All Over Albany

Investigation into plane crash in Saratoga County, lawsuits criticize jail medical services, Albany council to vote on parks smoking ban, biking with Bernie

Federal and local officials are investigating what prompted a small airplane to crash in northern Saratoga County Saturday, killing the two men on board. Officials say the plane had picked up an advertising banner shortly before veering off course and crashing. Said a witness to WNYT: "I seen the plane hit the top of the trees and then nose-dive into the ground." [TU] [TWCN] [Post-Star] [WNYT]

Troy police say a Putnam County 18 year old has been arrested for a fatal stabbing in South Troy this past March. [TU]

Charles Wilkinson -- the 68-year-old Malta man accused of fatally strangling his wife of 46 years in their home in May -- pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder on Friday. [Daily Gazette]

A former Albany County jail inmate has filed a lawsuit alleging the company that provides medical services at the jail put off providing the proper treatment for a knee injury for weeks and the man has now suffered a permanent injury. That same company, Correctional Medical Care, is also the target of a suit in Schenectady County alleging it mishandled the care of a woman suffering from heroin withdrawal -- the woman later died in a hospital. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

A coalition of good-government groups -- "No To Fake Redistricting Reform" -- is arguing the proposed state constitution amendment that would create a commission for redistricting is confusing and misleading. [TU]

The Albany Common Council is scheduled to vote on legislation Monday night that would ban smoking in all areas of city parks. [TU]

Albany Common Councilman Mark Robinson says he's decided to not purse his complaint of alleged mistreatment against the Albany Police Department after meeting with department leaders. [TU]

Today (Monday) marks 10 years since the raid of the Masjid As-Salam mosque on Central Ave in Albany and the arrests of Yassin Aref and Mohammed M. Hossain after an FBI sting approached them to launder money as part of a fictitious plot involving a shoulder-fired missile. [TU]

A man who had been out of prison for 11 months after serving almost three decades for a murder conviction is back in jail after East Greebush police say he tried to leave a Price Chopper without paying for "a huge amount of meat." [TU]

A Schenectady City Court judge has ordered the two dogs that killed a dog last month returned to city custody after they were taken from a kennel by their family and placed "in the country." [Daily Gazette]

Said a witness of a car crash on Western Ave near Stuyvesant Plaza Sunday that snapped a utility pole, to TWCN: "Honestly it was almost as high as the telephone pole. It's just like when you see at racetrack when a car flips up." The car's driver was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. [TWCN] [News10]

Troy police are investigating two cars that were crashed into a building in North Central Sunday night. [News10]

New York's Good Samaritan law has a provision that protects people reporting drug overdoses from prosecution for drug crimes -- though there are some indications local enforcement officials aren't up on the details of the provision. [Troy Record]

State attorney general Eric Schneiderman was in Schenectady Friday to announce a pool of $20 million would be available to land banks later this year. [Daily Gazette]

Among the proposed ways of dealing with the tiny nuclear reactor at the Alco site in Schenectady, which is in line to become a new mixed-used development and possible casino site: disguising it as a lighthouse. [Daily Gazette]

NYRA is counting the 6,000+ season pass holders as part of the attendance at the Saratoga Race Course each day -- whether those people showed up or not. (NYRA sold about 5,000 more passes this season compared to last.) [Saratogian]

Marcia White, who's headed SPAC for 10 summers now: "If there's a choice between doing something unpopular but keeping the doors open or just keep going down the same old path until you run out of money, I'm going to make the unpopular decision." [TU]

An Albany family of 10 that had been homeless following a recent fire has been aided by an outpouring of donations from the public. [TU]

A 9-year-old from Ballston Spa who has cancer recently got the chance to ride bikes through the Glenmont Walmart with former Yankee Bernie Williams. [Daily Gazette]