All Over Albany

Family's SUV hit twice by trains, proposals include paying for parking in Saratoga, road salt costs up, state saving money on tree lighting

A father and his two daughters escaped with just a few cuts and bruises after two trains hit their SUV. The father said he never saw the trains coming as he drove through a train crossing near their home in New Scotland Saturday morning. The two collisions knocked the front and back ends off the SUV. The crossing has no signals -- the father says he'd been pushing the town and the train company to change that. [TU] [Troy Record] [Fox23] [Fox23]

Two of the three development proposals for the new public safety building in Saratoga Springs include plans to charge for downtown parking. And it looks like those two proposals, which also include plans for a movie theater, are the two leading candidates. The president of the Downtown Business Association called the idea of charging for downtown parking "ridiculous." [Daily Gazette] [TU] [Saratogian]

There have been a lot of shots fired in Albany over the past few days. Last Thursday evening, police say a man fired a shot inside a neighborhood grocery on Ontario St. On Saturday, police say three men conducted a bike-by shooting on South Lake near the uptown end of Washington Park (the gunmen missed). And then on Sunday, a man was shot in the butt while he was standing at the corner of Lark and Livingston. [Daily Gazette] [Troy Record] [CBS6]

Albany County officials are pushing for a 30 cent per month tax on mobile phones to help cover the cost of operating 911. Many other local counties already have such a tax. [TU]

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A (very cool) fungus grows in Troy

Eben Bayer with a piece of Greensulate.

OK, so you've probably heard all about locavorism and the effort to buy locally-sourced, but what about taking that philosophy and applying it to industrialism?

That's exactly what RPI grads Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre are trying to do with their company Ecovative Design.

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New York State surplus on eBay

After seeing this story about New York State trying to raise some money by selling surplus equipment on eBay, we decided we had to see what was up for sale.

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Free cab rides

Law firm Martin, Harding and Mazzotti is offering free cab rides Wednesday through Sunday this week -- you know, just in case you're a little too enthusiastic in giving thanks. Rides will provided with "no charge, no obligation and no questions will be asked." The number is 1-800-LAW-1010 (and now we have the "heavy hitters" jingle stuck in our head).

- Mon 1:42 PM - 7 comments

We watched the Ashley Dupre interview so you don't have to

Ashley Dupre -- of Eliot Spitzer "Kristen" infamy -- was on 20/20 Friday night. She talked with Diane Sawyer about a bunch of stuff: her life growing up, how she got into the business, her dog.

But we're guessing you're interested in the bits about the former governor (we were). Here they are:

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EVOOs

The Honest Weight Food Co-op is hosting an olive oil tasting on December 17 at 6 pm. Twelve oils are the slate. There's also going to be a discussion about the best ways to cook with olive oil. (We're guessing that you probably shouldn't just throw it into everything a la a certain celebrity chef who shall remain nameless.) The tasting is $5 and you gotta pre-register: 482-3312 ext. 113. (Thanks, Kathleen!)

- Mon 5:01 PM - say something!