All Over Albany

State of the State topics include education and tax cuts, fracking protests outside SOTS but no mention inside, Clifton Park woman won't be the biggest loser

Among the topics in Andrew Cuomo's State of the State address: universal pre-k, "smart" classrooms, the state of education, ethics reform, government consolidation, and medical marijuana. Here's a quick scan of the speech. [NYT][WNYT][News 10][AOA]

While some were encouraged by the speech, others are skeptical about how the state will pay for some of the governor's initiatives.[Capitol Confidential][Record]

Hydrofracking wasn't mentioned in the State of the State address, but anti-fracking advocates protested outside the Capitol on Wednesday. Among the anti-fracking activists: a Buddhist nun who was the force behind the Grafton Peace Pagoda and led a 50-mile anti-fracking walk from Sharon Springs to the Empire State Plaza in the frigid temperatures.[WNYT][TWCN] [TU]

Saratoga Springs police are investigating the death of a local man found at the Hilton Garden Inn who may have overdosed on heroin.[TU]

A Niskayuna man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the Christmas Eve murder of his estranged wife in Lake Luzerne. [TU]

The Rensselaer County man who avoided rape charges last year due to an error by the Rensselaer County DA's office appeared in court this morning in connection with a Thanksgiving burglary in Colonie, and rejected a plea deal. [TU]

The death of an Iraq vet from Schenectady in Fort Hood, Texas earlier this week has been ruled a suicide.[TU]

Schenectady police say they have a witness who claims the man charged with killing an 82-year-old nun in 2012 tried to trade a rosary for marijuana .[Gazette]

Fire damaged a Schenectady residence for the homeless on Lower Broadway on Wednesday morning. About 25 people who were living in the building will need temporary housing, but no one was injured. [TU]

A federal judge fined the former Upstate Laboratories $150,000 and placed it on a five-year probation after company officials admitted they falsified results of more than 3,000 tests on water and soil samples. [WNYT]

According to First Columbia, since 600 state Department of Health employees were relocated from the Hedley Building in Troy in 2012, new businesses have moved in, bringing more than 500 new jobs -- with a total of about 900 people working in the building now. [Record]

A western New York company has been awarded a $1.6 million contract to demolish two buildings at the Harriman State Office Campus that have been scheduled to be torn down for about five years. [Gazette]

Developers expect to break ground on construction of the $20 million mixed use project in Rensselaer called de Laet's Landing this spring and say the project will go ahead with or without a casino. [Business Review]

the Saratoga Springs Code Blue homeless shelter is up and running. [Gazette]

Ice jams on Kayaderosseras Creek are causing flooding in some Ballston Spa basements. [Saratogian]

A burst pipe at the TU Center will close Wolff's 1-11 restaurant there for about three weeks. [TU]

Clifton Park's Tumi Oguntala was voted off The Biggest Loser by her fellow contestants this week. [TU]