All Over Albany

More casino details and reaction, mother charged for allegedly leaving baby in car for 3 minutes, PETA wants monument for cows killed in crash

The identities of prospective operators for casinos in Albany and Schenectady are still unclear, even after the filing of the $1 million fees with the state this week. (Reps for the E23 project in Albany said again Thursday night at a community meeting that they have an operator in place and are currently blocked from disclosing the name by a non-disclosure agreement -- but they said the identity would be revealed soon.) And some of the entities that filed the fee don't have specific sites (publicly) associated with them. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

Public comments at a community meeting in Albany's 1st ward about the E23 proposal frequently focused on jobs -- and how to hold the project's backers to their promises to make those jobs available to city residents. There are appears to be a wide range of initial reaction to a possible Schenectady casino. And opposition is organizing against the East Greenbush casino proposal. [TWCN] [Daily Gazette] [TU]

Noted: The state Gaming Facility Location Board says a casino located on a docked boat would be allowed. [Saratogian]

The Troy City Council has subpoenaed city engineer Russ Reeves and an engineering staffer to testify at a hearing about recent demolition work in the city. (Reeves recently submitted his resignation, apparently out of concern for how the city was handling engineering issues.) [TU]

The Cuomo admin unveiled "an energy modernization initiative that will fundamentally transform the way electricity is distributed and used in New York State." How that will happen, is not exactly clear, but will probably involve new electrical grid technology, and incentives and programs for conservation and distributed generation (like rooftop solar). [Cuomo admin] [TU]

A federal court rejected New York State's $150,000 limit on an individual's contributions to super PACs. [NYT]

The Knox man accused of setting his barn on fire -- and then threatened to shoot responding firefighters -- has pleaded guilty to arson. [Daily Gazette] [TU]

State Police say a Bronx man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after he allegedly hit speeds of 130 mph on the Thruway in Bethlehem -- and troopers found him to be carrying 1.5 pounds of cocaine. [NYSP]

A Ballston Spa woman is facing a misdemeanor child endangerment charge for allegedly leaving her baby in a car at the Saratoga Springs Public Library -- for three minutes. [WNYT]

An environmental group if pushing for the federal EPA to get involved with a state DEC plan for air tests at the Port of Albany related to crude oil operations there. [TU]

Both the Albany school district and the former elementary school principal now working on "special assignment" for the next year following accusations of sexual harassment are trying to get the civil rights claims brought by four teachers dismissed. [TU]

One of the (many) issues related to the Albany County charter review: how any potential changes to the charter would be voted on by the public. [TU]

The topic of more closely regulating convenience stores has surfaced in Troy. (Schenectady has already been talking about it.) [Troy Record]

PETA wants to place a monument in Berne dedicated to the cows that recently died in truck rollover. [TU]

The first tenant of the NanoCollege's Smart Cities Technology Innovation Center at Kiernan Plaza in downtown Albany has moved officially in: CHA, the engineering firm. [Cuomo admin]

Organizers say the Saratoga Invitational Regatta is growing rapidly, year over year. [Saratogian]

Artwork from the Tang Museum's collection appears in the new Spiderman movie. [Post-Star]

There's now a section of forest named for Andrew Cuomo -- in Australia. [TU]