All Over Albany

More talk about state worker furloughs, panel says NYSTI board should be swept, challenger calls for Breslin disclosure, kiwis can be hard to peel

David Paterson continued to threaten that state worker furloughs are a possibility if the state budget isn't finalized. And there continue to be questions about whether such a move would actually be legal. Paterson also raised the possibility of a government shutdown, a situation in which "nobody gets paid." [YNN] [TU] [WTEN]

Paterson says he's creating a panel to review pardon requests by legal immigrants facing deportation. The idea could put New York at odds with the feds. The panel would apparently be the only of its kind in the country. [Paterson press release] [NYT] [TU]

The state Authorities Budget Office is recommending that David Paterson suspend or dismiss the NYSTI board due to "a persistent pattern of neglect." The ABO says it based its conclusion on the state Inspector General's report and "additional information we have at our disposal." [TU] [AP/Troy Record] [Daily Gazette $]

The state Inspector General's office says it has started an investigation of state wildlife pathologist Ward Stone. [AP/Post-Star]

The CSEA regional president says the union heard about concerns related to Steven Raucci -- but she says no one ever came forward with specific information. [Fox23] [TU]

The Albany Common Council again voted down a bonding measure necessary for the expansion of the Albany landfill. [TU]

The review panel for the first phase of the Hudson River PCB dredging project gets started today -- and the EPA is calling out GE for asserting that the project has re-suspended more PCBs than expected. [Saratogian] [TU]

Luke Martland, one of the Democrats challenging Neil Breslin for the 46th state Senate seat, called for Breslin to release his income tax forms and disclose his client list from private law practice. Breslin told the TU: "I absolutely do not do any legal business with people who have business with the legislature." [Martland press release] [TU]

State Senate president Malcolm Smith told a gathering of Democrats this past weekend that the Senate would use redistricting to "to draw the lines so that Republicans will be in oblivion in the state of New York for the next 20 years." [TU]

The state Senate passed a bill that would increase the state cap on charter schools to to 460, from 200. Neil Breslin was one of the "no" votes. NYSUT, the powerful teachers unions, is steamed. [NYT] [Daily Politics] [State of Politics]

Among the new applications for charter schools in New York State: an Albany school for special education students. [NY Charters] [TU]

A Troy father and his 18-year-old son have been charged with allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl. The father has been accused of similar crimes before. [Troy Record] [Fox23]

New York's top judge called for the state to guarantee that poor people will have lawyers in civil cases. [NYT]

Jim Tedisco says the Troy man accused of killing a puppy with a shovel should be charged with a felony under Buster's Law, not a misdemeanor. (Tedisco was the sponsor of Buster's Law.) [WTEN]

Saratoga Springs police say four men burgled a North Broadway home this weekend while the owner was inside. [Daily Gazette $]

The Schenectady school district has found that kids will eat fruits and vegetables -- if they can figure out how to peel them. [Daily Gazette $]