All Over Albany

Suspect in Porreca murder former high school honor student/athlete, Gibson eyes gubernatorial run, Silver trial focused on definition of friendship, breaking down the Albany High vote

Porreca murder update
Police have ended their search of the Washington Park lake for the knife used to murder Jacquelyn Porreca. Just five years ago, one of the suspects in the murder was an honor student and star athlete at Colonie Central High School. Police say the suspects were looking for money to fuel their heroin habit. Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple says out of the 650 inmates in the county jail, more than two-thirds, are there because of heroin.[News 10][TU][WNYT][WNYT]

Friends with Shelly?
The outcome of Sheldon Silver's corruption trial may rest, in part, on how jurors perceive his friendship with a Columbia University doctor. [NYT]

Governor Gibson?
Chris Gibson is continuing to consider a run for governor. [TU]

Medical Marijuana
Andrew Cuomo has approved an Emergency Access Program to give some patients with serious illness faster access to medical marijuana.[TU][Gazette]

Marijuana harvest
The first legal marijuana harvest since the early 1900s will happen today in Perth. [TU]

Albany high school by district
Absentee votes are still being counted, but here is a look at how districts voted so far on the proposal to build a new Albany High School. [TU]

Mid-day bank robbery at WalMart
A bank robber got away with an undisclosed amount of cash after robbing the Woodforest Bank inside the Crossgates Commons WalMart on Wednesday afternoon. [WNYT]

Rensselaer County drinking water protections
Rensselaer County legislators and activists reached an agreement this week on a drinking water protection law that would regulate blasting and is pretty clearly aimed at th at the Northeast Energy Direct Pipeline. [TU]

Woman injured in Troy fire
A woman was badly burned in an apartment fire in Troy overnight .[WNYT]

Jail upgrades
In the wake of the high profile Dannemora prison break, Albany County jail is planning $283,000 in security upgrades. [TU+]

GlobalFoundries jobs up for the year
In spite of about 80 recent layoffs, GlobalFoundries Fab8 factory will be up 500 jobs overall by the end of the year. [TU]

Silver Alert
A Silver Alert has been issued for a missing elderly woman in Schenectady.
[News 10]

White House honors Schenectady for assisting vets
Schenectady has been honored by The White House along with Syracuse and Las Vegas for its efforts to house homeless vets . [Gazette]

Bridge named for Troy hero
The 97 year old mother of a Troy man killed in action in Vietnam was on hand Wednesday when a bridge in Troy was named in honor of her late son. [TU]

Winter is coming
Schenectady's school district is considering scrapping one-hour delays and limiting night before cancellations as it reconsiders its snow day policy.[TU]

A reminder that the holiday season is on the way
A Rotterdam spruce tree is on its way to the Empire State Plaza.[TU]

Mother Hill
The woman known as Mother Hill celebrated 100 years this week with friends at Wilborn Temple, and recalled leaving the Jim Crow south to come north to Philadelphia and eventually, Albany. [TU+]

Happening today

The New Bread Basket
Amy Halloran will be at The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy to talk about her new book, The New Bread Basket: How the New Crop of Grain Growers, Plant Breeders, Maltsters, Bakers, Brewers, and Local Food Activists Are Redefining Our Daily Loaf. Blurbage:

In "The New Bread Basket" Amy Halloran channels her four-decade obsession with pancakes into an exploration of regional grain production, and she introduces readers to dozens of people who are reconnecting us to local grains: From a couple in Massachusetts who opened the first malthouse in New England in 100 years to a researcher at Washington State University developing a model to support grain growing outside of the traditional wheat belt.

Thursday 7 pm - $10 / $5 students

Gordon Lightfoot at Troy Music Hall
"Featuring his well known hits and deep album cuts, all woven together with some of Lightfoot's own behind the scenes stories and personal anecdotes." 8 pm - $44 and up

Jessica Lea Mayfield at Helsinki Hudson
Rock. With: The Suitcase Junket. 8 pm - $15

Tragedy: All Metal Tribute to the Bee Gees and Beyond at The Hollow
"This band of flamboyant men dressed in spandex, leather and sequins, takes your favorite Bee Gees, disco and soft-rock classics and reinvents them in a Heavy Metal fashion." 9 pm - $12 ahead / $15 day of