Taniqa Pennix

Dozens gathered outside Ellis Hospital, demanding better working conditions. A recent study from the New York State Nurses Association revealed Ellis Hospital Units are understaffed 93 percent of the time. Fred Durocher, a registered nurse at Ellis says they are undergoing contract negotiations and Ellis Medicine proposed to have less nurses to care for patients. […]

The Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York hosted their first ever Jewish Day of Service on Christmas Day. Fifty volunteers from the Capital Region’s Jewish community partnered with local non-profits in the area to give back. Those volunteers from the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York had a full schedule. They began their day at […]

As many of us are celebrating the New Year, one Selkirk family is struggling to get back on their feet after their roof collapsed weeks before Christmas.Tammilyn Brink says their roof was already compromised from a summer fire, but after a mid-December rain storm she said the roof just gave up. “Because of all the […]

As the season’s first major snowfall comes to end we checked in with some local businesses to see how they were affected by the wintry mix.Herbie’s Burgers, shift manager Isiah Thomas, says the winter storm brought an uptick of food deliveries. “Anytime there’s major weather we have so much increase in tickets, but it doesn’t […]

Albany police report twenty homicides last year, and now just a few weeks into the New Year, there are five. “The city of Albany is crying,” community advocate Eva Bass called out during public comment at the Albany Common Council meeting Thursday night. On the agenda, was a resolution for a new Violence Prevention Coordinator […]

New community space offers safe haven for Albany's underserved population 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. Community advocate's push for change. Bridge the Gap Resource and Outreach opened it's doors for the first time this year on Martin Luther King Day. It's founder, Eva Bass has been advocating for communities and individuals to get the equity that they need for more than a decade. “We have a large housing crisis, a large food disparity, and so many other things centered around social terms of health that need to be addressed, she said. The space was immediately put into use when police found a 14-year-old male with a gunshot wound at a home last Friday on New Hope Terrace in Albany. “We opened our space for family, community members, we had some clergy, we had some grief counselors from Urban Grief, and we had just some community members here to just pray, hold space talk, and connect the resources, just to let the community know there is community based support available,” she said. Bridge the Gap was created to combat deeply embedded societal issues, with a focus on violence prevention, but Eva said they need more help from city leaders , saying most of the funding comes from her own pockets and community donations. “It's not enough funding to really sustain and really build capacity and support our community as needed,” she said. During hours of operation Bridge the Gap offers mentorships to youth between the ages of 5 to 18. The kids play games, learn about character building, and families are being connecting to vital community resources.

Teen night and free haircuts for Albany's youth 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 The day's major news events, business reports, local sports updates, weather information and tomorrow's forecast are presented by the NewsChannel 13 Team. Community advocates in Albany feel the solution to gun violence is focusing on the youth. They believe if more time is spent boosting a child's self-esteem and self-worth they'll stay out of trouble, so right now, every Friday until February 9th a local barbershop will be giving away free haircuts, during a night of wholesome fun exclusively for teens. The first night of the free haircut event kicked off last Friday, January 19th. David Gordon with Boys and Girls Clubs of the Capital Area, says it was night full of activities like basketball, music, food, a recording studio, and a game room. “This is operational safe zone, he said, you can come in here and just hang out, get a free haircut and get something to eat.” Gordon say's he's been working with children for 15 years, and has witnessed first hand the transformative powers of a brand new cut. “That guy is smiling. If you never seen him smiling, he's smiling, he doesn't have the ski mask on anymore, he wants to talk to all the girls and everything, it just builds his confidence and self esteem up,” he said. Come Connect Church and Will's Barbershop partnered with BGCCA to give all the teens interested a fresh cut, at no costs. Albany teen, Lavalas Cherimond was very appreciative. “I haven't had a haircut in two months, Cherimond said. I was going to get one, but I came here and got one for free, so I feel like that was a gift to me for free and that was really generous.” Gordon says the staff at his site act as mediators for a lot of challenges the kids face, and something as simple as a haircut can have a huge impact on child's outlook. Teen Night at the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Capital Area is every Friday night from 5:00-8:00, for ages 13-19.

Lake George Winter Carnival manages this year's mild winter Lake George relies heavily on the cold temperatures for their winter tourism. We spoke to several businesses and they're making the most of this year's mild temperatures. Chef Vincent from Bambaz Mac-N-Smash says they'd have more business if the Lake was frozen, but they still are having a good time this year. “We appreciate the people that have come down and we treat them accordingly, we actually get to spend a little more time with them,” said Vincent. At the carnival, there was just a light dusting of snow on the ground. The sidewalks were clear and kids were playing in the sand as opposed to the snow. Data from The Lake George Association says on average the lake is fully frozen by January 19th. Jessyca Darrah, the Co-Chairperson of The Lake George Winter Carnival tells us the weather has not been ideal for them this year but they have backup plans. “We're not needing that ice. We would love the ice, but like we keep saying, we do not need ice to survive here. We're having fun today and every weekend for the winter carnival,” said Darrah. Mariha Bailey, the owner of Brew'd Coffee, described what the carnival would look like if the lake was frozen. “Oh my God, she said, hundreds, hundreds. When I was a kid, maybe even five years ago, we saw a few trucks on the ice and you couldn't walk on the sidewalks that we're standing on right now there was thousands of people.” And an employee from Lake George Popcorn Company, Reilly Williams agreed. “I think if the Lake was frozen it would probably double in size, there's a lot more activities that they do when the Lake is frozen,” said Williams. Despite the warm temps organizers with The Lake George Winter Carnival managed to coordinate a month long list of events for people to celebrate without the ice. Next weekend is the last weekend of the carnival.

Little Big Fatz in Wynantskill is a fish fry and ice cream shop. The owner, Albert Beeb says the warm weather is good for business. “Everybody’s enjoying the nice weather, I mean usually in February when I open up it’s a little nerve-wrecking because you don’t know how the weather is going to be,” he […]

Schenectady author hopes sharing her domestic violence story will help others 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 Gina Cruz says she knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of 13, but her life took a dark turn when she found herself a victim of domestic violence. Gina Cruz says she knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of 13, but her life took a dark turn when she found herself a victim of domestic violence. “I was in denial at first,” she said. However, she found comfort in writing. “It was an escape because I didn't want to deal with my reality,” she said. With the help of her children, Cruz found the strength to leave her abusive relationship. First, she told the story to her children, then she wrote “Crime of Passion, When Love Begins to Hurt, Run,” an urban fiction loosely based on her experience. Gina started working at Barnes & Noble at Colonie Center in 2018, simply because she loves books. She never imagined her books on the shelves, but with a little encouragement from her manager she was told to promote herself, and now they're featured in the local author section for all to see. “We've come a long way,” she said. Writing saved Cruz's life, and she hopes by sharing her story, it'll have the power to help save others. Learn more about the moment Cruz realized she was ready to write this book by watching the video of Taniqua Pennix's story.