All Over Albany

Former assistant police chief accused of theft, projections for impact of $15 min wage, mapping Albany High School votes

Former Watervliet PD assistant chief accused of theft
A former Watervliet assistant police chief has been charged with grand larceny and falsifying business records in connection with an alleged embezzlement scheme from Parker Brothers Memorial Funeral Home. Mark Fiet, who retired from the police department in 2003, is the second person to be charged in the case. The DA's office says the alleged theft was "in excess of $3000" -- a "a source close to the investigation" tells WNYT the figure is in the hundreds of thousands. [Albany County DA] [TU] [News10] [WNYT]

APD officer under investigation
The Times Union reports an Albany police officer has been placed on administrative duties while Colonie police investigate an incident in which it's alleged the officer "choked and punched a 12-year-old boy" while he was off duty Halloween night. [TU]

Body cameras
A look at how Saratoga Springs police are using new body cameras. [News10]

More details in Schenectady buried-in-basement case
Prosecutors say the man found barely alive under a pile of debris in a Union Street basement near the decomposing body of neighborhood had been there multiple days after being attacked. [Daily Gazette]

$15 minimum wage
A report published by the Empire Center projects that raising the state's minimum wage would result in at least 200,000 fewer jobs created in the state. (Back in July NYT talked with several economists about the large minimum wage increase and described it as "an economics experiment the country has rarely if ever seen before.") [Empire Center] [Daily Gazette] [NYT]

Health Republic
Chris Gibson is calling for the state Comptroller's Office to investigate the fall of Health Republic Insurance of New York, the nonprofit insurance co-op set up under the Affordable Care Act. [TU]

Sheldon Silver case
On Thursday federal prosecutors tried to make the case that relationship between Sheldon Silver and an oncologist was transactional -- the doctor referred patients to Silver's law firm, Silver direct state grants to the doctor -- and cited an email from the doctor to a friend: "I will keep giving cases to Shelly because I may need him in the future -- he is the most powerful man in New York State." [NYT]

Albany High School vote
A map of the vote margins by ward for the Albany High School project vote. [TU]

Money for flooding near Stuyvesant Plaza
Guilderland is in line to get $2.75 million from the state to address the repeated flooding of Western Ave near Stuyvesant Plaza. [TU]

Porous pavement in Albany
A project aimed in part at mitigating storm water flooding in the area of Quail Street in Albany is making use of porous pavement. [TWCN] [TU]

Honest Weight
It appears that Honest Weight has reversed course on the decision to end member discounts for working in the store. [TU]

Jeopardy winner
A Troy native won on Jeopardy Thursday night.

Stuff going on today

It's the weekend. Look for our "stuff to do this weekend" list later this morning.