All Over Albany

Reviewing allegations of police brutality in Schenectady, retail crunch ripples hit local municipal budgets, legislature looking at allowing booze at movie theaters

Schenectady police
Brendan Lyons reviews recent allegations of police brutality in Schenectady: "Interviews with people involved in violent encounters with Schenectady police, and a review of videos and court records, raise questions about whether the department began slipping back to its old ways in recent years." [TU]

Fatal Schenectady fire
The Schenectady Fire Department says one person died in a fire on Green Street overnight (map). Four others were able to escape. SFD is investigating the cause. [Daily Gazette] [TU] [News10]

UAlbany bus incident trial
Friday included testimony from two alleged victims in the bus incident, along with 11 other students who had been on the bus that night. [Spectrum] [TU]

Lake George boat crash trial
+ Friday included testimony from eight witnesses, including an off-duty detective who said he watched and heard the scene when Alexander West's boat docked following the crash. [Daily Gazette]
+ Robert Gavin considers the testimony of Cara Mia Canale -- "straight out of central casting -- from a 'Cheech & Chong' movie" -- and whether it helped or hurt the prosecution. [TU]

Body found in Hudson River
Workers at the Albany Yacht Club in Rensselaer found a body in the Hudson River Saturday morning. Police say the body has been moved to the medical examiner for identification. [News10] [TU]

New SUNY chancellor
Kristina Johnson -- an engineer, and former under secretary of energy in the Obama administration -- is set to become the next SUNY chancellor. [NYT]

Retail crunch
Among the ongoing ripples of the nation's faltering brick-and-mortar retail sector: The Macy's at Crossgates is moving to get its property tax assessment cut in half, which would mean a $200k annual hit in revenue for the town of Guilderland and the school district. [TU+]

Albany and police retiree healthcare
The city of Albany stopped reimbursing police retirees for Medicare Part B almost eight years, but a state Supreme Court Appellate Division decision has ruled the city violated civil service law by making the switch outside a contract negotiation. [TU]

Hepatitis C
Another side effect of the opioid abuse epidemic: the number of cases of hepatitis C among young people has been rising in New York State. [TU+]

Mumps
Three UAlbany students have been diagnosed with mumps. [News10]

Supermarkets
Schenectady officials say the lack of access to supermarkets in some of the city's neighborhoods is especially hard on elderly residents. [Daily Gazette]

Alcohol at movie theaters
Booze sales at movie theaters in New York State could be a coming attraction. [TU]

Optimism in Sheridan Hollow
Chris Churchill on the optimism embodied by the opening of The Hungry Hollow cafe in Sheridan Hollow. [TU+]

Bikes
+ Sara Foss profiles the Electric City Bike Rescue. [Daily Gazette]
+ Local bike shops say there's been a surge of interest in e-bikes. [Daily Gazette]

Last Albany Devils game?
The Albany Devils and Toronto Marlies are now tied 1-1 in their Calder Cup playoff series after a 6-2 Toronto victory at the TU Center this weekend -- what may have been the last Albany Devils home game. [News10]

Dannemora Lifetime movie
C.J. Lais on New York Prison Break: The Seduction of Joyce Mitchell, which first aired this past weekend on Lifetime: "It's not bad enough to be good." [TU]

Stuff going on today

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Monday: Astrophysicist/science communicator/pop culture figure Neil deGrasse Tyson will be at Proctors for a new show titled "The Cosmic Perspective." Blurbage: "There is no view of the world as emotionally potent as the one granted by a cosmic perspective. It's one that sees Earth as a planet in a vast empty universe. It profoundly influences what we think and feel about science, culture, politics, and life itself." Monday 7:30 pm -- $20 and up

Front Parlor
Monday: The Front Parlor storytelling series returns to The Olde English in Albany. This month's theme is "Scars." Monday 7:30 pm (This had been mistakenly listed with a date for last week.)

What we Left Unfinished
Monday: Artist Mariam Ghani will be at EMPAC to present films from the state film institute in Kabul, Afghanistan. "These films and her archival research gesture towards the possibility of reconstructing hidden and parallel narratives that draw on both what the images of state propaganda tell us about the political and social upheaval during a specific moment in a time..." Monday 7 pm -- $6

Schuyler Building
Monday: UAlbany has a public info session about its plans for the Schuyler Building conversion. Monday 6:30 pm, downtown campus, Husted Hall