All Over Albany

Urban middle schools are failing, "Taj McCall" repair bill is huge, Cohoes man arrested in massive porn bust

Of the five district middle schools in Albany, Schenectady and Troy, four have not met state benchmarks, and risk being taken over and restructured by the state. [TU]

It looks like Troy's city council will hold off on a vote to authorize the $2.2 million in bonds to transform the Dauchy Building into a new city hall. Yesterday, a group of downtown business leaders said they were opposed to moving city hall to the Dauchy because of concerns about taking away potentially valuable commercial real estate and parking problems. [Troy Record] [TU]

A proposed felony agreement for former Troy city clerk William McInerney has fallen apart because the FBI refused to promise that he wouldn't face federal charges in the case. McInerney is accused of fixing ballots over several years, including during the 2008 presidential election. [TU]

The nearly $2 million taxpayers will pay to fix up the already-deteriorating Comptroller's building known by some as "Taj McCall" will largely go toward replacing the 820,000 bricks on the façade. [TU]

Carolyn Lorrain Wilson, the 55-year-old Guilderland women who calls herself a reverend, is scheduled to be back in town court today on charges that she sexually abused an 11-year-old girl. Police are now also looking into a second abuse complaint against Wilson, but no charges have been filed yet in that alleged incident. [YNN] [Fox23]

A Cohoes man is among 72 people who have been indicted internationally in what is believed to be the largest child porn bust of all time. Those charged were allegedly a part of a message board that required the upload of fresh porn material to become a member. [YNN]

A Schenectady County corrections officer has been placed on paid leave after he allegedly touched women of the contracted medical staff inappropriately. Unnamed sources say Shawn Hawkins will likely not face criminal charges in the case. [Daily Gazette]

Money raised by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will ensure that students throughout the state will be able to take their regents exams in January. Without the funding, many student would have had to settle for a non-regents high school diploma, which make it harder to get accepted to colleges. [WNYT]

A Cohoes High School student, 16-year-old Kyle Hussey, crashed this bicycle while trying to flee Troy police, who were trying to question the boy about car break-ins. On Monday and Tuesday, there were 19 reported burglaries in the city, including nine car break-ins. [TU]

A handful of non-profit and religious-based entities in the city of Schenectady are trying to figure out a way to get rid of massive tax bills incurred when they neglected to file tax-exempt paperwork. [Daily Gazette]

Acting Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy is asking city residents to tell the city if they witness anyone defacing property anywhere in the city. [TU]

Maplewood Elementary School, recently closed by the North Colonie school district because of budget cuts, will house a private early childhood education program. [Troy Record]

The new garden in Congress Park that will be dedicated to Marylou Whitney Friday morning will include, of course, Marylou Whitney roses. [Saratogian]

Latham is not a popular place for steak lately. Just one week after the Dakota Steakhouse shut down, Filet 7,which had been open for less than four years, closed Wednesday. [TU]