Items tagged with 'rensselaer'
Former judge indicted for alleged shakedown, thousands of ghost tickets issued, police say dog starved to death, car smashes into florist
A former state Supreme Court judge from Albany County has been indicted on charges he tried to shake down attorneys appearing before him. Federal prosecutors say Thomas Spargo threatened to "harm" an attorney if the attorney didn't give him $10,000. Spargo was removed from the bench in 2006 after allegations of this behavior surface. He's recently been doing work for the City of Troy. [TU] [Daily Gazette] [Troy Record]
An attempted murder case in Schenectady could be retried after one of the jurors told a prosecutor he based his decision on the defendant's race. The juror also told the prosecutor he was distracted during the trail by the prosecutor's "captivating beauty." The juror now says he was drunk when he made the statements. [Daily Gazette]
APD chief James Tuffey told the Albany City Council yesterday that 40 percent of the parking tickets given out in the city over the last two years have been "ghost tickets" (that is, the recipients didn't have to pay). [TU]
The Troy City Council now says it won't challenge the mayor's veto of its changes to the city budget. [Troy Record]
Unemployment rate up over a year ago, Soares looks to crack down on DWI, Troy stores will be on Oprah, DiNicola has a brain tumor
The Capital Region's unemployment rate in October was 4.9 percent, up from 3.6 percent a year ago. [TU]
A Siena poll reports that a majority of New Yorkers are planning to spend less this year on holiday presents. [Daily Gazette]
A Thanksgiving food bank in Schenectady says requests are up about 20 percent this year. [Daily Gazette]
Albany County DA David Soares says his office will be cracking down on drunk drivers and will push to seize the cars of DWI suspects. [TU]
The mayor of Rensselaer says the city will not be prepared to handle snow removal this winter after the city council voted down a plan to use state money to replace equipment damaged during summer flooding. The council president says the city hasn't adequately documented what was lost. [TU] [Troy Record]
Blue Fiddle Gifts
Some of the items at Blue Fiddle Gifts in Rensselaer.
A few months back, a commenter here at AOA recommended Blue Fiddle Gifts so I decided to check it out. I had the address but still drove up and down Columbia Turnpike three times. I finally had to call home to double-check -- directly from their website: "The store is across the street from the Price Chopper and Columbia Plaza, in the Rensselaer Appliance shopping center."
And there it was.
Father to be charged with murder of child, Rensselaer DA watching money evaporate, neighborhood wants to go after negative news coverage, where's Beboy?
A four-month-old baby, who was beaten by his father in Troy, has died. Authorities said yesterday they would charge the father with murder if the child died. [TU]
A replica of a WWII plane crashed yesterday afternoon at the Schenectady County Airport during a test flight. The test pilot, who's from Saratoga, is in critical condition. [TU] [Daily Gazette]
The New York State comptroller's office has extended its OpenBook New York database to local governments. [Biz Review]
George Amedore, the Republican incumbent in the 105th state Assembly district (Tonko's old seat), says his opponent, Democrat Mark Blanchfield, has unfairly taken his words about how he views his Assembly job out of context in a radio spot. Blanchfield's sticking by the ad. [WNYT]
The Rensselaer County District Attorney's office is watching almost half of its budget disappear as grants it's relied on run out. The $1 million in grants fund the salaries of five ADAs and four investigators. [Troy Record]
Wall Street meltdown could hit NYS even harder, local unemployment rate up, bomb threat at supermarket, graduation crasher writes more sincere apology letter
A not-officially-released projection concludes that the Wall Street meltdown could now cost New York State as much as $3 billion in revenue over the next two years. David Paterson had predicted earlier this week that the hit could be as much as $1 billion over the next year. [AP]
With Wall Street institutions crumbling, local Capital Region banks say they're seeing an influx of deposits as people look to keep their money closer to home. [Daily Gazette]
The total number of jobs in the Capital Region is at its highest-ever point, but the unemployment rate still hit 5 percent last month. The highest the rate has been here in 16 years (it was 3.7 percent a year ago). Analysts say the picture isn't really all that bad and the area is doing better than a lot of other places. [TU] [Daily Gazette]
Among the recently unemployed: eight Daily Gazette staffers. It's the second job cut this year for the paper. [Daily Gazette]
CDTA is facing a budget gap and a 50 cent fare increase might be one of the ways to cover it. [TU]
Unscheduled days off for Albany High, Rensselaer gets money for flood recovery, auto dealer closing because of high gas prices, RPI kicks retired prof's email because of criticism
Classes have been canceled this week at Albany High School after a computer problem messed up students' class schedules. [TU]
The state Senate is giving the City of Rensselaer $1.1 million to help with recovery from the flooding in August. Mayor Dan Dwyer says "hardly anything has been fixed" since the heavy rains. Residents say they're worried about the water rising again. [Troy Record] [TU] [WNYT]
The City of Troy is considering the purchase of a system that can listen for gunfire and then triangulate the point from which the shots were fired. It costs $200,000 for the system to cover one square mile. [TU]
A Rensselaer police car was rear-ended on the Dunn Memorial Bridge while it was stopped to issue a traffic violation. The collision pushed the cop car into the back of the car that had been pulled over. [Troy Record]
Local counties won't get flood money from feds, fingers already pointed in DA race, pit bull ordred put down and another banished, horse betting on the Blackberry
It looks like local counties will not be getting money from FEMA for recovery after the flooding late last month. Apparently area wasn't damaged quite enough -- the region's tally of $18.2 million fell about $5 million short of FEMA's cut-off. The mayor Rensselaer, which suffered $3.5 million of damage, says he's "heart-sickened" over the situation. [TU] [Daily Gazette] [Troy Record]
One of the workers overcome by toxic fumes earlier this week in Schenectady has died. His co-worker's condition has been upgraded to good. [Daily Gazette]
The almost-race for Albany Count DA has already descended into finger pointing and cries about conflicts of interest. [TU]
Funding for the much argued about new Saratoga Springs police station was taken out of the city's capital budget during a closed-door meeting yesterday. [Daily Gazette]
Legislature cuts $1 billion, many in Rensselaer didn't have flood insurance, rider dies at The Track, Troy official's ability to spell questioned, adults argue over basketball hoop, OMG! Brian Stratton loves texting
The state legislature has agreed to cut about $1 billion from the state budget over the next two years, including a little more than $400 million from this year's budget. That falls short of David Paterson's $600 million goal. The cuts include $50 million in member items (that would be pork). [TU]
Paterson will be speaking at the Democratic National Convention next week in Denver. [NYT]
FEMA maps indicate that most of the City of Rensselaer is in a flood zone, but only six of the 60 homes and business affected by the recent flooding have flood insurance. One resident says no one told them they were in a flood zone. [WNYT]
An exercise rider at The Track died yesterday after being thrown from a horse Monday. [Saratogian]
Local colleges and universities are facing a housing crunch. Students are being forced to live in lounges and tripled up in rooms intended for doubles. [TU]
Rensselaer flood damage adds up, Dare gets five years in prison, unemployment rate up, horse escapes from The Track, big year for mushrooms, Larkfest grows
The mayor of Rensselaer says the city suffered more than $20 million in damages during the flooding on Monday. He says the city doesn't have the money to cover the damages and it's looking for help from the state and federal governments. [TU]
One-time Albany community leader Aaron Dare was sentenced to more than five years in prison yesterday for his involvement in a string of fraudulent real estate deals. [TU]
The Capital Region's unemployment rate hit 5 percent in July, that's up from 4.1 percent over the same period last year. The area has had a net loss of 1,000 jobs over that period. [TU] [Biz Review]
The Governor's state police security detail will now be allowed to stop supervision of the Gov only after getting a signed order from him. The new rule was prompted by Eliot Spitzer's verbal dismissal of his security detail during his rendezvous with a prostitute in DC. [NYP]
Too much rain in Rensselaer, Bruno will be interfacing with officials, YouTube vigilante, tunnel found in Stockade, Curlin owner issues challenge to Big Brown
State DEC officials say it looks like the recent flooding in Rensselaer was just the result of too much rain in too short a period of time. Rensselaer city leaders had been questioning whether development in the Greenbushes had overwhelmed the area's drainage system. The National Weather Service in Albany estimates Rensselaer got up to 6 inches of rain on Monday. [TU]
Joe Bruno has registered as a lobbyist with New York State. By law, he's not allowed to lobby the legislature for two years, but he says he will be "interfacing" with officials in the executive branch for his job as CEO of a computer services company. [TU]
Time on the $100 million Blue Gene supercomputer at RPI will be available free to New York State businesses -- if they can figure out how to use it. [Biz Review] [Daily Gazette]
Paterson proposes $1 billion in cuts, more flooding, track season all wet, principal arrested, permits for off-leash dogs, Giants coming back
David Paterson has proposed a plan to cut $1 billion in spending from the state budget. Half of that would come from Medicaid funding, $250 million from aid to local governments, and $100 million from legislative pork projects. As you might expect, legislators and lobbyists are already protesting. Local governments are also worried -- for example, Schenectady figures Paterson's plan could cut $700,000 in funding for the city. [TU] [Daily Gazette]
North Greenbush and Rensselaer were the latest parts of the Capital Region to get swamped by rain. The Amtrak line between Hudson and Rensselaer had to be closed for a while because the tracks were underwater. The 74-year-old mayor of Rensselaer said yesterday's flooding was the worst he'd ever seen in the city. A Rensselaer County legislator says the drainage systems there just haven't been able to keep up with the pace of development. [TU] [Troy Record]
Both attendance and the amount bet at the Track are down from last year at the season's midpoint. Attendance is down more than 16 percent and the "handle" is down 8 percent. [Saratogian]
Keehn not running for Bruno's seat, whither all the Bruno pork?, new high school has leaky roof, live grenade found
Val Keehn is now saying that she will not run for the Democratic nomination in the race for Joe Bruno's state Senate seat. The former mayor of Saratoga Springs will instead support Joanne Yepsen, who's currently Saratoga Springs town supervisor. Keehn says she decided not to run after hearing that Mike Russo, who currently works for Kirsten Gillibrand, is considering a run. Russo has not officially declared yet. There's already one Democrat who has -- Brian Premo. [TU] [Saratogian]
Now that Bruno's no longer leader of the state Senate, will the Capital Region go back to getting pretzels (Joe Bruno's word) from the state. Dean Skelos, the new majority leader, says no. Others aren't so sure. What is certain: Joe Bruno brought home a lot of pork -- and his name is on a bunch of stuff. So many things bear his name that his staff has lost track. [TU] [Daily Gazette]
Sixteen hours after a community anti-violence meeting in the neighborhood, two men were shot on the north end of Lark Street in Albany. [TU]
The new Rensselaer High School, just six months old, already has a leaking roof. And it smells weird. [Troy Record]
A construction worker found a live grenade while sifting top soil at a construction site in Milton Friday afternoon. The bomb squad destroyed it. Officials aren't sure where the grenade came from. [Daily Gazette]
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (the big church at Madison and Eagle in Albany), will soon be closing for 18 months of renovations. [WNYT]
Get your hands in the air, Duanesburg. Snoop Dog is coming to town. [Daily Gazette]
Lots of illegal guns, corroded wires caused manhole cover explosions, water stays on for Rennselaer, damaged apples, a really big wind turbine
According to federal stats from last year, the number of seized illegal guns per resident in Albany and Schenectady was higher than that of New York City. There are two ways to look at this. Half-full: police here are getting better at finding illegal guns. Half-empty: there are a lot of illegal guns on the streets. [TU]
Prosecutors say Jermayne Timmons, the 15-year-old accused of firing the shot that killed Kathina Thomas, wrote an apology letter to Thomas' mother. From the letter Timmons allegedly wrote: "I am so sorry that the gun I shot is the gun that could have takeing your baby girl away from you." [Daily Gazette]
An aide at a state facility in Schenectady has been charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly punching a blind autistic woman after the woman spilled the aide's salad. [Daily Gazette]
The Troy city engineer says the manhole-cover-popping explosions earlier this year were caused by arcing underground cables that had been corroded by road salt and water. [TU]
The City of Rennselaer has paid Troy for its water use over the last two years, and Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian is no longer threatening to cut off Rennselaer's water supply. Still at issue: years of unpaid water bills from before 2006. [TU] [Troy Record]
Saratoga Springs is renovating its jails cells and needs someplace to put prisoners while the work is being done. The current solution: handcuffing the arrested to hooks in the booking area. [Daily Gazette]
Thomas D'Ambra, the CEO of Albany Molecular Research Inc, was the Capital Region's highest paid CEO last year. [TU]
The hail storm this week damaged apple crops. One farm in Columbia County says it suffered $1 million in damage. [Fox23]
GE wants to build a 400-foot-tall wind turbine just of I-890 in Rotterdam. [Daily Gazette]
It looks like Saratoga Springs will not be getting its first roundabout just yet. [Saratogian]
Congressional race drama for Albany Dems, Troy mayor says Rensselaer's all wet, something's rotten in Clifton Park, the neighborhood where you gotta pick up your own pizza
The race for the 21st Congressional District (McNulty's seat) has Albany County Democrats divided. The party committee endorsed Phil Steck last night, but only after about half of the members walked out of the meeting. The walk-outs, most of them from the City of Albany, didn't want to endorse anyone ahead of the primary. There are eight Democrats running for the nomination. [TU] [Daily Gazette]
The mayor of Rensselaer is offering to settle the city's water deb with Troy by sending a check $1.59 million and $150,000 each year for the next seven years. Troy mayor Harry Tutunjian says Rensselaer owes a lot more than that and called the neighboring city "deadbeats." [TU]
It seems that a composting facility in Clifton Park really stinks -- in more ways than the obvious (though the obvious seems pretty bad). [TU]
Sections of Spa State Park will be allowed to grow wild in an effort to reduce costs and "improve sustainability." A member of a park advocacy group called the plan "ridiculous," though a park naturalist contends the wild areas will be pretty. [Saratogian] [TU]
The Mont Pleasant neighborhood in Schenectady is apparently the Bermuda Triangle of pizza deliveries. Many pizzerias have stopped delivering there after multiple robberies and weirdness. Just this week a delivery guy was robbed at taser-point (taser-prong?). [Fox23]
Thumbelina, the world's smallest horse, and her Thumbymobile visited the Children's Hospital at AMC yesterday. [Daily Gazette]
APD hot water continues to boil, Breslin gets a challenger, Big Brother looks to build cell tower in Rensselaer, principal duct taped to wall
More questions for the Albany Police Department... If a complaint is filed but no one else hears about it, does it really count? And, how long does it take for a cop to sober up before he punches the clock? [TU] [TU]
A state assemblyman has introduced a bill that's been dubbed "the Snowball's Chance in Hell Bill" -- it would require state legislators to disclose any source of income greater than $100. [NYT]
The former general manager of Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs (themselves formerly a baseball team) says he'll challenge Neil Breslin in the Democrat primary for the 46th State Senate district. [TU]
Rensselaerians (Rensselaerers? R-Towners?) are miffed that the city seems to be trying to use a new cell phone tower to connect surveillance cameras from around the city. [Troy Record]
Students at Troy High School duct taped an assistant principal to a wall yesterday -- with his permission. (It was a fundraiser for a family whose house was destroyed in a fire.) A dollar bought an arms-length piece of duct tape. [Troy Record]
Morning Blend: Troy cops taking heat, Rennselaer looking up, Wiiiiiii!
The Troy PD is investigating a claim that two of its officers used excessive force while arresting two men after a chase into Menands Friday night. The police say the men were considered dangerous, but people who witnessed the arrest -- including Albany-famous publicist Libby Post -- say the officers' treatment of the suspects appeared extreme. [TU]
The pastor of a Troy Catholic church has been accused of abusing a teenager in the 1980s. The priest has served at a handful of churches around the Capitol Region. [TU]
There's a sense in Rensselaer that things are looking up in the city... and not just because people are craning their necks to look at the Albany skyline. Of course, the view doesn't hurt. [Record]
Guitar Hero III was the best selling game of 2007, according to its publisher. Vicarious Visions, a game studio based in Menands, developed GH3 for the Wii. [Business Review]
... said Katherine about All hail the great State of Long Island