The Times Union is a major daily newspaper, serving the Capital Region of New York, United States. Although the newspaper focuses on Albany and its suburbs, it covers all parts of the four-county area, including the cities of Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Springs. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation. The paper was founded in 1857, originally published as the Morning Times, and purchased by William Randolph Hearst in 1924. The newspaper has been online since 1996.

The editor of the Times Union is Rex Smith, who has held the post since July 2002. He was previously the paper's managing editor. George Hearst is the publisher.

The newspaper is printed in its Colonie headquarters by the Hearst Corporation's Capital Newspapers Division. The daily edition costs $1 and the Sunday/Thanksgiving Day edition costs $2.

The Times Union announced in May 2006 that it would pay $3.5 million over 10 years for the naming rights of the Pepsi Arena in downtown Albany. On January 1, 2007, the arena was renamed the Times Union Center.

David John "Dave" Matthews (born January 9, 1967) is a South African-American musician and actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band. He performs mainly with acoustic guitar and favors rhythm rather than solos in his playing.

David John Matthews was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the third of four children of parents John and Valerie Matthews. At two years old, Matthews' family moved to Yorktown Heights in Westchester County, New York, where his father, a physicist, started working for IBM.

In 1974, the family moved to Cambridge, England, for a year before returning to New York, where his father died from lung cancer in 1977. Biographer Nevin Martell argues that Dave's father's death may be an impetus for his "carpe diem" lyrics. At some point while residing in New York, Matthews attended his first concert, when his mother took him to a performance by Pete Seeger. The family moved back to Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1977.

Upon Matthews' graduation from St Stithians College high school in 1985, he was faced with conscription into the South African military just as civil disobedience to the practice was becoming widespread. A Quaker (and consequently pacifist), Matthews left South Africa to avoid service.