June 27, 2016
Big warehouse fire in Watervliet, Bharara says he believes there's corruption in NY exec branch, hopes for the Upstatexit
Watervliet warehouse fire
A large warehouse fire in Watervliet Saturday night took multiple departments and many hours to extinguish. Watervliet's fire chief says the cause of the fire is under investigation. The building has been demolished. [Troy Record] [News10] [TU] [News10]
Bernie Sanders in Albany
Bernie Sanders to the crowd at his appearance at The Egg on Friday: "Our ideas of economic and environmental and racial justice are the future, if we keep at it." Sanders also said his campaign is talking with Hillary Clinton's campaign about "whether or not they can come up with some very serious proposals which will help us transform America." Of the 162 people the Times Union talked to at the event, about half said they would not vote for Clinton or Donald Trump. [Daily Gazette] [Politico NY] [TU]
Preet probes
Preet Bharara to ABC News: "We have found that corruption is rife in a lot of institutions in New York and throughout New York. That's true in the legislature ... It's also the case that there's corruption, we believe, in the executive branches as well. And we'll ferret it out wherever we find it." [ABC]
Saratoga Wine & Food Festival 2016
Left to right: Anne Burrell, Marc Murphy, Josh Capon, Joshua Weston.
The annual Saratoga Wine & Food Festival returns to SPAC September 9-11 this year. Tickets for the various events connected to the festival are now on sale.
The headlining food personalities are Food Network chefs Anne Burrell and Marc Murphy, chef and TV personality Josh Capon, and wine expert Joshua Wesson.
The event schedule is after the jump.
Overcoming hurdles
Two remarkable graduation stories from Bethany Bump over at the Times Union: The Schenectady teen who overcame poverty and its many challenges, as well as mental illness, to become the first person in her family to graduate from high school. And in Albany, a Karen refugee who came here at age 9 and had to learn English -- and graduated from Albany High School this past weekend as an International Baccalaureate candidate. [TU x2]
You should stop and smell the roses
Or, at least, stop and see them.
We stopped by Central Park Rose Garden in Schenectady Friday evening. Walking along the rows of blooms -- the roses are either at their peak or close to it -- the scene felt a bit unreal, almost magical.
There are a few pics after the jump (they don't really capture it). But if you have a chance during the next week, you should stop by and see the garden in person.
Design help for organizing a house?
Melissa emails:
We've lived in our house 10 years, and are in need of some help. We are a family now, with all the 'stuff' that comes with that, and just cannot figure out how to make a more grown up house that uses space well and files away all the paperwork of elementary school. Are there local decorators/organizers folks can recommend? Is that a real thing?!
We're always amazed by how people who have eye for design can rearrange a space to make it work better or just feel better.
Got a suggestion for Melissa? Please share! And a sentence or two about why you're recommending a person or service or idea is always helpful.
Every house and every neighborhood a grid
New York State is an investor of sorts in Solar City in the form of the $750 million pledged by the state to the company's planned solar panel plant in Buffalo via the Buffalo Billion. So the state has a big stake in Elon Musk's proposed plan for Tesla (the electric car company) to buy Solar City. The initial reaction from market analysts has been skeptical. But over at Vox, Dave Roberts argues the deal could make sense in the longterm, in part because of predicted changes in how we all get electricity, changes for which New York is at the forefront. [Buffalo News] [Bloomberg] [Vox]
Red, white & blue
Check out this handsome, seasonally-appropriate t-shirt created by local designer Andrew Gregory: It's called "Red, White & Blue." (You know, because the ampersand is red, white, and blue...)
The shirt is currently available from Cotton Bureau, in men's and women's sizes, through this Friday. It's $28.
Andrew Gregory? You might know his work under the name Lunchboxbrain.
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?