All Over Albany

McDonald/Marchione debate heats up, final arrest in Saratoga fake i.d. case a felony, abused puppies may have been nailed to tracks, DOT working to avoid Monday Twin Bridges construction backups

Senator Roy McDonald on his vote for marriage equality: "I'm in the party of Abraham Lincoln... I'm not in the party of a bunch of right-wing nitwits." McDonald debated Republican primary challenger Kathy Marchione at Russell Sage College on Tuesday, where Marchione attacked his record on social issues like marriage equality. [NYT] [YNN] [WNYT]

Citizen One bloggerTheresa Grafflin has apologized for making the social security numbers of 20 employees in David Soares' office public, but says it was an accident and that Soares' opponent Lee Kindlon had nothing to do with it. [WNYT]

JCOPEclaims to be back on track with their investigation of the Vito Lopez sexual harassment scandal after one commissioner resigned, alleging "steamrolling" by Governor Cuomo. [YNN] [Capitol Confidential]

After a six-month investigation police in Saratoga have charged the 15th and final teenager in connection with a fake id case. The first 14 teens were charged with misdemeanors, but police have charged this teen with a felony because of a lack of cooperation in the investigation. The teen's attorney says the felony charge is "a gross over reaction and completely baseless." [TU] [WNYT] [Saratogian]

Albany County attorneys are trying to slap a $10,000 predatory towing fine on a garage for allegedly illegally towing a car in the city back in February, but the tow company Joe's Osborne Street Garage, says the effort is in retaliation for a lawsuit to invalidate the predatory towing law. [TU]

Schenectady employee Jason Cuthbert, who publicly criticized Mayor Gary McCarthy for not fighting to get the city a bigger slice of the county sales tax, was apparently watched by two police officers as he arrived at work, then sent home for the day with pay, after his comments appeared in the paper. [TU]

Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard will be officially appointed Albany School Superintendent today. The public will be invited to meet Vanden Wyngaard at a reception following the voite. [YNN] [TU]

A Colonie woman was arrested on North Pearl Street over the weekend for allegedly assaulting a police woman who confronted her about her alleged assault of another women. The officer was hospitalized with a concussion. [APD Press Release]

Noted: Attempting to handcuff and arrest the parking attendant giving you a ticket will get you into more trouble than just getting a ticket. [TU]

One of three pitbull puppies discovered on an Albany railroad track has died, and another will lose it's leg. The puppies, discovered this week by railroad workers, were malnourished and may have been nailed to the track. [Fox 23] [TU]

The Capital Region Economic Development Council approved $55 million in funding requests for projects in eight counties, including $25 million for a supercomputer at RPI and $750,000 for a new brewery production facility in Glens Falls.[TU]

DOT officials say they're working to ensure that the kind of traffic delays that resulted from work on the Twin Bridges this past Monday will not be a problem next Monday. Problems arose at the end of the weekend's work, when some bolts in the bridge appeared to be loosening.[TU]

The State DOT closed the Prattsville Bridge on Monday after a painting crew discovered a 1/8-inch crack in the exterior. The crack is not believed to be connected to hurricane Irene. [TU]

The Niskayuna teen threatening to commit suicide in a 7-hour standoff with police on Monday had multiple loaded firearms. [TU]

A Schenectady man will serve five years in federal prison for setting fire to his girlfriend's home last year. [TU]

Employees of the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority are working to unionize, after their pay was frozen amid increasing criticism of the department in the last year. [Saratogian]

Troy's Planing Commissioner is seeking $500,000 from the Industrial Development Agency to demolish vacant buildings in the city. [Record]

"We're not the ones who need to remember. That's why we brought young firefighters and children here," said a NYC firefighter at a 9/11 memorial on Tuesday at the NYS Museum's 9/11 exhibit. "They need to know this story." [TU]

Capital district Community Gardens is moving, and will invest $3 million in its new headquarters in Troy's North Central neighborhood.[TU]
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APD Press Release

Albany police arrested a 21 year old Colonie resident early Sunday morning after she injured an on-duty police sergeant on North Pearl Street.

Sergeant Melissa Gipson, was walking a foot beat on North Pearl Street, just after 1:00 a.m., when she was flagged down by a woman stating that while in front of Figure 10, a woman had smacked her and a friend across the face. The complainant told the sergeant that the suspect had just walked across the street and went into Legends on Pearl.

While investigating the incident the suspect, Katelyn Lyons, of 4 Locust Park, walked out of Legends on Pearl and was confronted by Sergeant Gipson. While speaking with her about the complaint, Lyons punched Sergeant Gipson in the face and tried to pull her to the ground. While Sergeant Gipson was attempting to place handcuffs on her, Lyons put her fingers in Sergeant Gipson's mouth, just inside of her cheek, and continued to try to pull her to the ground.

A bouncer from Legend's on Pearl assisted in getting Lyon's into custody.

She was charged with Assault 2nd, Obstruction of Governmental Administration 2nd, and Resisting Arrest.

She was arraigned Sunday morning and released on $1,000 bail.

Sergeant Gipson is currently admitted at a local hospital with a concussion and infection inside her mouth.

A report of harassment was taken for the initial slapping complaint.