All Over Albany

Control of the state Senate, Albany Law professors join call to oppose Kavanaugh confirmation, in the grips of disc golf fever

Control of the state Senate
+ A look at how Republicans have managed to keep control of the state Senate in recent years even as New York's electorate has trended toward Democrats. [TU]
+ A profile of the 44th state Senate election between 10-term incumbent Democrat Neil Breslin and Republic challenger Christopher Davis. [TU]
+ A profile of the 46th state Senate election between incumbent Republican George Amedore and Democratic challenger Pat Strong. [TU]

A public vote in October
Albany County comptroller Mike Conners is criticizing a Guilderland school district $42.7 million construction referendum vote that's being held October 16 because it's not being held concurrent with other votes. He said it's representative of a larger problem of similar votes being held on unusual dates, which often results in low turnout. [WNYT] [TU]

Albany County Board of Elections office move
+ Amanda Fries tracked down Matthew Clyne, the Democratic elections commissioner for Albany County, to ask him about his Republican counterpart's recent comment that the the county BOE shouldn't move its offices to Albany's South End because it's a dangerous neighborhood -- he said he had no comment. [TU]
+ In comments to Spectrum News, Rachel Bledi -- the Republican commissioner -- reiterated her opposition to a potential move to the building that's housed the DMV on South Pearl Street, and said regarding her earlier assertion about the neighborhood: "it would be ignorant on part of officials to pretend like this is not a real and serious issue." [Spectrum]

Conviction for former state Senate aide
A former state Senate aide was convicted on misdemeanor assault charges by an Albany County Court jury for hitting his former girlfriend with an electrical cord and slapping her. [TU]

Shawn Morse
Three women gathered outside Cohoes City Hall Thursday to call for mayor Shawn Morse to resign over the domestic abuse allegations against him. Morse to WNYT: "Their argument is believe in women. I do believe in women but I also believe in the truth. This (accusing men of being abusive) has been going on a long time. It's not just me. It's happening all over the country." [TU] [WNYT]

Kavanaugh confirmation vote
There were 18 Albany Law professors among the 2,400 who signed a public letter published in the New York Times opposing the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. [TU]

Albany fire
Albany authorities says six people have been displaced by a house fire on Third Ave in the South End Thursday night. [WNYT] [APD]

Raises in Schenectady budget
The proposed Schenectady city budget includes raises for multiple commissioners -- including $45k for the public safety commissioner -- which has raised some eyebrows. [Daily Gazette]

Pay and working conditions for EMTs
The union that represents Mohawk Ambulance EMTs says it could possibly go on strike in its effort to win pay raises and changes in working conditions. [News10]

Poverty
Sara Foss on the recent Census Bureau / Opportunity Atlas data about intergenerational income and poverty: "We like to believe that there are pathways out of poverty, and that poor children can access these pathways and move into the middle class. But the Census data suggest that transcending the circumstances of our birth is difficult and that, all too often, geography is destiny." [Daily Gazette]

Regeneron expansion
The East Greenbush town supervisor is among the people questioning the details of tax breaks the Rensselaer County IDA is considering for the Regeneron expansion. [WNYT]

The car by the horns
A fight over where an old Chevy Impala sporting steer horns (among other adornments) could be parked in a Bethlehem subdivision ended up before the town's zoning board of appeals. [TU]

Farms
+ A bison farm in Schodack will be preserved as farmland into the future after agricultural and open space orgs helped secure a conservation easement for the property. [TU]
+ A profile of the Wilton farmer who's also a New York City police officer. [TU] [Saratogian]

Proctors
A closer look at the new seats in the main Proctors theater. [TU]

Disc golf fever
Noted: "disc golf is undoubtedly the Capital Region's fastest-growing sport." [Saratogian]

Stuff to do this weekend

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