Chris Churchill

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Chris Churchill

SCHENECTADY — The collapse of the St. Clare’s pension fund was a stunning blow for 1,100 of the shuttered hospital’s former employees. But for John and Janet Rizzo, the hit was twice as hard. Janet worked for decades as a payroll specialist at the Schenectady hospital, where her mom had been a nurse, while John was a longtime maintenance worker there. As it happens, St. Clare’s is where the Rizzos met.

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Chris Churchill

There are few things better than an upstate summer, and I'll question the sanity of anyone who suggests otherwise. Yes, we have long winters and springs that feel just like winter. Yes, we have autumns that ... well, actually, our autumns are also pretty great. But our fleeting summer is when this region shines, despite the mosquitoes, ticks, humidity, poison ivy, endless drone of lawn mowers and, worst of all, jackwagons who shoot off fireworks when it is not even close to the Fourth of July.

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Chris Churchill

In 2021, soon after Kathy Hochul became the governor, the group representing former St. Clare’s Hospital employees sent her a letter. It explained their well-documented plight, telling Hochul how their pension fund collapsed in 2018, leaving 1,100 former employees of the shuttered Schenectady hospital with reduced retirement benefits — or no pension at all. Article continues below this ad“We know you have a tremendous amount on your plate,” said the letter, which was also signed by state Sen.

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Chris Churchill

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger is named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed on behalf of St. Clare’s Hospital pensioners. He wishes he and the church were plaintiffs in the case, he told me. The head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and I sat and talked for about an hour a few days after a state judge ruled that the civil case resulting from the hospital’s busted pension plan could go to trial.

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Chris Churchill

With five weeks to go, the Albany mayor’s race feels increasingly like Dan Cerutti’s to lose. I don’t know if he’ll like reading that. The other candidates — Auditor Dorcey Applyrs, Common Council President Corey Ellis and county Legislator Carolyn McLaughlin — certainly won’t. Article continues below this adBut many observers now believe Cerutti is likely to get 35 to 40% of the June 24 Democratic primary vote, with Applyrs right behind him.