All Over Albany

Huge crowd expected in Saratoga Springs this weekend, Saint Rose facing faculty and program cuts, the pigeon whisperer of Schenectady

American Pharoah/Travers
Saratoga Springs police say they're expecting more than 100,000 people in Saratoga Springs Saturday for the Travers, and multiple agencies have been drawn in to help handle traffic and crowds. There will also be increased security at the Saratoga Race Course, with hand-held metal detectors screenings at the entrances. [TU] [Daily Gazette] [Saratogian]

American Pharoah's workout this morning at The Track drew an estimated 15,000 people. [@CBS6Torie]

Lansingburgh police shooting
Officials say Troy police Officer Joshua Comitale is now out of intensive care. Troy have said he was shot in both legs during the shooting in Lansingburgh last weekend. [TU]

Colonie Center shooting
Colonie police say they have a suspect in the shooting outside the mall, but have not made an arrest. [TU]

Faculty cuts at Saint Rose
Facing a structural budget deficit and operating shortfalls, the College of Saint Rose told faculty and staff members this week that the school is going into "retrenchment," which will include faculty layoffs and program cuts. [TU]

Albany County exec race
Digging into some of the policy claims and accusations in the race for Albany County exec, on taxes and aid for seniors. [TU] [TU+]

Golubs and the Schenectady mayoral race
Neil and Jane Golub are continuing to be a strong backers of Schenectady mayoral challenger Roger Hull. (Though they've also donated to incumbent Gary McCarthy.) [TU+]

LLC loophole
The state Board of Election's chief enforcement attorney recently filed a lawsuit that could chip away at large coordinated campaign contributions through the "LLC loophole" -- a practice that benefited many candidates, including Andrew Cuomo. [TU+]

On-call for retail employees
It appears pressure from state attorney general Eric Schneiderman has helped prompt retail chains, including the Gap, to end on-call shifts at their stores. [TU]

Wedged car
A car got wedged into a narrow space between an apartment building and a retaining wall in Defreestville -- somehow. [WNYT]

Cohoes Armory
The Cohoes Armory has new owners, but plans for the building aren't public, yet. [Troy Record]

Barbara Blanchard
Art Edelstein, the husband of former Schenectady council member and longtime city advocate Barbara Blanchard, on his wife's death this week: "She did things that mattered to her and that she thought mattered to her community ... She believed in her street, her neighborhood and her city." [Daily Gazette]

Doug Lyall
Doug Lyall -- the father of Suzanne Lyall, the UAlbany student who disappeared in 1998 -- has died. After Suzanne Lyall's disappearance, her parents became advocates for laws and initiatives aimed at helping missing persons and their families. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

Modern art donation
Schenectady architect Werner Feibes on donating his and his late partner's collection of modern art to the Hyde Collection: "You can't own art ... It's meant to be seen and enjoyed by people." [TU+]

The pigeon whisperer
A Schenectady parking lot attendant has been drawing pigeons and spectators. [Daily Gazette]

Pharoah

American Pharoah glides over the stretch to a booming #Saratoga crowd this morning! pic.twitter.com/bPSA8zLLaL

— NYRA (@TheNYRA) August 28, 2015

Stuff going on today

It's weekend. Hooray. Look for out "stuff to do this weekend" post later this morning.