Troy teen shot on River Street, NYRA cedes control to NYS, Milton man tries to save Spa City Memorial Day Parade
A 15 year old girl was shot in the leg on the 700 block of River Street in Troy on Tuesday night. The girl sustained a non-life-threatening injury.Police do not believe she was the intended victim. [TU] [Record] [YNN]
A 19 year old Mechanicville woman died last night after the car she was driving veered into the path of an oncoming SUV on Route 146 in Halfmoon.[YNN]
Andrew Cuomo has selected Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner and Assemblyman Keith Wright of Manhattan to be the new leaders of the state Democratic Party. [ TU]
The State Senate unveiled a counter measure to the effort to raise the minimum wage -- a $450 million business tax cut and incentive plan -- but Andrew Cuomo says he doesn't think it will fly in the Assembly and Sheldon Silver is already saying the plan is too costly. [YNN]
The state senate passed a law yesterday that would make the murder of an EMT, firefighter or other medical responder in the line of duty a murder-one offense -- carrying a mandatory life sentence with no possibility for parole. [YNN]
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved a natural gas pipeline to run under the Hudson from New Jersey to Manhattan but says the $1.2 billion project " Is driven by a desire to bring additional, reliable, competitively priced gas supplies to New Jersey and New York end users. It is not designed to serve as a gathering system for gas fro the Marcellus Shale." [NYT]
NYRA has agreed to turn control of its managment over to the state for three years. Saratoga Springs business owners appear relieved by Governor Cuomo's announcement that the state will be stepping in. [TU] [WNYT]
Police have identified the victim of Monday's fatal hit-and-run on Central Avenue as 57 year old Randall Hayes of the nearby Blue Bell Hotel Inn. Two men were killed near the same spot in separate incidents last fall. [Record] [TU]
State Police arrested a man and woman from Saugerties for driving a stolen SUV after pulling them over for speeding in Bethlehem. [TU]
A State biologist pleaded guilty Tuesday to drinking at the Albany Pump station while he was on the clock, wracking up $35,823 in salary and benefits he didn't earn. [TU]
Saratoga Springs police arrested an illegal immigrant for allegedly trying to kidnap and rape a 67 year old woman on Franklin Street. [Record]
Confessing to two store robberies, 36 year old Michael Moon told a Rensselaer judge " I hit him with the gun and pretty soon there was blood all over the place so I just left." [TU]
A Schenectady County Sherrif's Department lieutenant has been demoted and suspended for hitting a corrections officer who accidentally flooded a toilet at the county jail. [TU]
The number of suspicious fires is on the rise in Schenectady this year. Burned out buildings are being torn down pretty quickly to avoid blight. [TU] [TU]
The Stillwater school budget budget missed passing by 27 votes. The district's new $2.1 million dollar budget plan goes before voters on June 19th.The new budget knocks a 3% tax levy down to 1.49 %. [YNN] [TU] [News 10]
The State Department of Labor is trying to determine whether there is asbestos in the former St. Patrick's Church in Watervliet -- being considered for demolition to make way for a new Price Chopper. [TU]
Work has resumed on cleanup of a Mercury Refining superfund site near the Colonie/Guilderland border. [WNYT]
Albany has 15 new firefighters and a giant Kevlar curtain that will help fight hi-rise fires. [TU]
673 taxpayers filed papers to challenge their taxes for Schenectady's Grievance Day on Tuesday, but very few showed up to present their cases to the board. [Gazette]
Housing sales are up in the Capital Region. [TU]
The Palace theater is getting a new $290 thousand permanent cooling system to replace the temporary rented mobile units, with the help of a $120 thousand grant from the city of Albany. [TU]
Using Facebook and PayPal, a Milton man is raising money to bring back the Saratoga Springs Memorial Day parade after it was canceled because of a shortage of funds and lack of participation. . [Fox 23] [News 10]
An elementary special education teacher from Shen was named this years Top Teacher in an annual contest on Live with Kelly. Bryan Sawyer was nominated by the mother of a pair of twin boys with autism. [Saratogian] [TU]
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I received the following message this morning from District 2 Councilman Mark McGrath, in response to the latest shooting in Troy:
In the last several weeks I have urged Mayor Rosamilia, Troy Police Department officials, and members of the City Council Public Safety Committee, of which I am a member, to reinstate the TPD Street Crimes Unit (SCU). When in existence, the SCU was a unit that dealt with violent crime and narcotics proactively, and the recent violence in the city certainly warrants a strong and swift response from law enforcement. However, the Mayor and certain members of the TPD and the public safety committee expressed concern that the SCU was "too aggressive" and opted not to reinstate the team.
In the last few months, gun violence has been rampant in our city A man was shot dead in the middle of a South Troy street; another man was shot in a North Central drive-by, where four bullets were fired; and a seventeen year old was murdered by gunfire on Ninth Street. All of these incidents occurred in broad daylight and every one of them had the potential for innocent bystanders to be hit by a stray bullet. In the North Central incident, four bullets were fired at about one o'clock in the afternoon on one of Troy's busiest streets and in arguably the city's most densely populated area. It's nothing but sheer luck and the grace of God that a young child or a passing motorist wasn't hit as well as the intended victim.
When my pleas for a stronger law enforcement response fell on deaf ears I expressed very clearly that if aggressive steps were not taken to stop the escalation of gun violence and drug possession this WOULD happen again. Unfortunately my prediction was accurate as last night a 15 year old girl was hit by a stray bullet intended for someone else.
If the steps I've proposed aren't enacted immediately, this will continue to happen again and again. I respect the Mayor, but I vehemently disagree with his philosophies regarding strategies to address violent crime. No doubt the differences in where we've lived and our life experiences lend to those differences, but when a city is plagued by blatant gun violence, city officials are obligated to find the most effective way to deal with and stop that violence, regardless of our own personal view of the world. I strongly urge Mayor Rosamilia and his administration to demonstrate strength and leadership by insisting that the TPD Street Crimes Unit is reinstated immediately. It is imperative for the safety of all of our residents.
Mark McGrath
Troy City Council
District II
... said Kim M. on May 23, 2012 at 12:21 PM | link