All Over Albany

State Police: abduction story not true, NIMBYism and a proposed apartment complex, hats hats hats hats

State Police: abduction story not true
State Police announced Saturday that Rachael Mattice -- who's disappearance this summer sparked a large search, and who later said she had been abducted and held by a man in Hamilton County for two weeks -- was arrested Friday on one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting an incident. State Police major William Keeler: "We're saying nothing she said happened. It was all made up." State Police say they have a witness who reported seeing Mattice during the period she claimed to have been held, and the Hamilton County sheriff says Mattice knew authorities intended to question her about an alleged theft of prescription drugs at her home health aide job. Said Mattice's mother to News10: "Until the day I die, I believe Rachael's story." [NYSP] [Daily Gazette] [TWCN] [News10 x2]

Emma Willard sexual assault allegation from 1998
A woman who attended Emma Willard in the late 1990s tells the New York Times she was raped by a history teacher at Emma Willard in 1998 -- and then sent away from the school. Her story appears to be the alleged incident that surfaced earlier this summer and prompted a letter to the school's community about efforts to investigate alleged incidents in the 1970s and 1990s. [NYT] [TU]

Toxic sites
The story of a 156-year-old factory in Valley Falls as an example of how potentially contaminated sites get stuck between being abandoned and being redeveloped. [TU]

Street memorials
A look at the many street memorials around Schenectady. [Daily Gazette]

Proposed apartment complex near SUNY Poly campus
Chris Churchill on the fight over whether a new apartment complex should be built on the Loughlin Road land near SUNY Poly, and the apparent lack of apartment supply in the city: "[T]hat's often the cost of the Not In My Backyard -- NIMBY -- dynamic. It zealously guards the investment of established homeowners, who have oversized sway with elected officials, while making it harder for others to climb the economic ladder." (And here's a counter argument by Albany Common Council member Judd Krasher.) [TU+] [TU]

Albany city politics
Looking at campaign fundraising as indicator of who might be running for what in Albany. [TU]

Local historians
State law requires that municipalities have local historians -- but there's no funding provided for the positions, and apparently no penalty if municipalities don't comply. [Daily Gazette]

Schenectady curriculum
The Schenectady school district has started the long process of rewriting its curriculum. [Daily Gazette]

Four-year-old boy rescued
A State Police trooper is being credited with saving a four-year-old boy from the Fish Creek in Schuylerville. [TU]

Porcupine deaths
The state Department of Environmental Conservation tells the Daily Gazette it's dropped the investigation into the deaths of porcupines along the Albany County border with Schoharie County. (There had been allegation a group of teens were killing the animals.) [Daily Gazette]

CommerceHub
Shares of CommerceHub -- which is now headquartered at SUNY Poly campus in Albany -- will start trading on NASDAQ today. [TU]

George Primeau
Former Cohoes mayor George Primeau has died at age 62. [TU]

"I want to be an international figure"
An Albany Academy grad and former Albany resident, who's now a rapper, is on an MTV reality show. [TU]

Hats
A photo gallery from the annual hat contest at the Saratoga Race Course this past weekend. [Daily Gazette]

Stuff going on today

Baseball
The ValleyCats wrap up a short home stand at the Joe with two games against Vermont. (Tuesday is team poster night, with fireworks after the game.) Monday and Tuesday 7 pm -- $5.75 ahead / $7 day of (and up)

Summer Writers Institute
The NYS Summer Writers Institute finishes its series of public author readings at Skidmore this week. Monday's lineup: novelist William Kennedy (Pulitzer Prize Ironweed; Roscoe) and novelist Cristina Garcia (Dreaming in Cuban). Monday 8 pm, Davis Auditorium of Skidmore's Palamountain Hall -- free

Music: Lindsey Stirling at The Palace
Violinist/dancer/composer, "a futurist world of electronic big beats and animation." 8 pm -- $29.50 and

Music: Josh Groban at SPAC
With: Sarah McLachlan. 7:30 pm -- $38 and up