All Over Albany

Cuomo says voters have "very stark choice," deputy cleared in shooting near ALB, truckers upset about rest stop closings, exec assistant no longer in danger of being crushed

Andrew Cuomo campaigned in western and central New York yesterday in an effort to highlight what he called the "very stark choice" voters have between him and Carl Paladino (he continued to call Paladino's ideas "extreme"). Cuomo called the "beast" of state politics and corruption "disgusting" -- and blamed a whole range of state officials from over the years (well, except his dad). [YNN] [TU] [State of Politics] [State of Politics]

The New York Times reports that top officials in the Paladino campaign are "plagued by brushes with the law and allegations of misconduct" -- and Paladino's campaign manager responded by saying: "This is a campaign of junkyard dogs, not pedigreed poodles." [NYT]

A Marist poll reports that the more people see of Paladino, the fewer who think he's fit to be governor. [NYDN]

Nate Silver's polling data model still gives Paladino almost no chance of winning. [FiveThirtyEight]

A grand jury has cleared the Albany County sheriff's deputy who fatally shot an undocumented immigrant from Mexico along a dark road near ALB in March. Police say the immigrant had thrown a chunk of concrete at the deputy and acted aggressively. [Daily Gazette] [TU]

Aaron Dare, the former Albany community leader convicted of fraud and larceny, was sentenced to another 8-24 years in prison. Albany County judge Thomas Breslin called Dare a thief "of a magnitude that's rarely been seen in this court." [CBS6] [TU]

State police say an elderly man died in Brunswick Tuesday after crashing his car into a house on Pawling Avenue. They say it appears he suffered some sort of medical problem before losing control of the car. [Troy Record] [TU]

The choice in the state comptroller's race: Albany vs. Wall Street. [NYT]

Chris Gibson's campaign is without a campaign manager. [TU CapCon]

CDTA got $4.2 million more to put toward its $13 million plan to build an intermodal rail station in Schenectady. [Daily Gazette] [YNN]

Truckers are upset about the state's plan to close a handful of highway rest areas as part of cost cutting. [TU]

Saratoga Springs police say they arrested two people for allegedly possessing crack with intent to sell.

The attorney for the Shen bus driver accused of driving a bus under the influence of prescription drugs is questioning whether a crime was actually committed. [Saratogian]

Troy deputy mayor Dan Crawley on why he decided to pursue allegations that councilman Kevin McGrath was improperly allowing his council duties to intersect with his work at National Grid: "I just got sick of the dude." [Troy Record]

Vic Christopher, who was recently let go as assistant GM for the Tri-City ValleyCats, has been hired as the economic development coordinator for the City of Troy. [TU] [Troy Record]

Green Island has taken its 1891 eight-ton Meneely bell down from the village hall tower -- and it no longer threatens to crush the mayor's executive assistant. [Troy Record] [TU]

Schenectady native Casper Wells has been on fire with the Detroit Tigers. [Daily Gazette]