September 15, 2009
Rumors of Obama visit to the area, Paterson says layoffs on the table, more complaints about student behavior, a big garage sale mistake
It's primary day. Polls are open from noon to 9 pm. If you're not sure where to vote, you can look it up at the State Board of Elections site.
Rumors are swirling that President Obama will make an appearance the site of the GlobalFoundries chip fab project in Malta. A source tells the TU that the Obama Administration is "considering" it. WNYT reports that the Secret Service has been doing advance work. A source tells CBS6 that the White House has been interested in the chip fab and how community colleges are involved in training workers. A spokesman for GloFo told the Post-Star that he didn't know "anything definite." [TU] [WNYT] [CBS6] [Post-Star]
Troy Police say they're still trying to piece together the details of the incident that led to a man getting shot in the head. Neighbors say the man had told the group of teenagers in the street to quiet down before the shooting. One neighbor says the shooting "could have been prevented" because residents called police before it happened. Six teens have been arrested for fighting outside the house. [Troy Record] [TU] [WTEN] [WNYT]
The man police say was the shooter in the Second Street murder last month in Albany says he heard shots at the party and ran away. [TU]
David Paterson said yesterday that "everything is on the table" -- including state worker layoffs and furloughs -- in the discussion about how to close the $2.1 billion midyear budget gap. He's called a leaders meeting to work on the cuts. [PolitickerNY] [Daily Politics]
Discount for Richard Florida event
Richard Florida -- who's best known for his book Rise of the Creative Class -- will be giving a talk at the Palace Theater on September 24. He studies how demographic and cultural factors affect the economies of cities. It should be an interesting time.
Tickets are $40 -- but we've lined up a discount for people in the AOA crowd. The organizers of the event has set aside a block of $25 tickets for AOA people.
To get this special AOA ticket, call 465-8975 ext. 228 and tell them you'd like the All Over Albany discount.
There is one catch: if you've already bought a regularly-priced ticket, it can't be traded in for the discount ticket.
photo: Flickr user atp_tyreseus
Filling the Tournament of Pizza pool
Last year's finals: Pizza King vs. Pasquale's
Preparations are currently underway at AOA headquarters for this year's Capital Region Tournament of Pizza.
What, you may ask, is the Tournament of Pizza? Sixteen local pizza places "play" each other in a series of "matches" to deterimine the region's best pizza. It's kind of like the NCAA basketball tournament, but, you know, for pizza. Pasquale's in Albany took the title last year.
The selection committee is busy putting the brackets together for this year's tournament. And we need your help.
Eight pizza places are already in this year's tournament because they won a match during last year's pizzapalooza. That leaves eight open spots.
We're guessing you have a few thoughts about which pizza places should get those slots. So, bring it on!
Preference will be given to new entrants. If there's overwhelming support for one of the places bounced in the first round last year, the selection committee may make an exception. Also, the pizza places don't have to be in Albany, Schenectady, Troy or Saratoga. We've heard that Guilderland and Latham both have some strong contenders this year.
The list of who's in and out based on last year's results is after the jump.
It's up... and good!
Check it out: a guy named Ed Larkin kicked a 50-yard field goal at halftime of the Union football game this past weekend -- and won a two year lease on a BMW:
Larkin is apparently a former Union linebacker who graduated in 2005.
And, oh right, the game -- Union, which plays in Division III, beat #8 Ithaca 24-21. The Dutchmen are now ranked #22 in D3.
(Thanks, G!)
Virtual poll watching
You can follow the Twitter hashtag #albanyprimary for reports of glitches, mishaps and, uh, irregularities during today's primary voting.
Tugboats!
The Seahorse -- winner of the 2009 "little toot" award. Yes, "little toot."
If you like tugboats (and really, who doesn't), you might want to check out Sebastien's photos from this weekend's Tugboat Round-up in Waterford.
After our tour of the tug Trilogy last year, we've sort of developed a thing for the tugboats. They're cute, they're little and they work hard -- much like ourselves.
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?