All Over Albany

Optimism for on-time state budget, student turns himself in after riot wanted poster released, ballistic squirrel terrorizes Bennington

The Three Men In a Room say they're optimistic the state budget will be finished by the April 1 deadline (there was even a suggestion it could be early -- gasp). It sounds like Sheldon Silver is still pushing for an extension of the income tax surcharge, which Andrew Cuomo opposes. Cuomo also reiterated that he's preparing to force his version of the budget through extenders if there isn't a deal among the Three Men. [TU] [YNN] [Daily Politics] [Saratogian] [State Politics]

After much mystery (well, among the press) about Andrew Cuomo's whereabouts on Tuesday, the governor turned up in Saranac Lake pumping gas while wearing jeans and "a rather sporty pair of sunglasses." [ADE] [NY City Room]

A rally against state cuts to education drew about a thousand people to Albany's Hackett Middle School yesterday. Organizers say about 700 Capital Region school jobs are at risk and they called for an extension of the income tax surcharge to help cover the cuts. [WNYT] [WTEN] [Fox23] [CBS6]

The Albany police department posted a bunch of still images pulled from the kegs and eggs riot video in an effort to get help identify alleged rioters. The APD says an 18-year-old turned himself in after the images were released. Police and college officials went door-to-door through the neighborhood yesterday trying to turn up info on rioters. That apparently didn't go over well with some of the students living there. [AOA] [CBS6] [YNN] [Daily Gazette]

The kegs and eggs riot has dampened bar owners' enthusiasm for St. Patrick's Day -- though they're not so eager to use the term "kegs and eggs" now. [TU]

The percentage of New Yorkers who have stopped looking for work reached a seven-year high last year. [Daily Gazette]

A Rotterdam man was found guilty of shooting his niece's boyfriend with a shotgun in 2009. [TU]

The Albany police officer charged with DWI after he was allegedly found asleep at the wheel on 787 has pleaded not guilty. [YNN]

A snowmobiler in Warren County was killed by a tree that was being felled by a logger. [Post-Star]

The Ballston Spa school district is planning to lay off 31 teachers. [Saratogian]

Schenectady's interim schools superintendent the district has pulled together a budget that's smaller than last year's -- but still includes a $9.7 million gap. [TU]

The front of a historic home in Schenectady's Stockade neighborhood fell off the building yesterday. Said the woman who lives on the first floor: "It was really loud and really scary." The building's owner said he had noticed the front wall bulging at the foundation last week. The building is 200 years old. [Daily Gazette] [Fox23] [TU] [WNYT]

The owner of a Bethlehem trailer park has apparently just stopped tending to the property -- he stopped cashing rent checks a year ago and owes hundreds of thousands in back property taxes. [TU]

More roundabouts are slated for Malta. [TU]

Dora Meyers, the drama teacher at Shen for 40 years, is retiring. [Fox23]

Farther afield Residents of a Bennington neighborhood are being terrorized by a squirrel. There's speculation the squirrel has "gone ballistic" because it can't find the human who's been feeding it. [Fox23] [AP/WNYT]