All Over Albany

Cuomo calls for "re-design" of state programs, questions about radioactive spill, an upgrade to "reverse 911," Malta looks to control growth, where's the pumpkin?

During a joint appearance with David Paterson yesterday in Manhattan (live blog), Andrew Cuomo reiterated that he does not see higher taxes as a way out of the state's budget problem: "You have no economic future if New York is the tax capitol of the Nation. It's that simple. Raise taxes, raise revenues, that's not the answer." Instead, he called for "program re-design," asserting that "there's plenty of waste and there's plenty of fraud and there's plenty of abuse" in the operation of the state. Paterson said he was confident Cuomo would do a good job as governor: "If he had walked in with a baseball bat, I might've thought a little differently." [David Paterson Flickr] [Daily Politics] [YNN] [TU CapCon] [NYT]

The judge in the evidence tampering case against Jeffrey Hampshire, who was allegedly involved in the fatal hit-and-run in downtown Saratoga on St. Patrick's Day, has declared a mistrial after a police detective mentioned a prior investigation of Hampshire during her testimony. Saratoga County DA James Murphy says his team made it "crystal clear" the detective was not to mention to Hampshire's history. [Saratogian] [Post-Star] [TU]

Detectives from Illinois were in Rensselaer County on Monday searching for evidence as part of the investigation into Marci Webber, the Nassau woman accused of killing her daughter in a Chicago suburb. They left yesterday after reportedly collecting evidence at the woman's home. [Troy Record] [TU]

Cohoes mayor John McDonald says the city wasn't alerted by officials about the radioactive spill into the Mohawk River from the Knolls Atomic Power Lab. An official with the federal Department of Energy says the contractor working to decommission the portion of the KAPL site from which the spill originated could be fired. [TU] [NYT]

The SUNY system says it wants to increase its capital budget from $5.9 billion to $7.2 billion. And it's suggesting some financial reshuffling to escape running up against the state's debt limit. [WTEN] [TU]

Roy McDonald says he's against state employee layoffs. [TU State Worker]

Jim Tedisco is pushing for redistricting reform. [Saratogian]

Chris Gibson announced that his chief of staff will be Steve Stallmer, a Saratoga Springs native. Stallmer has worked for two Congressman previously -- Jerry Solomon and Jack Quinn -- and most recently has worked as a lobbyist for an association of general contractors. [Gibson email press release] [Saratogian]

Speaking yesterday at the Rockefeller Institute in Albany, state health commissioner Richard Daines says the soda tax failed because of an artful $13 million PR campaign by the beverage industry. [TU]

Saratoga County is upgrading its "reverse 911" system to include the capability to send out alerts to mobile phones and email. The previous system only worked with landlines. [Saratogian] [Post-Star]

Says Malta's supervisor on development in the town: "We do have integrity. It's not growth at all costs." The town is trying to balance the growth resulting from the nearby GlobalFoundries project with desires to preserve the town's character. The town planner says its downtown plan doesn't promote growth," but rather "controls" it.

Colonie police say it took them less than 25 minutes to nab the man who allegedly robbed the TD Bank on Central Ave yesterday afternoon (map). They say the man -- wearing a ski mask, sunglasses and gloves -- allegedly stole $1,300. [TU] [CBS6] [YNN]

Albany police say the busted two men for allegedly having stolen property, including a Ken Griffey Jr rookie card. [TU]

The Uncle Sam parking garage in Troy is getting another level. [TU]

The Troy Visitor's Center is being evicted. [Troy Record]

Saratoga Springs is installing a system atop city hall to to melt snow in the hope of stopping dangerous falling ice. [Saratogian]

Annette De Lavallade -- an Albany columnist, publisher and advocate -- has died. She was 71. [TU]

Local stores say they're having some trouble stocking canned pumpkin this year. [Daily Gazette]