All Over Albany

It's very hot, surveying effects of the Buffalo Billion, debate over longevity pay for electeds, the dreams of your ancestors

Heat
+ Today's forecast includes temperatures near 100, and the National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning through Monday night as the heat index is expected to be 100. [NWS x2]
+ Here's a list of cooling centers around the region compiled by the state Department of Health. [NYS DOH]
+ Also: Some local municipalities are offering cooling stations not on that list. Call or check with your local city/town.

Gubernatorial election
+ Surveying the effects -- or lack thereof -- of the Buffalo Billion, one of Andrew Cuomo's signature economic development initiatives. [NYT]
+ The issue of Cuomo campaign contributions has mostly beenabsent from the Alain Kaloyeros trial -- with one brief exception. [TU]
+ Picking through Marcus Molinaro's time as Dutchess County exec, campaign spending and contributions, and county contracts. [TU]

Life in translation
A profile of an Afghan man who served as a translator for the US Army in Afghanistan and now lives in Albany -- he was injured while working with US forces, now works four jobs, and needs a new wheelchair. [TU]

Saratoga Springs stabbing
Saratoga Springs police say they have a suspect in custody following a stabbing Sunday afternoon off South Broadway. [TU]

Jail guard pleads guilty
The former Schenectady County jail guard who had been facing felony marijuana charges pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in June. (His arrest appeared to prompt a series of events that led to four guards resigning.) [Daily Gazette]

Body found in Mohawk
Authorities pulled a body from the Mohawk River near Schenectady's Riverside Park Friday. A priest found the body and he said it was obvious the person had been dead for some time. [Daily Gazette] [TU]

Immigration rally
More than 100 people gathered in West Capitol Park Saturday to call for reunification of the families separated at the US border. [TU]

Longevity pay
A look at which local municipalities offer longevity pay -- and the debate over whether elected officials should get it. [TU]

Guilderland taxes
Explaining the process that led to a large jump in school taxes in a Guilderland neighborhood and the effort, involving state legislation, to rollback that jump. [TU]

Guns
Chris Churchill on the Capital Gazette shooting in Annapolis: "... I'll admit that Thursday's massacre hit home for me in a way that some others haven't. That it took place in a newsroom like the one I'm sitting in now makes this endless cycle of violence all the more grim. That it took place at a very small newspaper like ones where I once worked made it more real." [TU]

Fireworks
Sara Foss on efforts to keep people from shooting off illegal fireworks: "What I'd prefer is that fines weren't necessary, that people would exercise some common sense and basic decency on July 4th, rather than using it as an excuse to misbehave and terrorize their neighbors." [Daily Gazette]

Historical markers
Talking with the 73-year-old retired social studies teacher who's been restoring historical markers around the area. [Daily Gazette]

The future
The message on a the graduation cap of of new Schenectady High School grad who's headed to college to this fall: "I am my ancestors' wildest dreams..." [Daily Gazette]

Stuff going on today

It's just really hot. Here's a list of public swimming pools and spray pads around the area.