All Over Albany

Guilty plea in Jacquelyn Porreca murder case, investigation into Schenectady police conduct, Albany trying to cover budget gap

Jacquelyn Porreca case
The man accused of fatally stabbing Jacquelyn Porreca during a robbery at a barber shop in Colonie last year has taken a plea deal. By pleading guilty in the deal, Michael Chmielewski avoids a possible life sentence and instead faces a maximum of 22 years to life. The other man facing charges in the case -- Sean Moreland -- could accept a plea deal of his own later this week. [WNYT] [TWCN] [TU]

A year without homicides (so far)
Albany police chief Brendan Cox on the fact that there has yet to be a homicide in the city this year:
"I'm not about to declare victory when I've had 15 people shot this year ... A victory is zero people shot, and that's what we should expect as a society." [TU+]

START-UP NY
The number of new jobs in the Capital Region credited to the Cuomo admin's much-publicized START-UP NY program: 32. [TU]

Schenectady police investigation
The Schenectady Police Department says it's looking into an allegation made by a woman who says a police officer dunked her head in a toilet bowl after she was arrested on a noise complaint. [TU]

"It was bad enough losing him, but for him to be blamed is worse"
A Clifton Park couple has been digging into the case surrounding the death of their son, an Army veteran and RPI grad, during a fight at a McDonald's Wasington, DC in 2011 -- and found details that cast doubt on the story produced by the original police investigation. [TU]

Alleged Lake George hit and swim
The Warren County Sheriff's Office says it's arrested a Brooklyn made after he allegedly crashed a boat into another boat, a dock, and an island -- and then swam away from the scene. [Post-Star]

Albany city finances
+ The city of Albany has put a hold on non-essential hiring and a limit on spending in an attempt to close a $6 million gap in the current year budget. [TU]
+ A former city codes inspector -- who says the city didn't payout all of his 1,465 hours in unused vacation when he left the job -- is arguing the city hasn't been uniformly applying its relatively new limit on unused vacation payouts, citing the case of former APD chief Steven Krokoff. [TU+]

Nite Moves tax case
The Colonie strip club Nite Moves is still tangled in a fight with the state over sales tax exemptions. [TU+]

Too early
Most school districts start their high school days earlier than recommended by pediatricians based on research of adolescent sleep. [Daily Gazette]

1 Monument Square
A closer look at the historic market replica being proposed for 1 Monument Square by a local sculptor. [Troy Record]

Lice
With the rise of treatment-resistant "super lice," there are now two businesses in the Capital Region that offer lice-removal services. [TU+]

Albany Center Gallery
Priced out of its current downtown Albany space, the Albany Center Gallery is looking for a new home -- one that might not be in Albany. [TU]

Big win
The Albany High School football beat Saratoga Saturday, ending a 70-game regular season losing streak that dated back to 2005. [TU]

Stuff going on today

Nitty Gritty
Tuesday: The Nitty Gritty Poetry Slam returns to the Low Beat. Tuesday 7 pm

Future Perfect
Tuesday: The Future Perfect series at the UAlbany Art Museum will have a talk with Colin Boyd about his ongoing work there. "Boyd has created a fully functional studio in the museum where he is shooting a stop-motion animation that is part nature documentary and part science fiction film." Tuesday 6 pm -- free