All Over Albany

Troy has a new police chief, former building manager testifies in Jay St. fire trial, landslide repair underway, Saratoga anti-KKK rally

Troy police Chief
The city of Troy has a new police chief. Brian Owens took command of the city's police force on Wednesday, promising to lead the city's police out of a tumultuous two years. [Spectrum][TU]

Jay street fire trial
The former building manager of the Jay Street apartment building destroyed in a fatal fire in 2015, took the witness stand on Wednesday, testifying against Kenneth Tyree, the Schenectady city inspector charged with failing to properly inspect the building. The testimony was part of a plea agreement for Sacks, who pleaded guilty last month to four counts of criminally-negligent homicide will spend 1 to 3 years in state prison.[TU][Gazette]

Percoco trial
The defense in the corruption trial of Joe Percoco claims the alleged bribes between three business men who paid the former Cuomo aide $300,000 were really acts of friendship. [TU]

Dash cam audio in suspect death
The audio from police dash cam video taken moments before Andrew Kearse died in the custody of Schenectady police was released by Buzzfeed and reveals that the man told police he could not breathe. [Buzzfeed]

Saratoga Charter referendem challenge dismissed
A Saratoga County Supreme Court Justice has dismissed a petition for a recount of the charter referendum ballots in Saratoga Springs. [Gazette]

Kirsten Gillibrand
A look at changes in Kirsten Gillibrand's positions on gun control and immigration. [TU]

Peace Vigil
More than 100 people held a peace vigil outside the Saratoga Springs Post Office on Broadway, in response to the recent KKK flyers found distributed in the city. [Spectrum]

Heroin arrest
A Troy man who was in possession of 66 bags of heroin along with a large amount of cash and other drugs, is believed to have sold drugs in two countries. [TU]

Derailed train blamed for accident
The engine is no longer running on a derailed Saratoga North Creek Railway train that had been left idling for a week, but the train is being blamed for an accident that totaled the vehicle of a driver who slammed on the breaks, thinking he was about to hit a runaway train. [WNYT]
Landslide repair begins
Cleanup work began on Wednesday to prepare for stabilization work the slope above Not Terrace following January's landslide.[TU][Gazette]

Claims that gay men were denied insurance
State financial regulators will investigate reports that gamy men who were taking medication to protect against H.I.V. have been denied insurance policies covering life or long-term care.[NYT]

Fire in Abandoned home
Firefighters took down an abandoned house near Manning Boulevard in Albany that caught fire on Wednesday night. [WNYT]

Q Poll
A new Quinnapiac poll shows New Yorkers don't like Donald Trump but don't want to see Kirsten Gillibrand or /Andrew Cuomo in the White House either. The poll also shows Barack Obama and George H.W. Bush are New York voters' two favorite living presidents. [Politico][Gazette]

This isn't a law already
It seems like something that would already be illegal, but Andrew Cuomo has released a new proposed budget amendment that says it is illegal for police to have sexual contact with someone in their custody.[TU]

81 year old chef
An 81 year former pharmaceutical worker begins a second career as a chef. [Spectrum]

Stuff going on today

Oscar-nominated shorts
Both the Spectrum and The Addy at Proctors are showing the Oscar-nominated shorts -- live action and animated -- this week.

Ice skating

We're starting to run out of winter (probably), so there's not a lot of days left at some of the ice skating spots around the Capital Region.

Music

Thursday: Sara Evans at The Palace Country star. With: RaeLynn and Kalie Schorr. 8 pm -- $34.50 and up

Thursday: Time For Three at Troy Music Hall
"The groundbreaking, category-shattering trio Time for Three (Tf3) transcends traditional classification, with elements of classical, country western, gypsy and jazz idioms forming a blend all its own." 7:30 pm -- $34

Thursday: POLIÇA / s t a r g a z e at MASS MoCA
"s t a r g a z e, Berlin's collective of new music mavericks, joins forces with the brooding pop of POLIÇA to create a new evening-length work Music for the Long Emergency, commissioned by and premiered with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music Series." 8 pm -- $18 ahead / $25 day of

Thursday: Funk night at Parish Public House
With members of Dopapod, Kung Fu, and Wurliday. 8 pm

Thursday: Jallie The Giver at The Low Beat
Rap. With: JAY $WAY / DADDY DAK / AEBUDIS / PROFESSORTHEPROFLEXXER / DRAC. 8 pm