All Over Albany

Sheriff's sergeant suspended after incident caught on video, man shot five times in Colonie, internal PEF drama, the binary of jumping from a plane

The Saratoga County Sheriff's Department says a sergeant has been suspended after video (embedded above) surfaced of an incident Friday in a Halfmoon parking lot in which it appears the sergeant slapped a man (off camera) and swore at him while trying to get the man to open his car for a search. The man's friend tells News10 the sergeant gave his friend "a good whack to the back of the head." Saratoga County sheriff Michael Zurlo tells the Times Union: "I don't condone activity as it's portrayed and we're going to look into it and we'll handle this quickly and swiftly." The man who says he was slapped tells WNYT that he had a rifle in the back seat of his car that he uses for target shooting. [Post-Star] [News10] [TU] [WNYT]

Colonie police say a man was shot five times Saturday night near the border with the Albany landfill. The man who was shot said he recognized the shooter and Colonie police made an arrest nearby. CPD hasn't shared any info on potential motive. Police say the man is expected to survive.[TU] [Troy Record] [TWCN] [Daily Gazette]

Albany police say a man was shot early Saturday morning in West Hill in what was reported to be a drive-by shooting. [TU]

Authorities say an autopsy on the body found near Freemans Bridge Road is that of a 63-year-old Schenectady man who had not been reported missing. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

APD says it's made an arrest in a June shooting in Sheridan Hollow. [APD]

Rensselaer police are investigating a multi-vehicle crash Sunday that killed a pregnant woman. [TU] [News10]

PEF is experiencing internal drama over a case in which a union leader in Rockland County was suspected of using a union debit card for as much as $30k in personal expenses -- a PEF ethics panel ruled the debit card use "did not meet the legal definition of misappropriation of funds," but critics within in the union say the matter should have been turned over to law enforcement. [TU]

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is pushing back on proposed federal targets for greenhouse gas emissions related to electricity generation, arguing the targets don't adequately take into account the cuts already made by New York and other states participating in the the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. [TU]

The SUNY board has approved a $300 tuition increase (almost 5 percent) for the 2015-2016 academic year. [Buffalo News]

A review of Troy's fiscal situation by the state comptroller's office concludes the city's "general fund is displaying trends of declining financial stability." [NYS OSC] [TU]

Rensselaer is working a plan for redevelopment in its downtown and along its riverfront. [TU]

An Albany County legislator was the co-defendant in a non-criminal violation trespassing case in Washington County that included allegations that "Grown adults ran like chickens with their heads cut off." [TU]

Police say the theft of trophies from the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs last year could be connected to similar thefts from other sports museums. [Daily Gazette]

A seemingly lightly-fictionalized book involving a character very similar to the Niskayuna High School principal -- both the character and actual principal work as sports agents in addition to heading up a school -- has once again prompted discussion about how the actual principal can do both jobs. [TU]

A 100-year-old woman on her skydive in Gansevoort Saturday: "If you get scared, you just land, either alive or dead." She landed alive. [Daily Gazette] [TU]