Most school budgets pass -- Albany library budget maybe not, financial backers push Republicans on same-sex marriage, Joe Bruno sighting, measles case at RPI

Almost all of the local school budgets passed (as did 93 percent statewide). Those that didn't: Berne-Knox-Westerlo, Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk, and Averill Park. The result in Rensselaer is unclear. [TU] [State of Politics] [Daily Gazette] [Troy Record] [TU]

The Albany school district's budget passed by fewer than 200 votes. Records obtained by the Times Union via FOIL revealed that the anonymous direct mail campaign against the budget was sponsored by a group with ties to the city's charter schools. [Daily Gazette] [TU]

As of Wednesday morning, it appears the Albany library budget -- which included a 25 percent tax increase -- had failed to pass by 28 votes. [TU]

Potential new source of school revenue: ads on school buses. [YNN]

Mike Bloomberg was at the state Capitol yesterday lobbying Republican senators to support the legalization of same-sex marriage. Bloomberg has been big financial backer of state Republicans -- and donors are starting to line up to support Republicans who are in favor of marriage equality. [NYT] [TU]

Sheldon Silver has re-introduced the "Millionaire's Tax" -- this time as an actual millionaire's tax. [NYT] [State of Politics]

Schenectady police have identified the body found in Mohawk this week. [TU]

Milton supervisor Frank Thompson insisted yesterday that he didn't know anything about his wife's alleged theft of as much as $38k from an elderly woman. The town's Republican committee had decided to back a different candidate for his seat, though. [Daily Gazette] [TU]

There was a Joe Bruno sighting last night. [YNN]

State Police say a Troy tow truck operator who had a contract with the city has been over-charging car owners for towing and car storage. [Fox23]

State Police say they've nabbed two men for allegedly being involved in a series of convenience store burglaries around the Capital Region in which thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes were taken. [TU]

The state Department of Health has confirmed that there's been a case of measles at RPI and released a list of sites where people might have been exposed. [Troy Record]

Troy officials says complaints about student behavior in the city's Beman Park and Hillside neighborhoods increased greatly after the kegs and eggs riot in Albany. [TU]

The federal Department of the Interior has released a national plan for dealing with White Nose Syndrome, the fungal infection first found in the greater Capital Region that's been killing off bat populations. [AP/Troy Record]

A steer that had been on the loose in Saratoga County was finally captured with the help of a Texas cowboy.

Farther afield: police were called to pick up a three-foot-long alligator in Jamestown, in western New York. [AP/CBS6]

Comments

Wow. The education and future lives of too many kids are at stake for the leaders of the city's public and charter schools to be fighting like vindictive squabbling childish brats.

Honestly! Why the heck are these yahoos spending their time, energy, and resources finger pointing and fighting when they should be spending their time, energy, and resources fighting FOR kids futures!

-ok, sorry, I think I got it all out now.

"The Albany school district's budget passed by fewer than 200 votes. Records obtained by the Times Union via FOIL revealed that the anonymous direct mail campaign against the budget was sponsored by a group with ties to the city's charter schools. [Daily Gazette] [TU]"

More underhanded sleaze from charter school supporters. Just disgusting.

"At the urging of Councilman Bill Dunne, the committee chairman, RPI agreed to share information with the police department regarding off-campus properties that are identified as sources of illicit student activities."

To me, that reads that either RPI is taking way too much time tracking individual student's actions, or this is just a way to target fraternity houses.

I don't care about charter schools, and I don't care about public schools or teachers unions..what I care about is educational outcomes. The onyl way the system is going to generate the kind of educational outcomes we need is via huge concessions from the teachers union. I don't see the teachers union doing that willingly, because they've got their golden goose.

Until bad teachers can get fired, and good ones get paid more, I will vote "NO" on every school budget that comes in front of me

My husband answered a phone "Albany School Budget" poll. Unfortunately for the pollster my husband's not stupid and when he realized she was with the charter schools started grilling her on the merits of charter vs public. And all she could fall back on was that her grandchildren were in the charter schools and had nothing else to fall back on. I have tremendous distaste for programs that give public money to private enterprises. And so does my public school teacher husband.

The library defeat is a bummer. It was publicized as a "25% increase" which I am afraid some people thought was a 25% increase in their tax bill. In reality it would be an increase of $32 per $100,000 assessed value. (Roughly the cost of two paperbacks from Amazon.)

The new libraries are gorgeous and the usage is way up. How can that not be worth $32 a year (or even $96 a year if your house is assessed at $300,000)?

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