All Over Albany

Keeping an eye on level of Normanskill, Comcast-TWC deal off, the old and new pot economies, bison on the run

Normanskill
Some residents along the Normanskill say they're still worried about potential flooding from the landslide this week. The city of Albany announced Friday morning that all 18 holes of the Capital Hills golf course, which borders the landslide area and has been used to access the blockage, will be open this weekend. [TU] [city of Albany press release]

See also: Some number of facts about the Normanskill

Ferguson looked to Albany
The city of Ferguson, Missouri has been in contact with officials in Albany to learn about Albany's experience with community policing, the chair of Albany's Citizens Police Review Board tells WNYT. [WNYT]

Plug pulled on Comcast-TWC merger
Comcast has called off its plan to buy Time Warner Cable after the federal government said it had "significant concerns" that the combined entity would control internet access for too large a portion of the country -- as much as 40 percent. (Consumer advocates had been against the deal from the start -- one had called a merger of the two companies with notoriously bad customer service "badness squared.") TWC has about 300,000 subscribers in the Capital Region. [NYT] [US DOJ] [NYT] [Washington Post 2014] [TU]

Teacher evaluation delay
It looks like the implementation of the state's controversial new teacher evaluation system will be delayed a year -- which is making opponents happy, and the Cuomo admin something less than happy. [TU] [Capital]

Hudson River PCB dredging
Environmental orgs and a public advisory group are pushing for GE to dredge the Champlain Canal, which is not part of the current Hudson River dredging plan. The last scheduled phase of the dredging project is set to start May 6. [TU] [Troy Record]

Broken car windows
Two men -- one from Mechanicville, the other from Berne -- are facing charges related to the damage of more than 100 cars in Schenectady and Saratoga County this week. Statements the pair allegedly made to police indicate the campaign of vandalism started after they failed to buy heroin in Schenectady. [TU] [News10] [Daily Gazette]

Colonie IDA
A state Authorities Budget Office report tags the Colonie Industrial Development Agency for not keeping up its reporting related to projects and employment goals, and criticized the IDA's use of funds for town projects. Joseph LaCivita -- both executive director of the IDA and the town's director of planning and economic development -- pushed back on the office's criticism. [NYS ABO] [TU]

The old and, potentially, new pot economies
Two headlines for today:
+ Troopers: Marijuana factory uncovered in Amsterdam [TU]
+ North Country businessmen aim to fire up medicinal pot facility [Daily Gazette]

Capital City Fund
The city of Albany has set up a charitable fund to collect and grant money for arts and community events. [City of Albany] [TU]

Bison on the lam
A herd of bison is on the run in Bethlehem. It sounds like the bison escaped a farm in Schodack and crossed the Hudson. [News10] [TU]

Fact

Because of yesterday's snow: The latest snowfall on record for Albany was May 28 in 1902. (The average last snowfall is April 15.) [NWS Albany]

Stuff going on

It's Friday, thankfully. Look for our "Stuff to do this weekend" post later this morning.