All Over Albany

Criticism of Albany police review board, Republicans using photos with Cuomo in campaigns, Exit 3 maybe not, Carl Strock retiring

More than a decade after its creation, Albany's Citizens' Police Review Board is still drawing criticism for its lack of power. [TU]

State legislators aren't required to file receipts to claim the overnight per diem for staying in Albany -- and there are indications some legislators have collected overnight per diems when they might not actually have been in Albany. [NY Post]

Kathy Marchione says she's focused on the issues of "too much taxes, too much spending, too much debt, over-regulation." [TU]

Only about 30 percent of people in the state ordered to install an interlock device on their car because of a DWI conviction end up doing so, according to a Buffalo News analysis. In some cases these people have given up their cars -- and in others, they're driving other people's cars. [Buffalo News] [AP/Saratogian] Earlier: Taking away the driver's license of multiple offenders, permanently

The on-going saga of the Signature Pharmacy steroids case continues Tuesday when the state Court of the Appeals -- the state's highest court -- hears arguments about whether a defendant can sue the district attorney prosecuting them (in this case, David Soares) and have the prosecutor removed from the case because of conflict of interest. [TU]

There's a pro-fracking rally planned for outside the Capitol today. [Troy Record]

How popular is Andrew Cuomo? State Republicans have been including photos with him in their campaign materials. [NYT]

Pedro Espada pleaded guilty to tax evasion on Friday. Andrew Cuomo: "Today, I give Mr. Espada the last word -- when he says 'guilty.'" (Accompanying animated gif.) [NYT] [AP/TU] [State of Politics]

Many IT companies with state contracts hire people from other countries using H-1B visas. [TU]

Schenectady mayor Gary McCarthy says he won't hire any of the assistant police chiefs who took the test for chief because none of them live in the city. [Daily Gazette]

Albany police say an 18-year-old man was shot early Sunday morning in the South End (block map). APD says his injuries aren't life threatening. [News10] [TU] [Fox23]

The Adirondack rafting company being sued by the state attorney general's office for range of alleged transgressions has been ordered to shut down while the suit moves forward. (This is the same company that organized the trip on which a woman died in September.) [TU]

The Watervliet man accused of fatally shooting local rapper Sha-Kim Miller in South Troy in March has rejected a plea deal. [TU]

A man pleaded guilty to being involved with a plot that shipped approximately 175 pounds of pot stashed in furniture from California to the Capital Region. [TU]

Farther afield: firefighters in Schoharie County found a man burned to death in a fire that was isolated to the chair in which he was sitting. The death has been ruled accidental. [Daily Gazette] [News10]

New College of St. Rose president David Szczerbacki, at his inauguration this past weekend: "My vision here is simple: we should be a beacon of the intrinsic power of a liberal arts-based education to effect positive change in a global society." [Troy Record] [TU]

The Saratoga Springs Fire Department gets fewer than 200 fire calls a year. [Saratogian]

Funeral directors in Schenectady are protesting the $10 increase in the fee for getting a death certificate copy right away. [Daily Gazette]

A Queensbury couple has sued their homeowners' association arguing that its restrictions on political yard signs is a violation of free speech rights. [Daily Gazette]

It sounds like there won't be an Exit 3 on the Northway. [TU]

A digital collection of the old Troy Sentinel newspaper is now available at the Troy Public Library's downtown branch. [Troy Record]

A Route 20 bridge in Nassau has been named for town native Derek Farley, who died in Afghanistan in 2010 while trying to defuse an IED. [TU] [YNN]

Carl Strock is retiring from the Daily Gazette. [Daily Gazette]