All Over Albany

Campaigns make final push ahead of Election Day, state budget gap wider than projected, cops now walking beat in downtown Troy, whooping cough case in Saratoga County

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Candidates were all over the state yesterday in the final push. Andrew Cuomo hopped around the state, including a stop in Buffalo and a moment of giddiness in Albany. Carl Paladino stuck to western New York for a handful of "mad as hell" rallies and said the Siena poll that has him behind 25 points is "garbage." Paladino also released a somewhat somber 13-minute video message invoking the memory of his son, who passed away last year. [NYDN] [YNN] [State of Politics] [YNN] [NY Post] [TU] [YouTube] [NYDN]

George Pataki endorsed Carl Paladino. You might remember that Paladino called Pataki "a degenerate idiot." [State of Politics] [Daily Politics]

Rick Lazio says he has no regrets about dropping out of the race for governor. [State of Politics]

How a big win for Cuomo could help set up his agenda as governor (though it didn't seem to help Eliot Spitzer). [NYT]

What could be the two closes statewide races: attorney general and comptroller. [YNN] [State of Politics]

It looks like the state budget gap for next year is about $800 million bigger than previously projected. [TU]

The 2011 Schenectady budget approved by the city council includes a 4.9 percent tax increase (up from 4 in the proposed budget) and the cut of 14 firefighters (down from 19 in the proposed budget). [TU]

There are now police officers walking a beat in downtown Troy. The city's police chief says the hope is the regular patrols will increase communication between the community and the department. The ultimate plan is to spread community policing principles across the department. [Troy Record] [YNN] [Fox23]

Mechanicville could end up closing its $6 million water treatment plant, only five years old, because of problems with its reservoir. [TU]

There's a push to keep Public Bath No. 2 (it's a pool) in Albany's South End open in face of the budget cuts. [TU]

An Albany man was convicted of trying to rape a woman on Pearl Street in downtown Albany last November. [TU]

The man behind the wheel in a fatal car crash in Colonie last Friday night has two prior convictions for drunk driving. [TU]

The Bethesda House in Schenectady, which serves homeless people, is helping twice as many people as last year and some of its programs are "overwhelmed." [Daily Gazette]

There was an overnight two-alarm fire on State Street in downtown Albany (map). [CBS6]

There was a case of whooping cough recently in both Saratoga and Washington counties. [Post-Star]

Matt Damon would prefer the voters of New York don't make "those people in Dade County, Florida look like geniuses." [Daily Politics]