All Over Albany

Reaction continues to Bin Laden's death, Albany teachers agree to pay freeze, Dague says he doesn't think he made a difference

Of Osama Bin Laden's death, said Kay Canty of Schenectady -- whose son died when the World Trade Center collapsed: "We are very happy for America and the world that bin Laden is now gone. But it does not bring closure. Nothing will bring Mike back." Said the father of Lake George native Benjamin Osborn, who died serving in Afghanistan last year: "He's (Bin Laden) brought a tremendous amount of misery to a lot of individuals as well as our country as a whole. He was not a good man. He deserved this." [Daily Gazette] [Post-Star]

The Cuomo admin said yesterday that it's been working to make sure all arms of the state government "are properly coordinating with each other" and federal and local agencies to evaluate security needs following the death of Bin Laden. Andrew Cuomo said officials currently don't have any evidence of a specific credible threat at the moment. (Also Cuomo said he first heard about Bin Laden's death last night the Executive Mansion from... "a member of the media.") [Cuomo admin LiveStream]

Andrew Cuomo and SUNY chancellor Nancy Zimpher unveiled the "NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program," which will make $35 million in capital funding available to SUNY's four research centers -- Albany, Buffalo, Binghamton, and Stony Brook -- if the schools meet a list of criteria. Cuomo also said he supports allowing the four flagship campuses to charge higher tuition than the other schools in system (SUNY's undergrad tuition is currently about $5k a year). The NYSUNY 2020 plan follows concerns that UAlbany was being relegated to a "second tier" because it was left out of a summit at Buffalo. [Cuomo admin] [NYT] [AP/Saratogian] [TU]

Albany police say two teens have been arrested for the stabbing death of 17-year-old Tyler Rhodes near Hoffman Park Saturday night. Police allege one of the teens held Rhodes in place while the other stabbed him in the chest. [CBS6] [TU]

The Albany school district says the teachers' union has agreed to a new contract that includes a pay freeze for the next school year that will eliminate the tax levy increase in the budget up for public approval this month. The contract also includes a no-layoffs pledge by the district for next year. [Albany school district] [TU]

The Town of Malta's tentative assessment of the GlobalFoundries chip fab for this year: $400 million and 70 percent complete. That would mean a tax bill of more than $8.4 million. [Saratogian] [Daily Gazette]

A jury in the re-trial of A.J. Rivera found him guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the killing of Amanda Burns in Troy in 2005. Rivera had been found guilty of second-degree murder in the original trial. [Troy Record] [TU]

Adrian Parbhudial, the Schenectady man convicted of firing on police officers during a raid on his Maple Ave house last year, was sentenced to 40-years to life. [Daily Gazette]

Democrats on the Troy city council -- which had just one African-American member in its history -- are talking about creating a minority majority council district. [TU]

Milton supervisor Frank Thompson says his wife, accused of stealing more than $38k from an elderly woman, has a gambling problem at the Saratoga racino. [TU]

The flooding on the upper Hudson has delayed the re-start of the PCB dredging project. [Saratogian]

About 400 people showed up in Colonie yesterday for a talk by the president of the John Burch Society. [TU]

Ed Dague on his career: "I got into TV news wanting to make a difference. I don't think I did." [Fox23]