All Over Albany

Cuomo stands firm on pension reform, Albany and Schenectady school aid restored, state selling 500 cars on ebay, Schenectady man dies after being dragged by train, council delays caberet law vote, regional home sales up, salamanders get help crossing road

The Cuomo administration continues its push for pension reform to be included in the April budget. In a cabinet meeting yesterday Andrew Cuomo said the power struggle over reform in New York is not between the executive and legislative branch, but between special interests and the people. [Record/AP] [TU]

Millions of dollars in State Improvement Grant funding has been restored to Albany and Schenectady school districts after unions reached teacher evaluation agreements. [TU]

Gas companies and hydrofracking opponents are trying to figure out what this weeks ruling that allows individual towns to decide whether they'll permit fracking, means for them. [NYT] [Record/AP]

Law enforcement agencies in New York state have seized more than 60,000 cartons of Indian-made cigarettes discovered during traffic violations over the last eight months, but the state hasn't done much more to enforce a claim that it has the right to tax Indian made cigarettes that are sold to non-Indians. [NYT]

In an effort to pare down, New York State will be selling about 500 surplus vehicles on its ebay page. Among the items up for sale -- a $180,000 recreational vehicle intended for use as a DEC command center -- that the DEC commissioner didn't know he had. [Fox23] [TU]

The Albany Common Council will not be voting on the proposed cabaret licensing law tonight. The vote is being postponed so more work can be done on the wording in an effort to eliminate confusion. The council will hold a public comment period before its meeting tonight on another issue -- a proposal to ban smoking at city sports fields, swimming pools and playgrounds. [TU]
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In an effort to ward off a county law suit, the Schenectady City Council has agreed that the city will pay delinquent county tax bills on property owned by city residents .[Gazette]

A 44 year old Scheectady man was dragged to his death by an Amtrak train in Rochester, after being kicked off the train for disturbing passengers [Gazette]

A doctor and former medical director at Northwoods health facility testified in the patient neglect trial of four Northwoods employees, saying he was concerned about about an unorganized approach to wound care a the facility.[Record]

The Columbia County DA's office has incited 21 year old Shafiqul Islam in the murder of a 73 year old Hillsdale woman in November. [TU]

Fire claimed a home in Schenectady's Hamilton Hill last night, but residents were able to escape safely.[News10]

Charges against the man responsible for duct taping the legs of Chubby the dog and abandoning him on an Argyle road side to Aggravated cruelty to animals. [News10]

Bethlehem residents are seeking an independent probe into the shooting of a dog by an animal control officer this month. [TU]

The Schenectady woman whose three pit bulls attacked a woman last august, ripping off most of her ears, is considering a second plea bargain that would require her to report to jail on weekends for 45 days. [TU]

Two men pretending to be city water department officials gained access to the home of an elderly couple in Albany. In the same week a Clifton Park woman's home was burglarized by a man posing as a water department employee. [Gazette]

A stalled luxury hotel project at Route 50 and Marion Avenue in Saratoga may be revived as an apartment complex with retail space. [Gazette]

Saratoga's public safety commissioner is pushing to require Spa City bars to move last call from 4AM to 3 AM.[TU]

The low bidder for the UAlbany athletic facility is the same company the constructed RPI's $24 million sports complex.[Gazette]

The Director of the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority says he has nothing to hide in the current NYS audit of underway of his department following the Stonequist bedbug scandal. [WNYT]

Capital Region home sales were 10% higher in January then they were a year ago. [WNYT]

The Capital Region could be looking at a spike in gas prices this weekend. [CBS6]

The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation is looking for volunteers to help salamanders cross a road. [TU]