Chip fab construction could start soon, bottle bill postponed, new principal for Albany High, fee going up for flying out of ALB

GlobalFoundries and labor unions have reportedly worked out a deal that includes the payment of union wages at the construction site of the Luther Forest chip fab -- whether workers are union or not. GloFo has been waiting to close on the land for the fab until it had such a deal in place. The agreement is apparently not officially a done deal -- though both the company and the unions say they're "very close." If the agreement does comes together, the initial stages of construction at the site could begin in a few weeks. [TU] [Daily Gazette] [Post-Star] [Biz Review]

The emergency preparedness drill involving that low-flying helicopter started yesterday in Albany County. The drill's scenario includes the "detonation" of two radioactive "dirty bombs" in downtown Albany. About 600 people from local, state and federal governments are involved in the training. [TU] [Troy Record] [Daily Gazette] [Fox23]

A federal judge has postponed the start of New York's "better bottle bill" (which adds bottled water to list of beverages that require a 5 cent deposit) until next April. The judge also tossed the bill's New York State-specific bar code provision. [AP/TU] [NYT]

It sounds ethics reform for the state legislature is going to stall because Sheldon Silver is not on board. [NYT]

The two largest state worker unions say they're in "discussions" with the Paterson administration about the planned layoffs. [CBS6]

Saratoga Springs' city finance commissioner is proposing cutting four jobs -- including the director of public works and city engineer -- as way of closing the city's budget gap. The city's public safety commissioner had said 33 police and fire jobs would have to be cut -- and that prompted protests before last night's city council meeting. [Daily Gazette] [Saratogian]

Saratoga Springs' city council approved the sale of the parking lot on Broadway next to Lillians to local developer Sonny Bonacio for $750,000. [Post-Star]

The new principal at Albany High School is David McCalla -- a native of Jamaica who has a Ph.D. in music education. And the Albany School District's interim superintendent will be Raymond Colucciello -- the former Schenectady schools superintendent who's served as interim superintendent at two other local districts. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

The City of Troy has sued the owner of the Verizon Building -- which will soon be the new interim city hall -- over delays in preparing the building for occupancy. [Troy Record]

A fee paid on departing tickets at ALB will be increasing from $3 to $4.50. [TU]

Former Schenectady mayor Al Jurczynski will not be getting the Schenectady School District job vacated by Steve Raucci. [Daily Gazette]

Clifton Park is spending more than $180k on equipment at its most popular playground. [Daily Gazette]

Comments

It's sad to see a wooden playground replaced with plastic, instead of being repaired. And maybe a good way to add shade would be to plant trees, rather than build more stuff.

(Full disclosure: I was a high schooler in Clifton Park when the current playground was built, and my fond memories of running from the cops when caught drinking there may be affecting my opinion.)

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