All Over Albany

DA shows UAlbany bus incident video to group of leaders, charting the timeline on the Hoosick Falls situation, homeless shelters facing space crunch

UAlbany bus incident
Albany County DA David Soares showed video of the UAlbany bus incident to a group of community and university leaders Friday afternoon. Alice Green, executive director of the Center for Law and Justice, was part of the group: "It was very confusing, very difficult to tell what was going on, but we haven't heard, at least I haven't heard, any racial slurs." Albany Common Council president Carolyn McLaughlin was also part of the group and said the crowded bus made it hard to see what exactly happened. Soares on why he showed the video to the group: "There is a social media component here that is moving at a much faster clip than the actual truth-seeking, fact-finding investigation, and ... people are arriving at conclusions that are based upon the words and hearsay of individuals. We can't engage in that." [News10] [WNYT] [TWCN] [TU]

Hoosick Falls water
The Times Union reports that documents and emails indicate the state Department of Health had some of knowledge of PFOA contamination of the Hoosick Falls water supply as far back as August 2014 -- but unclear information and regulations contributed to a delay in the public being notified. [TU]

State and local officials -- including Congressman Chris Gibson -- were in Hoosick Falls Saturday to learn about the new water filtration system. Also: a survey of the various law firms currently vying for business in Hoosick Falls. [News10] [TU+]

Homeless shelters
Andrew Cuomo's recent executive order requiring local governments to help usher homeless people into shelters when the temperature drops below freezing has prompted a space and funding crunch at Capital Region homeless shelters. A Schenectady church pastor has been sleeping outside in the cold in solidarity with homeless people there. [TU+] [News10]

Guns
Gun control advocates say New York State laws prohibiting people convicted of domestic violence from owning a gun are inconsistently enforced, in part because of confusion over the laws. [TU]

Conversion therapy
The Cuomo admin has issued a group of rules against "conversion therapy" -- a practice that tries to change the sexual orientations of LGBT people. The rules include a ban on public and private health insurers covering the practice. Legislation that would ban the use of conversion therapy on minors in the state has been caught in the state legislature. [Cuomo admin] [TU]

Electronics recycling
For a little more than a year it's been illegal to dump CRT TVs and monitors in municipal landfills in New York -- and recyclers say costs are rising as the monitors pile up. [TU+]

Jail deaths
An attorney who plans to file the first step for lawsuits related to two recent inmate deaths at the Schenectady County jail alleges there has been a "disturbing pattern" of preventable deaths at the jail. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

Albany High School vote
A run-through of some of the details of the new Albany High School rebuild/expansion proposal that's up for a vote Tuesday. [TU+]

Chris Gibson for governor
Chris Gibson says he's filing paperwork to start an exploratory committee so he can raise money for a potential run for governor. [NYT]

Teaching jobs
After years of either cutting positions or not filling open spots, local school districts now say they're hiring teachers again -- and there appears to be a shortage of teachers. [Daily Gazette]

Bank robbery
Schenectady police are investigating a robbery at the SEFCU on State Street in downtown Schenectady Saturday. [TWCN]

Sheriff's son pleads guilty
Kyle Apple, the son of Albany County sheriff Craig Apple, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drunken driving for an incident in the city of Albany last July. [TU]

Through the ice
Firefighters say a teen fell into Ballston Lake Sunday after trying to rescue her dog, who had also fallen in. Two cyclists stopped to help the teen and dog. [Daily Gazette] [TU]

All-time leading scorer
Shereesha Richards is now the all-time leading scorer in UAlbany basketball history -- both women and men -- with 2,171 career points. [News10]

Stuff going on today

Chinese New Year
Monday is the start of the Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year) -- the year of the Monkey.

Music: Bruce Springsteen at the TU Center
With The E Street Band, of course. 7:30 pm - $58 and up