All Over Albany

Gruesome testimony in Poulin trial, Troy trying to claim properties from adjacent towns, chase ends in crash into bank building

From the testimony of Cheryl Pang-Born* at the trial of Rory Poulin, accused of murdering his longtime partner Margaret Jordan in North Greenbush: "She (Meg) had her head down and she had a beer in her hand ... Then I jumped up and saw her head was gone and I just started freaking out." On cross examination by the defense, Pang-Born testified that Poulin appeared to be in a "state of shock" about what had just happened (the defense has argued the shooting was an accident). *Her name has been spelled Pang-Born, Pangborn, and Pangburn in various reports. [Troy Record] [TU]

Attorneys for Timothy McGinn and David Smith, the Albany brokers convicted of defrauding investors, have asked the federal judge in the case for sentences of of less than 10 years Federal prosecutors have asked for life in prison. Smith's attorney noted in a sentencing memorandum that such a sentence would be much more than what Kenneth Lay and Jeffery Skilling got for the Enron case. [TU] [TU] [Daily Gazette]

The Massachusetts AG's office says Andrew Gause -- the Troy woman accused of defrauding the victims' fund for the Boston Marathon bombings -- has been transported to Boston and is scheduled to be arraigned today. [Troy Record] [TU]

Albany fire chief Robert Forezzi on the possibility of an oil tanker train crash in the area, like the one recently in Quebec: "I feel confident if we have an incident, we can handle and combat it." A handful of track-side residents expressed their safety concerns at a forum Thursday night. [TU] [WNYT]

Unclear: What exactly UAlbany would be getting out of the proposed spin off of the NanoCollege. [TU]

A large portion of the campaign money donated so far for the 19th Congressional District -- in which Chris Gibson is facing a possible challenge from Democrat Sean Eldridge -- has come from outside the district. [TU]

Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that prohibits smoking on, or immediately next to, the grounds of hospitals and nursing homes in the state. (The bill allows smoking in designated smoking areas, with some qualifications.) [News10] [Open Senate]

The city of Troy is arguing that more than 60 properties in adjoining municipalities are actually in the city and should be on the city's tax rolls. [Troy Record]

Glenville supervisor Chris Koetzle on the town's effort to safeguard its water supply from the threat of flooding: "It's funny, everyone talks about this 100-year, 500-year flood stuff. In the past three years we've had three events that were deemed 100-year events. We're in a different time now. These 100-year and 500-year levels aren't really an accurate depiction of what may happen at any given time anymore." [Daily Gazette]

Police say a woman crashed an SUV into a bank building in Rotterdam Thursday evening following a chase through Schenectady and Rotterdam (map). The driver and a passenger have been charged. This isn't the driver's first brush with the law and reckless driving. [Daily Gazette] [News10] [TU]

Albany County is collecting information on which gas stations treat debit card purchases like credit card purchases instead of like cash. [Troy Record] Earlier: New York State and credit card "checkout fees"

The Albany Fire Department has a new fire boat. [TU]

TCI -- the company whose Columbia County recycling plant was destroyed in a huge fire last summer -- is looking at Coeymans as a potential new permanent location. [TU]

A truck carrying 80,000 pounds of grapes got stuck on the ramp leading from Crossgates to the Northway Thursday. [WNYT]