All Over Albany

Two shootings in Troy, public hearing on marijuana legalization, Rensselaer County sheriff at the White House, too hot for school?

Troy shootings
Troy police are investigating a pair of shootings that injured three people in the city overnight. [TU][Spectrum]

Marijuana legalization
The first of 15 statewide listening sessions on legalization of marijuana was held last night in Albany. Most of the speakers at the two-hour session spoke in favor of legalization and questioned specifics and logistics involved. [Spectrum][TU][Gazette]

RensCo Sheriff at the White House
Rensselaer County Sheriff Patrick Russo -- who has been criticized for cooperating with ICE by checking county jail inmates for immigration violations -- was part of a group of sheriffs who met with Donald Trump at the White House this week. [TU]

Teacher sentenced for rape
A former teacher at Dorothy Nolan Elementary School in Saratoga Springs was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday for raping a student. [TU]

Hate crime
The mother of a man accused of badly beating a man because the victim was gay says her son is mentally ill and not on his medication. Hubert Dabbs was arrested in 2014 as well for hitting a victim in the head and arms with a lead pipe. The victim of the latest beating lost his ear in the incident. [WNYT][Spectrum]

Attorney General race
An overview of the candidates for NYS Attorney General.[NYT]

Cigarettes
There is a renewed effort in the Rensselaer County Legislature to raise the age for purchasing cigarettes from 18 to 21. [TU]

Vacant buildings
Schenectady's city council is considering an increase in vacant building registration fees to encourage more people to make a good-faith effort to sell properties rather than holding on to them and not caring for them. [TU]

Amazon
Chris Churchill on Amazon and tax breaks. [TU]

Electric transportation
New York state is using a $127.7 million settlement with Volkswagen to invest in what the Cuomo admin is calling a clean transportation plan -- including electric buses and charging stations for electric cars. [TU]

Cat killing
Lawyers for a man charged with killing a cat in Schenectady say the cat had been struck by a car.[Gazette]

Sports betting
+ Sara Foss on sports gambling and the quiet death of a push to legalize it in New York.[Gazette]
+ A report on sports gambling by the Citizens Budget Commission-- a fiscal watchdog -- is urging the state to call for conservative revenue estimates if it does become legal.[TU]

Hit by a truck -- 4 times
A 44-year-old Schenectady restaurant has been hit by trucks four times. [WNYT]

GE diabetes treatments
Scientists at General Electric are working on a plan for a non-drug treatment for diabetes that would stimulate the body's central nervous system in an effort to readjust the metabolism. [Gazette]

Too hot for school?
New York State United Teachers is suggesting implementing ""extreme heat days" for when it's too hot to stay in class -- especially if schools are not air conditioned. [TU]

Stuff going on today

Elizabeth Acevedo
Thursday: The NYS Writers Institute starts off its fall visiting writers series with Elizabeth Acevedo. "The daughter of Dominican immigrants, [Acevado] a National Poetry Slam Champion (2014) and author of the New York Times bestselling young adult novel, The Poet X (2018), the story of an Afro-Latina teenager growing up in New York City. She confronts prejudice and sexual harassment while discovering her voice and her literary ambitions." Thursday 7:30 pm, Performing Arts Center uptown campus -- free

Music: Paa Kow at The Linda
"[B]oldly explores the music of the African Diaspora by fusing Ghanaian highlife with elements of jazz, funk, and African pop to create his unique Afro-Fusion sound ..." 8 pm -- $15

Music: Les Poules à Colin at Caffe Lena
"An indie roots band that channels the old medieval ballads and sugarshack dance tunes of Québec, this band of young Francophone musicians was raised on folk music." 7 pm -- $18

Music: The Light Switches + Boat Dares + Lame Dude at Pauly's
Dream pop + accordion and drum + punky rock and roll. 8:30 pm -- $7