All Over Albany

IDC reunites with Senate Dems, Nixon blasts Cuomo on PFOA contamination, marches commemorate King anniversary

IDC
The Independent Democratic Conference has agreed to dissolve and reunite with the Democratic party.
Andrew Cuomo said the move would put Andrea Stewart-Cousins on track to be the first woman to lead a Senate majority conference, but Dems still have to pick up two Senate seats in special elections later this month for that to happen. [NYT][TU]

Nixon in Hoosick Falls
Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon was in Hoosick Falls on Wednesday, where she met with residents and criticized the Cuomo administration's handling of the PFOA pollution situation. [Spectrum][TU]

Man killed on train tracks
Police in Colonie say a man was killed by an Amtrak passenger train after he appeared to purposely step out in front of the train. [TU]

Senate stipends
Tom DiNapoli's office has rejected tens of thousands of dollars in committee chair stipends for five New York senators who, an investigation shows, were assigned false committee chair titles for jobs they didn't hold. [NYT]

Vanderheyden employee charged with rape and assault
A Vanderheyden group home employee is facing rape charges for allegedly having sexual contact with a resident of the program. [TU]

RensCo ICE
Rensselaer County Sheriff Patrick Russo was on Fox News this week, defending his decision to allow ICE to check county jail inmates for immigration violations. [TU]

Siena coach under investigation for verbal abuse
Siena basketball Coach Jimmy Patsos is being investigated for allegedly taunting and verbally abusing a team student-manager with a mental disorder, allegedly referring to him as "the next Unabomber."[TU]

Free range parenting
Chris Churchill on a Free Range Parenting law that may soon be considered in Albany County. [TU]

Credit cards and guns
Tom DiNapoli's effort to make it more difficult -- or even impossible-- to buy an assault rifle using a credit or debit card. [TU]

New development in Coeymans murder
A man charged with the 2014 murder of his mother in Coeymans has plead that is he is not responsible due to a mental disease or defect and will go through mental health evaluations.[TU]

Albany land bank
The Albany County Land Bank is considering taking on its largest property yet-- a 65-acre plot in Knox. [TU]

Jay St. Fire
Sarah Foss on the grand jury report on the Jay Street fire, and what it could say about the condition of other buildings in the city of Schenectady. [Gazette]

Injured Glenville police officer sues Scotia
A Glenville police officer accidentally shot by a Scotia officer in a July incident in which a knife wielding man was killed, is now suing the village of Scotia and the Scotia police department.[Gazette]

Saratoga short-term rentals
The City of Saratoga Springs will consider proposals requiring short-term rental properties like Airbnb and VRBO rentals to register with the city and charge occupancy tax.

High winds,power outages
High winds knocked out power to more than 20 thousand Capital Region residents overnight. [Spectrum][TU]

Lionheart
The owner of the Lionheart pub, who purchased the business for $3.5 million three years ago, may be facing foreclosure on the business and is being sued by the founder of the business for breaking his payment agreement. [Business Review][TU]

Carver Community Center
Schenectady's $1.5 million renovated Carver Community center includes a multicultural library, juice bar and meditation room. [TU]

Remembering Dr. King
Marches were held around the Capital Region Wednesday to mark the 50 anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. [Saratogian][TU]

High jumper
A University at Albany high jumper from Jamaica is the best college jumper in the nation after learning 7feet 5 inches last week in a competition in Florida. [TU]

Stuff going on today

Albany Craft Beer Week

Monday-Saturday: It's Albany Craft Beer Week, with events each night at venues around the area. The cap to the week is the Albany Craft Beer Festival at the Washington Ave Armory on Saturday.

Stage

A Meditation on Tongues
Thursday: EMPAC has a production of Ni'Ja Whitson's A Meditation on Tongues, a "live-dance adaptation of filmmaker and activist Marlon T. Riggs' 1989 film Tongues Untied, a groundbreaking portrait of Black, gay identity." Thursday 7 pm -- $18 / $6 students

Hoops

Thursday: The Albany Patroons face the Kentucky Thoroughbreds at the Washington Ave Armory. (The two teams also play Friday night.) Thursday 7:05 pm -- $10 and up

Music

Thursday: Buckethead at Upstate Concert Hall
Guitarist. 8 pm -- $20 ahead / $25 day of

Thursday: Funk Night at Parish Public House
Including members of Turkuaz, Kung Fu, Eric Krasno Band, and Wurliday. 9 pm -- $10 ahead / $15 at door

Thursday: Emma Larson at Caffe Lena
Singer/songwriter. 7 pm -- $10

Thursday: United States Air Force Band & Singing Sergeants at Proctors
"The Concert Band will perform a wide variety of music ranging from classical transcriptions and original works to solo features." 8 pm -- free