All Over Albany

Weekend of shootings, Victoria Pool on secondary closure list, college student killed on Thruway

Schenectady police say a man was shot five times and killed on Maple Ave in the Vale neighborhood early Saturday morning (map). It's Schenectady's first homicide of the year. The SPD says two officers were injured by a ricocheting bullet as the SWAT team executed a search warrant on the same street Sunday night -- one of the officers was reportedly saved by his bulletproof vest. Police aren't saying whether the warrant is connected to the earlier shooting. The SPD says eight people were detained. [Fox23] [CapNews9] [Daily Gazette $] [CBS6] [CapNews9] [TU]

Albany police say a man was shot four times while walking between apartment buildings near Tivoli Park in Albany Friday night (map). And a teen was shot in the leg Thursday night in south Albany (map). There were a total of five shootings last week in Albany. [WNYT] [TU] [WTEN]

The Victoria Pool, Grafton Lakes and Peebles Island are on a secondary list of state parks and facilities slated for closure, depending on whether the legislature allows the state parks office to use capital funds for operational costs. The planned closure of Thacher Park -- which was officially announced on Friday -- is expected to save $255,000. If the budget plan is approved (a big "if"), parks on the first list would start to close April 1. [Daily Gazette $] [TU] [AOA] [TU] [Troy Record]

David Paterson officially announced his gubernatorial candidacy Saturday on Long Island. In his speech, he tried to position himself as the anti-establishment candidate and said, "I've done more in my two years as governor that most governors have done in two terms." Perhaps a bad sign for the governor: getting more than 100 people to show up at a campaign stop is described as "beating expectations." [NYT] [Daily Politics] [NYO] [NYDN]

State police say a Syracuse University student from Albany was killed on the Thruway in an apparent hit and run Saturday. [AP/CBS6]

Rick Lazio -- the presumptive Republican candidate for governor -- made more than $2 million working for J.P. Morgan over the last two years. [TU]

The contract awarded to former NY chief judge Judith Kaye and her law firm for reviewing Binghamton University's troubled basketball program was a no-bid contract. [TU]

NYRA executives appear to finish in the money -- no matter the results. [TU]

Former employees of the Albany Prep Charter School have accused the school of trying to bounce students who didn't perform well on standardized tests, according to a report by the state charter schools institute. [TU]

A Selkirk woman alleges in a lawsuit that the Schenectady PD wrongly detained her on a warrant -- for someone else. [Daily Gazette $]

The proposals submitted for operating paid parking in downtown Saratoga estimate a range of revenue: $700k - $2 million per year. [Post-Star]

A tech start-up in Troy is auctioning itself on eBay. [TU]

A Colonie woman who flew military aircraft during WWII is scheduled to get a Congressional Gold Medal. [TU]