Some of the stories that made the news April 26 to 28:

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="138"] Mike Winnie[/caption]

Nathan Mayberg reported in the Register Star the Columbia County Democratic Committee has endorsed retired Albany County Sheriff's Department sergeant and former Stockport Police Department Chief Mike Winnie in his bid for Columbia County Sheriff. The Stuyvesant resident last ran for Sheriff in 2001, losing to former Sheriff Walter Shook. Winnie said he supports increased diversity in the department. He also declared his intention to bring accountability to the office, if elected. The committee chose Winnie over former Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Captain and Chatham Police Department Deputy Chief Mark Leggett and a second, unidentified candidate. Read the full story in the Register Star.

Jim Planck reported in The Daily Mail the mother of a Catskill High School senior suspended for 45 days for consuming alcohol on school grounds told the Board of Education at a recent meeting she felt the punishment was selectively excessive. She also questioned the propriety of school officials’ actions on the day of the incident. The parent said she was never notified or called when her son was summoned to the high school principal's office from a senior barbeque being held in the school parking lot, Mar. 28. She also said school officials did nothing to prevent her son from driving his vehicle when he was dismissed from school later that same day. Board President Michael Bulich said the board would review the parent's allegations. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Merry Sheils reported in the Columbia Paper the town of New Lebanon has a tentative deal to officially close the county’s only remaining landfill, one of only 12 left in the state. The news was reported to the Columbia County Board of Supervisors Public Works Committee, Tues., Apr. 23. New Lebanon is under a consent order with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to close, or decommission, the landfill. The site opened in 1981 and has been closed to solid waste since 1986. The cost to the county for closing the landfill is $625,000, to be paid in annual installments over five years. The town must monitor and maintain the site for 30 years. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="336"] "Landscape, New Hampshire" (1858) by Albert Bierstadt[/caption]

Kyle Adams reports in The Daily Mail visitors packed the Thomas Cole National Historic Site and Temple Israel in Catskill, Sun., Apr. 28, for the opening of  “Albert Bierstadt in New York and New England.”  “It was standing room only,” said Elizabeth Jacks, the site's executive director. “I’ve never seen the Temple packed like that. It was unbelievable.” Bierstadt is one of the best-known 19th century landscape painters, renowned for his sweeping western scenes. This exhibition collects Bierstadt’s lesser-known East Coast paintings. It is the 10th annual exhibition of 19th century landscape paintings at the Cole House. It will run through Nov. 3. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.