All Over Albany

Proposed Congressional district would include Albany-Schenectady-Troy, cabaret law passes in Albany, man arrested for White House threats allegedly visited schools, duo busted for cannabis hard candy

The US magistrate trying to settle the New York's Congressional redistricting has released a proposed version of the district lines, which would spread the Capital Region over three Congressional districts. But it would also place the cities of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy in the same district. [State of Politics] [TU CapCon]

The Cuomo administration has told health plans serving people on Medicaid that the plans would lose state contracts if they deny women their choice of contraceptive until cheaper methods fail. [AP]

Said Albany County exec Dan McCoy during his first State of the County address of the county's fiscal situation: "The reality is, the county is close to running out of money." One of the cost-cutting options floated: privatizing the county nursing home. Also floated during the speech: the possibility of creating a community college for Albany County. [WTEN] [TU] [Troy Record]

The Albany Common Council passed the much-debated "cabaret law" last night -- though there was still criticism the rules are too complicated and don't do enough to exempt religious orgs. (earlier) [WTEN] [TU]

Glens Falls police say a man has been arrested for allegedly injuring and sexually abusing a 7-week-old baby. The man allegedly told police he abused the baby on three separate occasions while drinking. The baby was airlifted from Glens Falls Hospital to Albany Med and is listed in critical but stable condition. Police say the baby's mother left the child in the man's care. Police have not disclosed the man's relationship to the baby. [Post-Star] [WNYT] [YNN] [TU] [Fox23]

More details about the Saratoga Springs man arrested for allegedly sending threatening messages to the White House against the President and an unspecified elementary school: an anonymous "official" tells the Times Union the man allegedly visited two unnamed schools -- one private, one public -- before being arrested by police. Records from the man's arraignment allege he sent the threatening messages from the Skidmore campus and the Saratoga Springs Public Library. [TU] [Saratogian]

The man accused of raping a woman on Balltown Road in Niskayuna in October 2010 was found guilty by a Schenectady County Court jury. The man was also found guilty of stealing the woman's phone, which prosecutors say he used to send vulgar texts to the woman's friends.

"Several sources" say one of the suspects in the beating of a man on River Street outside Brown's in Troy this weekend is the son of a Troy police officer. [Troy Record]

Rotterdam police say thieves swept through a neighborhood early Monday morning, robbing houses while people slept (map). Said one man whose house was robbed: "They took the money out of [my son's] piggy bank, which really bothered me." [Daily Gazette] [Fox23]

State Police say they arrested a father/daughter duo during a traffic stop on the Thruway in Coxsackie for allegedly having a pound of pot -- and about 40 pounds of cannabis-laced hard candy in a range of flavors. [CBS6] [WTEN]

GlobalFoundries has bought out the stake of AMD, the chip company from which it was spun off and was GloFo's first customer. The deal opens the way for GloFo to more freely produce chips for other companies. [TU] [Saratogian]

A tentative deal between GloFo and the town of Malta over the property tax assessment of the Luther Forest chip fab would extend through 2059. [Post-Star]

A group of 300 people opposing SUNY cuts and public-private partnerships in the system protested inside the Capitol yesterday -- 33 were voluntarily arrested. [TU CapCon] [NYT]

The New York State Bar Association and the Innocence Project are pushing for additional reforms to go along with the Cuomo admin's push for expanding the state's criminal DNA database, including videotaping interrogations and improving police lineups. [YNN] [NYSBA]

The Malta Town Board approved a much-debated ordinance that restricts construction noise on Sundays. Loud construction noise will be banned within 500 feet of an occupied residence on Sundays. [Saratogian] [Fox23]

There's a push in the Schenectady County legislature to change the law that forbids liquor stores in the county from being open past noon on holidays. [TU]

The EPA has imposed safety conditions on the cleanup of a demolition site at the Knolls Atomic Power Labs, which has been halted since a radioactive release in 2010. [TU]

The Scotia-Glenville school district may shut an elementary school in order to close a budget gap. [Daily Gazette]

The village of Scotia's water system may switch to a remote metering setup from the current setup in which customers fill out cards with their meter readings and send them in. [Daily Gazette]

A memo indicates that the parent company of Crossgates Mall will be banning tobacco use anywhere on its mall properties -- including outside -- by the end of this month. [KAB]

The new "Price Chopper Limited" store in downtown Saratoga Springs is slated for an April opening. [Saratogian]

The US Department of the Interior will designate the USS Slater a National Historic Landmark, according to Kirsten Gillibrand's office. The designation could help the Slater win grants and other assistance. [Kirsten Gillibrand's office] [TU]