All Over Albany

Talking trash in Albany, DWI charge after car crashes into home, checking on new Thacher Park visitors center project

Albany trash fee
Among the details that came out of an Albany Common Council committee meeting at which a proposal to spread the city trash pick-up fee for small apartment buildings to the city's single-family homes was tabled for the moment: The city's trash collection costs are more than $6.5 million a year. [TWCN] [TU]

Vanessa Milligan's family displaced by fire
The Cohoes apartment of Vanessa Milligan's father, Nathan, caught fire Thursday, forcing his family and the residents of another unit to evacuate. Said Milligan: "I just can't believe this is happening." [TWCN] [TU]

Asking for a lawyer
Using the case of Sean Moreland and his recent plea deal on charges related to the Jacquelyn Porreca murder as a example of how a clear request for a lawyer -- or lack of such a request -- during police questioning can play a big role in the outcome of a case. [TU+]

Arrest in Albany shooting case
Albany police say they've arrested a man for allegedly shooting two men on Morton Ave in August. [TU]

Guilty plea in DeMeo's Wine & Liquor armed robbery
The Albany man accused of holding up the DeMeo's Wine & Liquor store in Troy this past February has pleaded guilty to felony robbery and faces 15 years in prison. [TU] [TWCN]

Pedestrian injured in Route 9 crash
A part of Route 9 in Latham was closed Thursday night after police say there was a crash involving a car and pedestrian. Police say the pedestrian was taken to the hospital with a severe head injury. [WNYT] [News10] [TWCN]

DWI charge after car crashes into home
Colonie police say a man crashed his car into a home early Friday morning -- he was arrested for DWI. CPD says the driver told them he and the passenger had been arguing before the crash. [News10] [WNYT] [TU]

Investigation of woman found dead on stoop in Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs police say an initial investigation of the woman found dead on a Phila Street stoop indicates there was no foul play involved. [Saratogian]

Troy budget
The Troy City Council unanimously passed a slate of recommendations for the next city budget process, including more realistic depictions of revenue and costs, cuts to overtime and consultants, and five percent reductions in some budget areas. Also this week: There was the first of a series public budget workshops organized by mayor Patrick Madden's admin to highlight the city's budget process. (The upcoming city budget will be under a lot of scrutiny because Troy is facing a current year budget gap and the state, which has an oversight role because of a past bailout, has been critical of the city's recent budgets.) [TU] [Troy Record]

Heroin
Schoharie County Sheriff Anthony Desmond on a recent rash of heroin overdose deaths in the county: "It's certainly something that I don't believe could ever have happened ... But with the number of people that have died ... it's partly bordering on becoming an epidemic." [Daily Gazette]

Thacher Park
The fundraising campaign for the new visitors center in Thacher State Park, currently under construction, is more than halfway to its goal. [TU+]

9/11
Listening the stories of the some people portrayed in the new 9/11 survivors exhibit at the State Museum. [TU]