All Over Albany

Shaping up the race for governor, Cuomo admin response to allegations of unaddressed misconduct at state agency, threat prompts students to stay home

Race for governor
+ The Cuomo campaign's response to Cynthia Nixon entering the race for the Democratic nomination: "Governor Cuomo has delivered more real progressive wins than any other Democrat in the country, including passing marriage equality, the strongest gun safety law in the nation, a $15 minimum wage, free college tuition, paid family leave, record setting funding for public education, expanding and protecting healthcare for our most vulnerable, and banning fracking." [State of Politics]
+ An overview of the politics of the Cuomo-Nixon matchup. [Politico NY]
+ Republicans seemed pretty happy about Nixon getting into the race. [Politico NY]

Niko DiNovo
Niko DiNovo -- the Colonie teen badly burned in the Blessings Tavern car crash in 2016 -- died Monday from injuries from the crash. [TU]

Harassment allegations at state agency
+ Following the Times Union report about about inaction over reports of sexual harassment, racism and ageism at the state Division of Criminal Justice Services -- even after an Inspector General's investigation sustained the allegations -- the Cuomo admin said it had earlier referred the case to the Governor's Office of Employee Relations to investigate, though the office doesn't have formal power to conduct investigations. [TU]
+ Chris Churchill: "Why does the state have an inspector general's office if its reports are going to be ignored?" [TU]

Gun violence
+ A threat written on a bathroom stall prompted many Shen high school students to stay home Monday or leave early. Police and school officials say they're investigating to find out who made the threat. [Daily Gazette] [WNYT]
+ Schenectady police conducted an active shooter response training for members of the public at Proctors Monday evening. [TU]

Saratoga County drug bust
A collection of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies unveiled the results of a bust from an alleged marijuana and cocaine trafficking ring -- including 20 pounds of pot, 5 pounds of cocaine, and $264k in cash, and 20 weapons. Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo said he believed the bust "put a big dent into the trafficking of marijuana and cocaine in Saratoga County and beyond." (Follow-up question: Are prices for pot and cocaine now higher in Saratoga County and/or the Capital Region?) [Spectrum] [TU] [Daily Gazette]

Teens charged with hate crime
State Police say two teens have been charged with second-degree aggravated harassment as a hate crime for allegedly leaving threatening voice mail messages directed at a family because of their religious beliefs. [NYSP]

Wrong way
State Police say an Albany man will be facing a range of charges -- including DWI -- after they say he drove the wrong way on I-90 in the city late Saturday afternoon, crashing head-on into another car. NYSP say the drivers of both cars suffered serious injuries. [NYSP]

Schenectady police settlement
A Schenectady City Council committee voted to move forward with a $65,000 settlement of an excessive force case involving city police (the full council will have to vote on it). Also: Andrew Beam reports the committee voted on the settlement in during executive session. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

CDTA
+ At an American Public Transit Association event in Washington, DC Monday CDTA CEO Carm Basile said proposed cuts in federal funding for public transportation are an obstacle to the planned expansion of CDTA's BusPlus bus rapid transit system. [Daily Gazette]
+ It looks like CDTA's ridership will be down a bit for the current fiscal year, following its recent string of record years. [The Alt]

Livingston Ave Bridge
Chuck Schumer was in Albany Monday to criticize the Trump administration infrastructure plan and call for a rollback of tax cuts to pay for infrastructure repairs. He used the 115-year-old Livingston Ave Bridge as a backdrop and said replacing the span could cost $1 billion. [Spectrum] [TU]

Land banks
The state Assembly budget proposal includes $20 million for land banks around the state -- the state Senate budget proposal currently does not (nor did the Cuomo admin's proposal). [Biz Review]

Animal control
A retired State Police investigator -- and former president of the state Humane Association -- said the recent Coeymans raccoon case highlights the need for there to be a trained animal control officer in every town. [TU]

Ballston development
The ongoing fight in Ballston over slowing development on farm land (or not). [TU]

Former Perreca's owner
Bob Papa -- the former longtime owner of Perreca's Bakery in Schenectady -- died last week at age 82. [TU]

On the TV
Glenville hair stylist Jordan Glindmyer -- who specializes in "mermaid" hair -- is set to appear on CW reality competition show this summer. [Daily Gazette]

Stuff going on today

STOMP
Tuesday-Wednesday: A tour of long running stage show STOMP will be at The Palace. "A unique combination of percussion, movement and visual comedy, STOMP has created its own inimitable, contemporary form of rhythmic expression: both household and industrial objects find new life as musical instruments in the hands of an idiosyncratic band of body percussionists." Tuesday and Wednesday 7:30 pm -- $39

The Marvelous Bird Egg Collection of the New York State Museum
Tuesday: The Brainfood for the Curious series of short lunchtime talks at the State Museum continues with curator of birds Jeremy Kirchman talking about the museum's extensive bird egg collection and recent upgrades to it. Tuesday 12:10-12:30 pm, Huxley Theater -- free

Nitty Gritty
Tuesday: The Nitty Gritty poetry slam is back at The Low Beat in Albany. Tuesday 7 pm -- free admission