All Over Albany

Opening arguments in Percoco trial, Kirsten Gillibrand's "no" vote, Kathy Sheehan v. Tucker Carlson

Percoco trial
Opening statements got underway Tuesday in the trial of Cuomo aide Joe Percoco. Prosecutors described Percoco as a powerful, but not wealthy man who traded on "the most valuable thing he owned -- his job, his power and influence in state government."[News 10][NYT]

GE
GE's Power unit in Schenectady is reporting that its profit dropped 88 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017.[TU]

Capital Region Unemployment
Unemployment in the Capital Region is up 0.3 percentage points to 4.2 percent. [TU]

Kathy Sheehan v. Tucker Carlson
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan sparred with Fox News host Tucker Carlson over immigration and sanctuary cities, telling him "Albany will remain a welcoming city for all."[Fox News] [TU]

Lawn jockeys draped in Confederate flags
Over a dozen lawn jockeys outside the National Museum of Racing on Tuesday were draped in Confederate flags overnight on Tuesday. Someone who contacted local television stations to tell them the act was a protest against what it called symbols of slavery. Museum officials maintain that the lawn jockeys are a piece of history and have no racial overtones. [TU][Gazette][Spectrum]

Changes in the Albany County Legislature
Changes in the power structure of the Albany County Legislature and what they could mean for the county's future. [TU]

Budget cuts and community colleges
Community colleges in New York fear that Andrew Cuomo's budget proposal could force cutbacks or tuition hikes. [TU]

Why Kirstin Gillibrand voted no
A look at Kirstin Gillibrand's "no" vote on lifting the government shutdown. [TU]

Hotels
An increase in the number of hotels in the Capital Region has resulted in a drop in room rates. [TU]

Mohawk fooding concern
Ice and rain posed flooding concerns along the Mohawk River, particularly in the Stockade neighborhood. The threat is expected to diminish with dropping temperatures [WNYT][Spectrum][TU]

Man wounded in attempted robbery
A Scotia man is recovering after being shot with a BB gun in an attempted robbery in a bowling alley parking lot. [Gazette]

Student struck by car
Guilderland police are searching for the driver that struck and injured a Guilderland student early Tuesday morning. [TU]

Lawsuits over opioids
Saratoga County's lawsuit agains pharmaceutical companies over the sale of opioids is being consolidated with dozens of similar suits by counties across New York, including Rensselaer and Warren counties. [TU]

Toys R Us
Toys R Us stores in Latham and Glens Falls are among those slated for closure around the country.

Troy community school
Troy voters approved a $1.2 million capital project on Tuesday to create a community school at School 2 on Tenth Street in the city to help support the emotional social and physical needs of students and families . [TU]

"We feel like prisoners. We are alone and afraid to go out. We don't know who we can trust,"
The story of a Turkish family forced to flee everything they knew to become political refugees in Bethlehem. [TU]

Schenectady power outage
A massive power outage in Schenectady on Tuesday left 5,678 National Grid customers without service on Tuesday for more than two hours. [TU]

The Harlem Hellfighters
The Harlem Hellfighters, the WWI unit where Sgt. Henry Johnson served, will be honored in February with an exhibition at the Capitol complex. [TU]

Capital Region cities criticized by NYCLU
Troy and Schenectady were named by the NYCLU as two of 11 cities whose Nuisance ordinances, they claim, hurt domestic violence survivors and crime victims. [Gazette]

Fingerpaint buys former Borders building
Fingerpaint, the marketing company headquartered in the former Borders building in Saratoga Springs, has announced it will purchase the building and expand its headquarters. [Biz Review]

Pratt's daughter at State of the Union
Elise Stefanik has invited Sarah Pratt, the daughter of fallen State Trooper Tim Pratt, as her guest to the State of the Union next week. [Saratogian]

Skidmore chefs take culinary award
A team of chefs at Skidmore College has taken its fifth gold medal for culinary excellence in a competition among college chefs. [TU]

Stuff going on today

Loss, faith, and forgiveness
Wednesday: Rev. Sharon Washington Risher will be at Siena for a talk titled "Tattered Pieces: A Charleston Daughter Explores Loss, Faith and Forgiveness." Her mother was killed in the mass shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. The eight others killed also included two of her cousins and a childhood friend. "Since that horrific tragedy, Sharon has been very outspoken about the nation's gun laws and is one of the national spokespersons for the grassroots advocacy groups Everytown and Moms Demand Gun Sense." Wednesday 6 pm, Key Auditorium (Roger Bacon Hall 202) -- free

Music

Wednesday: The Greensky Bluegrass show at The Egg is sold out.

Wednesday: SYML at The Hollow
Brian Fennell from Barcelona. With: Scott Hannay. 8 pm -- $10

Wednesday: Boombox at Putnam Den
Electronic. 9 pm -- $15 ahead / $20 day of

Wednesday: Hamell on Trial at The Low Beat
January residence continues. 7 pm