All Over Albany

Cuomo authorizes Schneiderman to probe Abelove's handling of fatal shooting, Gillibrand will vote no on Gorsuch, underground blast in downtown Albany

Cuomo authorizes A.G. investigation of Abelove
Andrew Cuomo has issued an executive order giving Eric Schneiderman's office the authority to investigate Rensselaer County DA Joel Abelove's handling of last April's case of the fatal shooting of Edson Thevenin by a Troy police officer. [TU][TWCN][WNYT]

Zemsky questioned by lawmakers
"You know, some people are very political and they want to call success failure" -- Empire State Development Commissioner Howard Zemsky on some of the grilling he took from state lawmakers on Wednesday about the states economic development practices, in the wake of corruption allegations and the arrests of ex-SUNY Poly President Alain Kaloyeros and former Cuomo aide Joe Percoco, on bid rigging charges. [TWCN][WNYT]

Gorsuch
+Kirsten Gillibrand says she's planning to vote no on Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch claiming he "has proven to have a judicial philosophy outside of the mainstream and time and again has subjugated individual rights to those of corporations." [Gazette]

+Attorney General Eric Schneiderman warned against those who are touting Neil Gorsuch as Scalia 2.0. [TU]

Local concern about immigration restrictions
Albany's Regional Immigration Assistance Center is working to help several Capital Region residents from other countries return to the United States. [TU+]

A look at how the Trump travel ban is affecting Yemeni families in the Capital Region [TU]

RPI protest
About 200 RPI students protested in the streets of Troy on Wednesday against Donald Trump's immigration restrictions. [TU]

Albany campaign finance reform
As they begin fundraising for their own campaigns, Albany's three mayoral candidates are expressing their support for campaign finance reform.[TU]

GE closing Albany office
General Electric has announced it will close a corporate tax office in Albany, laying off 75 employees. [TU]

Alternate juror rescued in courtroom
A Gulderland paramedic who was testifying in the vehicular homicide trial of Tyler Pascuzzi on Wednesday helped save the life of an alternate juror who collapsed in the courtroom. [TU]

Anti-DeVos material accidentally sent home from Schenectady school
A NYSUT representative says fliers from the union that went home with a handful of elementary school students in Schenectady this week opposing Betsy DeVos' were accidentally handed out by a teacher who found them in her mailbox and thought they were supposed to be distributed to students. [Gazette]

Underground Albany explosion
National Grid officials say an underground cable fire may be responsible for an underground explosion that rocked a section of downtown Albany near State Street and Broadway at around 4pm on Wednesday. [TU]

Murdered priest requests waive of death penalty
The priest with ties to the Capital Region who was murdered in Florida last year signed a document in 1995 asking that, should he be murdered, his killer would be spared the death penalty. Bishops are now using the document to lobby Georgia prosecutors to spare the life of Father Rene Robert's killer. [Saratogian] [News 10]

Teens charged with road rage assault
A pair of teens are charged with second degree assault stemming from an alleged road rage attack on a 65-year old man in Moreau. [TU]

Hoosick Falls teacher running for mayor
A Hoosick Falls Hight School music teacher has announced his candidacy for mayor of the village. [TU]

New developments proposed for Saratoga
A senior housing development, a five-story hotel, retail space and affordable housing have been proposed for the west side of Saratoga Springs. [Saratogian]

NYRA won't reprivatize
With a pocket veto on Wednesday, Andrew Cuomo killed an effort to reprivatize NYRA. [TU]

Possible delays on roadway projects
A change in how federal money is distributed may hold up work on some Capital Region roadways. [TU]

Casino countdown
+We're less than a week away from the opening of Rivers Casino.[TU]

+Police have suggested routes for those traveling to the casino for Wednesday's opening day. [TWCN]

+A partnership between the Schenectady County ARC and Rivers Casino has helped take the ARC's foundering bottle redemption program to a more sustainable business model. [TU]

On the Devils' move to Binghamton
Chris Churchill looks at the Albany Devil's decision to leave Albany for Binghamton, and what it means for the two cities. [TU+]

Sperry's
Sperry's restaurant in Saratoga reopened on Wednesday, following a fire that destroyed and damaged historic businesses on Thanksgiving morning. [Gazette]

Defense, RPI style
An RPI alum who once oversaw nuclear submarines is the New England Patriots Defensive Coordinator.[News10]

Stuff going on today

Assisted Loving

Today-Sunday: Capital Rep opens its new production of Assisted Loving (it was in previews this past weekend). Show blurbage:

What would you do if your 80-year-old father dragged you into his search for new romance after 50 years of marriage? David, a resolute bachelor learns more about love than he bargained for and as his father's wingman and screener, sees some things he'd like to forget. Based on the author's award winning memoir Assisted Loving: True Tales of Double Dating With My Dad, this is a heartfelt and hilarious true tale of a year of dating dangerously.

It runs through February 19. Tuesday-Sunday various times -- $20 and up

Taj Express
The touring show Taj Express: The Bollywood Musical will be on the Proctors main stage. Show blurbage: "The Internationally acclaimed musical is a dazzling theatrical spectacular wrapped into 120 minutes of swirling colours, sparkle, shimmer and electrifying energy, which weaves its magic to mesmerise and captivate audiences all over the world." Thursday 8 pm -- $20 and up

Persepolis
The Opalka Gallery on the Sage Albany campus is showing Persepolis, based on Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel about growing up during the Iranian Revolution. (It had a chance to win the Oscar for best animated feature in 2008, but that was the same year as Ratatouille.) Thursday 6:30 pm -- free

Music

The Last Waltz 40 at The Palace
Tribute to The Band featuring Warren Haynes, Michael McDonald, Jamey Johnson, John Medeski, Don Was, Terence Higgins, Bob Margolin, Dave Malone, Ivan Neville, Mark Mullins, and others. 8 pm -- $49.50 and up