All Over Albany

Assembly approves Mixed Martial Arts fighting, Hoosick Falls water safe to drink, Palace Theater will manage Cohoes Music Hall

MMA Fighting
After years of debate the NYS Assembly has passed a bill allowing Mixed Martial Arts fighting. The measure, which has passed the Senate but failed in the Assembly many times, passed 113 -25. New York was the last state to prohibit the sport due to its bloody and dangerous nature. [TWCN][WNYT][NYT]

Hoosick Falls water
The governor's office has pronounced that Hoosick Falls tap water is safe to drink, following the installation of filters and several weeks of testing. [TU]

JCOPE director has ties to Cuomo
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics has again chosen someone with close ties to Andrew Cuomo as its leader. Seth Agata, a former l to Mr. Cuomo and the governor's pick last year to serve as chairman of the Public Employment Relations Board will be the new Executive Director of JCOPE. [NYT][TU]

Cohoes Music Hall
The Palace Theater in Albany will take over the management of Cohoes Music Hall. [TU]

Minimum wage
Republicans in the Senate are suggesting changes to the proposed minimum wage hike, including taking up to five years to roll out the hike. Speaking in Niagara on Tuesday, Andrew Cuomo said special considerations would be made for implementing the $15 minimum wage hike on farms. [Capital NY][TU]

McCarthy asks Union for $
Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy is asking Union College for more money to help cover the cost of emergency services.[TWCN]

Chicken chasers charged in drug ring bust
Members of a group that call themselves the chicken chasers have been arrested for their part in a drug ring that sold heroin and cocaine.[News 10]

Kenneth's Law signed
Andrew Cuomo has signed Kenneth's Law, legislation named for Kenneth White, the boy who was the subject of an Amber Alert in December of 2014, who was found murdered a short time later. The law would require Child Protective Services to give police investigators access to records.

Kids in cars
The NYS Senate has approved a measure that would make it illegal to leave babies alone in cars.
[WNYT]

Skidmore student remembered
Skidmore remembered William Golden, a student who died last week in a fall, while visiting the University of Delaware. [TU][Gazette]

La Bella Vita
Dr. Anthony Tartaglia, the son of an Italian immigrant who became a Dean at Albany Medical College and a pillar of the teaching hospital, has died at 83. [TU]

Heartbeat
The memoir of a cardiothoracic surgeon who is on the board at Union College has inspired a new NBC television series. [WNYT]

Happening today
The Lion King
Tuesday-Sunday: A touring production of The Lion King opens a month-long run at Proctors. It is, of course, the hugely-popular musical based on the Disney movie. Tuesday-Sunday various times -- $20 and up

The Blue-Sky Boys
Tuesday-Sunday: Capital Rep's production of The Blue-Sky Boys, about "the maverick engineers who stopped at nothing to get a man to the moon and back," continues this week. Tuesday-Sunday various times - $20 and up

Juan Felipe Herrera
US poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera will be at Skidmore for a poetry reading and Q&A. Herrera grew up in California, the son of migrant farm workers, and much of his work has explored the Mexican-American experience. Wednesday 7 pm, Palamountain Hall -- free

Mary Mattingly
Artist Mary Mattingly will be at RPI for a talk titled "Co-creative Encounters: Ecosystems, Place, and the Political." Blurbage: "Working with community members ranging from scientists to engineers, students, neighbors, and (occasionally) lawyers, she creates sculptural ecosystems in urban spaces. Conceived as human habitats inspired by patterns of global human migration, her projects explore how humans interact with the environment, machines, and corporate and political entities." Wednesday 7:30 pm, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies -- free

Music
Titus Andronicus + Craig Finn at The Hollow
Punk rock + the guy from The Hold Steady. 8 pm - $15 ahead / $18 day of