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The 250th anniversary of the American Revolution is being celebrated this year. The reenactment of the battles of Lexington and Concord will be a major event.

Albany was also a hotbed of revolutionary activity in 1775. Revolutionists took over the government in Albany. They established the Albany Committee of Safety, which was influential in governing the city and the surrounding area until 1778. The committee held its first meeting Jan. 24, 1775. The mayor and other elected officials were overthrown and arrested for not supporting the revolution. Albanian Abraham Yates would become an influential member of the committee, and he would help to establish the first New York state government in 1777.

The committee helped organize several militia units. These units would be under the command of Abraham Ten Broeck from Albany. The units were formed in numerous hamlets in Albany County, which was a large entity in 1775. It included the present-day counties of Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Saratoga. Ten Broeck would become famous by participating in the Battle of Saratoga on Oct. 7, 1777, by leading a large Albany County militia force of 1,800 soldiers. A monument to him and the militia units can be viewed at the Saratoga battlefield.

Another major event affecting Albany occurred in June 1775. The Second Continental Congress formed the Continental Army. One of its original units was formed in Albany under Major Gen. Philip Schuyler. Albany can make the claim, therefore, that an original part of the U.S. Army was formed here.

The author is a public service professor at the University at Albany and is the author of "Albany During the American Revolution: Victory In Upstate New York."

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The American voter, by all reports. has become disenchanted with the Democratic Party at the national level, as seen in the 2024 election results. To regain support and trust, the party must think outside the box to find ways to attract back the voting public.

I would suggest a strategy that empowers the voters by urging them to participate in town hall meetings to determine what strategies and priorities are most important to them and would attract them back. Each Democratic congressman would hold town meetings and, working with the attendees, they would create a priority list of those goals. These lists of priorities would be compiled to create a voter-driven platform.

Full recognition would be given to the voters who participated in this endeavor by naming it The American Agenda, replacing the old and mistrusted title, The Democratic Platform. As the party prepares for the 2026 mid-term elections, this document would gain wider support, especially among younger voters, due to its transparent process.

I am sure there are readers who would dismiss this idea as too radical. But I would remind them that the Democratic Party lost the 2024 election by over 6 million votes and, unless they can reinvent themselves and reverse this trend, they will find themselves increasingly irrelevant, especially at the national level.

A true democracy requires more than a one-party system.

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I’m no fan of Sen. Charles Schumer, but the calls for his resignation over working to prevent a government shutdown are troubling. It seems that anger and resistance have overtaken rational thought. Cooperation is now treated as betrayal, and compromise — once the foundation of governance — is met with campaigns for removal. Schumer’s decision to keep the government open has sparked a full-force effort to oust him. He even had to cancel a book tour due to security concerns. Meanwhile, congressional town halls with constituents have boiled over. This is where we are: not debating policy, but resorting to harassment and intimidation.

It is easy for elected officials to fall in line with party mandates. It is far harder to make independent choices in the interest of the people. If we want real leadership, we need to encourage our representatives to rise above partisan pressure and think for themselves — and for us. Groups like No Labels are bringing together members of Congress to reach bipartisan solutions, showing that cooperation is........

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