Andrew Waite
Daily Gazette
Albany, NY, United States
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Past articles by Andrew:
» Waite: Doulas deserve New York’s support
WEIGHING IN - My wife and I recently reflected that only one other person witnessed the birth of both our children: our doula. Before Kathleen became pregnant with our daughter, I didn’t really know what a doula was or what services the profession provides. In part, that’s because doulas do so → Read More
Waite: With Clean Slate proposal, Schenectady council can get down to business
As a convicted drug felon serving time between 2004 and 2007, Trent Griffin-Braaf took courses through Marist College and thought he might go on to earn a degree once he finished his 4-to-12-year prison sentence. The Schenectady High School graduate, now 38, wasn’t exactly sure what career he wan → Read More
Waite: Threats against Shelters of Saratoga director are ironic and deeply troubling
WEIGHING IN - Last week, dozens of Saratoga Central Catholic School parents expressed outrage over plans to put a homeless shelter on a property neighboring their school at 247 Broadway. An online petition with more than 1,500 signatures called the now-halted plans at 5 Williams St., which shares m → Read More
Waite: Real change in Saratoga Springs policing could come from a rule change
WEIGHING IN - Standing on the steps of Saratoga Springs’ City Hall, Saratoga Black Lives Matter leader Lexis Figuereo fought back tears as he spoke earlier this week regarding the brutal killing of Tyre Nichols at the hands – and feet – of Memphis police officers. Figuereo’s words were some of th → Read More
Waite: We need to think ‘repair,’ not ‘replace’
WEIGHING IN - In 2011, Dave West fell asleep while driving to work. It was about 6:30 a.m. and West’s Dodge Caravan veered into the oncoming traffic as West drove the usual route to the Shenendehowa Central School District, where he worked in maintenance and repair for nearly 30 years. In a head → Read More
Waite: Monroe perseveres after being displaced by apartment fire
Octavia Monroe had only lived in the apartment a few weeks, but it was already starting to feel like home. The four-bedroom unit off Albany Street in Schenectady had enough space for Monroe, her 22-year-old son, as well as her cousin and nephew. Monroe, 42, had hung pictures on the walls, and sh → Read More
Waite: Patrol mapping app moves Schenectady policing in right direction
WEIGHING IN - Police officers spend a lot of time responding to the squeakiest wheels. Certain businesses, landlords and tenants simply demand more police attention than others. This leads to an inequitable distribution of police services, something Schenectady Police Chief Eric Clifford liken → Read More
Waite: Schenectady city politics are about to get real serious
Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy is likely to face a serious battle for his seat this year.No one on the Democratic side has yet officially announced a bid for mayor, but McCarthy’s intentions to seek a fourth term are clear. And, this past week, we learned that Council President Marion Porterfield s → Read More
Waite: Saratoga Springs author Russell Banks was an influential man of character and characters
WEIGHING IN - I think it was the end of ninth grade when my mom decided I needed summer reading. I wasn’t the sort of precocious kid who tore through books. I liked school and took my assigned reading seriously, but I mostly wanted to go to friends’ houses and bike around the neighborhood in my s → Read More
Waite: Hochul’s middle-of-the-road approach may be too middling for many New Yorkers
WEIGHING IN - As Gov. Kathy Hochul walked down the aisle ahead of delivering her State of the State address Tuesday, she clasped hands with state Sen. Jim Tedisco. In actuality, Tedisco said he was requesting a meeting on the St. Clare’s pension crisis, but the image of the candid conservative se → Read More
Waite: Chaotic Congress is a reflection of its leaders
If there was any doubt about why U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik hasn’t addressed the chaos that surrounds newly elected Long Island congressman George Santos, we got our answer Tuesday.When the U.S. House of Representatives convened early last week for what’s typically a pro forma vote to elect a speaker, → Read More
Waite: Former Johnstown funeral director owes bereaved families the chance at closure
WEIGHING IN - Scattering or burying a loved one’s ashes is meant to provide a sense of closure. But what if you couldn’t be sure that the ashes in the urn actually belonged to your family member? What if you conducted a memorial service and now aren't sure whether you had the remains of your husband → Read More
Waite: New Clifton Park council members must not be rubber stamps
WEIGHING IN - Both new Clifton Park Town Board members admit they have a lot to learn. Together, Agatha Reid, 34, and Christopher E. O’Hara, 66, have less than a year of political experience. On a council like the one in Clifton Park, which represents a town of fewer than 40,000 residents and → Read More
Waite: Where issues addressed in these lines stand
This marks my 33rd column – just about a third of the way to 100. What’s the significance of that? Nothing. But as humans, we’re fond of round numbers and milestones, and this week in particular is one during which we look back and reflect upon the year that was. So I’m taking this time to che → Read More
Waite: Raise a cup — or cone — to Stewart's
Shortly after moving back to Albany two summers ago, I told my wife I was going to meet my high school friends for coffee at Stewart’s.“You’re going to a gas station?” Kathleen asked.Kathleen’s from northern Virginia, so she didn’t grasp all that Stewart’s is.For those of us who grew up here or who → Read More
Waite: St. Clare’s pensioners’ plea is straight from the heart
St. Clare’s Hospital isn’t just where Mary Hartshorne worked for nearly 30 years. It’s not just where she made her second family, eating lunch nearly every day in the cafeteria alongside priests, doctors, administrative staff and nurses. It’s also where health care professionals saved her life. → Read More
The St. Clare’s pension crisis – a timeline
A brief history of the St. Clare’s pension issue, from The Daily Gazette archives: The pension plan was established in 1959 and terminated in February 2019, eliminating all or some of the benefits for a little more than 1,100 former St. Clare’s employees who had given 10 to 50 years of service. → Read More
Waite: Fulton County ghost-gun suspect shows hate symbols are signs of serious trouble
WEIGHING IN - Luke Kenna wasn’t always affiliated with white supremacist groups. In online writings, the now-43-year-old man who lives in Gloversville describes an itinerant youth spent traveling the country while playing in hardcore punk and metal bands. But, then, in his late 20s and early 30s, → Read More
Waite: Facebook comments shouldn’t bar Glenville board member from contract vote
WEIGHING IN - Glenville Town Board Member James Martin probably shouldn’t have posted it. He shouldn’t have written Facebook comments that, if given a particularly harsh reading, insinuated that some members of the village of Scotia Fire Department are greedy carpetbaggers who don’t care about th → Read More
Waite: After settlement agreement, Scism widow hopes for new start
WEIGHING IN - She first met Joshua Scism in math class at Mont Pleasant Middle School. Chrystal Scism, now a 39-year-old widow who recently settled a $1.5 million federal lawsuit with the Schenectady Police Department after a detective shot and killed her husband in 2016, was taken with the conf → Read More