All Over Albany

Memorial service honors victims in Troy murder case, Republicans concerned about finding strong Cuomo challenger, food pantries on campus, homeless Jesus

Troy quadruple homicide
+ A grand jury handed up indictments Friday against the two men accused of the Troy quadruple homicide, with charges including first- and second-degree murder, along with burglary and robbery. The indictments had been expected on Wednesday and the delay prompted procedural maneuvering from the DA's office and protests from the defense. [Daily Gazette] [News10] [TU]
+ At a memorial service in Troy Saturday, people remembered Shanta Myers, her 11-year-old son Jeremiah, and five-year-old daughter Shanise. Chris Churchill on the service: "If you're a person who tries to look for the good after a tragedy, you saw what you wanted there." [TU x2]

Review of Albany police handling of alleged rape case
Albany acting police chief Bob Sears says the department is reviewing the handling of a case in which, "sources briefed on the case" tell the Times Union, that officers responded to an Albany apartment about an intoxicated woman being abducted, left without making an arrest, and the women alleges she was later raped. [TU]

Investigation of Albany shooting last week
Albany police say the man fatally shot at First and Quail last Thursday afternoon had been the targeted. [TU]

Bethlehem bank robbery
Bethlehem police say the Trustco in Slingerlands was robbed Saturday afternoon by a masked man with a note. [TU]

Rotterdam jewelry robbery
Rotterdam police say they're looking for a man accused of stealing diamond rings from a jewelry store in the ViaPort mall while the clerk wasn't looking, an incident captured by an overhead camera (video embedded at that link). [Daily Gazette]

Steve McLaughlin
The director of Steve McLaughlin's campaign for Rensselaer County exec, Richard Crist, was added to McLaughlin's state Assembly staff last September, Brendan Lyons reports. [TU]

Gubernatorial race
A Republican campaign operative says the state party is in a "panic" over not being able to field a strong candidate against Andrew Cuomo. [Politico NY]

NY-21
There are currently 11 people, including Elise Stefanik, in the pool for the NY-21 Congressional District seat -- eight of them Democrats. [TU]

Early voting
County officials say they're concerned about the cost of administering the early voting period proposed by Andrew Cuomo. [Daily Gazette]

GE layoffs
GE will be laying off 130 hourly employees in Schenectady and Niskayuna. "Several sources familiar with the matter" tell the Times Union the jobs cuts will be from a range of positions. [Biz Review] [TU]

Home foreclosures
The number of home foreclosures in the Capital Region hasn't fallen back to before-the-house-crash levels. [Daily Gazette]

Food pantries on campus
SCCC has an on-campus food pantry for students, and UAlbany has a partnership with St. Vincent de Paul food pantry on Madison Avenue for students in need. [Daily Gazette]

Water main breaks
+ The very cold weather has prompted water main breaks around the area, including at least 10 in Albany. [TU]
+ The residents of a mobile home park in Malta say they've had very little water service for a week following a water main break, and it's unclear when things will be fixed. [WNYT]

Medical marijuana
Sara Foss on patients in New York State's tightly-controlled medical marijuana program: "Why these people should have to worry about being caught in the crosshairs of a federal crackdown on marijuana is beyond me." [Daily Gazette]

Transgender healthcare
Charting the path of a Guilderland woman on her gender transition. [TU]

Homeless Jesus
The story of the benefactor of the "Homeless Jesus" sculpture at St. Luke's Church in Schenectady. [Daily Gazette]

Stuff going on today

Patroons
Monday: The Albany Patroons are back in action at the Washington Ave Armory against the Ohio Cardinals. Monday 7:05 pm -- $10 and up

Family history
Monday: The Schenectady County Historical Society is starting an eight-week family history workshop with genealogist Judith Herbert. "Both beginners and seasoned genealogists who wish to learn more should join us for an intensive genealogy course. This course will focus on locating, collecting, analyzing and assessing the value and accuracy of records that are vital to genealogical research. Each topic will get into the fine details of genealogical research which are often missed, even by practiced genealogists." Mondays 7 pm -- $275