All Over Albany

It's Election Day, APD investigating homicide, record ridership for Amtrak Empire Service, made in Cohoes and sold at Trader Joe's

Today is Election Day. Polls are open until 9 pm. Don't know where to vote? Look it up via the state Board of Elections site.

Ballots statewide include three ballot question on the back the ballot (so be sure to turn the ballot over). [State of Politics]

The Democratic and Republican parties are bracing for potential recount fights in a handful of close state Senate elections around the state (including the 46th here in the Capital Region) that could decide control of the chamber. [TU]

Among the preparation by the Albany County Board of Election for the polling place on UAlbany's campus today: an attempt to figure out which students live in Albany and which in Guilderland -- the line in some cases runs through individual dorm suites. (The BOE is trying to avoid the problems it experienced at the during the 2012 election.) [TU]

Update: The TU reports a man, the woman's son, has been charged with stabbing her to death. | Albany police say they're investigating the death of a middle-aged woman in a Quail Street residence (map) Monday afternoon, and it's being considered a homicide. APD isn't releasing other details, though a spokesman Steve Smith said detectives were talking several people and "we are confident that there is not reason for the public to be alarmed at this point." Family and friends of the woman gathered for a vigil near the residence Monday evening. [TU] [APD FB] [TWCN] [TU]

Gabriel Vega, accused of killing Vanessa Milligan, allegedly told Troy detectives that he didn't kill her -- that he had been smoking pot and playing video games at the time Milligan was killed, according to court documents. [TU]

State officials said at a forum Monday at UAlbany's school of public health that they're working on regional plan in the (unlikely) event an Ebola case pops up in the Capital Region. The state's current list of hospitals designated as treatment centers for Ebola does not include a Capital Region hospital. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

The proposed Saratoga County budget includes a tax rate decrease of 0.009 percent if the sale of the county nursing home goes through. It would be the first time in four years the county tax rate didn't increase. [Saratogian] [TU] [Daily Gazette]

The Troy City Council proposed a range of budget cuts and potential savings aimed at avoiding the return of state oversight. [TU]

The Saratoga Springs City Council passed a budget with no tax increase. [Daily Gazette]

The long-discussed renovation of the Saratoga Springs Police Department space is almost complete. [WNYT]

Many of the Amtrak routes through Albany-Rensselaer -- including the Empire Service between Albany and NYC -- set ridership records during the system's last fiscal year. [TU] [Amtrak]

A man was seriously injured on the "Canyon Plunge" water slide at the Zoom Flume in Greene County this past August after a lack of coordination among employees working the ride, according to a state Department of Labor investigation report provided to the Times Union by the man's attorney. [TU]

The state's financial services superintendent says his agency is looking at issuing licenses for bitcoin traders and brokers. [TU]

A developer has proposed a four-story mixed-use building with upscale apartments for the vacant lot by Villa Italia on Broadway in downtown Schenectady.

Bilinski's expansion of its product lines includes a turkey sausage for Trader Joe's. [TU]

SUNY chancellor Nancy Zimpher is moving from Menands to a building on State Street in Albany across from Washington Park that's owned by the University at Albany foundation. [TU]