Kumi Tucker

John Sawchuk, former Columbia High principal, died Picture: East Greenbush School District East Greenbush school officials say former High School Principal John Sawchuk has died. He was principal from 2006 to 2018, when he retired. After his retirement, he moved to North Carolina with his family. Sawchuk was well-known in the school and East Greenbush community. To the greater Capital Region, he was also well-known for being a hero in a school shooting in 2004. He was assistant principal then, when a student came into the school with a shotgun and opened fire. The gunman shot a teacher, who survived. Sawchuk tackled the shooter and helped to wrestle away the gun. School officials say Sawchuk died unexpectedly yesterday. No funeral arrangements have been announced yet.

Crews battle Schenectady fire

Rensselaer County offers online tool to fight deed theft Video Player is loading. This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color Transparency Background Color Transparency Window Color Transparency Font Size Text Edge Style Font Family End of dialog window. Rensselaer County now has a free online tool to help protect homeowners from deed theft. It's a growing problem across the country. If criminals file fake or forged deeds for your property, you might not even know about it. They can then do things like sell it, take out a mortgage, or even rent it. Rensselaer County is offering a free online fraud alert. “They'll notify you if anything comes across the counter with your name on it, so it's a great service for the people of Rensselaer County, and the great part is it doesn't cost us anything and doesn't cost the individual a penny,” said Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola. All you have to do is put in your email address and one to three names. You'll get an email alert when a document like a deed or mortgage is recorded in your name at the county clerk's office– the earlier, the better. “Much different if somebody comes in and records a mortgage on a piece of property that you own, and nine months down the road you come in and find out there's a recording on there and you've got a mortgage,” said Merola. Warren County has a similar system. A new state law making deed theft a crime just went into effect in July. It's now a form of grand larceny. It also gives homeowners more time to seek justice. Anyone can be a victim, but popular targets are empty properties, those in foreclosure, or the owner has died. In New York recently, prosecutors say deed theft rings have made a lot of money by selling homes using falsified and forged documents, unbeknownst to their rightful owners. Rensselaer County has been hit, too. “We have,” said Merola. “A few years ago, I think it was about eight years ago now, an individual took some property, foreclosed property, came in, put them in a trust, five or six properties in Rensselaer County. He wound up getting convicted and serving time for that.” If someone does file a phony title, experts say you probably have to get an attorney, preferably one with a real estate specialty, and file a complaint with law-enforcement because deed theft is now a form of grand larceny. Here's a link to the Rensselaer County Fraud Alert: https://searchiqs.com/fraudalert/?CC=NYREN

Donations from Capital Region head to North Carolina Video Player is loading. This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color Transparency Background Color Transparency Window Color Transparency Font Size Text Edge Style Font Family End of dialog window. Advertisement A line of trucks headed out of Rotterdam. They are part of a local effort to help people in North Carolina who have been hit hard by Hurricane Helene. Wednesday morning in Rotterdam, people stood in a circle for a group prayer, as the volunteers got ready for a long trip down south. “Very important, I have approximately 40 generators on my truck that will be distributed to people who really need them,” said volunteer Ron Fonda. “Something that small will make a big difference to some people.” The trucks headed out on the relief operation to people in North Carolina who were devastated by Hurricane Helene. Meanwhile, people are still donating. There are donation sites around the region. At one site at Dagen Trucking in Castleton, there are stacks of goods, everything from blankets and diapers to water and first aid kits. “People have been so generous donating when they don't have any money themselves to pay their bills,” said owner Mary Keim. “Take a look! It's been absolutely unbelievable. We have a bunch of people stopping today, making calls to us asking us what we need and we tell them anything and everything.” Travis Landry brought a carload of items. His family donated bins of brand new shirts in different colors. As we first showed you Monday, donations have been pouring in ever since Justin Sherwin of East Greenbush had an idea to deliver some help. Word spread quickly. One pickup turned into several tractor-trailers and trucks. “We have another truck leaving on Saturday and we'll continue to go as long as we can,” said Sherwin. Volunteers do not know what they will find, but they are buoyed by the generosity of their community, and full of resolve to help their fellow man. Here's a list of drop-off locations for donations: Ac's Towing Rotterdam Towaway Towing Hudson Falls Dagen Trucking Castleton Taste of Italy Latham 43 Farms East Greenbush Deify Salon East Greenbush Watervliet Fire Department Eagle Eye Auto Colonie CK Companies Schenectady

Sign-ups open, Thanksgiving preps underway in Albany County Video Player is loading. This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color Transparency Background Color Transparency Window Color Transparency Font Size Text Edge Style Font Family End of dialog window. Thanksgiving might seem like a long way away, but there's a lot to do when you're feeding thousands of people. Sign-ups are already open for some annual traditions in Albany County. A Thanksgiving meal is a big undertaking. Try multiplying that by thousands. It seems the need will be bigger this year. “We've been getting calls for Thanksgiving dinner for about a month now,” said Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple. Last year, the sheriff's holiday operation expanded by a lot because Equinox did not deliver meals. This year, they will be looking for some volunteers because of the sheer volume of food that they'll be preparing. “We've already made a lot of calls. We've already made a lot of preparations,” said the sheriff. “We've already got our turkey accounted for. It's getting cooked around November 20 and then flash-frozen and turned over to us, where we'll cut and slice and bring the rest of the team out to Clarksville and cook it up. This year we're looking probably around 3500 meals.” People are struggling. The cost of everyday items has gone up. Last year, with the absence of Equinox deliveries, the city of Watervliet put together its own operation to fill the void. “We're doing it again this year because I think the need hasn't changed,” said Watervliet Mayor Charles Patricelli. “If anything, it's probably gotten worse.” Last year, people went out from Watervliet High School with their delivery lists to about 250 people in 114 Watervliet households that had signed up to get a Thanksgiving dinner delivered. “It's a great community,” said Watervliet Police Chief William Rice. “It's phenomenal to be able to work here in the city. It's a small city, it's unique, and they're definitely willing to help, give a hand.” The mayor says about 15 restaurants have signed up to do the meals this Thanksgiving. It's a large and complicated operation that they make look easy. “I made a few phone calls, just to feel out some of the restaurants, like Arsenal City Tavern, Pat's Pub, and a couple others, Valente's Restaurant. I said, ‘Hey, would you help out with this?' I couldn't even get it out of my mouth, finish my last word, and they said absolutely!” In Watervliet, the meals will be delivered on the day before Thanksgiving: Wednesday, November 27. Registration ends November 21 at 4pm. To sign up, go to www.watervliet.com or call 518-270-3800 For the Albany County Sheriff's Office Thanksgiving Dinner, deliveries will be made Tuesday, November 26. You must reserve by November 22. Call or email to reserve: (518) 487-5440 or [email protected]

Food help available to Amsterdam pet owners Video Player is loading. This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color Transparency Background Color Transparency Window Color Transparency Font Size Text Edge Style Font Family End of dialog window. Rising prices have led some owners to dump their pets. The Amsterdam animal control officer wants people to know there's help available. Amsterdam, N.Y. (WNYT) – Gina Kline has been the animal control officer for the city of Amsterdam for 14 years. “Everybody's full,” she said. “Everybody has animals coming out of everywhere, people are dumping animals, there are animals reproducing that we can't keep up with.” She says this is the worst she's ever seen it. It's an issue affecting many communities. The situation is so bad, some places have been putting stray dogs in jail cells, as NewsChannel reported in March. Kline herself fosters cats for her group Amsterdam Kitten Adoption. Elvis is looking for a forever home, and so is a trio of curious and playful kittens. Kline says people are simply dumping their pets. It's a problem likely made worse by rising prices. “I think the prices have gone up so much, it's crazy,” she said. “My dog's food has gone up $10 a bag in the last two years, so I can only imagine that people are feeling that same struggle having to go out and get food, and some of them aren't finding the food that they were feeding.” She wants people to know there is help available. She has bags and boxes of food donated by places like Target Distribution and Dollar General Distribution. She says people should not be afraid to ask. “It's a better option. It's something we get donated and why can't we help the community? Why can't we use that? You saw how much cat food is in there,” Kline said. There are low-cost spay/neuter programs and rabies clinics. Groups like Fulton County Regional SPCA and Ayres share food and hold pantry days. “To be able to give that out to the community to keep these animals in their homes, which is the best place for them,” said Kline. There is an event for veterans on Veterans Day, November 11, at the Amsterdam Free Library. From 10:30am – 3pm, veterans can adopt a cat, adoption fee waived, plus they will receive a “cat starter kit.” To ask for food, you can contact Kline through the Amsterdam Police Department. A Raptive Partner Site

As the Jennings Creek Wildfire continues to burn downstate, local firefighters are signing up to head to Orange County to help.

Ravena firefighters help battle Jennings Creek Wildfire Video Player is loading. This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color Transparency Background Color Transparency Window Color Transparency Font Size Text Edge Style Font Family End of dialog window. Ravena firefighters captured some intense video of what it was like fighting the Jennings Creek wildfire downstate. Ravena, N.Y. (WNYT) — When the call for help went out, the Ravena Fire Department sent a team down for a three-day deployment to the Jennings Creek Wildfire in Orange County. Six people went down from Wednesday to Friday. “When we went out there, very smoky conditions, the whole village was full of smoke, very loud,” said Ravena Fire Chief Kevin Phillips. “Helicopters were dropping buckets of water, something we're not used to.” They brought down hand tools to Greenwood Lake. To date, the fire has burned more than 5300 acres across New York and New Jersey. That fire is now 90% contained. The first day, Ravena made a fire line to stop the fire from spreading. “So the first day we were kind of behind the houses along the lakeside, cut that fire line. Second day we couldn't see the fire but they knew it was coming so it was kind of like work hard, let's get this done today because we don't know what will happen when the weather changes,” said the chief. The terrain is rocky and steep. The third day they did a prescribed burn, a back burn to stop the fire from spreading. Crews from all over New York are heading to Orange County to help. The Jennings Creek Wildfire is primarily in the Sterling Forest State Park and is boxed in by fire lines. There was no shortage of volunteers from Ravena. “It felt good to help out,” said Chief Phillips. “The people down there– it's rough for them down there. Schools closed. Roads all over the area are closed. They're very grateful for us.” The work is physically demanding and dangerous, even deadly. A State Parks employee died earlier this month. There is a statewide burn ban in effect to try to prevent any more wildfires.

Crews from all over the state are doing demanding work down at the Jennings Creek Wildfire. As recently as Monday, Catskill volunteers were protecting homes from the fierce fire that's already destroyed thousands of acres.

Attorney for woman accused of killing Baby Halo: it was not murder Schenectady, N.Y. (WNYT) – Persia Nelson appeared in Schenectady County Court before Judge Matthew Sypniewski. It was a brief status update. In October, private criminal defense attorney Mark Sacco agreed to take this case because the public defender's office had a conflict. Sacco told the court he has the materials he needs. Nelson is accused of causing the death of her nine-month-old daughter, Halo Branton, in March. “I'd like to correct the record on that a little bit,” said Sacco. “My client is not a monster. She had a huge lapse in judgment, did something that everyone involved will agree is a huge tragedy. But she didn't commit murder.” Authorities say the baby had been dropped into a utility tunnel on the General Electric campus, was half submerged in water, and died of exposure and hypothermia. Nelson is charged with murder, manslaughter, and endangering the welfare of a child. “I think when the facts come out, you'll find out that she was at a party, a family party, with all very nice people. She drank too much that night and she got upset and she left and I think she was new to the area, so I believe what happened and what I think the evidence is going to show in the case is that she got disoriented and she ended up in a wooded area,” he said. “If you've ever been disoriented at night, maybe had a couple drinks and you're in a place you don't know, you can kind of understand how something like this can happen. And the weather starts getting colder and colder and colder. And I think what the evidence is going to show is that she got very disoriented. And when she set the baby down in this shed that the baby was found in, she thought that that was a safe place for her baby and it's going to show that the intoxication is a very big deal here, but it's not murder.” Sacco spoke to two grandmothers Wednesday. “And everyone that I've talked to said she was a great mother. Loved the kid to death, loved the kid. I should also note when she was found, and she had thrown up all over herself and her blood alcohol was I think probably over a .20 which is very intoxicated, the first thing she said to the EMS workers is where's my baby. Now, she has blacked out at that point,” said Sacco. There is no trial date yet, but it's expected to take place early next year.