All Over Albany

Audit of agency that awards Albany tax breaks, proposed South End development, dirt bikes in Washington Park, looking for bigfoot

Audit of agency that awards Albany tax breaks
An audit by the state Comptroller office reviewed 15 projects granted tax exemptions by the Albany Industrial Development Agency -- projects that were approved between 2004-2015 -- and concluded that the agency could have done a better job of incorporating goals into the agreements for those projects and then following up to check on investment or revitalization goals. It also noted that many of the projects received tax breaks that stretched beyond the five years in its standard policy. In a letter attached to the audit, the IDA responded that changes made between 2012 and 2015 had already addressed many of the best practices recommended by the audit. [NYS OSC] [TU]

Albany County Land Bank
A look at the Albany County Land Bank's recent efforts to use grant money to take on building rehab projects itself -- projects that private developers hadn't been willing or able to take on. [TU]

New development for South End
At a neighborhood meeting for a proposed new-construction mixed-use on Second Ave in Albany's South End residents were hopeful and skeptical. [TU]

Hudson Falls amber alert
The Washington County Sheriff's Office says it thinks the 12-year-old girl from Hudson Falls who was the subject of an amber alert issued Thursday afternoon is in the New York City area -- and it also says it's taken one person into custody. [WNYT] [CBS6]

Sentencing in fatal stabbing near Madison and Lark
The who pleaded guilty to the fatal stabbing of Elijah Smith during a fight near the Lark Tavern in June was sentenced to 3-9 years in prison. [TU]

Dirt bikes in Albany
Albany county legislator Chris Higgins has joined the call for a crackdown on dirt bikes in the city of Albany after took video of a person riding one in Washington Park. [CBS6]

State pension system's $200 million IT project
The Republican candidate for state comptroller -- Jonathan Trichter -- is criticizing a $200 million IT project connected to the state pension system as a "boondoggle." (The state comptroller is the trustee of the state's pension fund.) [TU]

Income disparities
Looking at racial income disparities in the Capital Region via the life of a Troy woman working to make ends meet. [WNYT]

Schenectady County solar
Schenectady County has a contract with Monolith Solar to install solar panels and provide discounted electricity to the county -- and a county official says the company's recent financial problems shouldn't affect that. [Daily Gazette]

Milton ethics
Another contested appointment to the town of Milton's ethics board has prompted accusations of cronyism. [TU]

Moving out
Sara Foss on whether people are moving from Upstate because of the weather: "They usually cite a number of reasons for moving -- lower taxes, cheaper housing, family and, yes, the weather. What I've learned is that people seldom move for just one reason." [Daily Gazette]

High school to MBA
Siena and the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake school district have set up an agreement in which high school students can be put on a track to get an undergrad degree and MBA in as little as four years. [TU]

Bigfoot
On the hunt for sasquatch in Washington County.

Stuff going on this week

Check out the big list of things to do this weekend around the Capital Region.