All Over Albany

Home prices holding steady, Jennings starts up re-election campaign, RPI center will focus on extraterrestrial life, family gets Oprah makeover

The median sale price of homes in the Capital Region is holding more or less steady, even as many fewer houses are being sold. The number of sales in October was down 16 percent over the same period a year ago. [Biz Review] [TU]

New York State comptroller Tom DiNapoli is predicting the state could lose 225,000 jobs during the next two years. DiNapoli says about 3/4 of the lost jobs will come from Wall Street -- which could take a big bite out of state revenue. About 20 percent of state tax revenue comes from the Street. [TU]

The Albany Common Council approved a 2009 budget for the city. The budget includes a tax increase of $96 for the average homeowner. [TU]

Saratoga Springs' finance commissioner has proposed a new 2009 budget that takes into account the proposed cut in VLT money from the state. The new budget includes a tax increase of 3.5 percent -- up from 2.7 percent in the previous version. [Saratogian] [Daily Gazette]

Jerry Jennings' 2009 re-election campaign is starting up, apparently with some haste. The Albany mayor's campaign will be holding a fundraiser at the Fort Orange Club in December -- $500/person for the cocktail reception, $1000/person for dinner. [TU]

New Scotland town officials say they're working on an alternate route for the train crossing where an SUV was hit by two trains over the weekend. [Fox23]

Harry Tutunjian is calling for a city-wide property re-assessment in Troy. Property values there haven't been reassessed since 1972. [Troy Record]

Homeless shelters in Schenectady say they're seeing an increase in demand over normal levels. [Daily Gazette]

CDTA says ridership in October was up 13 percent over the same period a year ago. That makes this past October the highest ridership month since the early 1990s. [Daily Gazette]

Schenectady residents complained about the cops for more than hour at Monday's city council meeting. Among the complaints: the department doesn't return phone calls and officers use foul language. [Daily Gazette]

RPI is opening a new research center that will focus on extraterrestrial life. The New York Center for Astrobiology, funded with $7.5 million from NASA, won't be looking for little green men so much as which conditions are necessary for the generation of microbial life. The center will also include researchers from UAlbany and Syracuse University. [TU] [Daily Gazette] [Troy Record]

A Niskayuna family got a home makeover from Oprah. [Daily Gazette]