All Over Albany

Firefighters injured in Troy fire, construction delays rush hour traffic on Northway, campaign drama of all sorts, "Techneurial Valley"

Two Troy firefighters were injured while fighting a house fire in Lansingburgh Sunday evening (map). TFD says the firefighters were blown the down the stairs when gases inside the building ignited, causing what firefighters call a "flash over." [TU] [Troy Record]

Troy fire officials says another Lansingburgh fire -- early Saturday morning -- is considered suspicious (map). TFD chief Tom Garrett says they don't know if it's connected to the rash of suspicious fires in North Central. [TU] [Troy Record]

Schenectady police say a man has died from injuries after an apparent assault on State Street Thursday night -- but what happened is unclear. [Daily Gazette]

Construction delays from the weekend deck resurfacing project on the Twin Bridges kept the northbound side closed during rush hour this morning. [WNYT]

Andrew Cuomo is threatening to use special investigative powers to look at the situation surrounding the allegations of sexual harassment in Vito Lopez's office, if the state ethics panel only focuses on Lopez and not the Assembly settlement. A member of the panel has resigned as part of the drama. And Tom DiNapoli (state comptroller) and Eric Schneiderman (state attorney general) continue to basically say, "Don't look at me!" about the settlement. Good government groups say the Lopez situation is a sign that the problem of sexual harassment at the Capitol isn't being taken seriously enough by legislators. [TU] [State of Politics] [NYT] [Daily Gazette]

The Republican primary for the 43rd state Senate district -- incumbent Roy McDonald vs. Kathy Marchione -- has had the most spending of any state primary this year, more than $750k. Marchione, who's the Saratoga County clerk, recently filed for retirement -- which has drawn complaints she'll be "triple-dipping" if she wins the Senate seat (pension, retirement health benefits, Senate salary). Marchione says she filed for retirement now so Andrew Cuomo couldn't appoint a Democratic to the clerk's post. Marchione and McDonald have been accusing each other of using unfair campaign advertisements. [TU] [TU] [Saratogian] [Daily Gazette]

Paragraph-long bios on each of the Democrats vying for the 109th Assembly seat (to replace Jack McEneny). [TU]

Swastikas were spray-painted on two William McCarthy campaign billboards in Guilderland (McCarthy is one of the six Democrats running for the 109th Assembly seat). GPD are asking the public for help in identifying who did it. [TU] [Fox23]

Short profiles of the two Democrats (and only candidates) vying for the 108th Assembly seat (to replace Ron Canestrari) -- John McDonald and Carolyn McLaughlin. [TU]

David Soares and Lee Kindlon have been going door-to-door to win votes for Albany County DA. Recent inter-campaign salvo: Kindlon has criticized Soares' office for how it's given more than $100k of crime forfeiture funds to Charlie Muller's Victory Church anti-violence programs. [TU] [Troy Record]

Albany County exec Dan McCoy is calling for an investigation of a leak of county District Attorney office employee records after the personal info -- with social security numbers -- was published by Albany Citizen One. ACO's response to the story. [TU] [ACO]

A Schenectady city budget analyst alleges a sales tax deal between the city and Schenectady County is being pushed by mayor Gary McCarthy for political instead of fiscal reasons. [TU]

Idea floated by the Thruway Authority: all-electronic tolling -- no toll booth workers. [TU]

The Tech Valley tag for the region, now used non-ironically by many people, was originally "Techneurial Valley." [TU]

The growing tech sector has apparently helped focus the attention of real estate developers on the area. [TU]

The Albany school district could take over the building of the former New Covenant Charter School, making it the Adult Learning Center building, and UAlbany could end up buying the current Adult Learning Center building on Western Ave (the former Schuyler Elementary, it's right next to UAlbany's downtown campus) (map). [TU]

Troy's three charter schools are growing. [TU]

Schools in the area have been cutting back on recess in order to spend more time on instruction. [Daily Gazette]

The "Tempered by Memory" 9/11 memorial sculpture was dedicated in Saratoga Spring's High Rock Park. The sculpture is made out of steel from the World Trade Center. [Saratogian] [Daily Gazette]

Vale Cemetery in Schenectady has been designated as an Underground Railroad site by the National Park Service. [Daily Gazette]

Invasive Asian clam have continued to spread in Lake George. [TU]

One of the things keeping some apple orchards going during this year of damaged crops: pies. [Saratogian]