All Over Albany

Paterson expects cuts to Medicaid and schools, food pantries running low, copper pipe ripped off from church, high-end development planned for Cohoes

David Paterson says cuts to Medicaid and school aid will probably be necessary to cover the state's budget gap. He said he also expected to be renegotiating contracts with the state worker unions. By the way: as of the Friday deadline set by Paterson, state legislative leaders offered the following proposals to help the state cover its budget gap: nada. [NYT] [AP/TU]

It looks like state Senator Malcolm Smith (a Democrat from Queens) has locked up the role of state Senate majority leader come January. Smith, accompanied by David Paterson, sealed the deal this past weekend in... Puerto Rico. [TU]

Albany County DA David Soares says the leaders of the union that represent Albany police are trying to smear him. He also says the leaders organized a protest outside his house. One the leaders is the guy who was accused this past summer of spitting on an officer because of a misappropriated shot of Jagermeister. [TU]

Local food pantries say demand is up and supplies are starting to run short. Local homeless shelters say they're also seeing increased demand. [Daily Gazette] [CapNews9]

Kenneth Lally has died. Along with his wife Thelma, he donated a bunch of money around the Capital Region -- most prominently to RPI (The Lally School of Management) and St. Rose (Lally School of Education). The Lallys also supported local hospitals and museums. [TU] [Troy Record]

The Albany School District has adopted a new strategic plan that will aim to close the achievement gap between students and increase parent participation. The plan is the product of a group that included the district, parents and... real estate agents. (Anyone have a link to the plan? We couldn't find one on the district's site.) [TU]

The Albany Gun Violence Task Force has sent 16 recommendations to the common council. Among them: school programs focused on reducing aggressive behavior and more gang prevention. (Anyone have a link to the proposal? We couldn't find one for this, either.) [TU]

Troy's deputy mayor says he's been working on getting funding for additional fire department coverage of RPI's campus -- and called the city council's resolution asking the mayor to formally request a public safety fee from RPI a political move. [Troy Record]

Police pulled an elderly man out of the lake in Albany's Washington Park Sunday morning. His girlfriend (the Record's word) says the 83-year-old man, who suffers from Alzheimer's, wandered away in the middle of the night. [Troy Record]

The Emmaus United Methodist Church in Albany took up a special collection this past weekend to help pay for the copper drain pipes that someone ripped off during the last month. [CBS6] [CapNews9]

In a cost-cutting move, the New York National Guard is closing the Schenectady Armory. That leaves the SCCC basketball teams without a home court. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

A woman was arrested over the weekend for slapping the soccer coach at Schenectady High School last month. The alleged slap drew more than a yellow card -- the woman's been charged with felony second-degree assault. [Daily Gazette]

Christopher's, the men's clothing store at Colonie Center, has closed. It seems the owner had fallen behind on rent to the mall and payments on a loan. (By the way, the rent on a store like that at Colonie Center will apparently set you back $18,000 a month.) [TU]

The warm fall has led to very warm temperatures inside Saratoga Springs City Hall -- so much so that people have been turning on air conditioners. A city official says part of the problem may be extra insulation recently added to the building in a move to save on energy costs. [Daily Gazette]

A "luxury" residential development with hundreds of units is being planned for Cohoes. [Troy Record]

Even with the economy slumping, the Palace Theater says it hasn't had trouble selling tickets, especially for pop music concerts. Proctors says its ticket sales have been a little slow. [Daily Gazette]