All Over Albany

Saratoga Springs grad killed in Afghanistan, Paterson continues threats he'll force the budget situation, bears!

The family of David Taylor Miller, a 2009 Saratoga Springs High School grad, says the Army soldier was killed this week in Afghanistan. Said the superintendent of the Saratoga Springs school district: "We graduate young men and women to be courageous and of good character. David Miller's service to our country has humbled us." [Post-Star] [Saratogian]

David Tinkler, the man accused of killing three-year-old Zoey Sandercox, testified that he didn't hurt the child and didn't know how she sustained the injuries that pathologists say caused her death. [Troy Record] [TU]

The bill allowing the City of Albany to set up a residential parking permit system around the ESP passed in the state Senate yesterday. Assembly majority leader Ron Canestrari predicts the bill will pass the Assembly this week. [WTEN] [TU]

State comptroller Tom DiNapoli says all of the state employee payroll will go out on time this week, despite the budget extender missing the deadline. [State of Politics]

David Paterson is continuing to threaten he will attempt to force an end to the state budget process by stuffing a bunch of measures into next Monday's extender. Administration sources say the all sorts of stuff the legislature doesn't like could be in there: the soda tax, wine grocery stores, a tax on hospitals. Sheldon Silver seemed unimpressed by the threat. [State of Politics] [NYDN] [Daily Politics]

The biggest sticking point to actually finishing the budget is apparently cuts to education spending (the governor wants about about three times the amount the legislature wants). Another apparent sticking point: Paterson wants legislature to give up control over SUNY tuition increases. [TU] [NYT]

David Johnson, the former Paterson aide accused of domestic violence, has reportedly taken the Fifth in the investigations into his behavior and his alleged role in the Yankees tickets mini-scandal. [NYT]

In his first public comments following his nomination for Albany police chief, Steve Krokoff said he was "thrilled" to get the nomination and said he's aiming for the department to better embrace the community. He said: "It's more than just beats, it's more than seeing an officer on a bicycle. It's the interaction between the police department and the community it serves. It's group problem-solving. It's getting to the root cause of problems and fixing those problems instead of triaging them." [Fox23] [WNYT] [WTEN]

The heads of Northeast Health, St. Peter's and Seton Health yesterday described the general plan for the merger of the healthcare orgs. The merged group will be the Capital Region's largest private sector employer. [Troy Record] [TU]

Documents turned up the Troy Record indicate the vacation time paid out to the former head of the Troy Housing Authority may have run against the guidelines of the agency. [Troy Record]

The proposed halfway house that's been bounced from both Colonie and Rotterdam is now trying to set up in Schenectady. [Daily Gazette $]

The Schenectady Police Department says it will no longer pay officers who are held out of duty because their driver's licenses have been suspended. Also, two officers accused of misconduct during one of the arrests of former officer John Lewis have left the department -- for jobs in other local police departments. [Daily Gazette $] [TU]

The Schenectady school board again renewed controversial contracts just before the new board takes over on July 1. [TU]

The state is cutting back on Regents testing for grade school students in an effort to save money. [TU]

An audit by the state comptroller's reported that the Town of Glenville needed to do a better job of securing info such social security and credit card numbers. The town agreed, but said there had been no apparent breaches. [NYS OSC] [TU]

Kirsten Gillibrand is pushing for greater transparency in the US Senate. [NYO]

The Saratoga Healthy Transportation Network says about 10 percent of drivers it observed during an hour long survey in downtown Saratoga were talking on mobile phones without hands-free devices. [TU]

The DEC says there have been two bear sightings around Ballston Spa recently. [Post-Star]

The valedictorian this year at Hudson High School is an immigrant from Bangladesh who could barely speak English when arrived here four years ago. [TU]