All Over Albany

Hurricane projected to turn away from East Coast, proposed Albany budget leans on large chunk of new state aid, home at last

Hurricane Joaquin
The latest forecast now projects that Hurricane Joaquin will follow a path farther out in the Atlantic, missing the US East Coast. (Forecasts earlier in the week had projected a possible landfall along the upper East Coast sometime late this coming weekend.) [National Hurricane Center]

Albany budget
Kathy Sheehan released her proposed 2016 budget for the city of Albany, and it counts on an additional $12.5 million in state aid -- a plan already catching criticism from some Common Council members. The proposed budget would also add a per-unit trash collection fee for small apartment buildings. [Sheehan admin] [TU] [TWCN]

Troy budget
Lou Rosamilia's proposed 2016 budget for the city of Troy includes a 9.3 percent tax rate increase. [TU]

Schenectady budget
Gary McCarthy's proposed 2016 budget for the city of Schenectady includes a slightly lower tax levy. And McCarthy is projecting an across-the-board 10-percent tax cut in 2017 because of anticipated casino payments. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

Vanessa Milligan case
During a pretrial hearing Thursday in the second-degree murder case against Garbriel Vega for the death of Vanessa Milligan in Lansingburgh a Troy police detective testified that TPD has a witness who says she saw Vega run from Milligan's residence. Vega's attorney said it was "an interesting circumstance" the the witness both happened to be driving by the residence at that time and also happened to know a detective working the case. [TU] [WNYT]

Hudson River PCB dredging
As environmental groups continue to push for an extension of GE's dredging of the Hudson River, an EPA official expressed doubt the agency is on solid legal ground to demand the extension. [Saratogian] [TU]

Schenectady mayoral race
Challenger Roger Hull touted his plans for neighborhood redevelopment, citing his work with Union College to make over an area adjacent to campus in the late 1990s. Gary McCarthy questioned the replicability of Hull's plan, calling it "lunacy." [TU] [Daily Gazette]

JCOPE
The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics is without an executive director and the Times Union reports there's "little public indication" that the panel is conducting the wide search for a new exec director as it promised. [TU+]

Higher speed internet
Staffers for the state Public Service Commission are recommending that, as part of the proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable, the PSC consider requiring Charter Communications to build internet service networks capable or providing gigabit speeds to customers in markets such as Albany. [TU]

Bagged
Angela Lopez, locally infamous for showing up to a welfare fraud arraignment with a designer handbag, has been arrested for allegedly shoplifting from Boscov's (she's accused of putting a necklace and perfume in her bag and leaving without paying). [TU]

Xander
Saratoga Springs police say the actor who played Xander on Buffy, Nicholas Brendon, was arrested earlier this week after a fight with a woman -- he's accused of strangling the woman in a hotel room. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

Sandra Lee
Sandra Lee was at Proctors Thursday night discussing her recent experience with breast cancer. [Daily Gazette]

Home at last
A dog that lived in the woods in Guilderland for months has finally found a new home. [TU]

Stuff going on

Hey, it's weekend. Look for out "Stuff to do this weekend" post later this morning.