All Over Albany

Albany under water in two different ways, who knows how much mercury, AMC gets money for merging computers and humans, it's like Trenton

Jerry Jennings says the City of Albany may have to lay off people now that it won't be getting that $5.5 million state aid payment (and $11 million in years after). Richard Conti, the Common Council president pro temp, says big tax increase may also be necessary. The city's projected budget deficit for 2009 is more than $14 million. [TU]

Albany's projected budget shortfall won't make infrastructure improvements easy -- no matter how badly they might be needed. See yesterday's flooding, which turned the lower end of Hackett Blvd into a lake. "Too much rain -- in too short a time. It's an older system. This is what happens," said a water department employee to the TU. There were also reports of raw sewage backing up into yards. [AOA] [TU] [CapNew9]

A state Supreme Court judge has ruled that Saratoga Springs -- and former public works commissioner Tom McTygue -- violated the constitutional rights of two developers by blocking access to their land with a dump truck. Both compensatory and punitive damages could be awarded. The original building permit had been issued in 1997. The developers sold the land earlier this year and the new owners have started construction. [TU] [Saratogian]

Officials from the Lafarge Cement plant in Ravena said at a public forum last night that they don't know exactly how much mercury their plant is currently releasing into the environment. A 2004 review reported that the plant was New York State's single largest emitter of mercury. [TU]

New York State has the nation's highest closing costs for home sales. [Daily Gazette]

The Troy City Council has approved the settlement of Rensselaer's water debt. Troy will get $1.7 million by October. At one point in the drawn-out negotiations over the settlement, Troy mayor Harry Tutunjian had threatened to cut off the water to Rensselaer. [Troy Record]

Researchers at Albany Med got a $1.36 million grant to continue work on brain-computer interfaces. [TU]

The Town of Malta wants to sell a house on town-owned land, but it wants to use the land for recreational use -- so the new owner of the house will have to move it. [Daily Gazette]

The College of St. Rose and the City of Albany will be partnering on a new sports complex in Hoffman Park -- the fields right there at the 9W-787 interchange. The project is getting a $1 million donation from the owner of an insurance brokerage from Trenton, NJ. He had come to CSR to give a commencement speech and fell in love with Albany because it reminded him of Trenton. [Daily Gazette]