All Over Albany

State spending on home care for people with developmental disabilities soaring, conservancy upset about lights display in Washington Park, video released of alleged Walmart groping

The state's spending on home care for people with developmental disabilities has soared, even as the number of people receiving care has increased only modestly, thanks in part to reimbursement rates that far exceed what in-home workers are receiving as pay. [NYT]

Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that prohibits most insurance plans from requiring members to get their prescription drugs through mail-order pharmacies (often touted as a cost saving measure). The governor's signature came with came with an agreement that the legislature would pass a bill requiring regular pharmacies to match the mail-order prices if they wanted to be included. [NYT] [State of Politics]

Among the cost-saving measures proposed by the state's Medicaid Redesign Team: not paying for human growth hormone injections for short children. [TU]

Saratoga County is looking at what revenue it might be able to generate from its never-used landfill. The county legislature has been looking for budget cuts after a plan to increase the sales tax rate fizzled. [Saratogian] [Post-Star] [Saratogian]

Upset about what it says is physical and aesthetic damage to the park, the Washington Park Conservancy the annual Holiday Lights in the Park display moved from the park. [TU]

Price Chopper has announced that Neil Golub will be stepping down as CEO at the beginning of the year, to be replaced by Jerel Golub. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

Altamont fire officials say an elderly woman was found dead following a fire at her home yesterday morning. They say the woman was found laying inside the door. [TU] [YNN]

East Greenbush police have released surveillance video of the most recent groping incident in the East Greebush Walmart. They're hoping someone will recognize the man. [WNYT] [WTEN]

Schenectady police say a driver ran over a curb and hit an elderly man Tuesday because his windshield was obstructed with frost (map). [Daily Gazette] [TU]

Outgoing Rotterdam supervisor Frank Del Gallo says the town disbursements for the a new veterans' memorial came out of the line item for his salary, which he didn't take. [Daily Gazette]

A Schenectady police officer's driver's license was revoked because he refused a breath test following an arrest for alleged DWI in Bethlehem last month -- that means he'll be suspended without pay from the SPD. [Daily Gazette]

A Rotterdam woman pleaded guilty to her 9th DWI conviction in Schenectady and is headed to prison for 1.3-4 years. [Daily Gazette]

Albany police allege a man paved an 86-year-old woman's driveway without her consent and then coerced her into paying him for it. The man was already facing charges for another alleged paving scam involving an elderly woman in Colonie. And the man's name was tagged with a Better Business Bureau "F" rating in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Police say it doesn't look like the Albany woman will get her money back. [APD press release] [WNYT] [Fox23] [YNN]

Albany police say a woman fell out of fourth floor window at the Knickerbocker Apartments in Center Square onto a first floor roof early Tuesday morning -- and they're not sure how (map). They woman had several broken bones. [YNN] [Fox23]

The Niskayuna planning board has approved another move of the historic Ingersoll/Stanford home. The mansion was already moved once for the construction of a shopping plaza at the Balltown and State (map). [Daily Gazette] [TU]

Enrollment is down in the Saratoga Springs school district in part because of the slow housing market, the district says. [Saratogian]

Troy's Sycaway library branch is closing because of budget cuts. [TU]

If you have $39 million, you could own a new fly wheel plant in Rensselaer County. [TU]

The two step-brothers who have accused former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of molesting them as children have filed a defamation suit against the university and head coach Jim Boeheim, who shortly after the allegations came to light said the accusations were lies. [YNN]

The term "National Guard" was coined in New York not long after the militia's original founding Massachusetts 375 years ago. [Troy Record]