All Over Albany

Troy man to be charged under NY SAFE Act, driver accused of stopping to attack high school student, Sondheim on theater

A Troy man accused of running from police Tuesday night will be charged under the NY SAFE Act after the TPD says officers found the man was carrying a "fully loaded" hand gun with a 13-round magazine (above the limit under the new law). [TPD]

A Clifton Park man is accused of attacking a Schenectady High School student Tuesday morning. Schenectady police he stopped his car after students yelled at him for driving erratically -- it's alleged he then choked the 17-year-old girl and pushed her into bus. [WNYT] [YNN] [Daily Gazette]

Not allowed in at a state Senate public hearing Tuesday about public financing of campaigns : the public. So advocacy groups for public financing passed dollar bills through the hearing room window. A spokesman for Senate Republicans said the room was at capacity, the advocacy groups were attempting to disrupt the hearing. [NYT] [TU] [State of Politics]

A NYPIRG analysis of a state Board of Elections database concludes there have been more than 100,000 violations of the state's campaign finance laws over the last two years (many of the violations are small). [TU CapCon]

Airfares out of ALB were the highest in state during the 4th quarter of 2012 -- though the cost per mile flown on the busiest routes is relatively low compared to other airports -- according to federal data. [TU]

A hazmat team was called to RPI Tuesday, and a dorm evacuated, after a soda bottle burst and a maintenance worker was "exposed to an unknown liquid". Troy police say it appears the bottle had been intentionally filled with chemicals that it would burst when handled. TPD says the maintenance worker appeared not to have been seriously injured. (RPI Reddit thread about the incident.) [News10] [TU] [WNYT] [YNN]

Rensselaer County DA Richard McNally is officially into the pool for the a spot on the bench in the state Supreme Court's Third Judicial District. Two others have also indicated interest in running, including Andrew Ceresia, the son of the departing judge, George Ceresia. [Troy Record] [TU]

A bill in the state Senate would allow school districts to install cameras on buses in order to catch people who illegally drive around buses when the stop arm is extended. [TU]

There's a new reward for info leading to an arrest in the case of the 1991 beating death of Albany 14-year-old Edward "Mitt" Croley. [YNN]

There are three bidders for the never-used Saratoga County landfill. The highest of the three came from Finch Paper. [Saratogian] [Daily Gazette]

The project to redevelop the former Philip Livingston Magnet Academy in Albany into housing for seniors has gotten $4.4 million in grants from the state. [TU]

Faced with the cost of replacing old copper wire infrastructure -- especially in hard to reach areas -- Verizon is looking at switching customers to a wireless service that works like landline. [TU]

A college administrator from Michigan has been picked to as the new president of the Saratoga Springs-based Empire State College. [Daily Gazette]

A SUNY Cobleskill professor will be the next president of UUP, the 35,000 member union for SUNY employees. [Daily Gazette]

Farther afield: City officials in Pittsfield, Massachusetts are evaluating guidelines for medical marijuana dispensaries. The state's first dispensaries could open later this year. [YNN] [AP/Boston.com]

The Albany Academy, the Albany Academy for Girls, and the Emma Willard School are all about 200 years old. [TU]

Stephen Sondheim, talking at HVCC Tuesday night, on theater: "There's nothing like it ... It's being created, live, right in front of you. You are affecting the people on stage and they are affecting you. It's a beautiful two-way street." [Troy Record]
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TPD: Persistent patrol leads to SAFE Act arrest

Troy Police patrols, after dealing earlier in the shift with an unsolved shots fired call, remained vigilant and shortly thereafter apprehended an individual, discovering a fully loaded .9 mm handgun in his possession with a high capacity magazine. The defendant is the first charged in our city under the statute labeled the NYS SAFE Act.

At approximately 10:45 pm information was developed by patrols which drew their attention to a group of 3 male subjects last seen walking in the area south of the shots fired call, which occurred at Jefferson and Third streets at approx. 8:30 pm. Patrols blanketed the area and within minutes a group matching the description of the suspects implicated thus far in the investigation were observed walking on 2nd Street in the area of Madison Street.

Patrols coordinated their approach to the group and converged upon their location. Within seconds, two of the persons were safely detained and a third suspect ran from the scene. Officer Charles Rockwell gave chase and was able to physically engage the suspect. A struggle ensued; backup was there within seconds. As officers attempted to cuff the suspect (Rockwell sustaining a broken hand in the process), the suspect reached for his right side. As the shout of "GUN" reverberated through the air, officers were able to secure a fully loaded .9 mm handgun with 13 rounds of ammunition from the suspect. Officer Rockwell was treated and released from Samaritan Hospital.

Arrested and charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon 2nd degree , Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd (new sub 8 of NYSPL 265.02... large capacity ammunition feeding device), Obstruction of Governmental Administration 2nd, Resisting Arrest, Possession of Marihuana is Raysheem Washington, age 25 of 93 Sixth Ave. 1st floor, Troy. The defendant will be arraigned this morning in Troy Police Court.