The North Greenbush bear lands, softly
All this attention? For me?
After spending most of Wednesday hanging out in a tree, the North Greenbush bear finally came down shortly after 4 pm. It wasn't by choice -- he had been hit with a tranquilizer dart -- but it was a soft landing, apparently.
"This guy went down pretty good," said NYS DEC police lieutenant Jim Hays shortly after the landing. Hays said the bear appeared to hit the ground softly while zonked on tranquilizers. "They're like a big bowl of jello when they land."
The black bear had climbed a a large tree in the front yard of a house on Meadow Dr, just across Williams Road from the North Greenbush Town Park. DEC had originally planned to let the bear come down on his own. But after he seemed content to sit in the tree for hours, DEC decided it was time to move things along.
Hays said they were worried about the situation becoming a public safety issue. Williams Road was filling with rush hour traffic. A large crowd of media and onlookers had gathered just on the other side of road. And Hays said people had started to circle around the scene for a better look, cutting off potential escape routes for the bear.
This most recent bear is the third one captured in the the core Capital Region in the last couple of weeks -- the other two were in Albany and Schenectady. There was also a bear
"We need to learn how to live with them," Hays said, describing Albany and Rensselaer counties as bear country. "They're not going to go away."
As with the other recently captured bears, DEC will keep the North Greenbush bear overnight for observation. If he checks out OK, Hays says they'll take him some more bear appropriate and release him.
There are a bunch of photos from today's scene after the jump.
Plant sale, soil testing
The annual plant sale at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Voorheesville is this Saturday (May 19) from 9 am-1 pm. There will be perennial, annual, and vegetable plants for sale. Also: "Master Gardeners will be on hand to help you make good decisions for your garden and to take in soil samples for pH testing." And let's face it, if you never test your soil, you'll never know if it's learning.
Poll: New Yorkers continue to support medical marijuana, not sure about fracking and MMA
New Yorkers support the legalization of medical marijuana 57-33, according to the Siena poll out today.
That result isn't really surprising -- a few other polls in recent years have also registered support for medical marijuana. The only subgroups in this new Siena poll not responding with majority support: Republicans and conservatives. Also, the income group registering the most support for it: $100k+ at 68 percent.
There have been bills in the legislature over the last few years that would legalize medical marijuana. And state Senator Diane Savino has picked the issue up again this year. But the chances of a bill making it through are probably small without support from Andrew Cuomo -- and he appeared to indicate last month he's not on board. [WSJ] [State of Politics]
We're curious to see the results if people were asked about straight out legalization or decriminalization of pot.
A few other bits from the poll...
What's up in the Neighborhood
Among the topics in this most recent spin around the Capital Region's online neighborhood: not donating, Upstate New York Bucket List, the crazy woman shouting, ramps, a Saratoga food tour, Mother's Day, fried chicken, voting, customer service, and therapy.
Ommegang Hop Chef
Could be fun: Brewery Ommegang is hosting a "Hop Chef" competition in Albany June 8. Basically, it's a group of local chefs competing against each other to see who can make the best dishes using Ommegang beer. From the blurbage:
[I]nnovative Capital Region chefs [will be] imaginatively preparing and pairing dishes with fine Ommegang ales. Each chef creates two dishes showcasing their skills in bringing Great Beer and Great Food to exuberant life. ...
COMPETING CHEFS INCLUDE
Brian Bowden of Creo
Elliot Cunniff of Colonie Golf & Country Club
Marcus Guiliano of Aroma Thyme Bistro
AJ Jayapal of The Mallozzi Family
Rachel Mabb of Bitches Kitchen Catering
Ric Orlando of New World Home Cooking & New World Bistro Bar
Jaime Ortiz of Mazzone Hospitality
Paul Ozimek of Taste
This is the brewery's second "Hop Chef" competition -- the first was in DC this past April (photos, recap).
The Albany event is June 8 (a Friday) at 11 North Pearl from 5:30-8:30 pm. Tickets are $55. If you buy a ticket before May 23, you'll be entered in a drawing to sit at the judges' table.
APD: driver smashes and crashes through Center Square
Albany police say they arrested a man after he allegedly careened his vehicle through Center Square last night, crashing into seven cars. The APD says Giri Gautam first rear-ended a Camaro on Lark Street "so hard, that the Camero's rear bumper was on [Gautam's] windshield. The impact also caused the Camero to collide with two other vehicles." Gautam then allegedly made his way down State Street, took a right on Dove, and sideswiped more cars before coming to a stop at Dove and Madison. The APD says his BAC was .20 (legal limit is .08). More details post jump. (more)
Nearly all Capital Region school budgets approved, DEC preparing to remove bear from North Greenbush,Silver seeks public support for min wage, last call in Toga won't change for now
Nearly all of the Capital region school budgets that went before voters on Tuesday passed. Stillwater's $21.2 million spending plan, which would have decreased spending, needed a 60 percent super-majority because it exceeded the state budget cap, but only got 56 percent.[Record] [Post Star]
Albany voters also approved the more than $9 million library plan. [TU]
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is calling for public pressure to persuade members of the State Senate to pass the minimum wage increase. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos blasted the $1.25 raise at a press conference on Tuesday, but refused to rule out an increase altogether. [News10] [Capital Confidential]
Mark Ruffalo, Melissa Leo, Natalie Merchant, Jon Sebastian and other famous names performed at last night's Anti-Fracking concert at The Egg, following a New Yorkers Against Fracking rally on the grand staircase at the Capitol. [News 10]
DEC officials are preparing to remove a bear from a tree on Meadow Drive in North Greenbush. [TU]
PJ's back open -- and different
The new version of PJ's Barbecue in Saratoga opened Tuesday as PJ's BAR-B-QSA. The new concept for the remodeled Saratoga summer staple is a "taste tour" of regional American barbecue styles (pdf menu). [via Fun in Saratoga]
Here's your diploma -- and a payment schedule
One of the interesting things in a recent NYT package about student debt is an interactive listing that includes school-by-school breakdowns of the average student debt for each school.
We were a bit surprised by the numbers from Capital Region schools (above). Even though Skidmore and Union College both have expensive sticker prices (both locally and nationally), their average graduate debt figures were among the smallest in this area -- and they had the lowest percentage of grads carrying student debt.
That result probably speaks to a few things about those schools: a) a not insignificant share of the students attending come from families that can help them cover the price and/or 2) many of the students whose families can't cover the cost probably aren't paying the full sticker price. In fact, Union says more than 60 percent of its students "receive some kind of financial assistance."
Contrast that to St. Rose and UAlbany. CSR had the highest average graduate debt -- with 86 percent of its graduates carrying debt. And UAlbany, though having one of the lower debt numbers probably as a result of its relatively inexpensive tuition, had by far the highest debt-to-tuition ratio.
The NYT interactive feature has more info and is worth checking out.
Noted: Americans now owe more in student debt than they do in credit card debt -- the total amount of outstanding student debt in the country is roughly $1 trillion. [USA Today]
Fine print: All the tuition and debt total numbers are for 2010 and via NYT, with one exception: NYT didn't have a tuition number for Union. So we pulled it from College Grotto's rankings for 2009-2010. It appears NYT pulled the numbers from The Project on Student Debt, from which we pulled the "grads with student debt" percentages. The debt:tuition ratio is our own calculation.
"A Home for Debauchery in the Spa City"
The video embedded above is a short documentary about Caroline Street by Skidmore student Patrick Klimaszewski. It's interesting in the way it charts the century-long confluence of factors that have resulted in Caroline Street becoming "a home for debauchery in the Spa City." Klimaszewski told the Spotlight back in April he's been researching Caroline Street as part of his anthropology major. [Spotlight]
The Saratoga Springs city council is expected to vote tonight on whether to move last call from 4 am to 3 am, a proposal driven by the frequent unruliness on Caroline. The choice may not end up with the city, though -- the State Liquor Authority recently issued an opinion that the city can't change the last call time unless Saratoga County does the same. [Saratogian] [TU]
[video via Saratoga Seen]
Just far enough
Wegmans is apparently planning a new store just over the state line in Bergen County, New Jersey. They are doing this just to taunt you, obviously. By the way: here are the chain's stated future locations. (Thanks, Naomi!) Earlier: What about Wegmans?
AOA/Central Steak Burger Lab finalists
Pulled pork, coffee molasses glaze, caramelized onions, bacon, and romaine -- just one of the sliders that made the Burger Lab finals.
The AOA Burger Lab event at Central Steak is this Thursday. The people attending the slider tasting, a benefit for the ASAP Daisies, will get to create their own burgers from a long list of meats, toppings, and condiments.
And it's sold out.
But five people are getting a free ticket thanks to the combinations they posted as comments here at AOA when we first announced the event. Their combinations will be tasted a panel of judges, and the winner burger will be added to the Central Steak menu.
Here are the tasty-sounding combinations that made it to the final round...
The best state is next door?
Over at Slate, Mark Vanhoenacker argues that the best state is... Massachusetts. New York's neighbor is cited for its strong economy, good schools, and high levels of "social well-being." Thank goodness he also mentions Masshole drivers, because the article was starting to make the Bay State sound like some sort of Scandinavian paradise.
Where to go skydiving?
Veronica emails:
My birthday is coming up at the end of the month and what better way to celebrate than to skydive on my birthday?! Know of any good places around here that offer skydiving at a reasonable price?
Know of a good place for Veronica to take the leap? Please share!
photo: Flickr user flawedartist
Minimum wage increase said to be "dead," Schenectady less broke than previously thought, state retirement fund invests in local social media company, LaFrate has stopped watching
It's school budget vote day. Don't know where to vote? Check your school district's website.
The state Assembly is expected to pass a bill today that would increase the state's minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50. But "officials" say the increase is dead because the state Senate has no plans to take it up. Earlier: a recent Siena poll reported strong support for a minimum wage increase. [YNN] [AP/Troy Record]
A federal jury has found former state Senate majority leader Pedro Espada guilty of stealing half a million dollars from his Bronx-based non-profit healthcare org. The jury didn't reach reach a verdict of a handful of other counts against Espada, after what sounds like some unusual discussion in the jury room. The verdict quickly became grist in the local Senate race between Neil Breslin and challenger Shawn Morse. [NYT] [TU] [YNN] [State of Politics]
An independent audit of the city of Schenectady's finances concludes that the situation isn't as bad as previously described. "The city is not anywhere near a position of being broke," said McCarthy after the new audit. But the audit also concluded that the city has been using budgets that planned to spend more than they bring in. One of the ways the city is planning to bring in more money: squeeze people behind on their property harder in order to get them to pay up. [TU] [YNN] [Daily Gazette] [WNYT]
The Saratoga-based Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, recently accused by the state attorney general's office of not properly caring for its horses, says the AG's complaint is "a product of misinformation and incompetence." The AG's office says it's received additional complaints about TRF since filing the lawsuit. [Saratogian] [TU]
Poll: strong support for minimum wage increase
$8.50
A large majority of New Yorkers support raising the state's minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 per hour, according to the Siena poll out today. Of the people polled, support for the increase ran 78-17. The group registering the lowest support for the increase was Republicans -- and even among that group, 58 percent support it.
A few other interesting bits from today's poll:
+ One of Andrew Cuomo's strategies since becoming governor has appeared to be finding ways to allow the legislature to look good (while still doing what he wants it to do). It seems to be working: the number of people saying they have a "favorable" opinion of the Assembly and Senate are at "highest ever" levels* -- in the upper 40s.
+ The Occupy Wall Street movement registered its lowest favorability so far -- 38/52 favorable/unfavorable. The Tea Party's favorable/unfavorable: 38/58.
+ If the presidential election was now: Obama 57 | Romney 37.
+ The percent of people who said "don't know" or have "no opinion" of Kirsten Gillibrand is 25 percent -- the same as it was back in January 2011. We suspect this is roughly the same percentage of people who would feel open about admitting they don't follow politics or government at all. Chuck Schumer's don't know/no opinion: 9. See also: Chuck who?
+ KG still easily beats any of the potential Republicans in a hypothetical matchup for the US Senate.
+ The percent of people who agreed that New York State is on the "right track": 55 percent, a "highest ever" level.
* "Trends reflect questions asked at least twice since the first Siena College Poll in February 2005."
Where to go for sports massage?
Graham asks via Twitter:
I'm looking to find a good place in the capital district to get a sports massage... maybe a slight preference to the east side of the Hudson (Troy, Greenbushes)
We were curious what separates sports massage from non-sports massage -- it appears it just means there's a specific emphasis on improving athletic performance and injury rehab.
Got a suggestion for Graham? Please share!
photo: Flickr user alaina.buzas
A dreadful matchup of supply and demand
The Albany County Sheriff's Office says it arrested four people for allegedly selling drugs outside... a drug treatment center. The ACSO says it looked into the matter after Albany County comptroller Mike Conners referred a complaint from a county whistleblowers' hotline "indicating that several people were getting methadone and either selling it or selling other illegal drugs at the Methadone Treatment clinic" at the Whitney Young health center in Arbor Hill (map). It says undercover investigators ended up busting people for allegedly selling Xanax and heroin. (more)
2012 Sunmark Startup Grant finalists
There were a lot of good submissions for this year's AOA Sunmark Startup Grant. Projects ranged from a resource for new parents, to car sharing, to art, to web apps, to food. If you haven't read through the applications, you should -- you might find a project with which you'd like to get involved.
But there can only be three finalists -- two selected through crowd voting, the other by the Editors.
Here they are...
The new Tulip Queen
The 2012 Tulip Queen is Emily Finnegan, a UAlbany junior from Colonie studying political science, globalization studies, and Spanish. She's done volunteer work in India and Guatemala. And she's on the UAlbany track and cross country teams.
Here are all the finalists -- it sounds like any of them would have been worthy picks.
Mother of the Year This year's Mother of the Year is Helen Hagen. Paul Grondahl wrote a story in the TU this past weekend about Hagen and two of her friends -- among them, they have 22 children -- adopted, foster and biological.
Photos Here's a big Tulip Festival photoset by Michael Panzarino of M.A.P. Graphics. He caught some good reactions when Emily Finnegan's name was announced as the Tulip Queen.
Looking for more? Check out the last week's worth of posts or the archive.
And you can always try searching for it:
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