All Over Albany

Cruz to stop in Scotia, 47 laid off at Price Chopper HQ, Rupeka suspected dead, State Street to reopen in front of Nicholaus Building

Cruz headed to Scotia
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz will speak in Scotia on Thursday at Mekeel Christian Academy in Scotia.[TU][Gazette]

Rupeka
Troy police are waiting for photos to determine whether a couple found dead in Mexico earlier this week are Adam Rupeka and his girlfriend, Jennifer Ogburn. A warrant was sworn out for Rupeka's arrest after he failed to show up in court to face a charge that he allegedly sexually abused a 15-year-old girl. [TU][TU]

Chopper
Price Chopper laid off 47 employees at its corporate offices in Schenectady this week.
Company officials say they are focused on a more lean and efficient administration, while focusing on their new stores. [Gazette][TWCN]

Pipeline protest
Robert F. Kennedy Junior -- who serves as president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, joined hundreds of protestors at the Capitol on Tuesday, to urge Andrew Cuomo to block the Constitution Gas Pipeline project. [TU][WNYT]

Spa City parking garage
The City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to approve a 25-year lease that will allow the Saratoga Springs City Center to develop a controversial 5 story, 480-spot parking garage to go up on a city-owned surface lot in Downtown Saratoga. Saratoga Springs Mayor Joanne Yepsen, one of the dissenting votes, maintained that a mixed use facility would have been best for the space. [WNYT][Gazette][Saratogian]

Spa city gun law
A new law requiring Spa City gun owners to safely store their weapons ,is named for Nicholas Naumkin, the 12-year-old who was accidentally shot and killed by a friend in 2010.
[WNYT]

Gun show
A Saratoga Springs art gallery is planning a different kind of gun show. [Record]

Judge upholds decision on police video
The Albany County district attorney must provide assistance to a defense attorney who was unable to view or use videos produced by the Albany Police Department's dashboard cameras. That decision was handed down by an acting state Supreme Court justice who declined to overturn a City Court judge's decision ordering the D.A.'s office to assist the defense attorney. [TU+]

Hillary and NY
Chris Churchill on why Hillary should fear the Bern in NY.
[TU+]

Nicholaus building
The eastbound lane of State Street directly in front of the Nicholaus building is expected to reopen today, after crews stabilized the building earlier this week. [TU]

Troy school budget
Troy's Board of Education unanimously approved a $112.9 million budget on Tuesday, that contains no tax increase. [Record]

Mississippi
Andrew Cuomo is banning all non-essential state travel to Mississippi because of a the new law that allows religious groups and some private businesses to refuse to serve gay couples. [WNYT]

Devils
The Albany Devils will extend their stay in the city through the 2018-2019 season. [TU]

UConn beats Syracuse
UConn beat the Syracuse women's team, for their fourth straight national championship win.[TU]

Happening today:

Recurrence
Artists from the Recurrence exhibit Union College's Mandeville Gallery will be at Union for a talk about their work. "In the exhibition Recurrence, artists Kira Nam Greene, Juan Hinojosa, Simone Meltesen, Karen Schiff, Sam Vernon, and Rachael Wren delve into the multitude of ideas surrounding repetition in the visual arts and how these different ideas are represented visually." Wednesday 5 pm, Nott Memorial -- free

Silent Film Spectacular
The Albany Public Library's Silent Film Spectacular series returns for a new season with a screening of the 1913 film A Message from Mars with live, original score from Nelson Esposito Quintana (NEQ) and Bob Resnick. Wednesday 7 pm, Washington Ave branch -- free

YouthFX
The YouthFX program has an encore presentation of its 2016 slate of new films at The Spectrum. The teen filmmakers and program directors will be there for a Q&A after the screening. Wednesday 6:30 pm -- $10 / $5 students

Marwencol
Director Mark Hogancamp will be at Skidmore for a screening of his documentary Marwencol. Blurbage:

After being beaten into a brain-damaging coma by five men outside a bar, Mark builds a 1/6th scale World War II-era town in his backyard. Playing in the town and photographing the action helps Mark recover his hand-eye coordination and deal with the psychic wounds from the attack. But when Mark's homemade therapy is discovered and deemed "art", he's forced to choose between the safety of his fantasy life in Marwencol and the real world that he's avoided since the attack.

(The film is being adapted by Robert Zemeckis for a feature film starring Steve Carell.) Hogancamp will be at Skidmore for a Q&A after the screening. Wednesday 6:30 pm, Palamountain Hall -- free

Startup Tech Valley
The Startup Tech Valley series returns to Rev Hall in Troy with a new round of short presentations from startup companies. After each company presentation, there's also a short Q&A session. Wednesday 5:30 pm -- free (registration required)

The Lion King

Wednesday-Sunday: A touring production of The Lion King continues its 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

Music

Mnozil Brass at Troy Music Hall "From folk to classical to jazz to pop..." 7:30 pm -- $20 and up

USS Slater
The USS Slater opens for the season today.