ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A pair of parks and trails advocacy groups says progress is being made to close the five remaining gaps in the 365-mile Erie Canalway Trail connecting Albany and Buffalo.     

A new report by the Canalway Trails Association New York and Parks and Trails New York says the Erie Canalway Trail is 75 percent complete. When the last remaining gaps are closed, the groups say the continuous off-road trail will see hundreds of thousands of additional users each year, bringing an economic boost to more than 200 communities along the Erie Canal corridor.     

Next Saturday, at the William K Sanford Town Library the Capital District Genealogical Society will host “Looking for My Ancestors.”  Members and guests are encouraged to share their experiences looking for information about their relatives and ancestors.

Participants will be asked to contribute unusual findings and to listen to others in hopes of maybe seeing clues of “breaking through your brick wall” according to the library's website.  The computer group component of the program will begin at 1 p.m. followed by social time at 2 p.m. and then the speaker at 2:30 p.m.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Snowmobiles may soon be allowed on parts of the 280-mile trail that runs along most of the canal system in upstate New York.

Officials say pilot projects were successful after the state Canal Corp. decided in 2009 to lift a ban on the machines along the recreational Canalway Trail.

Carmella Mantello, the corporation's executive director, says Wednesday that snowmobile clubs may now ask municipalities for resolutions supporting their applications for state permits to maintain and improve trails along the canals at the clubs' own expense. They'll also have to show they have liability insurance.

Communities can decide against allowing the machines on their territory.
      

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