All Over Albany

Jury selection begins in murder of Schenectady teen, Thruway Authority to lay off 8% of workforce, poll shows New Yorkers split on fracking, gingers descend on Troy

Jury selection will begin today in the trial of a man charged with killing a 15-year-old Schenectady baskeball player in June of 2011.[TU]

22 year old Gavin Staulters was sentenced to two to six years in prison after admitting he was drunk when his car struck and killed Ballston Spa teenager Kari Liedel last sumer.[TU]

The New York State Thruway Authority will lay off 234 people, or 8 percent of its workforce. Thruway Authority spksman says the job cuts are not linked to the recent rejection of a toll increase for truckers. [TU] [WNYT]

A new Quinnipiac poll out today shows New Yorkers are about evenly split on hydrofracking, with 43 percent supporting drilling and 42 percent against. [News 10]

The same Quinnipiac poll showed 54 percent of New Yorkers support pay
equity for women .[Capitol Confidential]

Republicans in the State Senate have agreed to support Senator Kathy Marchione's efforts to repeal New York's recently passed gun control legislation. [Saratogian]

Representative Chris Gibson thinks the U.S. Supreme Court will rule that the state's new gun control laws are unconstitutional. [Record]

State Police spoke to an overflow crowd Wednesday night at the Schenectady's County Library in an effort to clear up confusion about New York's new gun laws.[WNYT]

The State Comptroller's office has approved a deal with a Canadian company to produce black and white drivers licenses.[WNYT]

An Albany woman who says she who had her finger nearly bitten off by a man who randomly attacked her at the Pearl Street Pub several weeks ago says police have done nothing to follow up or conduct an investigation.[TU] [WNYT]

A Schuylerville woman has been indicted in the shooting death of her boyfriend last July. [TU]

Troy police arrested a man accused of stealing a bag from a woman on Pawling Avenue on Wednesday.[TU]

In an effort to locate the man who robbed a Trustco bank in Sartoga on Monday, police have released a surveillance photo of the robber. [Saratogian]

A Saratoga teen is charged with stealing a car in the city earlier this month and crashing in Greenfield the next day.[Saratogian]

Police picked up a Troy man for allegedly trying to sell a cell phone back to the victim it was stolen from. [TU]

HVCC's president says the community college is suffering an "unprecedented fiscal crisis" that may push the school to cut $7.8 millon from its $113.9 million budget. [TU]

RPI will bethe first university with access to a Watson system -- artificial intelligence researchers will work to try to improve the system's math skills and ability to figure out the meaning of made-up words.[TU]

Leaders of all the SUNY schools met on Wednesday in Cortland to exchange ideas for sharing services and cutting costs.[YNN]

Schenectady's Club Illusion has had its liquor license suspended after a shooting took place there earlier this month. [YNN]

High winds overnight and this morning have left 4,300 National Grid customers without power in the Capital Region this morning. [TU]

Chuck Schumer says the federal government wants to put more Greek yogurt into school cafeterias, which could boost busness for upstate producers [WNYT]

New York State is auctioning surplus office furniture at the Harriman Office Campus on Monday.[WNYT]

State Police will be cracking down on DWI with extra checkpoints on Super Bowl weekend. [News 10]

"Gingers" descended on Bootleggers in Troy on Wednesday for the first meeting of the League of Extraordinary Redheads. [Record]

The number of kids under 10 in New York State dropped 10.5 percent from 2000 to 2010 -- the fourth largest decline in the nation -- and 7.6 percent in the Capital Region.[TU]

The Labrador retriever is the most popular dog in Albany.[TU]

The town of Malta is getting a 20 acre dog park. [Gazette]

A Facebook map that breaks down NFL fandom by county shows New York state is mostly Giants blue. [TU]