Kathy Sheehan is mayor of Albany, Troy police investigate NYE drive-by shooting, teen accused of stealing police car
Kathy Sheehan became Albany's first new mayor in 20 years on Tuesday.
For the first time in 20 years, Albany has a new mayor. Jerry Jennings walked out of City Hall as mayor for the last time on Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning about 600 people were on hand to witness the inauguration of Kathy Sheehan. The new mayor was sworn in at Kiernan Plaza in downtown Albany, where she told the crowd that she wants to make sure each neighborhood in the city is represented.[TWCN][Record][TU][News 10]
Saratoga's new mayor, Joanne Yepsen, took the oath of office on Wednesday. Yepsen says her first order of business is to open government and transparency in the mayor's office. While Yepsen said she isn't opposed to a casino in Saratoga, she said on Wednesday that a casino with a Vegas-type atmosphere "does not have a place in Saratoga Springs," and said she would oppose a casino event space that would cut into bookings for the City Center in downtown Saratoga Springs. [TWCN][Saratogian]
In Schenectady, Democrats John Mootooveren, Carl Erikson and Marion Porterfield took the oath of office for city council. [TU]
Colonie Supervisor Paula Mahan will be sworn in for her new term later today.[TU]
A Queensbury couple is facing animal cruelty charges for allegedly illegally neutering a dog and cat for friends who didn't want to pay for surgery.[Post Star]
CDTA is proposing a transportation hub for all the area's major bus, taxi and limo operations at a cost of $35 to $50 million.[TU]
Andrew Cuomo acknowledged that the two snowstorms affecting both
upstate and downstate could stretch state resources and emergency personnel .[Capitol Confidential]
Police are investigating a New Year's Eve drive-by-shooting on 9th Street in Troy. [Record]
A 15-year-old North Greenbush boy was jailed after allegedly stealing a police car to escape officers who were questioning him at the police station in connection with the theft of a Schodack woman's cellphone. [TU]
Police arrested an Albany man on New Year's Eve who was found hiding out on the 17th floor of a building on the Empire State Plaza.[TU]
Troopers arrested a man in Colonie on Wednesday for allegedly punching the driver of a pick-up truck he was riding in on 787. [News 10]
A Rensselaer man is facing six charges, including aggravated DWI with a child in the
vehicle, after being arrested at a New Year's Eve traffic stop. [News 10]
Moreau's town board approved a resolution asking the state to put one of the four new Vegas-style casinos on the site of the Mt. McGregor Correctional Facility. [WNYT]
State Assemblyman Micah Kellner is appealing an ethics panel finding that he sexually harassed staff members. [News 10]
A former Rensselaer County jail sergeant who was harassed by fellow guards at Rensselaer County Jail has had a $1.5 million judgment in her favor upheld by the state Division of Human Rights.
Signs that the NY SAFE Act isn't being strictly enforced
Parents and students in Schenectady County are upset over a Facebook page set up to humiliate Schenectady middle school girls. [Gazette]
Parents of a ten-year-old Colonie boy who died a year ago are still searching for the cause of the illness that took his life. [TU]
After 63 years of marriage, a Schenectady couple died within hours of each other last weekend. [TU]
The Queensbury town supervisor says he's happy for a firefighter and his fiance who got engaged two days before Christmas, but thinks it might have been poor judgement for them to use a town fire truck and firefighters to evacuate the building where she works as part of the proposal. [WNYT]
Hundreds of people jumped into the freezing cold waters of Lake George on Wednesday for the annual Polar Plunge, the kickoff to the the two month long winter carnival. [TWCN]
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?