Jim Franco

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Jim Franco

TROY — Oakwood Cemetery and the Veterans of Lansingburgh held their annual wreath-laying ceremony for Memorial Day weekend Saturday. Several community organizations were represented, and flags were placed in the Soldiers' Plot. John Reitano places a flag on the grave of a soldier in the Oakwood Ceremony Soldiers’ Plot during the annual Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony and placement of flags conducted by the Veterans of Lansingburgh on Saturday, May 24, 2025, in Troy, NY.

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Jim Franco

It’s spring in upstate New York, and things are blooming again. There are dogwoods and daffodils and hyacinths and, of course, the dominant flower, particularly in the Capital Region, the tulip. An entire, multiday festival is dedicated to the long, slender beauty. There is one blossom, though, more prevalent than all the early bloomers put together — the dandelion. Article continues below this adIt’s not by chance. The dandelion has an uncanny proclivity for spreading its species.

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Jim Franco

Hudson Valley Community College held its 71st annual Commencement activities on Saturday in its McDonough Sports Complex. Degrees were conferred in three separate batches:  at 9 a.m. for the School of STEM; 11:30 a.m. for the School of Health Sciences, and 2 p.m. for School of Business and Liberal Arts. These photos are from the business and liberal arts ceremony. Article continues below this adJim Franco is a staff photographer covering subjects for all sections of the newspaper.

3 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Jim Franco

SLINGERLANDS — It’s not yet the dog days of summer, but with the iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile’s visit to the Capital Region this week, the hot dog days of spring have arrived. The Wienermobile is captained by Connor “Captain Glizzy” Wolff and Sarah “Kraut” Oney, two of only 12 “hotdoggers” chosen by Oscar Mayer each year. They visited various locations around the Albany area this week, including the Market 32 grocery store in Slingerlands on Thursday.

3 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Jim Franco

ALBANY — Crowds of visitors flocked to Albany to see a new Tulip Queen be crowned and more than 100,000 flowers in bloom. Saturday marked the first full day of Albany's annual Tulip Festival. After the festival's opening street scrubbing ceremony was moved indoors at City Hall on Friday, visitors enjoyed festivities under mostly sunny skies on Saturday, despite heavy rainfall and minor flooding around the region in the hours preceding the event.