All Over Albany

Spitzer "not truthful", the Penguin busted, return of the bottle bill, no styrofoam for Schenectady?, Albany's trees showing age

In a report released late on Friday, Albany DA David Soares reported that Eliot Spitzer basically lied about not being directly involved in the effort to stick to it to Joe Bruno over the state senator's use of state aircraft. Spitzer's "not truthful" statements won't lead to charges, though. [NYT]

Cops busted a local gambling ring that reportedly processed more than $50 million in bets during the last year and a half. The ring seems to have been run out of a club behind the Latham 76 diner. The arrested included guys with nicknames such as Waldo, Penguin and Bindy. [TU]

Talk of the "bigger, better bottle bill" is back after it was included in the budget proposals of both the governor and Assembly. Not on board with the plan to extend the 5 cent deposit to non-carbonated beverages and return unclaimed deposits to the state: Joe Bruno. Environmentalists say Bruno has been swayed by many, many nickels thrown his way by the bottle industry. [TU]

A Schenectady city councilwoman is talking about banning stryofoam cups in the city. If the ban comes about, Dunkin' Donuts would have to find new cups. [Daily Gazette]

It seems that Malta's request that town residents be first in line for jobs at the planned AMD chip plant was met with a "Ha, good one. No, really?" from the company. [Business Review]

According to a state DEC report, many of the city of Albany's maple trees will probably have to come down during the next few years because of old age. You can buy a new tree for in front of your house for about $60 -- if you get your request (pdf) in today.

The local women who connected via Craigslist for a kidney donation seem to be doing OK. The donated kidney is holding up "wonderfully" and the donor is still drinking Cosmos. [TU]