All Over Albany

Troy protest and meeting on alleged police brutality, Niskayuna school gets one year reprieve, Tkaczyk proposes bill to give municipalities a say on casinos, it's snowing

It's snowing. Most area schools have a snow day today, and so does the state legislature. ALB is open but there are some cancellations and delays. Andrew Cuomo has closed I-84 from the Pennsylvania to the Connecticut state lines because of the snowstorm.[Weather Channel][TU][News 10][TU]

Several dozen people protested against police brutality Tuesday night ahead a Troy City Council public safety committee hearing about the incident last week at Kokopellis. At the packed gathering there were renewed calls for an external investigation of the night club incident and calls by some to drop the charges against those arrested and suspend officers who used batons, pending further investigation. [TWCN][TU][Record]

The state Senatepassed a bill Tuesday that would ban the use of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards for the purchase of cigarettes, alcohol, lottery tickets and ban recipients from using the cards to get cash at ATMs in bars and strip clubs. (The bill has previously stalled in the state Assembly.) [Capitol Confidential][News 10]

Dean Skelos and Sheldon Silver are both calling on the state Education Department to delay the rollout of Common Core standards for at least two years. Andrew Cuomo says it would be premature to consider the change before a panel he recommended to examine Common Core completed its work. [WNYT][NYT]

Cecilia Tkaczyk and state Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) have proposed a bill that would give municipalities the final say over whether a casino can be located in their community. [Saratogian]

The Niskayuna school board tabled a vote on closing Birchwood Elementary School Tuesday, allowing the school to remain open at least one more year.[TWCN]

Senate Democrats are fast tracking legislation to raise the state's minimum wage to $9 per hour.[TU]

Saratoga's public safety commissioner is planning to renew his call to roll back closing time from 4am to 3am for the city's bars.[WNYT]

Assemblyman Jim Tedisco is among a group of state legislators pushing for a legislative internship program for disabled veterans.[TWCN]

A husband and wife from Cohoes were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly accepting social service payments while he was employed as a translator in Afghanistan making $150,000 a year. The couple's son was also arrested for hindering prosecution. [TU][News 10]

Colonie police believe a robbery at a Mini Mart on Exchange Street early Tuesday morning may be connected to a similar robbery at a gas station in Albany on Monday.[TU]

A case of measles has been confirmed at RPI and it's possible that exposure may extend beyond the campus. [TU][WNYT]

Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy is making plans to knock down as many as 150 vacant buildings this year, which could come at a cost of nearly $4.5 million. [Gazette]

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Saratoga County's bond rating, in part because of the county's diminishing surplus stemming for county operation of Maplewood Manor Nursing Home.[TU]

Kathy Sheehan has tapped Executive Deputy Chief and 42 year veteran Warren W. Abriel Jr. to be the new chief of the city's Department of Fire & Emergency Services, subject to Common Council approval. [Record]

An Albany man was sentenced on Tuesday to five years in prison for burglarizing three homes in the city last year.[WNYT]

The Rensselaer County Sheriff's Department is using a new drug to help reverse the effects of a heroin overdose[WNYT]

The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association says it's membership has nearly doubled since the passage of the NY SAFE Act.[TU]

Activists protested outside the Leo O'Brien Federal Building against the proposed 900-mile long Keystone XL oil pipline.[WNYT]

Deputy Albany City Clerk Regina Goodbee, who has been the city's 1stWard Leader for 15 years, has been fired from her Clerk post.[TU]

A third defendant in an Albany check cashing scheme was sentenced to a year in prison on felony forgery charges. [TU]

A former Capital Region woman who was convicted of torturing an killing a mentally impaired man she lured to Texas by promising to marry him, was scheduled to be executed in Texas today. [Gazette]

A Troy may will spend up to four years in prison for reckless driving after pleading guilty to reckless endangerment for driving erratically at 100 mph on the Northway, and causing a crash that nearly injured a state trooper. [Record]

About 900 Troy residents lost power overnight when a car hit a utility pole at the intersection of Spring Ave and Walker Street.[Record]

The family of Jonathan Schaff, a Granville man who has been missing since he disappeared after leaving a bar in the village two weeks ago, is asking for help and support in their efforts to find him. [TU]

A block of downtown Ballston Spa was closed on Tuesday while road crews worked on a sink hole that opened near the intersection of Bath Street and Front Street.[TWCN]

U.S Secretary of Agriculture, former Iowa governor and Albany Law School alum Tom Vilsack will be the keynote speaker at the law schools 2014 graduation ceremony. [TU]

Cumberland farms opened its new concept store in Troy on Tuesday.
[Record]

A Capital Region woman who lost 175 pounds won the "at home" prize on the Biggest Loser on Tuesday.[TU]