All Over Albany

Continued back and forth over Troy Police Department, SUNY chancellor proposes move to zero-carbon electricity, no show but a donation anyway

Scrutiny of Troy Police Department
+ Chris Churchill, in response to former Troy police chief John Tedesco's pushback on the state Attorney General's review of the Edson Thevenin shooting: "Taken together, [a series of brutality and corruption allegations] show a troubled department with a history of treating residents with aggressive disrespect. So I disagree with Tedesco. For the good of the city, Troy's next police chief should come from somewhere else." [TU]
+ City Council president Carmella Mantello's request for a meeting with the AG's office about the report has rankled the Troy Police Benevolent Association, which has accused of her setting up the meeting "for political points and headlines." Mantello: "I'm looking at this as a whole. No one is here to point fingers." [Troy Record] [Troy PBA FB] [Spectrum]
+ Local defense attorneys speculate on whether the AG's report will affect the way juries perceive the Troy Police Department. [TU]

Sentencing in Schenectady fire murder
Andrell Leppanen -- the Schenectady man found guilty of second-degree murder for setting his stepfather, Kevin Hawkins, on fire in 2016 -- was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. In her victim impact statement, Leppanen's mother remembered Hawkins as having "a heart of gold" -- and also noted her son's history of mental illness, which includes schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

State and local taxes
A look at the some of ideas, and complications, circulating in the state legislature for adapting New York State's tax system following the recent federal tax plan that caps state and local deductions. [TU]

Opioid tax
Andrew Cuomo's proposed budget includes surcharge on opioid prescriptions intended to discourage their use and fund efforts against opioid addiction -- but Sara Foss wonders if it will just end up hurting people who rely on the drugs to treat debilitating pain. [Daily Gazette]

State review of local school districts
It sounds like state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia isn't totally on board with the Cuomo admin's proposal to have the state review certain school district budgets -- such as Schenectady -- for how many is distributed among schools within the districts. [Daily Gazette]

Abortion laws
A look at how New York's abortion laws are inconsistent with Roe v. Wade in some aspects, and proposals to address the situation. [TU]

SUNY
In her State of the University System address Monday, new chancellor Kristina Johnson proposed a plan to move SUNY to sourcing 100 percent of its electricity from zero-carbon sources. [SUNY] [TU]

Hilton Albany strike
The Hilton Albany and the union repping its striking employees have reached a tentative deal on a contract. [TU]

Albany-Colonie water connection
The city of Albany and the town of Colonie are moving to connect their water systems in order to be able to provide backup capacity in emergencies. [TU]

Times Union Center
The TU Center had a $1.3 million operating profit last year, according to Albany County. [TU]

Flu
A look at research Albany Med scientists are doing in hopes of figuring out how people end up with serious complications from the flu -- and ways to prevent it. [TU]

No show, but donation
The canceled TU Center grand re-opening show that was to include James Taylor was also to benefit the new pediatric emergency department at Albany Med -- and on Monday AMC announced that Taylor and his wife, Kim Hessberg Taylor, had donated $10k to the hospital. [TU]

Rotten
Rotting radishes really smell bad, apparently. [Daily Gazette]

Stuff going on today

The Origin of Life on Earth
Tuesday: The Brainfood for the Curious series of short lunchtime talks at the State Museum continues with a talk about the origin of life on Earth. Tuesday 12:10-12:30 pm, Huxley Theater -- free

The First New Yorkers and the Ice Age Landscapes of New York
Tuesday: The State Museum's Science Cafe series is back at The Hollow in downtown Albany with a talk from curator of archaeology Jonathan Lothrop. He "reviews recent archaeological evidence for when and by what routes Native Americans may have colonized the region, and in turn, how these Paleoindian peoples may have used and traversed these subarctic landscapes to survive in late Pleistocene New York." Tuesday 6 pm -- free admission

Ephraim Asili
Tuesday: Artist/filmmaker Ephraim Asili will have a performance from the his work in progress, Inheritance. "Based on real events, the film's protagonist inherits a house in West Philadelphia that becomes home to an urban Collective for activists of color. The tension builds as day-to-day domestic issues compete with the collective's political agenda. Filmed predominantly inside the house, the increasingly claustrophobic drama unfolds as the group attempts to live together and find consensus through Black political discourse and social philosophy--a commitment that will climax in explosive action." Tuesday 7 pm -- free

Music: Sleeping with Sirens at Upstate Concert Hall
Rock. With: Set it Off, The Gospel Youth, South Paw. 7:30 pm -- $22 ahead / $25 day of