is set by the Federal Communications Commission, said Thruway spokesman Colin Brennan, and the signal can be affected by a number of factors.

Wherever possible, he said, the Highway Advisory Radio is operated at the highest possible signal quality allowed by the FCC. It is periodically tested to measure signal strength and to keep the quality of the signal up.

"The most common causes of reception problems are weather, terrain, other radio signals, and individual radio issues," he said.

But the radio system is just one way to get alerts, he noted.

"While the Thruway continues to utilize older technologies like the Highway Advisory Radio for users who have grown accustomed to them, we are also working hard to make information available via newer technologies," he said. "Using TRANSalerts, the Thruway is able to provide real-time traffic updates to motorists and the media through email, text messages, and social media. Additionally, the Thruway Authority has just launched a mobile version of its website where, before their trips or during breaks, customers can check traffic conditions, view traffic cameras, calculate tolls, and find the nearest travel plaza, interchange, or location where E-ZPass is sold."

Of course, you shouldn't be looking at those devices while driving.

Have a question about transportation? Call 518-454-5020 or email gettingthere@timesunion.com. Include your name, town and telephone number.

Schenectady

Erin Ryan started tearing while talking about how her 11-year-old son Tylor Sears has been looking forward all winter to the upcoming Schenectady Belmont Pop Warner football season.

"He wants to wear his jersey every single day and come here and paint the lines on the field," said the emotional Schenectady mother during a recent interview with other parents, players, cheerleaders and coaches inside the clubhouse near Mont Pleasant Middle School where the league plays its home games. "He's a very shy kid but when he's here, it's different."

Ryan's daughter, Aaliyah Sears, 9, is a cheerleader.

But the Sears siblings and hundreds of other young Belmont Pop Warner football players and cheerleaders from the city may not get to take the field this year because the league is deep in debt even as it tries to raise money while preparing for opening day in August.

The prospect of being sidelined for an entire season is one that head coach Carmen DePoalo and many parents and players find unimaginable.

"Everybody knows August first (un)til December, Monday through Sunday every day, is Belmont, that's just the way it is," said Serena Aldi.

She coaches the Mighty Mite cheerleaders while her husband, Mike Aldi, is an assistant coach with that group of youngsters ranging in age from 6 to 9 years old. She used to cheer.

"This has been my family before I was even born, my parents were coaches before I was even involved," Aldi said, adding "it's a way of life. Once you come in, you don't want to leave."

One of her cheerleaders, Jahnise Jackson, 9, has been cheering for two years.

Jahnise said she enjoys the competition and said cheerleading has helped her lose weight.

Coach DePoalo faulted the gradual loss of financial support from local businesses affected by the souring economy over the past few years coupled with more stringent state laws requiring helmets and shoulder pads be inspected every other year for safety have put an even greater strain on their already-depleted finances.

If a helmet is cracked, it must be replaced, which DePoalo said costs anywhere between $100 and $150 for one helmet and thousands more to get the equipment cleaned. The league, which has 5 divisions of about 150 players and 100 cheerleaders, shells out $4,500 a year in registration fees, and referees cost $3,500 for the season.

Belmont has managed to survive on a registration fee of $150 — among the lowest in the area — which includes a game jersey.

Last year, league officials were forced to take out a $12,000 loan from a credit union so the kids could play football and they currently are $20,000 in debt, said DePoalo.

As a result, Belmont, whose motto is "One Team One Family," is scrambling to raise about $40,000 to cover all their expenses for this season and go into the next one with some money in hand.

"For the last couple of years, we've lived out of the pockets of a lot of our parents that work hard with our program," said DePoalo, 63, who himself played Pop Warner in 1960 and has coached in the league for the past 46 years. He has also coached the Schenectady High School football team.

But he and the parents stressed that they consider themselves a family.

"It's more than football, it's love out here," said DePoalo, noting that the players rallied around him when he was stricken with cancer. "They know that when they're inside these lines, there ain't nobody that's going to hurt them."

Twelve-year-old Ja-del Whitfield is a running back for the Pee Wee division who has been playing football since he was 7 years old.

"If I don't play and I can't do anything else, I would be bored sitting on the couch," said Whitfield. "It helps me get my grades up because bad grades, no football. It always gets me stronger and healthy."

He said it's his heart and passion and he hopes to one day make it to the National Football League.

For Gianna Aldi, 7, being a Mighty Mites cheerleader energizes her.

"Cheerleading is kind of like my super power," said Aldi, who has been cheering for the past 2 years.

Kevin Jackson Jr. is only 14 years old but he has been playing Belmont Pop Warner football since he was 5 years old.

He said football keeps him out of trouble in school.

His mother, Wa'Kena Jackson, said football has made her son more sociable and brought out his competitive spirit but that he has to keep his grades up to play.

Jackson said she was a Pop Warner cheerleader "way back when." She recalled that her cousins, brothers and uncles have all played in the league.

"Schenectady Pop Warner is a staple in the city," said Jackson. "For Pop Warner to be lost in this city, it would be tragic."

Lynn Coney-Hundley watched her now-19-year-old stepson play when he was younger and nowadays cheers on her son, Nacier Hundley, 12, a member of the junior midgets squad.

Her husband and Nacier's father, Chenier Hundley Sr., played growing up in the city.

"It was something that wasn't even questioned, he would play Pop Warner football," said Coney-Hundley, who serves as commissioner for both Pee Wee and Junior Midgets. As commissioner, she does game reports and makes sure the kids follow the rules.

She said football has brought structure and sportsmanship to Nacier and taught him that he needs to be accountable to himself and his teammates.

"The relationships that we form aren't just 5 to 7:30 or on Saturdays, it's relationships that we carry outside of the field," she said. "It's not just something you do, it's a way of life."

DePoalo said that "we coaches get more back" to see players smile and score a touchdown.

Anyone interested in making a donation to the league can do so through http://www.gofundme.com or contact Coach DePoalo at 495-6555.

pnelson@timesunion.com • 518-454-5347 • @apaulnelson

Bethlehem

More than 1,200 Bethlehem property owners have fought to lower their new assessments over the past several months.

The town unveiled a reassessment in April that increased the assessed value of many properties. Taxpayers had until May 27 to appeal.

About 1,000 property owners appealed their assessments through informal hearings or by mail, but 238 people showed up at Town Hall on Grievance Day. The first property owner arrived at 5 a.m. with a lawn chair, and the "day" turned into a day and a half because of the volume of grievances.

Preliminary reassessment numbers raised property values in the town by a total of 10.5 percent. Town Supervisor John Clarkson said the informal hearings lowered that number to 9.5 percent and Grievance Day adjustments may lower it again to 7.5 percent.

Although many assessments increased, the town has released data showing that most residential tax bills will be lower than last year.

In 2013, the average Bethlehem home was valued at $250,000 and had a tax bill of $7,290 in town, school, library and county taxes. In 2014, the same Bethlehem home (located in the Bethlehem Central School District) is now assessed at $260,000 and will pay $7,224 in taxes, $66 less than the previous year. Bethlehem properties in the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk School District may get bills about $246 higher and homes in the Guilderland School District should drop by more than $400.

Homeowners will also receive a state rebate of about $98, according to the town.

"I am glad that most of our residential taxpayers will be seeing lower taxes," Clarkson said.

Large landowners and businesses have complained that the tax burden has shifted to them, but Clarkson says the reassessment is more accurate.

Keith Wiggand, who rallied others to fight the reassessment, said the assessments of many of his fellow landowners decreased during the informal hearings. Others are awaiting the results of Grievance Day.

"We were loud enough and noisy enough," Wiggand said. "We were the mean people on the block and I think it got through to an extent."

Landowners complained at the April 23 Town Board meeting that the assessment vastly overvalued their properties. Many assessments increased to more than $2,000 an acre, double what they were.

On that same night, the board went into executive session to buy an 86-acre parcel of land for $80,000 on Wright Lane. The new assessment had valued the parcel at $202,000 or $2,350 an acre, a 350 percent increase over its previous assessment. Yet the town paid $930 an acre for the land.

Wiggand said the Wright Lane sale is an example of the inaccuracy of the reassessment. Many landowners cited the sale in their own grievance appeals to the town, he said.

The town had leased the Wright Lane land for years and used it to store clean fill and snow. Previously, it had been a landfill, which was not reflected in the assessment, according to town officials. Presumably, the owner would have appealed the assessment and received a lower assessment based on that information. Now the town owns it, and it is not on the tax rolls.

A lawyer for the landowners' group sent a Freedom of Information Law request to the town asking for data and correspondence from GAR, the firm that conducted the reassessment. Wiggand said he is waiting for the Grievance Day results before deciding whether to file a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the town is working with state legislators to create an exemption for owners of vacant land who agree to keep their land undeveloped. The state conservation exemption is currently used by two New York towns in Erie County: Elma and Orchard Park. Bethlehem would need legislative approval to be included in the program.

If approved, land owners could have their assessments lowered by 50 percent if they commit to preserving the land for 15 to 29 years; 75 percent if they commit to 30 to 49 years; and 90 percent if they commit to a perpetual easement.

"The town would get something in return," Clarkson said. "We would get the assurance that the land would not be developed for a certain amount of time."

The financial penalty for land owners who back out of the program is repaying five years of abated taxes with 6 percent interest.

Wiggand said it restricts landowners from removing trees or allowing motorized vehicles on the land. He said landowners on the desirable Route 9W might not want it, but "I do think it could be helpful in the right circumstance for the right person."

ccrowley@timesunion.com • 518-454-5348 • @cathleencrowley • http://facebook.com/cathleenFcrowley

The Armenian Festival was held Sunday at St. Peter Armenian Church in Watervliet. More than 900 pounds of lamb were served at the two-day event. In addition to food, the festival featured Armenian music and games.

Albany

Nearly four years after a woman on life support died at a Bronx nursing home during a power outage, the state comptroller's office has launched an audit of the state Health Department unit that authorized the facility's use of a deficient backup electrical system.

The audit of the Health Department's architectural unit began last month and is expected to examine equipment and construction waivers granted to hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities across the state. In many instances, the waivers were given in response to requests from private health care consulting firms that in some instances employ former Health Department managers.

A spokesman for Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli declined comment on what prompted their audit or whether it's being done in conjunction with a law enforcement agency. The comptroller's office notified Howard Zucker, acting commissioner for the state Health Department, in a letter dated May 9 that it would be auditing "safety, structure and health code violation waivers," according to a copy of the letter.

The Health Department has issued dozens of waivers to health care facilities statewide. The waivers often excuse, at least temporarily, deficiencies of state and federal codes for everything from fire exits to power supplies.

In November 2011, a power outage at a Bronx nursing home shut off ventilators for 37 patients, including a 49-year-old woman who died when a backup generator failed at Eastchester Rehabilitation & Health Care Center.

Records obtained by the Times Union, through a Freedom of Information Law request filed last year, indicate that in 2007 the state granted a temporary waiver to the Eastchester Rehabilitation facility because it lacked a proper generator. The Health Department's records do not indicate whether the nursing facility's generator was ever inspected after that year, or, if the nursing home installed the type of generator required under federal law for ventilator beds and operating rooms.

In March 2007, an administrator with Eastchester Rehabilitation wrote a letter to the state Health Department seeking a three-month extension on their project to replace a generator that the state had determined was deficient during an inspection. The Eastchester representative sought more time, which was granted, because he said they were going to purchase a "larger 250 KW generator" rather than a smaller, 80 kilowatt generator.

State Health Department records indicate that seven months earlier, during an inspection, the nursing home was cited because its "life support equipment lacks a type 1 essential electrical system powered by a generator with a transfer switch and separate power supply."

The records released in response to a Freedom of Information request do not indicate whether the state ever verified if the backup power supply was properly installed. In 2010, the state Health Department received a request from Eastchester to increase its number of Medicaid-supported ventilator beds at the facility from 16 to 20. The application was handled by Cicero Consulting Associates, a Westchester County company headed by Frank M. Cicero, whose father, Frank T. Cicero, founded the company and is a former state Health Department second deputy commissioner.

Frank T. Cicero, who still has a role with the company, said the Health Department certified in 2010 that the Eastchester facility had a backup electrical system that was in compliance with regulations. He added that Cicero Consulting did not have a role in Eastchester's 2007 application seeking a waiver to allow for more time to install a proper generator.

Although the nursing home was conditionally approved for 20 ventilator beds, that does not limit the number of patients who can be cared for on ventilator equipment. Rather, the certification relates to whether a facility can bill Medicaid for those patients' care. At the time of the 2011 power outage, the facility had 36 "ventilator dependent residents." A spokesman for Eastchester could not be reached for comment.

As part of Eastchester's application to increase its number of life-support beds, an architect certified in a letter to the Health Department that "the proposed electrical system designed for any areas intended for use by residents requiring life support equipment ... will meet the requirements of a Type I Essential Electrical System powered by a generator with a transfer switch and separate power supply," the letter states. "This certification is being submitted in lieu of a formal plan approval by your office."

The following year, a day after the fatal power outage at the Bronx nursing home, a state Health Department inspector interviewed Eastchester's director of maintenance about what happened. A publicly filed report does not clarify if the state inspector ever determined what caused the backup generator to fail or if it met safety standards.

The state's report indicates the maintenance director's response was that the generator was "confused" because the power initially "flickered" when a power transformer nearby blew up. The generator never turned on.

"As to why the manual override was not used, he stated that no staff other than him and two other maintenance employees could manually override the system and that none of his staff was at the facility during the incident because they were not scheduled to be at the facility at the time (the overnight shift)," the report states.

A spokesman for the state Health Department said records detailing the inspections of the backup power supply at the Bronx nursing home were not immediately available last week.

blyons@timesunion.com • 518-454-5547 • @blyonswriter

Saratoga Springs

As New York considers licensing up to four Las Vegas-style casinos, profits from many "racinos" have softened after a decade of solid increases.

The New York Gaming Commission released figures Thursday showing bettors wagered a record $1.91 billion on video lottery terminals, or VLTs, during the April 2013 to March 2014 fiscal year. The haul at the nine state-approved racinos amounted to a 4.5 percent increase above the prior fiscal year and a best-ever annual profit of $916.4 million, the state gaming commission said.

But some say the report tells only half the story, and a closer look at the numbers reveals a recent slump at many of the properties. While the harness tracks with video lottery machines have rarely reported revenue reductions since opening in 2004, combined earnings from the nine sites dropped for a sixth consecutive month in May from previous years, resulting in a nearly $20 million decline from the same six months last year, according to the gaming commission's statistics. VLT machines in the state registered a $2.8 million decline in December, $6.3 million in January, $3 million in February, $3.9 million in March, $3.2 million in April and $129,060 in May, according to the state.

"This is the first time there's been no growth," said Gary Greenberg, a minority stakeholder of the Vernon Downs racino who tracks the commission's numbers and writes about them on social media.

Greenberg, of New Baltimore, blamed the lagging numbers on harsh winter weather, a saturation of gambling options in New York and a poor upstate economy. Profits from Vernon Downs' 767 VLTs have dropped seven months in a row compared to last year. They declined seven percent in May and five percent in April. In addition to Vernon Downs, racinos in Saratoga Springs, Hamburg, Monticello, Batavia and Yonkers also posted monthly losses since the new year. More than $39.6 billion was bet on lottery games in New York last fiscal year. That includes $32.3 billion on VLTs and $7.3 million on scratch-off, Quick Draw and other ticket games, according to the gaming commission. The money goes mostly toward player payouts, but also lottery ticket retailers and VLT parlor operators. Profits made from the games support public education in the state, so the numbers are closely watched. State lottery sales accounted for $3.17 billion toward education last fiscal year, or 4.2 percent above the prior year, according to the gaming commission. Also, municipalities with VLT parlors within their borders receive annual financial payments from the state for hosting them. Saratoga Springs is expected to receive $2.3 million in host aid in 2014.

Three racinos, including the one in Saratoga Springs, saw their net annual totals rise by less than one percent in 2013-2014. The oldest of the state's VLT properties, the Saratoga racino realized an annual net win of $158.9 million, an increase of 0.1 percent over 2012-2013. The facility saw monthly declines from December through April, but betting bounced back in May to top last May by four percent, according to state figures.

The statewide losses came over the last half-year despite the expansion of gaming floors at the Finger Lakes and Batavia Downs racinos, Greenberg said. There were 18,137 VLTs operating in the state during May, compared to 16,987 last May. "If you're adding machines, you should attract more customers," Greenberg said. "The opposite is happening."

Not at Resorts World Casino in New York City. The largest state-approved racino opened in October 2011 with 2,486 VLTs and now claims more than 5,000 betting machines. The Jamaica, Queens site posted a $792.6 million profit in 2013-2014, almost 14 percent more than the prior fiscal year, according to the gaming commission. It delivered nearly $800 million of the $1.9 billion in VLT profits last fiscal year, according to the state.

Greenberg worries that Resorts World may be taking customers from upstate racinos. "They continue to improve while many of the upstate racinos have declined," he said. Numbers at upstate racinos could worsen depending on where at least three casinos with table games are built over the next few years, he said.

The state gaming commission blamed the declines at upstate racinos on "a variety of factors, including weather."

"There are fluctuations, just like any business, but it's clear that the overall trend on VLT revenue has been trending up," gaming commission spokesman Lee Park said.

dyusko@timesunion.com • 518-454-5353 • @DAYusko

Two years after he fought off four challengers, Phil Steck is up against just one in his bid for re-election to the state Assembly.

Steck defeated three other Democrats in 2012 to gain the nomination in the 110th Assembly District, then won against Republican Jennifer Whalen.

Now Steck's path to the Democratic nomination is clear, but he faces a new challenger in Republican Tom Jasiewicz.

The district has 33,018 Democrats to 25,104 Republicans. There are 22,057 people not enrolled in a political party.

Steck, 54, who is married with two children, said he is proud of his record as a freshman legislator. The district covers Colonie, Niskayuna and part of Schenectady.

"The major focus of my office has been education," he said. "I think we were extremely successful in that regard. We doubled the amount of aid to the school districts in my district (from what Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed) — more than doubled."

Steck said he is working on a bill to allow municipalities to participate in self-insured health insurance funds Albany and Schenectady counties have.

"They are much less costly both to the employees and to the municipalities," he said.

He said he also is helping Precision Valve of Latham deal with a tax issue they face because they export their products.

This is Jasiewicz's second bid for public office. He lost in a campaign for Colonie Town Board in 2011.

Self-employed in the communications construction business, Jasiewicz, 45, is also a married father of two. He was born in Albany then moved to Niskayuna, where he was raised, but now lives in Colonie.

He said he wants his children to return to the region after graduating college.

"I think I can reverse some of the things that have caused people to leave this state: the high taxes and overregulation," he said. He also vowed not to serve more than eight years.

While Gov. Andrew Cuomo has created "tax-free zones" where some businesses can be located free of property tax, Jasiewicz said he'd rather see taxes lowered across the board.

If elected, he said, one of his first priorities would be to pass a bill that strips elected officials convicted of corruption of their pension and other benefits.

He also would put a hold on the implementation of the Common Core curriculum.

"Common Core is a mess," he said. "The teachers don't like it, the kids don't like it, the parents don't like it. We are throwing out the test results. We should have had the teachers' union and the teachers involved."

While Steck said the curriculum is largely good, he and Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, D-Albany, have been outspoken critics of the associated tests.

"There is a lot of good things in it," Steck said. "I do agree, however, that the insistence on testing, testing, testing, testing is wrong."

He also said the state Education Department did not do a good job helping districts implement the standards.

The two candidates are on opposite sides on the SAFE Act that outlawed certain assault weapons and required background checks on ammunition purchases, as well as other regulations.

"The legislation itself was flawed. There was no debate," Jasiewicz said. "We can fundamentally disagree, but there should have been a vigorous debate."

Steck said Whalen was endorsed by the National Rifle Association and argued the issue with her in the last campaign.

"I ran on a platform of gun control," he said. "It has nothing to do with hunting. The SAFE Act has much to do with preventing mentally ill people from going in and shooting people."

Jasiewicz said welfare reform is another priority. He criticized the Assembly for holding up a bill to ban public assistance from being used in liquor stores, strip clubs and for lottery tickets. Steck said the bill had strong support but is not sure where it stands.

tobrien@timesunion.com • 518-454-5092 • @timobrientu