All Over Albany

Prosecutors plan to throw out Occupy Albany arrests, multiple shootings in Albany and Schenectady, record finishers in the Stockade-athon

The Albany County DA's office says it will not prosecute the Occupy Albany protestors arrested this past weekend for trespassing in the state-owned Lafayette Park because the protestors have remained peaceful. (Protesters say they were having a "meditation flash mob.") In addition to the two dozen Saturday night arrests, State Police arrested 13 more protesters Sunday night. [TU] [YNN] [AOA] [Fox23]

The counting of the approximately 530 absentee ballots in the Schenectady mayoral race will start today (Democrat Gary McCarty leads the Alliance Party's Roger Hull by 77 votes). In Colonie, there are still 950 absentee ballots to be counted in the still unsettled supervisor race (Democrat Paula Mahan leads Republican Denise Sheehan b 260 votes).[Fox23] [YNN]

There were two separate shooting incidents in Schenectady this weekend:
+ A man was killed outside of a bar in Mont Pleasant on Saturday morning, and two others were injured (map). [YNN]
+ A man driving through Hamilton Hill was shot in the leg Sunday as a bullet passed through his car door (map). [Daily Gazette]

Albany police say two people were shot in the Mansion neighborhood early Saturday morning -- one of whom appears to have been a bystander (map). APD says it responded to a call about multiple shots fired at Madison and Pearl at 3:15 am and found one victim, a man. About an hour later, they got a call that a woman had gone to the hospital after she had heard shots while on the corner of Madison and Trinity (a block up Madison from Pearl) and then felt a stinging in her upper thigh, and realized she had been shot. [APD press release, pasted below]

Following the Penn State scandal, New York state officials are moving to make stricter laws about reporting suspected abuse. Under current laws in New York, the alleged Penn State crimes would now be beyond the statute of limitations. [YNN] [TU]

Albany's fire chief says he could be forced to close a fire station if the Common Council doesn't restore $300k in AFD overtime to the city budget. [TU]

Albany County exec-elect Dan McCoy put in for military leave from his Albany Fire Department job for a day last month on which he didn't have National Guard duty -- but he did attend a political event. [TU]

Troy mayor-elect Lou Rosamilia said he will keep his job as a county legislator through the end of the year, when he becomes mayor. [Troy Record]

Both directions of Route 7 in Colonie were closed this morning because of fears that a tanker truck that caught fire during an accident would explode. [TU]

The head of the Clifton Park Republican committee says the proposed plan to raise the county's sales tax from 7 to 8 percent "will have a devastating impact on the residents of Clifton Park and Saratoga County." [TU]

The Mechanicville family of a young woman found dead in a Walmart parking lot in Florida five months ago are still waiting to learn why she died. [TU]

After a man lost control of his canoe on Saratoga Lake Sunday afternoon, his neighbors paddled out to him in a rowboat and a police officer came out in a kayak. [Saratogian]

The Albany Fire Department says Central Warehouse has been secured and firefighters will not enter it if there's another fire. [TU]

Google is hosting a forum in Troy today aimed at getting more small businesses to make web pages. [Fox23]

At a Catholic school in Saratoga, all the fourth and fifth graders have iPads to use in the classroom. [Saratogian]

For the fifth year in a row, the Stockade-athon drew a record number of finishers. [Daily Gazette]

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APD shootings in Mansion neighborhood

Albany police are investigating two shootings on lower Madison Avenue Saturday morning that appear to be connected to each other.

Police were called at 3:15 a.m to South Pearl Street and Madison Avenue for multiple shots fired. When officers arrived they found the victim, Hector Balls, 21, with a gunshot wound to his right thigh. Officers spoke with him at the scene but he could not provide any information on who shot him. He was treated by AFD and transported to Albany Medical Center where he was treated and released.

A canvass of the area turned up three shell casings on Trinity Place just south of Madison Avenue.

At 4:21 a.m. police were called to Albany Memorial Hospital for a woman who came in the emergency room with a gunshot wound to her leg. She told officers that she was at the Corner of Madison Avenue and Trinity Place and she heard several gunshots. Immediately she felt stinging to her upper thigh. She noticed a hole in her pant leg and realized she had been shot. She was driven to Memorial where she was treated and released. She said she saw a unknown male run south on Trinity with a gun in his hand. She could not provide a further description.

No further information is available at this time.