All Over Albany

Republican state senate majority cut to one, AMD says it will do its best to be clean, district spends thousands to fire teacher, hunters bag more bears

In what's being described as an upset, Democrat -- and dairy farmer -- Darrel Aubertine won the special election for the 48th State Senate District yesterday. The win cuts the Republican majority in the Senate to just one seat. Joe Bruno says the Democrats used "dirty tricks" during the campaign, while the state Democratic Party chairwoman described the Republican campaign as "the dirtiest onslaught I have seen in 30 years in politics." They might just be warming up for November when the seat up for grabs again. [TU] [Daily News] [Daily Politics]

Not surprisingly, people seem to be happy that the special election is over. Capital staffers can return from the frozen reaches of NY to Albany. And the residents of the district around Watertown can stop being treated, in the words of a newspaper editor there, "like rubes and country bumpkins rather than the geographic descendants of Remington, Dewey, Woolworth, Lansing, Dulles and Rogers." [NYT]

AMD says it will be using state-of-the-art environmental controls at the chip fab plant in Luther Forest. Or, at least, it says it will be using state-of-the-art environmental controls IF the project goes forward. The company still hasn't said it's definitely building the plant. [Daily Gazette]

A teacher in the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk school district has sued the district alleging there's been a conspiracy to oust him from his job. The district has admitted to spending $65,000 trying to fire the teacher -- which is more than he makes in a year. [TU]

Hunters in New York State killed 1,117 bears last year, including 12 in Saratoga County and six in Albany County. That state-wide total is up 40 percent over the year before. [Daily Gazette]