May 2, 2011
New York leaders hail death of Bin Laden, police dog sinks teeth into suspect who allegedly fired at her, alleged kidnap scheme was over $100
Farther afield: The United States has killed Osama Bin Laden. [White House]
Andrew Cuomo on Bin Laden's death: "New Yorkers endured Bin Laden's most devastating and destructive attack, and his death brings back the horrific images and emotions of that terrible day. However, his death also reminds us of our strength, courage, and unity as a people in our response to his actions." Chuck Schumer: "This is a thunderous strike for justice for the thousands of my fellow New Yorkers -- and citizens from all over the world -- who were murdered on 9/11." Chris Gibson: ""I appreciate the detailed planning, hard work and discipline that goes in to executing a mission such as this and I commend our service men and women and our counter-terrorist specialists on this monumental achievement." [State of Politics] [State of Politics] [email press release]
Albany police say a 17-year-old was fatally stabbed Saturday night near Hoffman Park (map). The APD says the teen was stabbed during a fight with an unknown attacker. [TU] [Fox23]
Albany police another 17-year-old was stabbed about two hours later Saturday night across town in West Hill (map). His injuries are reportedly not life threatening. The APD says it's unknown if there's a connection between the two stabbings. [TU] [Fox23] [CBS6]
Troy police say two men were arrested after a chase during which one of the men allegedly fired shots at a police dog and, possibly an officer, Friday evening (map). The suspect who allegedly fired the shots was taken into custody without pants because police say Elza -- the police dog -- bit him and shredded the pants. [TU] [Fox23]
A good fence installer?
Elisabeth asks via Twitter:
Anyone in the Albany area have recommendations for fence suppliers/ installers? Many thanks!
Got a suggestion for Elisabeth? Please share!
My Exit: Justin Behan
Tonight on My Exit: Justin Behan.
WEXT's My Exit is back. Every Monday night local listeners get to come into the station and program an hour of music. We thought it'd be fun to find out a little bit about these people and why they picked the songs on their play list.
Here's tonight's person...
Tickets for A Taste of Albany
"Watch the sunset from the New York State Museum Terrace Gallery and taste Albany!"
Update update: Congrats to Mike -- he's the winner!
Update: The drawing's closed! The winner's been notified!
A Taste of Albany is coming up May 12 at the State Museum. From the blurbage: "Guests enjoy tastes from 40 of the Capital Region's best restaurants and chefs, live entertainment, live and silent auctions and great conversation."
AOA has two tickets for A Taste of Albany -- and we'd like to give them away, maybe to you. To enter the drawing, answer this question in the comments:
What's your favorite taste memory from when you were a kid?
Yep, we went a little Proustian there. We'll draw one winner at random.
A Taste of Albany is a benefit for Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless. It's from 6-8 pm on May 12 (that's a Thursday). Tickets start at $60 ($50 if you're under 30).
Important: All comments must be submitted by noon on Tuesday (May 3, 2011) to be entered in the drawing. One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by 5 pm on Tuesday and must respond by 5 pm on Wednesday (May 4, 2011).
A photo tour of Albany's new libraries
Millions of dollars and years of work went in to building and renovating the five Albany Public Library branches. In the year since they've opened, the branches have proven to be more than just places to store books -- they're interesting public spaces.
If you haven't gotten around to visiting them (and you should), here's a virtual tour...
Cursive in Cohoes
A recent story in NYT about the decline of cursive instruction in schools included this local bit: the principal of Van Schaick Elementary School in Cohoes says the school is debating whether to cut cursive writing from the curriculum there. (It's not like those kids are going to need it after they have the chip implanted in their brain.) [Thanks, Laura!]
Camp Bisco 10
The lineup for this year's Camp Bisco in Mariaville -- the 10th edition of the music festival -- is shaping up.
The fest announced a new round of performers today. Among them: Ratatat, DJ set featuring James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem fame) and Pat Mahoney, the New Deal, Four Tet, and Shpongle Live.
Among those already announced for Bisco: Wiz Khalifa, Bassnectar, MSTRKRFT, Yeasayer, and the Disco Biscuits (of course -- it's their festival).
This year's Camp Bisco is July 7-9, again at the Indian Lookout Country Club in Mariaville (about nine miles west of Schenectady). Three-day pass tickets are on sale -- they start at $160.
Recycled: Pretty. Stinky.
While out walking Otto today we noticed the pear trees -- with their white blossoms and, uh, distinctive odor -- are back in bloom. As Ryan wrote for AOA last year (almost a year to the day):
Which brings us finally to this: why does this tree smell so horrible? As far as I can tell, there isn't any research on why exactly the trees stink. However, I did come up with this: all of the approximately 30 species of pear contain the aroma compound pentyl butanoate. I will spare you the biochemistry -- this is the compound that makes pears and apricots smell as they do. One the precursors of pentyl butanoate is butyric acid, which is present in butter, parmesan cheese and... vomit.
Ryan's post also gets into the history of the trees and why they're everywhere (despite the stink).
Albany backyard chicken ordinance passes
Someone was playing the chicken dance music in the chamber before Monday's meeting.
It's been six months since Jen Pursley and Mike Guidice had to give up their backyard chickens after someone complained to the city. And now they're on the verge of getting them back. Legally.
Monday night the Albany Common Council passed an ordinance that makes it legal to keep backyard hens in the city. But it was close.
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?