All Over Albany

Hoosick Falls residents press the state over water contamination, stirring of the Albany mayoral race, Gaffney's is being sold

Hoosick Falls
A group of Hoosick Falls residents and advocacy orgs were at the Capitol Monday to continue criticism of the state's response to drinking water contamination in the village. Said one resident, Michele Baker: "We stand before you exhausted and angry, because New York state has failed us." From a joint statement by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Health: "New York State has taken unprecedented action and spared no expense to secure clean drinking water for Hoosick Falls." [NYSNYS/Troy Record] [TU] [TWCN]

Albany budget and politics
The Common Council vote on the Albany budget has been pushed back to November 30 after members of the council push for more info. [TU]

Chris Churchill: The letter sent by four Common Council members this weekend criticizing the budget is a sign that the next mayoral race has started. (Judd Krasher, one of those council members, to TWCN about the letter: "We reject this budget in its current form. But moreover, we reject the now-three years into Mayor Sheehan's term of the failed budget practices, the failed economic development practices of this administration.") [TU+] [TWCN]

Schenectady homicide investigation
As Schenectady police say they're "aggressively" working leads in the case of a man found shot to death on outside his home in Bellevue, residents of the neighborhood are thinking about whether this incident and a recent murder-suicide are aberrations or representative of a trend. [TU+]

Stillwater fire
The Saratoga County Sheriff's Department says the Stillwater house fire in which a man was severely burned is suspicious. [TU]

Momentive strike
The union representing striking workers at the Momentive plant in Waterford says the company told it that about impending loss of health insurance coverage because of "termination of employment" at the end of the month was a mistake. [TU+]

CDPHP and St. Peter's
Two of the largest players in the local health care industry -- St. Peter's Health System and CDPHP -- say they've reached a verbal agreement toward a new contract that would continue access of the health plan's members to services in the St. Peter's network. [TU]

Watervliet budget
The proposed Watervliet budget includes a 15.5 percent tax increase. [Troy Record]

Fire district consolidation
Some fire districts in Schenectady County are considering consolidation with an eye toward saving money and dealing with declines in the number of volunteer firefighters. [Daily Gazette]

PEF drama
The executive board of PEF, one of the two really big state employee unions, voted this month to ban the union's former president and secretary treasurer from participating in the union -- both former officials were accused of violating ethics rules. [TU+]

First Thanksgiving
Stopping by a Thanksgiving meal for students in the Albany school district who are learning English. [TU+]

Gaffney's
Gaffney's Restaurant is Saratoga Springs is being sold to Saratoga Hospitality, which also owns Max London's, Mrs. London's, and Saratoga Stadium. Longtime owner John Baker says the new ownership is planning to keep things largely the same. [Saratogian] [Daily Gazette]

Stuff going on today

Hockey
The Albany Devils take on the Toronto Marlies at the TU Center. Tuesday 7 pm -- $19 and up

Music: Sully Erna at The Egg
"A personal, confessional, raw work which takes yet another stylistic left-hand turn from the music he has created as front man for the multi-platinum rock band Godsmack..." 8 pm -- $29.50 and up