All Over Albany

Few details in shooting deaths of Ballston Spa family, no charges for Albany detective in shooting, another alleged incident involving Cohoes mayor, Lombardo's is closing

Ballston Spa double murder-suicide
Ballston Spa police have yet to comment on what might have prompted a Ballston Spa man to shoot his wife and 12-year-old daughter, and then himself, in their home sometime last week. Police discovered the bodies of Steven Jones, Jennifer Jones, and their daughter Emma Friday afternoon after the man's employer -- GlobalFoundries -- had contacted police asking them to check up on him because he hadn't been at work for several days. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

No charges for Albany detective in shooting
+ The Albany County DA's office announced Friday afternoon that an Albany County grand jury had declined to hand up charges against James Olsen, the Albany police detective who shot Ellazar Williams this past August. And the DA's office also delivered a presentation of what it says were the sequence of events in the incident. [Albany County DA] [TU]
+ One of the ongoing questions in the case is what exactly Williams was doing when he was shot, what position his body was in when he was shot. The Center for Law and Justice's Alice Green, to Spectrum: "There are a lot of questions that were not answered. That presentation did not add anything to the community's concerns. I was there at the hospital right after he was shot. The bullet entered his back. I saw it. I touched it." [CBS6] [Spectrum]

Cohoes mayor involved in confrontation
An 18-year-old tells the Times Union that Cohoes mayor Shawn Morse grabbed him by the throat during a confrontation at Morse's home -- he had dated Morse's daughter and had gone to home to retrieve clothing. Morse said the man threatened him and he pushed him away in order to close the door. The mayor has previously been accused of physical abuse of family members, allegations that he's denied. [TU] [News10] [TU]

Now-former Rensselaerville supervisor arrested
State Police have arrested Steven Pfleging, the now-former Rensselaerville town supervisor who resigned last week after being confronted by the town board with an allegation that he wrote town checks to himself. He's facing a handful of charges including grand larceny. [TU] [WNYT]

Students facing charges over school shooting video
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple says three teens and a 10 year old are facing charges of making a terroristic threat for allegedly creating and posting videos that depict a school shooting. [News10]

Schoharie limo crash
The state Department of Transportation has denied a Daily Gazette Freedom of Information Law request for "records concerning internal deliberations about the safety of the Route 30-30A intersection in Schoharie." [Daily Gazette]

Andrea Stewart-Cousins
A profile of Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the next leader of the state Senate. [TU]

Chuck Schumer
Examining two of the sides of Chuck Schumer: national political powerbroker/fundraiser and New York State retail politician. [TU]

Students and stereotypes
+ Groups of students from the Schenectady, Mohonasen, and Niskayuna schools districts got together recently to talk about their perceptions of each other. [Daily Gazette]
+ The Niskayuna school district says it's found no students responsible for racist comments reportedly made toward Schenectady team members during a soccer game this fall. [Daily Gazette]

Drive-thru lifesaving
How two employees of the McDonald's in Saratoga Springs helped save a man's life in the drive-thru. [TU]

Paying forward
Members of an Albany church went around Albany, Cohoes, and Rensselaer this weekend distributing toys, singing carols, and bringing cookies to people.

Lombardo's
An employee tells Steve Barnes that Lombardo's Restaurant is closing after 99 years in business. [TU]

Stuff going on this week

Check out the list of things to do during this week.