All Over Albany

Absentee ballots decide Troy races, Saratoga Charter reform may be defeated, star witness in Oquendo murder trail claims to communicate with the dead

Explosion causes fire at bottling plant
Fire officials say an exploding propane tank on a forklift at the Pepsi bottling plant in Latham is responsible for the fire that broke out at the plant at around 5 am. There were no injuries.

Oquendo murder trial
Tuesday in the Oquendo murder trial:

+Jurors saw the suitcase where prosecutors say they found the body of Noel Alkaramla. [WNYT]

+A star prosecution witness, Oquendo's former girlfriend, was expected to give testimony that would connect Oquendo to the suitcase, but but her credibility was called into question as the defense pointed out her admitted drug us, mental health problems, sexual contact with animals and claims that she communicates with the dead. [Record][TU]

Saratoga Charter
After a count of 500 absentee ballots, unofficial results show the Saratoga Springs charter referendum proposal down by 10 votes, but 18 military votes are still out and must be counted by November 20. [Spectrum][Saratogian][TU]

Rensselaer County Executive race
Andrea Smyth conceded the Rensselaer County Executive race to Steve McLaughlin.[Spectrum]

Absentee ballots decide Troy races
Troy City Council President Carmella Mantello defeated Gary Pavlic by just 49 votes to win re-election, but Republicans lost the race for Council District 2 by a single vote. [TU]

Morse
Following domestic abuse allegations after an incident at his home over the weekend, Cohoes mayor Shawn Morse failed to show up for Tuesday's City Council meeting. Morse issued a statement on Tuesday evening, saying he would not be distracted from his work as the mayor and requesting privacy during a challenging time. [TU][WNYT]

McCarthy at Smart Cities
Schenectady mayor Gary McCarthy is in Barcelona for the Smart City Expo World Congress. [TU]

11 M Capital project approved for South Colonie
Voters in Colonie overwhelmingly approved an $11 million capital project that includes repairs to school facilities and classroom improvements. [TU]

Faso undecided about tax vote
Representative John Faso says he is still undecided about how to vote on Republican tax overhaul legislation. [TU]

Saratoga County teens murder trial
The indictments against a pair of teens in a Saratoga County murder trial could be thrown out due to what a judge says are " irregularities" in the grand jury proceedings. [WNYT]

Excelsior scholarship
Private universities in New York claim a drop in enrollment this fall is due to the state's new Excelsior Scholarship program. [TU]

Airport expansion may disturb cemetery
A proposed expansion of the Albany International Airport could mean disturbing a cemetery where hundreds of indigents were buried in unmarked graves between 1926 and 1946. [TU]

Mexican citizens sentenced
Two Mexican citizen were sentenced in Albany to time served and deported on Tuesday for illegally entering the United States in 2016 .[TU]

Hate crimes
An FBI report shows hate crimes were up nationwide and iincludes a dozen such crimes in the Capital Region last year. [TU]

Rivers Casino underperforming
After nine months, Rivers Casino and Resort is still performing significantly below projections. [Gazette]

Things of My Very Own campaign goes viral
"I'm a 10 year old boy I want school snacks so I'm not the only one not eating during snack time at school. I wear a size 12 and I like Pokemon." A message on one of the request tags filled out by needy students. Photos of the tags sent out by the charity Things of My Very Own have gone viral. [Spectrum]

Stuff going on today

Stage

The Illusionists Present Adam Trent
Wednesday: Magician/illusionist Adam Trent -- from the Broadway show The Illusionists -- will be at Proctors for a show. Wednesday 7:30 pm -- $20 and up

Music

Wednesday: So Percussion at Troy Music Hall
"For over a decade, So Percussion has redefined the modern percussion ensemble as a flexible, omnivorous entity, pushing its voice to the forefront of American musical culture." 7:30 pm -- $29 and up