All Over Albany

Assembly finishes up state budget, Troy residents push for more pedestrian-friendly Hoosick Street, temporary reprieve for Wash Ave Amory, Cuse beat Indiana

The state Assembly passed a group of budget bills Thursday, finishing off the legislatures part of the process (the Senate passed its bills earlier this week). It's the third on-time budget in a row. Among the points of contention during debate over the bills: a change to the NY SAFE Act involving the number of rounds in a gun magazine. Also: legislators from both parties criticized cuts to the Office of People With Developmental Disabilities. Legislators contrasted those cuts with tax credits in the budget for movie and TV productions and funding for the Buffalo Bills stadium. [TU] [State of Politics] [TU CapCon] [State of Politics] [NY Now] [AP/Troy Record]

Jim Tedisco on the state's school aid formula and the "bullet aid" to school districts that each chamber of the legislature gets to distribute at its discretion: "You don't use a flawed tool to fix an initially flawed tool." [Daily Gazette]

The Albany school district says its funding in the state budget was unexpectedly reduced by $4.2 million from the figure originally quoted to it by the state. The district says the state made an error in how it counted the city's charter school students. (The charter school situation in the city was already contentious.) [Albany school district] [TU] [TU]

Pablo Cruz -- the driver accused of hitting and killing cyclist Paul Merges in uptown Albany this past November -- has been indicted on a bunch charges, including second-degree murder. Cruz is also accused of DWI. [Albany County DA] [TU]

Ian Eckardt-Rigberg -- convicted for hit-and-run in Arbor Hill in 2011 that killed pedestrian Rozell Whitehead -- was sentenced to 3.5-10 years in prison. [TU]

Public comments at a Troy planning committee meeting Thursday pushed for ways to make Hoosick Street safer for pedestrians. Said one resident of the street: "It's a runway. If you look at the bridge it looks like an airport and people are like planes trying to take off." Another person said crossing the street is "like playing Russian roulette." The family of the mother and child hit while crossing Hoosick Street this week said Thursday the girl is still in intensive care. [Troy Record] [News10] [WNYT] [News10]

A jury found Daquan Jones not guilty of charges related to a shooting of a bystander on the street in North Central last May (map). [Troy Record]

A Saratoga Springs man has filed suit against Saratoga County's Maplewood Manor nursing home for negligence and malpractice in the death of his wife, who received an insulin injection that was intended for her roommate. [Saratogian]

The investigation into Samaritan Hospital medical records illegally accessed via a link with the Rensselaer County jail has widened to include more patients and a longer time span. [TU]

A state Supreme Court judge has denied a request to block the demolition of St. Patrick's in Watervliet, which might have been the last legal challenge to knocking down the church. [TU] [Troy Record]

A state Supreme Court judge has temporarily blocked the city of Albany from banning large dance music shows at the Washington Ave Armory while a legal fight between the city and armory plays out. [TU]

An Albany who pleaded guilty to holding up three pharmacies in order to steal prescription drugs has been sentenced to 13-17 years in prison. [TU]

A Clarksville woman was sentenced to 1-3 years in prison for a crash that injured another driver -- it was determined the woman had pot in her system. [TU]

A Rensselaer County man was sentenced to 1.3-4 years in prison after pleading guilty in Albany County to causing crash that seriously injured a motorcyclist while high on pot. [Daily Gazette]

The Saratoga County Sheriff's Office says it's searching for an armed man who tried to rob the Price Chopper in Malta overnight. [Saratogian]

Nineteen people have been arrested so far as part of an investigation of an alleged drug operation in Saratoga Springs that law enforcement official say has been moving cocaine, heroin, and prescription drugs. [Daily Gazette]

The state's Public Services Commission is considering a rule that would requirement utilities to give customers a rebate for outages longer than three days. [TU]

DEC is planning to spend $795k on the cleanup of a former dry cleaning site in Bethlehem (map). [TU]

Plug Power is considering ways it can keep the company afloat -- including the possibility of selling the company. [TU]

A developer has proposed a six-story hotel on Congress Street in Saratoga. [Saratogian]

The plan for the Esplanade project along the Hudson in Mechanicville now includes 339 apartment units. [Daily Gazette]

The line at the season's opening of Jumpin' Jack's Thursday was 70 people long. [Daily Gazette]

No. 4 seed Syracuse beat #1 seed Indiana 61-50 in the NCAA Tournament round of 16 last night -- the Orange will now play Marquette on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four. [Syracuse Post-Standard]