All Over Albany

Hurdles in Congress for Cuomo's request of $30 billion for Sandy, petition against SSPD's handling reported rape, grilled cheese for the bear, prosthetic paw for puppy

The $30 billion in Sandy disaster aid Andrew Cuomo is seeking from the feds faces a lot of hurdles in Congress -- in part because some of the money would go for infrastructure upgrades. [State of Politics] [NYT]

A draft of the state comptroller's office audit of the city Schenectady obtained by the Times Union forecasts a grim financial picture for the city over the next few years. [TU]

UAlbany says it's taking immediate action against the students accused of hazing at an off-campus residence through its campus judicial disciplinary process. A school spokesman says the university "has a zero tolerance policy for any actions that are physically and mentally abusive to the well-being of another." A neighbor of the house tells Fox23 she's heard "yelling and screaming" during the middle of the night. And "students from the university" tell the Gazette the group was part of a frat that lost its recognition. [TU] [AOA] [News10] [Fox23] [Daily Gazette]

Albany police say one man was shot Monday evening in the South End (block map). Police thought the shooter had gone into nearby home -- it was surrounded, but the suspect wasn't inside. APD says it's looking for the shooter. The victim's injuries don't appear to be life-threatening. [YNN] [WNYT] [News10] [TU]

A petition has started to protest the Saratoga Springs PD's handling of information regarding a reported rape on the city's east side in September (map), specifically that the SSPD didn't mention the incident publicly until weeks later. The city's police chief says the department didn't notify the public because it had few details. [Mamatoga] [TU] [Saratogian]

The retrial of Edward McDonough in the Troy ballot fraud case starts today. [Troy Record]

The details of the still-being-negotiated deal for a private company to run the Albany County nursing home aren't being shared with many people -- but apparently the plan includes some sort of loan from the county to the company. [TU]

Vince Riggi -- the lone non-Democrat on the Schenectady city council -- was not pleased that he heard about a Monday night Democratic caucus with mayor Gary McCarthy about the recently vetoed budget from YNN. [YNN]

The person picked to become the next Schalmont schools superintendent has worked in Rome, Mexico, and Greece. (Well, that's Rome, NY; Mexico, NY; and Greece, NY.) [Daily Gazette]

Niskayuna town board discussion topic: derelict houses. [Daily Gazette]

miSci (formerly the Schenectady Museum) has named a new executive director. [miSci press release]

Not helping: residents of a Glens Falls neighborhood were feeding grilled cheese sandwich to a bear cub that camped out in a tree. [Post-Star]

The head of a Momentive division is proposing to build a 4,000 square foot house on an empty lot on North Broadway in Saratoga (map). [Daily Gazette]

This year's ESP Christmas tree is from Latham. [News10]

One of the "railroad puppies" taken in by the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society -- Hudson -- was fitted with a prosthetic paw yesterday. He also seemed to find his footing with the media. [WNYT] [TU] [YNN] [Fox23] [News10]