All Over Albany

Western New York eyed for loss of House seats, police say students accused of racially motivated attack were drunk, police looking for another alleged big box store purse snatcher

After the Census Bureau reported yesterday that New York State will be losing two House seats, the talk is that the two seats will come from the western half of New York -- because the population in that part of the state is shrinking. The state legislature is in charge of drawing the districts -- and the fighting has already begun. [AOA] [NYT] [TU] [TU CapCon]

The campaign account David Paterson's been using to pay his legal fees (including his almost $1000/hour attorney) is almost empty. [NY Post]

Saratoga Springs police say the four Skidmore students accused of assaulting a man, in what police say was a racially-motivated attack, were intoxicated at the time of their arrest (they're all underage). Two of the students are members of the Skidmore basketball team. The students declined to comment after their arraignment yesterday. [Saratogian] [TU] [Post-Star]

The Troy man accused of being involved in a stolen car chase last year that resulted in one person dying and two others being seriously injured has pleaded guilty. He faces 9 years in prison. [Troy Record] [TU]

Albany police say a five-year-old got away from his daycare center yesterday morning by unlocking a door (map). He was found wandering the neighborhood in his Sponge Bob Squarepants pajamas. Police say he was only gone for about 10 minutes. The owner of the daycare reportedly said she didn't know the boy had wandered off. [TU] [WNYT] [YNN] [Fox23]

The new contract Saratoga County has reached with its 950 employees represented by CSEA includes a $600 bonus and ups the employees share of the health insurance premium to 25 percent. [Daily Gazette]

Some of the Rensselaer County employees who are slated to be laid off at the end of the year say they don't think their union was responsive enough as the threat of layoffs approached. [Troy Record]

A man says he was mugged on the sidewalk in downtown Troy Monday afternoon. [Troy Record]

Albany police say they've arrested a man for allegedly mugging a woman in a parking lot near the State Museum Monday night. [CBS6]

The Albany County sheriff's office say they arrested a man for allegedly firing a shotgun into a wall of his house in an attempt to scare his girlfriend. [Fox23]

There's another alleged big box store purse snatcher, this time in Wilton. East Greenbush police say they nabbed the woman who allegedly snatched a purse from the Walmart parking lot there a month ago. [Fox23] [Troy Record]

Saratoga County's youth court will stop running at the end of the his year because of a lack of a funding. [YNN]

The Troy Prep charter school's proposal to renovate a South Troy warehouse into a new school building was approved by the city's planning board. [Troy Record]

The Schenectady YWCA has worked out a plan to head off the foreclosure of its building for overdue sewer and water charges. [Daily Gazette]

Officials say they hope development of a new Target store on Route 50 will help eliminate "Glenville Lake." [Daily Gazette]

An ALB volunteer says some people have been going to the airport a day ahead of their flights so they can get the scoop on the pat down procedure. [TU]