All Over Albany

Soldier originally from Albany area killed in Afghanistan, rally against standardized testing, high school student arrested for alleged threat on Facebook, turtle crossing season

Todd Clark -- an Army lieutenant colonel, Albany-area native, and CBA graduate -- was killed over the weekend while serving in Afghanistan. Clark and two other Americans -- including a Greene County man -- were reportedly shot by an Afghan soldier following an argument. This was Clark's fifth tour overseas, and he had already been awarded a Purple Heart. "The worst day of my life," Clark's father, himself a veteran, told the Times Union of hearing of his son's death. [YNN] [WNYT] [NYT] [News10] [TU]

Saratoga Springs police say a woman died Friday night after being hit by a pickup truck while crossing Ballston Ave near the southern edge of downtown (map). The driver has been charged with first-degree vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. SSPD says the woman was in a cross walk. It's having trouble finding family to notify. [TU] [Saratogian] [News10] [Saratogian]

An estimated 10,000+ people were at the ESP Saturday for a rally against standardized testing in New York schools -- or, as one person described it, "drill, kill, bubble fill." [WNYT] [Daily Gazette] [TU]

The state's tax code has so many tax exemptions that no one is sure exactly how many there are or how much they cost in tax revenue that would otherwise be collected. [TU]

New York State has the highest per pupil spending in then nation, according to a recent report based on census data. [Daily Gazette] [CBC]

If Sheldon Silver were to step down as speaker of the Assembly -- because of scandal, or age, or whatever -- who would be some of the potential successors? [TU]

Once an upstart outsider, Albany County DA David Soares is now the constant as other high profile elected offices around Albany turn over. [TU]

Rensselaer County exec Kathy Jimino and county clerk Frank Merola -- both Republicans -- will run unopposed in the fall for the third straight time. [TU]

An aspiration for Andrew Cuomo's "Tax-Free New York" program: to replicate the success of North Carolina's Research Triangle. [TU]

A Rensselaer County jail sergeant has been arrested and accused of improperly accessing a law enforcement database. [TU]

A Saratoga Springs High School student was arrested after he was accused of saying on Facebook that guns should be brought to school and teachers and underclassmen should be shot.The student has been charged with making a terroristic threat, a felony. Other students tell WNYT the charged student was just making a bad joke. [Saratogian] [Daily Gazette] [WNYT]

A former RPI employee has been indicted on second-degree grand larceny charge for allegedly embezzling more than $350k from the school. (The woman was arrested three years ago.) [TU] [Troy Record]

The two dogs that killed two little dogs in Albany's Arbor Hill neighborhood in April have been euthanized after judge's order. [TU]

A man has been charged with hitting an off-duty Saratoga Springs police officer in a Caroline Street bar. SSPD says the officer, who was there with another off-duty officer, followed protocol and called on-duty officers to handle the matter. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

The case against Dennis Drue, accused of causing the Northway crash that killed two high school students and seriously injured two others, is moving ahead slowly -- a trial date has not yet been set. [Saratogian]

A preliminary NTSB report concludes the volunteer medical flight that crashed in Fulton County on its way back from Boston broke up during flight. [TU]

The Schenectady school board is considering requiring students to stay in school until they're 18. [Daily Gazette]

A vacant house in Albany's West Hill neighborhood partially collapsed Saturday (map). [TU]

A boy was bitten by a fox Sunday in the town of Saratoga -- the boy had apparently been playing outside when the fox attacked unprovoked. The Saratoga County Sheriff's Department says the fox was killed and will be tested for rabies by the DEC. [Saratogian] [News10] [Daily Gazette]

With the Albany convention center project looking like it's dead, speculation is beginning for how else the assembled land could be used. [TU]

Two unions are in competition to represent a group of 150 employees at Skidmore. [Saratogian]

Pretty much everything about the GlobalFoundries site in Malt is big -- the budget, the buildings, the number of workers, the number of permits needed. (Well, except for the chips themselves.) [TU]

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has set up a mobile medical facility in Luther Forest in order to do tests for the annual National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey -- a portion of the participants in this year's survey are coming from Saratoga County. [TU]

It's turtles-crossing-the-road season. [Daily Gazette]