Search continues for UAlbany student's killer, number of local foreclosures jumps, push to register organ donors, ready for NANOvember?
Police say there are still no leads in the murder of UAlbany student Richard Bailey. But another person has said he saw two people on bikes hurrying away from the scene. "Those guys were in a hurry to get somewhere," the neighbor told the TU. A woman driving by the scene said earlier this week she believed the two bikers were somehow involved. The APD says it's looking for the pair, but also says they're not suspects. [Daily Gazette] [TU] [CBS6]
A lawyer for Charles O'Byrne, David Paterson's chief of staff, says his client suffers from "late-filing syndrome." Yes, he really did say that. No, it's not a recognized psychological condition. O'Byrne owed almost $300,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest after not filing a return between 2001 and 2005. Paterson aides attribute O'Byrne's filing problems to bouts of clinical depression. [NYT] [TU]
The number of home foreclosures in the Capital Region more than doubled last quarter from the same period a year before. Even so, the region has one of the nation's lowest foreclosure rates. [TU]
A former Saratoga Springs employee is suing the city for racial discrimination. The man says he was passed over for promotion because he's an African-American. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled in 2007 that the city had discriminated against the man. [Daily Gazette]
The candidates running for the 21st Congressional District (McNulty's seat), the 44th state 44th Senate District (Farley's seat), and the 105th state Assembly District (the formerly Tonko, now Amedore seat) appeared at a candidate forum last night in Schenectady. Video of statements from: Jim Buhrmaster, Paul Tonko, Hugh Farley, Fred Goodman (Farley's challenger), George Amedore and Mark Blanchfield. [Daily Gazette]
Those big Sandy Treadwell signs are now coming down in Clifton Park. The town's attorney decided they did violate zoning rules after all. [Daily Gazette]
Albany Med is trying to get 2,000 people to sign up for the state's new organ donor "registry of consent." [TU]
Police say a man pulled over in Saratoga Springs had a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit. [Daily Gazette]
The Niskayuna School District could be spending as much as $50,000 to cover up a "god-awful" fence along Balltown Road. [Daily Gazette]
Are you ready for NANOvember at UAlbany? You can prepare by trying to stick the prefix "nano" onto as many words as possible. [Biz Review]
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Comments
Unfortunately, the most apt words I can think of by prefixing NANO to them only demonstrate my masculine shortcomings, if you will. Sigh.
... said B on Oct 23, 2008 at 11:17 AM | link
I will no longer be conducting my regular office tasks from now on due to a recent diagnosis of "no-working syndrome." You have no idea how crippling this ailment really is. Interestingly enough, I also seem to be suffering from "no-paying bills syndrome."
... said jess on Oct 23, 2008 at 12:08 PM | link
You too, Jess? We should start a support group. Then again, I think I also have "no-meeting syndrome" so that may not work.
... said Emma on Oct 23, 2008 at 2:28 PM | link
I'm not defending Paterson's chief of staff or that ridiculous "syndrome," but I can attest that I failed to file my taxes for two separate years in the past because I'm bipolar and was experiencing manic episodes--and those were years when the feds OWED me money so I was hardly trying to scam the system. I still haven't straightened that out to get my refunds. Mental illness CAN cause people to be disorganized and unfocused so that they don't follow up on day-to-day tasks, file paperwork, pay bills.
... said suziebonifoy on Oct 23, 2008 at 5:18 PM | link
Quoting from the NYT article on "late filing syndrome": “These people are not evading their taxes for personal gain,†the authors conclude. “Rather, they are suffering from a psychological condition that makes them unable to function normally.â€
Would that not mean that MR. Charles O'Byrne, David Paterson's chief of staff, is unable to function normally in his capacity as chief of staff? Im a bit concerned about a non normally functioning chief of staff. What else did this dope putting off doing?
... said hrgreen on Oct 23, 2008 at 5:26 PM | link
Okay--just theoretically--O'Byrne could have had an untreated mental condition in the past that caused him to not file his taxes, but subsequently got treatment and is fine to do his job now. (I know what I'm talking about here--see above.) I don't know the time line on O'Byrne, his taxes, and his job, but clearly he has to be held accountable for paying his taxes once he was coping better (inc. paying the late penalty).
I hate to see these stereotypes about mental illness--1) that it's a fake to get out of something (like work or taxes) and 2) "crazy" people are too crazy to hire. The former ignores the realness of the illness, the latter ignores the effectiveness of treatment. Would people be so snotty about this if he had had cancer and was going through chemo when he was supposed to be filing his taxes?
Granted, it doesn't help when lawyers invent "syndromes" to justify their clients' behavior. Procrastination (and general disorganization) is not a "syndrome," but it can be a symptom along with a lot of other characteristics of some mental illnesses (depression and mania)..
Or it could be that the person is just a goof-ball. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference
... said suziebonifoy on Oct 24, 2008 at 7:59 AM | link