All Over Albany

Two shootings in Troy, a loophole that can fit armored trucks of money, Air Force Something

Troy shootings
Troy police say they believe two shootings Thursday evening in North Central (map) are connected. Witnesses say a teen playing on a nearby basketball court was hit -- a witness tells WNYT there were 60-70 kids in the park at the time. [News10] [Troy Record] [WNYT]

Guilty plea in Albany domestic shooting death
Damien Zervos of Albany pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Charee Akins-Maddox in their Lark Street home, while four children were there, in October 2013. [Albany County DA] [TU 2013 October]

Reviewing the police
A man says he had his hands "stomped on" by a Colonie police officer near the scene of the fatal train collision with a pedestrian this week. The CPD chief says the department is investigating. [News10] [TU]

In Troy: The city's Police Objective Review Committee doesn't have its required number of members, nor has it filed its annual report that was due in February. [TU]

Dean Skelos
After NYT's report this week that Dean Skelos and his son are under investigation by the feds, Skelos released a brief public statement Thursday: "I have and will continue to cooperate with any inquiry." Also: A "source" tells the Daily News that federal prosecutors were asking questions about the lobbying arm of the law firm for which Dean Skelos works. [NYT] [TU] [NYDN]

Loopholes and movie studio money
The state Board of Elections deadlocked on a vote to close the LLC loophole in the state's campaign finance rules. NYPIRG's Blair Horner to TWCN about it: "The LLC loophole is a huge loophole that armored trucks filled with money roll through now." [NYT] [TWCN]

Cut to: Hacked Sony Pictures emails released this week that include back-and-forth between the Cuomo campaign and the film studio as the campaign tries to get $50k (and a plane ride) from the studio and its execs. [Capital]

Lawsuit over Albany County toy law
National trade groups have filed a federal lawsuit over Albany County's "toxic toy" law, which bans toys that include a range of toxic substances, arguing it's unconstitutional. [TU]

Who's running for mayor?
Current Cohoes mayor George Primeau says he might actually end up running after all. His decision is potentially important for county politics because Albany County Legislature chair Shawn Morse is apparently thinking about a run for Cohoes mayor. [TU x2]

Across the river in Troy: Here's where things stand for who's in -- and possibly in -- for mayor of Troy. [Troy Record]

Air Force Something
A jet that sometimes services as Air Force Two was doing touch-and-go landings at ALB Thursday. [Daily Gazette]

Retail rumor of the day
A new development with large retail near the Times Union building in Colonie is rumored to be the latest possible site of a Cabela's. [Biz Review]

Quote

"We've been fighting that battle since we've been here, so I just decided I wasn't going to fight it anymore."

- Keith Buhrmaster of Buhrmaster's Farm in Glenville about tearing out the last of the farm's apple trees, in part because of suburban neighbor complaints about spraying the trees. [Daily Gazette]

Stuff going on

It's Friday. Hooray. Look for our stuff to do this weekend post a little later this morning.