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]

The cost of road salt has jumped significantly for some local municipalities. The Schenectady commissioner for general services called the amount of money needed to buy salt this year is "ridiculous." [Daily Gazette]

The Saratoga racino is the only track in the state that saw an increase in the amount bet this year. The "handle" there was a little more than $34 million. [Daily Gazette]

The state has canceled the liquor license for The Long Branch bar in Albany for underage drinking violations. [TU]

In an attempt to save money, the state holiday tree at the Capitol is being outfitted with energy efficient LED lights and will only be turned on a few hours each day. [Troy Record]

A scientist with the New York State Museum has developed a "biological" pesticide for use against zebra mussels (an invasive species that's taken over many bodies of water). The pesticide is actually a bacterium that's poisonous to the mussels. [Daily Gazette]

A local filmmaker has produced a documentary about Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain, the two Albany men snagged in the 2004 FBI sting that involved a fictional shoulder-fired missile. The doc will premier at the Madison Theater on January 16. [Daily Gazette]