All Over Albany

Sheehan gives Albany's State of the City amid protests, APD investigates South End shooting, Schneiderman pledges to battle for "sanctuary cities,"

@alloveralbany the mayor has decided to proceed while the protestors chant pic.twitter.com/ZNbQZrOzuO

— All Over Albany (@alloveralbany) January 25, 2017

Albany State of the City
Kathy Sheehan's state of the city address Wednesday evening was interrupted by protesters chanting in support of a new contract for the city's blue collar employees -- they've been without one since 2013 -- and calling for the two police officers who stopped Dontay Ivy to be fired. The chants included "Sheehan's got to go!" and "Kathy Trump."

Sheehan eventually decided to deliver her speech anyway, and the protesters chanted during the virtually the whole address. Among the topics the mayor touched on during the speech: a new city courthouse, a new vacant buildings program, traffic safety, air quality concerns in the South End, praise the police department's efforts in community policing. Afterward [TU]

Said Sheehan of the protest in her post-speech comments to the media: "They made their point at the beginning of my speech. I heard them loud and clear. And I agreed with them -- they need a contract. I want nothing more than to have a contract, that's what negotiations are for. And I do believe that black lives matter. And I do believe that we need to reform policing. And so I'm doing that."

Sanctuary cities
stating sanctuary cities would not be eligible for federal funding, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he would do everything in his power to fight Donald Trump's executive order denying federal funding to "sanctuary cities". [NYT] [TU]

Shooting in Albany's South End
Albany police are investigating a shooting in the city's South End neighborhood at about 4pm on Wednesday, that sent a 36 year old man to Albany men with an abdominal wound. [TU]

Blood drawn from boat crash suspect before warrant
A blood test showing cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana were in the system of Alexander West -- the operator of a boat that crashed on Lake George last summer killing an 8-year-old girl -- may not be admissible in court because the blood sample was drawn a day before a warrant for the draw was obtained. [TU]

No shows force cancellation of Saratoga charter meeting
There is a disagreement in Saratoga over why three commissioners did not show up at a meeting to approve funds for a new city charter, forcing the cancelation of the meeting. [TU]

Hoosick Falls PFOA settlement
Hoosick Falls officials say they are moving forward with a controversial $850,000 settlement with Honeywell and Saint Gobain Plastics over PFOA in the water supply. [TU]

PFOA testing
PFOA testing in Nassau may continue into 2018. [TWCN]

Albany Schools end contract with controversial pre-K program
The Albany City School District ended a contract with a controversial pre-K program that is under scrutiny for allegedly serving "insufficient" meals to children.
[TU]

Shen school board and open meetings
Is the Shenedahowa school board in violation of open meetings laws for closed door sessions and pre-meeting private huddles?[TU]

Rensselaer schools fiscally stressed
Rensselaer City Schools were on a list of 59 New York State school districts considered fiscally stressed by the comptrollers office. [TU]

Teacher brought pot to school
A Bethlehem Middle School teacher is facing charges for allegedly bringing marijuana to school. [TU]

UAlbany student finds stranger in dorm room
A UAlbany students says she awoke early Wednesday morning to find a strange man in her dorm room on the Alumni Quad. [TWCN]

Owner says dogs were stolen
Police located the owner of two dogs, one of which was injured, that were found this week in Colonie. The owner says the dogs were stolen, and police say they are continuing the investigation. [TU]

McCoy questions crude oil company's permits
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy is taking action against Global Companies, alleging the company is running its Port of Albany crude oil facility with an expired permit. [TWCN]

Student run pharmacy in South End
The Albany College of Pharmacy, Wednesday, cut the ribbon on its new student run pharmacy in Albany's South End. [WNYT]

Schenectady police overtime
Schenectady police officers earned as much as $101,000 in overtime pay in 2016.[TU]

Devils
Several news outlets are reporting that unnamed sources tell them the Albany Devils may be leaving the city for Binghamton. [TWCN][WNYT]

Happening today

(Dis)Honesty - The Truth About Lies
The Museum of Political Corruption and Albany Law has a screening of the documentary (Dis)Honesty - The Truth About Lies. A discussion will follow with the film's director, Yael Melamede, along with Blair Horner of NYPIRG, state Assembly member John McDonald III, Albany Law professor Michael Hutter, and former state Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk. Thursday 6:30 pm -- free (see link for RSVP)

Film

Thursday: The Rock/Docs film series at The Madison is showing A Band Called Death, about the 1970s punk group Death and its recently renewed popularity. The series is in conjunction with the Albany Institute's Rock & Roll Icons exhibit. Thursday 7 pm -- $10 / $8 students and seniors

Music

Thursday: NOW Ensemble + San Fermin at Troy Music Hall
Chamber pop/rock collaboration. 7:30 pm -- $25

Thursday: Rubblebucket at The Hollow
Art pop. With: Sam Evian. 9 pm -- $15 ahead / $18 day of

Thursday: Hubby Jenkins at Caffe Lena
From The Carolina Chocolate Drops. 7 pm -- $22