All Over Albany

Inspecting the inspection records of limo companies, local school districts and homeless students, Boyhaven sold, coworking with cats

Schoharie limousine crash
+ Larry Rulison and Lauren Stanforth look into the inspection records of limo companies statewide and concluded that "Prestige had the most egregious violations among them over a two-year period," other limo company owners question how Prestige had been allowed to continue operating. [TU]
+ Kathy Manley -- the attorney who represented Yassin Aref in the FBI's Albany rocket launcher sting -- on Presige owner Shahed Hussain and his involvement as an undercover FBI informant in that case and other cases: "[T]his would not have happened had it not been for the FBI enabling this guy." [News10]

Homeless students
+ There were 512 students in the Albany school district categorized as homeless* during the 2017-2018 school year, according to state data. (The number was 664 when counting student enrolled in charter schools in the city.) For the Schenectady school district the total was 467. And for Troy it was 338. [NYS-TEACHS]
+ Sara Foss: "If we don't find a way to reverse this worrying trend, we risk accepting student homelessness as a normal part of American life." [Daily Gazette]

Rally for EMT raises
Mohawk Ambulance EMTs rallied Monday for a new contract, raises, and better working conditions. The union that reps the EMTs says they currently make $12.51 per hour, and should be making at least $15 per hour. [News10] [WNYT]

State Senate staffer accused of harassment
The chief of staff for state Senator Simcha Felder has been accused of groping a lobbyist at a fundraiser for state Senator George Amedore. [TU]

Gubernatorial election
Marc Molinaro says he thinks Andrew Cuomo will soon be indicted over the Crystal Run situation -- the Cuomo campaign called the comment "a sad, pathetic, flailing sideshow." [TU]

Attorney General election
The Libertarian candidate for state Attorney General believes 9/11 was a hoax/scheme to benefit developers and, if elected, hopes to investigate the attack. [TU]

Voters
It appears new Democratic voter enrollment is outpacing the existing rate of party enrollment in Saratoga and Rensselaer counties. [TU]

Troy police trial
The trial of the Troy police sergeant accused covering up a warrantless search conducted by a drug unit started this week. Jury selection on Monday got sidetracked by a comment made by an excused potential juror. [TU] [@lukestdnathan]

Albany police trying to identify men
Albany police are looking for help in identifying two men in connection with a fatal shooting in July. [TU]

Albany/Menands arrest in Rotterdam case
The arrest of a man wanted for robbery and assault charges for an incident in Rotterdam Saturday prompted a large police presence on the Albany/Menands line Monday morning. [Daily Gazette] [WNYT]

Woman accused of kicking Albany police
The woman who says a State Police trooper knocked a phone out of her hand while was trying to record a traffic stop in Saratoga Springs is now facing charges for allegedly kicking an Albany police officer and booking clerk. [CBS6]

The South End
Chris Churchill on the recent back-and-forth over the Albany County Republican election commissioner calling the South End a "bad, dangerous neighborhood": "The South End isn't bad, and its people certainly aren't. But we can be honest enough to say that today's South End is nobody's idea of what the neighborhood should be." [TU]

Albany Complete Streets
At a public hearing for Albany's proposed budget residents pushed for a new position that would help the city implement "complete streets" policies for making streets more accessible for pedestrians, cyclists, and people with disabilities. [TU]

Anyone? Anyone?
The only member of the public at a Schenectady County Legislature hearing for the new county budget was a Daily Gazette reporter. [Daily Gazette]

Boyhaven
Boyhaven has been sold for $1 million to a past chairman of Saratoga PLAN who says he wants to hold the property so the town of Milton or DEC have another chance to acquire it and make it public land. [Daily Gazette]

Business Review
Longtime Business Review editor Mike Hendricks is retiring. [Biz Review]

Cat co-working
Two people are planning a co-working space with cats in Troy. [TU]
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* In this case, a homeless student is defined as "one who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence." Here's the full definition explained in detail (pdf p. 110).

Stuff going on today

Albany police chief forum
Tuesday: The Albany Community Policing Advisory Committee has a public forum with new police chief Eric Hawkins at the Pine Hills branch of the Albany Public Library. "Chief Hawkins will discuss his vision for the department and listen to feedback from community members." Tuesday 6-8 pm

Capitol Hauntings
Today-Saturday: The popular Capitol Hauntings tours have started up for the season at the state Capitol. "The tour lasts about an hour, but the chilling, ghostly tales might haunt you forever." Monday-Friday 1 pm and 5:30 pm / Saturday 1 pm -- free (but you must make a reservation and they fill up)

Historic Haunted Pub Crawl
Tuesday and Thursday: Historic Albany Foundation, Ten Broeck Mansion, and The Original Albany Ghost Tour have joined up for a series of historic haunted pub crawls. It starts with a ghost tour of the Ten Broeck Mansion and then heads to a trio of downtown pubs with stories along the way. Tuesday and Thursday 5:30 pm, 6:15 pm, 7 pm -- $25

Education, Art, Space, and Place
Tuesday: Architect/writer David Gersten will be at UAlbany as part of the NYS Writers Institute visiting writers series for a talk "Developing New Ways of Knowing: Education, Art, Space, and Place." It's also part of the College of Arts and Sciences 25th Anniversary celebration. (There's another conversation at 4:15 pm.) Tuesday 7 pm, uptown campus, Performing Arts Center -- free

Brass Tacks: Mugabi Byenkya
Tuesday: The Brass Tacks spoken word series is bringing Mugabi Byenkya to The Low Beat. "Mugabi was longlisted for the Babishai Niwe Poetry Award in 2015, has been featured on Brittle Paper, The Good Men Project, African Writer, Arts and Africa, and The Kalahari Review amongst others. ... An advocate of the intersections between chronic/mental illness, disability, writing and trauma, Mugabi leads effective workshops to unpack and channel pain." Tuesday 7:30 pm

Chocolate
Tuesday: The Social Media crafts-and-drinks series at The Arts Center of the Capital Region has "Bean to Bar: Chocolate Treats" with Oliver Holecek of Primo Botánica. "In this chocolate making workshop we will hand temper chocolate and make chocolate bark with tasty seasonal ingredients." Tuesday 5:30 pm -- $45

Music: Phish at TU Center
Very possible that both nights will be sold out. 7 pm -- $55 and up