All Over Albany

The problem of paying for aging infrastructure, Reuter cross-examined in Heimroth trial, posing for Norman Rockwell, a pignapping in Guilderland

South Lake Ave sinkhole / water infrastructure
Work continues on the South Lake Ave sinkhole repair -- the current problem is removing debris deposited in a storm sewer line, reducing the capacity of the line. [TWCN] [TU]

Zooming out a bit: A look a payments the water department has made to the city in recent years, and the larger issue of how to fund repair and replacement of old water infrastructure. [TU]

Meanwhile in Schenectady: The city is planning a multi-million dollar project to upgrade parts of its wastewater treatment plan that are a more than a century old. [Daily Gazette]

Heimroth trial
On Monday during cross-examination, Daniel Reuter -- who's already pleaded guilty for participating n the beating deaths of Allen and Maria Lockrow in Lansingburgh and is testifying against Jacob Heimroth as part of his plea deal -- repeatedly said he didn't remember when asked about details of the case. The defense also pointed out a few parts of his story that didn't match the evidence. [TU] [Troy Record]

State Police lab
The former director of the State Police crime lab to the Times Union on the reluctance of state officials to adopt a new DNA analysis system -- the same one that was at the heart of the drama over whether a group techs cheated on a training exam: "[T]here is a very good probability that people have been jailed because we couldn't use the TrueAllele program to establish their innocence. There is also a very good chance there are people walking the street right now who are serial offenders." [TU+]

SUNY Poly
A "source with knowledge of the project" tells the Times Union that GE had threatened to kill a semiconductor manufacturing project at the SUNY Poly Albany campus after the state was slow to disburse money for building the project. [TU+]

PFOA
The latest PFOA-related problem in Petersburgh: a leak in the town's water system prompted a switch to a well with higher levels of contamination. [News10]

Taxis
The Schenectady City Council approved an increase in the price of city taxi licenses and a 14 percent increase in the half-mile fare. [TU]

Data breach
A data breach at an Albany-based company that makes ID cards for health plans resulted in the exposure of some data for members of Capital District Physicians' Health Plan and BlueShield of Northeastern New York. The info included names, mailing addresses, some dates of birth. [TU] [Biz Review]

Push for firefighter cancer registry
Chuck Schumer was in Troy Monday pushing for a federal registry to track possibly work-related cancers in firefighters. [TU]

DWI charges for both drivers
Saratoga Springs police say a crash Saturday morning on Route 50 -- in which it's alleged one vehicle hit another that had pulled over to replace a flat tire -- resulted in both drivers being charged with DWI. The man who's accused of crashing into the parked vehicle is also accused of fleeing the scene, leaving behind an injured passenger. [Saratogian] [Daily Gazette]

Alleged road rage
Colonie police say a man rammed his Jeep into a motorcyclist after the motorcyclist had earlier said something to him about his reckless driving. [TU]

Selfies
Title of a NYS DMV press release: "New York State Warns Motorists About Dangers of Taking Selfies While Driving"

Posing for Rockwell
Talking with a woman who grew up in Washington County about the time Norman Rockwell went looking for a red-haired girl with pigtails to model for one of his illustrations -- and found her. [Saratogian]

Garrrrr
The man caught the Schenectady alligator gar -- and won $100 from the mayor for doing so -- says he's going to mount the fish on his wall with the words "Schenectady Lake Monster." [Daily Gazette]

Pignapped
A fiberglass pig statue in Guilderland has been "stolen" -- the bandits left behind a cooler of bacon. (It's an ongoing neighborhood joke.) [News10] [WNYT]

Stuff going on today

Stories
The Front Parlor storytelling series is at The Hangar in Troy. This month's theme: "parental guidance." Tuesday 7:30 pm -- free admission

Park Playhouse
The Park Playhouse in Albany's Washington Park opens its production of The Little Mermaid, adapted from the Disney film. (It runs through August 27.) Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm -- free on the lawn / reserve tickets $16 and up