More chip fab talk, Skelos says Paterson acting like Spitzer, UAlbany parts with search firm that couldn't find, Van Dyck gets a new owner

Local real estate agents and developers say the Luther Forest chip fab project will probably have some effect on home values -- but not a huge one. [Daily Gazette]

The chip fab's first product: gloating. [TU]

State Senate majority leader Dean Skelos says state worker layoffs should not be part of the budget cut discussion. He also says David Paterson is starting to act like Eliot Spitzer. [TU] [CapNews9]

The state DEC has decided to review Albany's landfill expansion proposal now that the city is considering more stringent recycling requirements and charging residents by the bag for garbage. At its current size, the Rapp Road landfill will be full by the end of next year. [TU]

Local boards of election are trying to keep up with a surge in voter registrations, which appear to be leaning Democratic. [Daily Gazette]

Bethlehem's proposed budget for next year includes a 7 percent tax increase. [TU]

The fight over the proposed South Side Recreation Center continues in Saratoga Springs. A community group is threatening to sue if the project goes forward, while Mayor Scott Johnson argues the city has already bought and paid for the facility. The mayor says he hopes to start construction by the end of this year. [Saratogian]

UAlbany has parted ways with the executive search firm it hired to help it find a new president. (What new president? Exactly.) All told, the firm was paid about $185,500 for its efforts over the last two years. [TU]

Price Chopper has removed all cigarette advertising from its stores and is obscuring the glass in the cases that display packs of cigarettes. [TU]

The Schenectady family that owns Pinhead Susan's and the Stockade Inn bought the Van Dyck at auction yesterday for about $400,000 (a chunk of that back taxes). [Daily Gazette]

Comments

A higher proportion of voters registering as democrats should hardly be surprising in New York. I suppose that news coming out of affluent, and thus assumedly republican, Saratoga could be notable, but only if you love showering with rabid weasels. And trust me, there is nothing to love about showering with rabid weasels.

More importantly, October 10 is the last day to register in new York, or as the article October 11 if you walk into a registration center. Albany County residents can download and print a registration form and the BOE website also has a list of registration center locations.

You can additionally find your polling place and representatives at the site.

The Capital Region is poised to get a huge influx of business, and all some people can think about is their home price?

I'm convinced that one of the reasons the rate of personal savings is negative is that homeowners see their homes as their principal investment (instead of 401(k)s, IRAs, and piggy banks). And since housing has done so well over the past few years, thanks to low interest rates and easy credit, it's a lot more fun to do nothing and watch your house price soar than it is to work hard to stick money under your mattress.

This is why the economy is in a tizzy. Homeowners don't look at their homes as places to live — they look at their residences as a bank account, ready to be borrowed against at a moment's notice. We point fingers at Wall Street and Congress for the economic crisis, but homeowners certainly must shoulder some of the blame.

> You can additionally find your polling place and representatives at the site.

You can additionally marry me so that I can vote.
OK, no, that won't work.
But still. I pay my taxes. I want to vote.

You could always try the naturalization process, furriner. Though, there's that tricky "must be of good moral character" requirement. I hear that you killed disco, so they might hold that against you.

> You could always try the naturalization process, furriner.

And abandon the only advantage I have over you guys: my Frenchness? Sacrebleu no!
But seriously, I should *at least* be able to vote with a Green Card, and I can't. And I can't find either OBama or McCain's position on this one; it's sadly too often an issue of trying to attract latino votes while still looking tough on immigration laws. Open the damn' border and let me vote!

You can still hold your Frenchness over all those in Albany - we wouldn't hold being naturalized against you.

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