October 10, 2012
Callicutt's lawyer seeks retrial in Richard Bailey shooting, health warning issued after MRSA found at Shen, Troy's "Father Christmas" has died
The Lawyer for De Von Callicutt, the 22 year who is currently serving life without parole for the murder of Ualbany student Richard Bailey, went before an appellate panel of the state Supreme Court this week to argue for a retrial. His argument, which focused on the Callicutt's intent when he robbed Bailey at gunpoint, did not appear to go over well with judges. [YNN] [TU]
Cash strapped Schenectady expects to be able to meet a $4 million deferred payment to city schools to cover property owners who didn't pay their taxes - by using funds from it's stepped u effort to collect delinquent taxes or foreclose on properties in the city. [TU]
Schenectady's proposed 4.18 percent tax increase is getting opposition from citizens.[Gazette]
A federal report on how the National Weather Service handled Tropical Storm Irene shows the agency needs to be faster and more accurate in determining inland flooding risks and needs to improve its communication with the media and the public. [TU]
A home health aide in Wilton is facing up to nine years in prison after admitting she stole more that $328,000 from an 82-year old woman in her care. [Saratogian]
A pair of tickets to the Festival of Meats
Drawing's closed! Winner's been emailed!
The Albany Society for the Advancement of Philanthropy's annual Festival of Meats and Bacon Celebration is this Saturday. We have a pair of tickets and we're giving them away -- maybe to you.
To enter the drawing, please answer this question in the comments:
What's your favorite local meat dish?
It could be a steak you had somewhere, the free range chicken you get from the farmers' market, whatever. We'll draw one comment at random -- that person will get the tickets.
The festival is Saturday at the Elks Lodge on South Allen Street in Albany. Bar opens at 4 pm, dinner at 6 pm. Tickets are $25 per person.
Among the meaty selections this year:
Whole roasted pig
Pulled and chopped pork with a vinegar peppery bbq sauce
Roasted beef steak
Kalbi
Clams two ways
Pork chops wrapped in bacon
Bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapeno peppers
Pig candy
Bacon-wrapped chicken bites
Maple, peanut butter, caramel, and bacon ice cream sundaes
Important: All comments must be submitted by 11:59 pm on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by 10 am on Thursday, October 11 and must respond by 5 pm that same day.
Santa Speedo Sprint: Just a reminder that ASAP's Santa Speedo Sprint is December 8 this year.
AOA is a media sponsor of the Festival of Meats.
The Beatles: RAIN back at the Palace
The Beatles tribute show RAIN will be back at the Palace March 18. Tickets are $30 and up. They go on sale this Friday (October 12).
The last time the show was in town, it sold out. So if you'd like to go, getting tickets sooner rather than later is probably a good idea.
From the blurbage for RAIN:
RAIN performs the full range of The Beatles' discography live onstage, including the most complex and challenging songs that The Beatles themselves recorded in the studio but never performed for an audience. Together longer than The Beatles, RAIN has mastered every song, gesture and nuance of the legendary foursome, delivering a totally live, note-for-note performance that's as infectious as it is transporting.
photo via RAIN website
What's up in the Neighborhood
Among the topics in this most recent spin around the Capital Region's online neighborhood: parents night, yoga, jury duty, a marathon, a flux capacitor, the Cider Donut Burger, Madison Station, chowder iron chefs, the Scotia Diner, Sciortino's, Manchester, MMW, a PSA, feet, European-ness, trivia, leaf blowers, and a moody bee.
Ra Ra Riot at Upstate Concert Hall
Indie chamber pop (or whatever you call it) group Ra Ra Riot will be back in town for a show at Upstate Concert Hall December 11. Tickets are $14 ahead / $16 day of. They go on sale this Friday (October 12).
The opener for the show is Guards.
Ra Ra Riot started at Syracuse University in 2006, and found success pretty quickly (and with reason -- they were good). This year they've been working on a new album -- without cellist Alexandra Lawn, who left the band. That might not necessarily be a big thing for some acts, but strings have been a central part of their music (violinist Rebecca Zeller is still with them). So it'll be interesting to see how things have turned out.
Earlier on AOA: Some shows that are coming up, fall 2012
photo via Ra Ra Riot Facebook
Ghosties
The kids version of Woot! -- appropriately called Kids Woot! -- is currently selling a cute Halloween t-shirt called Ghosties by local desinger Andrew Gregory.
It features three ghosts dressed up in costumes -- with a glow-in-the-dark message.
The shirt is $15. It's on sale for two more days.
Andrew lives in Rensselaer and designs under the name lunchboxbrain. One of his designs was sold by Gap earlier this year.
Not a confidence-inducing 10 years or so
Consumer sentiment, from 1999 to the present -- via SRI.
The Siena Research Institute released consumer confidence figures today for metropolitan areas around the state. SRI reports that consumer confidence was up in every metro during the 3rd quarter of this year compared to the same period last year -- though it's down a bit in many metros compared to the last quarter. The Capital Region's Q3 figure was up 13 percent compared to the same period last year -- and down about 6 percent compared to the previous quarter).
Last week, SRI released numbers for the state as whole -- and September's figure was the highest in five years. Interesting bit: there was a huge gap between Democrats (95) and Republicans (58) -- 37 points -- the largest ever measured by SRI.
In general, rising consumer confidence is a sign that people think things are getting better and are more willing to spend money. That's usually a good thing for the economy.
The decade: The thing that really caught our eye today while browsing the SRI site: the chart above, which tracks consumer sentiment for both the nation (blue) and state (red) since 1999 until the present. It's not surprising -- and things appear to be getting better -- but, oof, the chart's another illustration it's been a rough decade or so.
chart: Siena Research Institute
TOP 2012: Round 1: Schenectady
The opening round of the 2012 Tournament of Pizza -- sponsored by Sunmark Federal Credit Union -- rolls ahead to Schenectady.
The pizzerias in Round 1 pool competition of sausage pizzas:
Returning champ: 5th and 50 - Scotia
Crowd pick: Nico's - Schenectady
Tough luck: Mario's - Niskayuna
Mystery entry
5th and 50 is not just the defending bracket champ -- it won the whole the tournament last year. Its title defense starts now.
The judges got together at Anthology Studio in downtown Schenectady...
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?