All Over Albany

Capital Region denied state land bank cash, Saratoga row house fire declared arson, Holloway hopes to buy back Stephentown home, Capitol bathroom set free -- again

The Capital Region was one of two regions in the state that did not get any of the more than $12 million in state land bank funding. The region did get $150,000 to help reapply next year for the grants, meant to come up with creative ways to steer foreclosed properties toward redevelopment.[TU][Daily Gazette]

Police say the fire that destroyed several Woodlawn Avenue apartment buildings in Saratoga Springs in August was a case of arson. After a three-month investigation, officials concluded that flammable liquid was used at two points -- 106 and 108 Woodlawn -- and say they have people of interest in the case. [WNYT][Saratogian][News 10]

Fire that damaged the newly-expanded Wilton YMCA has been called "very, very suspicious" by the Greenfield fire chief. [Saratogian]

Schenectady's City Council has come to agreement on a $79 million 2014 budget, which includes a 0.96 percent tax increase. [Daily Gazette]

Marking a year since Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast. [AP/TU]

As part of a plea deal that will give her 15 years in prison, a Schenectady woman confessed to fatally stabbing her longtime boyfriend during an argument in their kitchen in August 2012. [Daily Gazette]

Following a three-month investigation, policeissued a ticket for failure to yield the right of way to a Massachusetts woman whose car hit a motorcycle outside SPAC in August, resulting in the death of the motorcyclist. Police say Deborah Powell was driving less than 5 miles per hour when she turned left and hit the motorcycle, operated by Christopher Thomas of Troy -- who police say was operating the motorcycle with a suspended license at a speed of about 54 miles per hour.[TU] [Saratogian]

No tickets were issued in a fatal accident in which a tractor trailer hit a bicyclist in Saratoga in August, after an investigation concluded fatigue on the part of the bicyclist likely led to the incident. [Saratogian]

Colonie Police say they're investigating a series of "smash and grabs" in which people are breaking car windows and stealing items from vehicles parked at The Crossings. [WNYT]

Fire officials in Schenectady are looking for the cause of a fire that destroyed a Schenectady garage overnight.[YNN]

Three Bethlehem Highway Department workers were treated for injuries after a department truck collided with a tractor-trailer on Tuesday morning at the intersection of Old Town Road and 9W in Selkirk. [TU]

After a six-month, nationwide search and some public discord among its members, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics announced it's hiring a lawyer close to Andrew Cuomo as the new Integrity Operations Director.[TU]

There's a rift between Andrew Cuomo and New York's top judge over a ballot measure that would allow state Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges to serve until the age of 80. [NYT]

The old Phillip Schuyler School on Western Avenue in Albany is the first site in the city to be considered for Andrew Cuomo's tax free START-UP NY program. [Capitol Confidential]

Malta's ethics committee wants the town clerk to be censured for having town employees do political work -- and wants its findings released to the public before election day. [TU]

An overview of Troy's Council elections.[TU]

The owner of DeJohn's and Legends on Lark Street in Albany says he was losing as much as $30,000 a month by being forced to close the bars at 2 am rather than 4 am.[TU]

Parents of about 20 Mont Pleasant Middle School students have requested transfers out of the fight-plagued school to other schools in the district. [Gazette]

Brian Holloway says he hopes to buy his Stephentown home back from Berkshire Bank and have the home serve "a community based purpose." (It was bought by the bank at auction this week.) [YNN]

Columbia High School in East Greenbush held an evacuation drill in which the entire student body was transported from the school grounds. [Record]

State troopers are on Pumpkin Patrol for the next couple of nights. [News 10]

It could take three years for Schenectady to completely make the switch to pay-and-display parking kiosks downtown. [TU]

A Scotia womanis looking for the people behind the portraits left behind by her late mother. [News 10]

A 28-year-old Albany man has achieved a rare feat among collectors -- after ten years he has amassed an entire collection of first edition the City Lights Pocket Poets series.[TU]

The men's room outside The War Room at the Capitol is, once again, open to the public. [Capitol Confidential]