All Over Albany

Obama Obama Obama, Cuomo admin pushes new agency to protect people with developmental disabilities, dog owner insurance requirement floated in Schenectady

You might have heard: Barack Obama is visiting UAlbany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering today. The venue for this visit was originally the GlobalFoundries chip fab in Malta, and the switch has prompted speculation about the change of venue: Was it because GloFo is owned by Abu Dhabi? Or maybe Saratoga County is too Republican? Or maybe it was just because Albany NanoTech is closer to the airport, and there wasn't enough parking and event space at the chip fab. "I take the president at his word," Chris Gibson says of the White House's stated reason the switch was simply logistical. [TU CapCon] [Daily Gazette] [Saratogian] [State of Politics]

The President's remarks at the event are expected to cover proposals he'd like to push through Congress in an effort to help the economy. [TU]

Andrew Cuomo on what the Obama visit will say to the rest of the country: "There's something called upstate New York ... New York is not just New York City, but New York is also upstate New York, and it's also Albany and Syracuse and Rochester and Buffalo, and they're doing very cool, exciting things. Nanotech in Albany. Who would have believed it?" And Ron Canestrari on attending his third presidential visit during the past few years: "I'll be there. I'm a regular." [NYT] [Troy Record]

Because of the presidential visit, Monday and Tuesday are ending up as paid days off for the construction crews building the new NanoFab building. [TU]

The Cuomo admin publicly presented its proposal for a new agency to monitor the care of people with developmental disabilities in the state. The admin says the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs, which would investigate reports of abuse and pursue prosecutions, is a "first in the nation" type of agency. The proposal would also make records of abuse FOIL-able. Cuomo is pushing for the legislature to approve the new agency during the current session. He also said the problems the state has had in overseeing the care of people with disabilities is representative of broader management issues in the bureaucracy: "This is a state government where dysfunction is rampant." [Cuomo admin] [YNN] [NYT] [TU]

The state Assembly Democratic majority had decided to not take up a bill that would legalize mixed-martial arts (a similar bill already passed in the state Senate). But there are indications more members of the Democratic conference are in favor of legalization than are against it. [TU] [NYT]

Following the recent story of a Schenectady 11-year-old being attacked by a bully after school, Jim Tedisco is pushing legislation that would "require schools to make a good faith effort to notify a parent or guardian of a child who reports to school officials that they fear they are a target of bullies." The parents of the 11-year-old say the school didn't contact them after the girl said she felt threatened. Says Schenectady interim school superintendent: "I don't think we need a law to do that, but we should be doing that every time." [Tedisco email press release] [Fox23] [Daily Gazette]

The man accused of the day time fatal shooting in South Troy in March has been indicted. [TU]

Schenectady's city attorney has floated the idea of requiring dog owners in the city to have general liability insurance in case their dog attacks someone. [TU]

The Troy city council passed a resolution aiming to bring new cable and internet service providers into the city in order to provide competition with Time Warner Cable. [Troy Record]

Saratoga County officials are looking at ways to reclaim hotel occupancy tax revenue that they say travel websites such as Expedia are keeping via a loophole. [Saratogian]

Albany County DA David Soares has again declined to prosecute the recent batch of Occupy Albany protesters arrested for violating the curfew in Lafayette Park. Three other people are still charged with governmental obstruction. "It's a waste of resources to arrest people for simply exercising their First Amendment rights, especially if the cases are going to be dismissed," said Occupy attorney Kathy Manley in an email press release. [TU] [Troy Record]

A Colonie town justice has ruled that the town of Colonie is within in rights to bounce the operator of the town golf course restaurant in favor of a new operator. [TU]

Richard Clemens -- a Clifton Park resident who was the model for the police officer in the Norman Rockwell painting "The Runaway" -- has passed away. [TU]

Beno Sternlict, a local entrepreneur and co-founder of Mechanical Technology Inc, has passed away. [TU]