All Over Albany

Owner of Lark Tavern says she'll rebuild, Paterson tells NYSTI board to resign, family says strangers saved father from burning wreck, raccoon knocks out power

Joe Bruno was sentenced to two years in federal prison, with three years of post-release supervision and $280,000 in restitution. He's allowed to stay out on bail until the Supreme Court rules on theft of honest services cases before it. (A speed-read all the coverage.) [AOA]

Investigators are still looking into what started the fire at the Lark Tavern. Firefighters say the fire started in a back kitchen prep area. Albany's fire chief credited the building's 1877 construction for holding up to the fire. The kitchen and bar apparently can be saved, but everything else was ruined. Tess Collins says she's planning to rebuild: "A lot of the things that people came in here to see have been ruined, but we'll make something else that's just as cool." The community is rallying support for Collins and her staff. Matt Baumgartner reports that the Lark Tavern Fire Fund has already raised more than $10,000. [WTEN] [WNYT] [Fox23] [CBS6] [YNN] [TU] [Friday Puppy]

David Paterson is threatening to (maybe) keep the legislature in special session until it passes a budget. [Daily Politics]

Paterson sent a letter to the NYSTI board telling the members to resign -- or he'll fire them. [TU] [Daily Gazette $]

Chris Gibson, the Republican challenging Scott Murphy for the NY 20th Congressional District, says the Department of Homeland Security should be eliminated. [TU]

The Colonie man accused of speeding through a stop sign and colliding with a friend's car in a fatal crash this past March has been charged with charged with criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving and DWAI. [YNN] [Fox23]

Ken Green, the former head of the Saratoga Economic Development Corp, has pleaded guilty to felony DWI yesterday and as part of the deal will spend 20 weekends in jail. He'll be required to report Friday evenings and be released Monday mornings. [TU] [Saratogian] [Post-Star]

The 78-year-old woman who drove drunk and crashed into a daycare center in Albany last year has been sentenced to 2-7 years in prison. [Fox23] [YNN]

Guilderland police say a drunk volunteer firefighter clipped a cop with his car while heading to a fire. [TU]

Chuck Schumer says the planned second track railroad track between the Rensselaer train station and Schenectady is stuck because of a disagreement between the state and CSX. [WTEN]

Chuck Schumer is pushing for federal money to help apple growers plant trees for in-demand honeycrisp and gala apples. [Post-Star]

The websites for both the Saratogian and the Troy Record apparently were spreading viruses via a malicious ad yesterday (the two papers are owned by the same parent company). Some computers at Skidmore were apparently affected by the virus. [Saratogian] [Troy Record] [Post-Star]

National Grid says a raccoon got into a substation and knocked out power to more than 6k customers in Albany County last night. [CBS6]

The family of a Clifton Park man says two strangers stopped to pull the 85-year-old man out of the burning wreckage of car accident. [Fox23]