Big sewage spills in the Hudson River, affordable housing development floated for Albany, ViaPort aquarium expanding
Sewage in the Hudson
Heavy rain at the start of this month prompted large sewage spills into the Hudson from Albany and Troy -- the spills were combined sewer overflows -- and both cities were slow to report to the spills to the state. (Combined sewer overflows -- in which the old sewer systems tha handle both storm water and sewage together become overwhelmed -- are a longrunning problem, and there's a 15-year plan in place to address the issue.) [TU]
Gun violence
+ There was a stop-the-violence march in Albany's Arbor Hill and West Hill neighborhoods Saturday. [WNYT] [Spectrum]
+ A look at the tools local law enforcement agencies have for tracking crime guns. [TU]
+ Chris Churchill on the recent spike in homicides in the city and discussions about the size of the city's police force. [TU+]
Affordable housing in Albany
A Rochester-based developer is considering a plan to redevelop more than 70 properties along Clinton Ave in Albany into affordable housing. [TU]
Albany school district
The new superintendent for the Albany school district is Kaweeda Adams, who's been working as an associate superintendent in a large region district in Nevada that includes Las Vegas. [ACSD] [TU]
Suicide
East Greenbush's police chief has been speaking openly about suicides in the town in an attempt to spur discussion about mental health. [TU]
Opioids
Chris Churchill on not becoming numb to the numbers of people dying as part of the opioid abuse epidemic. [TU+]
Congressional races
+ There are now three Democrats in the pool to potentially challenge Elise Stefanik. [Daily Gazette]
+ And there are eight Democrats in the pool to potentially challenge John Faso. [TU]
Lark Tattoo
Lark Tattoo has been engulfed in a furor after a Utica-based website anonymously accused some employees of the shop of being part of an alt-right group. The shop later announced the people mentioned in the posting are no longer working there, and asked that anyone who might have "ever experienced an instance of discrimination in our shop" to contact the owners. Lark Tattoo owner Tom Martin on the posting, to News10: "They just blew up everybody's lives and a lot of innocent people at this shop, who have nothing to do with anything, have all suffered from it" [TU] [Lark Tattoo Facebook] [News10]
Leonard Hospital
The Troy City Council has approved a plan to borrow money for the $2.5 million demolition of the former Leonard Hospital, the property that had been up for a new affordable housing development until it was rejected by the council. [Troy Record]
Uber
Uber has still not worked out an agreement that would allow its drivers to pick people up at ALB. [News10]
Short-term rentals
Saratoga Springs is considering requiring all the short-term rentals -- such as units listed via Airbnb -- to register with the city and be inspected. [Saratogian]
Open space preservation
A look at the push in Bethlehem to get the state to approve the creation of a community preservation fund for the town -- and the controversy over a potential tax attached to the plan. [TU]
Aquarium expansion
The ViaPort Rotterdam aquarium is planning to expand. [Daily Gazette]
Farms
A last summer's too-little rain, farms around the region are dealing with too much rain this summer. [TU+]
Peter Martin
Peter Martin, the brewer at Brown's Brewing, died in a tractor accident last week. [TU]
Most affluent
The ZIP code that includes Slingerlands is the "most affluent" in the Capital Region, according to analysis done by the media group that includes the Business Review. [Biz Review]
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Comments
The most important part of this story is T-Bone first defending these employees right to political stance and speech and also deriding the initial posters, then pulling down that response for a more reasoned one. There is no way he didn't know what these scum stood for, including violence to achieve 4th degree ranking.
Yes they are Fratboy Fake Nazi but he should have got rid of them a lot earlier. He deserves to lose business.
... said james on Jul 10, 2017 at 3:23 PM | link
I love a witch hunt!
... said Herbert on Jul 11, 2017 at 8:01 PM | link
Words matter. Headlining the permitted sewage discharges as "spills" is misleading, or lazy, or intended to be inflammatory. These are not spills. A spill is, by definition "cause or allow (liquid) to flow over the edge of its container, especially unintentionally."
The bartender does not "spill" beer into your pint. She pours it. It's intentional.
There are approximately 937 CSO outfalls in NYS. More than 90 in the Capital Region alone. Each combined sewer system in NYS is required to have a State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit, which is issued by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). These are permitted discharges. Not spills.
Calling them "spills" gives people the impression that they are accidental, or criminal, not intended to happen. That's not the case.
Words matter.
... said daleyplanit on Jul 12, 2017 at 11:53 AM | link