All Over Albany

Lots of illegal guns, corroded wires caused manhole cover explosions, water stays on for Rennselaer, damaged apples, a really big wind turbine

According to federal stats from last year, the number of seized illegal guns per resident in Albany and Schenectady was higher than that of New York City. There are two ways to look at this. Half-full: police here are getting better at finding illegal guns. Half-empty: there are a lot of illegal guns on the streets. [TU]

Prosecutors say Jermayne Timmons, the 15-year-old accused of firing the shot that killed Kathina Thomas, wrote an apology letter to Thomas' mother. From the letter Timmons allegedly wrote: "I am so sorry that the gun I shot is the gun that could have takeing your baby girl away from you." [Daily Gazette]

An aide at a state facility in Schenectady has been charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly punching a blind autistic woman after the woman spilled the aide's salad. [Daily Gazette]

The Troy city engineer says the manhole-cover-popping explosions earlier this year were caused by arcing underground cables that had been corroded by road salt and water. [TU]

The City of Rennselaer has paid Troy for its water use over the last two years, and Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian is no longer threatening to cut off Rennselaer's water supply. Still at issue: years of unpaid water bills from before 2006. [TU] [Troy Record]

Saratoga Springs is renovating its jails cells and needs someplace to put prisoners while the work is being done. The current solution: handcuffing the arrested to hooks in the booking area. [Daily Gazette]

Thomas D'Ambra, the CEO of Albany Molecular Research Inc, was the Capital Region's highest paid CEO last year. [TU]

The hail storm this week damaged apple crops. One farm in Columbia County says it suffered $1 million in damage. [Fox23]

GE wants to build a 400-foot-tall wind turbine just of I-890 in Rotterdam. [Daily Gazette]

It looks like Saratoga Springs will not be getting its first roundabout just yet. [Saratogian]