All Over Albany

Ethics bill passes Assembly, Lobby Day at the Capitol, casino ahead of schedule, MMA legislation headed back to Assembly

Ethics
The NYS Assembly passed an ethics reform bill on Tuesday by a vote of 137-4. The bill would allow legislators to make no more than $69,600 in outside income -- 40 percent of the annual salary of State Supreme Court justices.[TU][NYT}

Lobby Day
The proposed $15 minimum wage was one of the main causes at this years lobby day at the NYS Capitol.[WNYT][TU]

Student teacher arrested on child endangerment charges
A 22-year-old student teacher from the College of Saint Rose was arrested on Tuesday, for allegedly pretending to be a talent scout and asking underaged girls as young as 10 to send him photos of themselves in bikinis and underwear. [TU][WNYT]

Toll freeze rejected
The Joint Budget Conference Committee of the NYS Legislature has rejected Andrew Cuomo's proposed Thruway toll freeze. [TU]

Casino
Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul toured the site of the Schenectady Casino on Tuesday. Construction on the Rivers Casino project is ahead of schedule. [WNYT][TWCN]

Hoosick Falls election
Concerns over contaminated water brought out a record voter turnout of 414 people for last night's elections in the village of Hoosick Falls. [TWCN]

Prison for driving truck into business
The Albany man who drove his truck into a window tinting business in an effort to injury himself and a passenger will spend up to 41/2 years in prison. [Gazette][TU]

Guilty plea in bank robberies
A homeless man pleaded guilty on Monday to bank robberies in East Greenbush and Latham. [TU]

Kokopellis conviction
A 27 year old Troy man was convicted on Tuesday on misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and second-degree obstructing governmental administration in connection with the 2014 brawl at Kokopellis night club. [Record]

MMA heads back to Assembly
A Bill to legalize Mixed Martial Arts fighting is headed back to the Assembly again -- and this time they may have the votes to pass it. [Gazette][News 10]

Schenectady film commission
Schenectady's Film Commission has been reestablished in an effort to attract more film and commercial production to the region. [Gazette]

Proposed ticket amnesty
Troy is considering a parking ticket amnesty program that would slash tickets received between January 1 2009 and March 1, 2016 by 40%.[WNYT]

Ballston Billboard suit
A billboard company is suing Ballston over a ruling that bans electronic billboards. [Gazette]

Remembering a Colonie native's bravery
A Colonie native's sacrifice remembered in New Orleans.[TU]

Fort Ann battlefield
The owner of a 1777 battle site in Fort Ann is offering scrap his plans for a mining operation and sell the property back to the village[Post Star]

Happening today

Canstruction
The annual Canstruction exhibit opens at the State Museum. Teams of the architects, engineers, contractors, and students design and build large structures out of canned goods and non-perishable food items. Afterward, all the items are donated to the Food Pantries for the Capital District. The designs are often whimsical and fun. You can vote for your favorite by bring dropping a canned good in the bin next to one of the displays. The exhibit will be on display through March 30.