All Over Albany

Police: Woman killed her two children and herself, casino applications filed, widespread water service outage in Rotterdam

East Greenbush police say a mother killed her two children and herself at a home early Tuesday morning. The woman's brother said he and his brother were awoken by a hissing sound and then realized they had been locked in the room in which they were sleeping -- they then called police. The woman's brother said his sister had recently been released from mental health care -- she had been struggling to deal the suicide of her son. [WNYT] [TU] [TWCN] [News10]

Backers of casino proposals for Amsterdam, Cobleskill, East Greenbush, Rensselaer, and Schenectady filed their casino license applications (by the box-load) with the state Gaming Commission by the Monday deadline. In all, 16 bidders filed applications for 17 casino projects around the state. Among the details to surface were details about the proposed waterfront casino at DeLaet's Landing in Rensselaer. The developer behind the Howe Caverns casino proposal in Cobleskill is a Michigan-based developer, and the operator's board includes Lee Iacocca. In Amsterdam today there's expected to be a parade in support of the proposed casino there -- and anti-casino rally. [Daily Gazette] [Troy Record] [TU] [Daily Gazette] [Daily Gazette] [TU]

The state's highest court ruled 5-2 that local municipalities are within their rights to ban hydrofracking via zoning. More than 80 towns in the state have already banned fracking through zoning, and more than a hundred others have issued moratoriums. [NYS Court of Appeals] [Daily Gazette] [TU]

Someone or some organization is trying to buy up houses adjacent to the NanoCollege. [TU]

(there's more)

New parking system for state employees in downtown Albany

Lots and garages in downtown Albany in which the state controls parking spaces. There's a clickable version of the map over on the state's parking portal.

The state Office of General Services has announced the rollout of a new system for allocating parking spaces to state employees who work in downtown Albany.

The new system starts today with open enrollment via a website: parking.ogs.ny.gov.

OGS is touting the new system as "clear and understandable," something that couldn't be said for the previous system. From the press release:

Historically there has been a confluence of parking systems meshed together. In the past, each agency controlled the majority of its employees' spaces through "agency allocations" using a variety of methods for granting parking, while the remaining spaces were allocated by OGS through a complex waiting list system. Conversely, the new OGS Parking System puts the vast majority of parking spaces into a single, transparent, and equitable general pool, with a small number of spaces being provided to agencies for distribution to executive staffs and for unique operational needs.

Under the new system, State employees who currently have parking will be "grandfathered", meaning they will be able to keep their current space (except for those who obtained their spaces through the TPAI program) or they can choose to compete for a new space based on their State service. Those who do not currently have parking, or who hold a TPAI permit, will also be able to compete for parking based on the length of their State service.

About 1,800 spots in various garages and lots will be up grabs (based on seniority) under the new system.

And a heads up: The system will be using a "parking service date" to determine a state employees seniority. The date will be available by logging into the parking portal -- and if you'd like to contest that date, you must do so by July 25. (OGS says the system includes a field for service date discrepancies.)

(there's more)

Flight Trampoline Park

For years, I would watch my young son practice flips on his gymnastics studio's trampoline, sitting on the sidelines with the other parents and think to myself, "Gosh, that looks like fun" -- knowing that unless I invested hundreds of dollars into my own backyard trampoline, I'd never experience the fun he was experiencing. I was too big. Too old.

Enter Flight Trampoline Park, which recently opened in Colonie. I don't even know how to describe this place. But I'll try.

(there's more)

Advice on renting out a house?

Chris emails:

We're thinking about moving out of state and renting our house in the town of Bethlehem. Can any of your readers recommend a property manager who can be trusted to select good renters and generally do a good job of managing?

Just to expand a bit on the question from Chris, we're curious if people have thoughts/advice on renting out a house in general: property management company vs. no property management company, selecting tenants yourself vs. leaving that to a manager, and so on.

Got a suggestion for Chris? Please share!

photo: Flickr user woodleywonderworks (CC BY 2.0)

Hot? Try wearing a fur coat

Here's a larger version of the pic.

Jeff sent along this photo of bear in the town of Sand Lake today: "This bear was hot and decided to cool off in our pond."

The temperature hit 90 degrees Tuesday afternoon, with a heat index of 96. That's, like, 115 if you're wearing a fur coat.*

(Thanks, Jeff!)

*OK, we might have made the second part up.