Newsletters

Albany Today, Aug. 11

Hi! My name is Allyson Aleksey, and I’m working with Albany Scanner as we get Albany's new homegrown news site off the ground.

Albany has been without a dedicated local newspaper for too long. My goal is to uncover and report on the stories that matter to you and your neighbors. You may see me at City Council meetings, Albany events, school sites and other places around town as I work on stories.

I've been a journalist for 10 years, most recently writing for The San Francisco Examiner. I started my career interning for The Times-Picayune and OffBeat Magazine, both in New Orleans, after several years as a teacher.

If you see me, please say hello! And don’t hesitate to reach out with story ideas, questions and tips. We want to know what you want to know.

You can reach me at editor@albanyscanner.com — or just reply to these emails.

All readers can also comment on stories. And we hope you will.

Here are three stories to get us started as we head into the new school year, including an update on Albany's biggest housing project and two things Albany families should know before the first day of school.

For now, we aim to publish four to six stories a week as we build to a full publishing schedule in 2027. We'll use this newsletter to let you know about them.

The Albany Bowl site has been slated for a major housing development for years. City officials say the site is shovel-ready. So why is it sitting untouched?

School starts Wednesday, and Albany Unified is ahead of the curve on state-mandated policies governing phone use on campus. Superintendent Sara Stone told Albany Scanner the district's policy strikes a balance between technology and learning.

Albany students use public transportation in lieu of traditional school buses. Here's how students can apply for free and discounted fare cards before the school year begins.

In other news

Learn more about Concerts in the Park on the city website. *City of Albany*

Albany's 2026 summer Concert in the Park series starts tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 12, at Memorial Park, 6-7:30 p.m. This is the first of five shows, with the band SambaDá kicking things off.