New York news

• Petland Discounts, Whose ’90s Jingle You’re Humming Right Now, May Close

  01-02-2019 23:40 via nytimes.com
  Just days after the death of its owner, the New York-based pet store chain filed notices saying it may have to shutter dozens of stores and lay off workers.
  
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• Underground Fire Melts Cars, Knocks Out Power in Brooklyn

  01-02-2019 23:12 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  An underground fire in Brooklyn sparked a ball of fire that engulfed a car in seconds, shocking people in the Boerum Hill neighborhood when their electricity suddenly shut off.Photo Credit: Citizen App
  
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• Facing 394 criminal counts, Irish fugitive appears in court

  01-02-2019 22:01 via timesunion.com
  ALBANY — A fugitive facing 394 criminal counts that stem from the sexual abuse of two children in Ireland was described by his family Friday as someone who "would never ever harm anyone."No decision was made by U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Stewart as to whether Raymond Donlon would be extradited to Ireland, but Donlon's attorney asked that his client not only be allowed to stay in the U.S. but also be released on bail for medical reasons.Donlon, who currently lives in Guilderland, was arre
  
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• Lawmaker decries delay in assisting furloughed workers

  01-02-2019 21:56 via timesunion.com
  ALBANY - Delayed action by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo may have prevented thousands ofNew York families affected by the federal government shutdown from getting extra time to pay their local tax bill, according to Sen. Jim Skoufis.The Hudson Valley Democrat is faulting the governor for not acting sooner on legislation that would let municipalities accept late property tax payments from households with a federal worker who was furloughed or worked unpaid during the 35-day shutdown.
  
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• Siena basketball faces Iona offense that's rolling, as usual

  01-02-2019 21:48 via timesunion.com
  Siena (9-12 overall, 4-4 MAAC) will try to bounce back from Thursday's defeat. Monmouth shot 55 percent from the field in the second half and went to the free-throw line 32 times, the most by any Saints opponent this season."If our defense shows up like it did (Thursday), then it's going to be a tough one,'' Christian said. "We've got to be locked in defensively as a unit and they've got great offense. They've got a lot of guys that can score and spread you out. It's going to be a great game."Th
  
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• Waterford Supervisor quits Prosperity Partnership board

  01-02-2019 21:43 via timesunion.com
  MALTA – The Supervisor who was instrumental in creating the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership has quit its board.Waterford Supervisor John Lawler said he is proud of his association with the county-funded economic development organization, but that it's "time to move on and let other people get involved."
  
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• Albany military moms come home to surprise their kids at Hackett middle school

  01-02-2019 21:43 via timesunion.com
  It was a military homecoming multiplied by two. Jessica and Erica Gonzalez, two mothers who are also sisters, joined together Friday to surprise their junior high school student children upon their return from their 11-month deployments in Kuwait with the same Army National Guard unit.The sisters reunited with their sixth-graders, Breannie Jackson and Christopher Sang, at Hackett Middle School in early afternoon. It was their first stop after flying home from Fort Hood, Texas and they surprised
  
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• Hammer Rampage Suspect Charged With Murder, Hate Crime: DA

  01-02-2019 21:10 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  The 34-year-old man arrested in connection with the Brooklyn hammer rampage last month was charged with a hate crime and murder, among a myriad of other charges, prosecutors announced Friday.Photo Credit: News 4 NY
  
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• Bethlehem zoning board holding airport expansion hearing

  01-02-2019 20:37 via timesunion.com
  BETHLEHEM - The town of Bethlehem's zoning board of appeals is holding a public hearing on the expansion of the South Albany Airport in Selkirk on Wednesday night.
  
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• Free Ramen! You Just Have to Eat All 8 Pounds in 30 Mins

  01-02-2019 20:21 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  What if we told you that you could have eight pounds of ramen for free? But there’s a catch: you have to finish all of it by yourself in thirty minutes or less.
  
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• ViaPort mall hosting Street Outlaws star Ryan Martin

  01-02-2019 20:07 via timesunion.com
  ROTTERDAM - ViaPort Rotterdam mall is going to host a visit by Ryan Martin, the host of the Discovery Channel's reality TV show about simulated street racing called Street Outlaws.
  
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• Public authorities could face crackdown

  01-02-2019 20:07 via timesunion.com
  ALBANY - State regulators could soon have a new means of ensuring local authorities and economic development agencies comply with financial disclosure requirements.Legislation is being advanced by state lawmakers to give the state Authorities Budget Office the power to suspend a public authorities board and executive officer if they're more than three years late filing required reports.
  
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• Tekashi 6ix9ine Pleads Guilty to Nine Counts, Will Cooperate

  01-02-2019 19:47 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  Brooklyn rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine has pleaded guilty to nine counts in his criminal case and will cooperate with government officials, court records show.Photo Credit: Getty Images
  
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• Albany County guards, deputies to get body-worn cameras

  01-02-2019 19:24 via timesunion.com
  COLONIE - Roughly a month after being hit with a federal lawsuit alleging guards at Albany County Jail abused inmates from Rikers Island, the county is preparing to outfit each correction officer with a body camera.Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said the new technology has been about 2 years in the making, and after recently receiving a nearly $70,000 grant from the state Attorney General's Office to purchase 43 body cameras, the sheriff's department is using asset forfeiture funds to buy 140
  
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• Cuomo holding out hope for marijuana legalization in budget

  01-02-2019 18:53 via timesunion.com
  ALBANY - Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo isn't ready to give up on the possibility of reaching an agreement in the budget process on marijuana legalization.Speaking with the Capitol Pressroom on Friday morning, the governor addressed Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie's pessimism about hammering out a deal before the state budget is due on March 31.
  
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• Judge temporarily blocks deportation of Albany chef

  01-02-2019 18:34 via timesunion.com
  ALBANY — A judge in Rochester issued a restraining order Friday that will at least temporarily block any effort to deport Kinimo Ngoran, the Capital City Rescue Mission chef whose detention by federal immigration agents triggered a backlash in Albany.Ngoran's wife, Lisa Pepper-Ngoran, learned of the legal move after she and her husband's supporters spoke to reporters at the rescue mission Friday morning.The judge's decision ensures that Ngoran will remain in the U.S. until a hearing is hel
  
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• Ballston neighbors file petition to be heard on senior housing project

  01-02-2019 18:06 via timesunion.com
  BALLSTON - Neighbors to a proposed senior housing project who were feeling that their input was being ignored filed a protest petition with the town to force the developer and town officials to consider their concerns.Citing state consolidated town law, section 265.1, Kate Miller said the petition, which required 20 percent of bordering landowners to sign, will compel town officials to consider their thoughts on the project. It will also require a town board supermajority to approve the project,
  
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• Tekashi 6ix9ine Pleads Guilty to Nine Counts

  01-02-2019 17:57 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  Brooklyn rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine has pleaded guilty to nine counts in criminal case, court records show.Photo Credit: Getty Images
  
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• Hoosick Falls sex offender assailed for betraying child

  01-02-2019 17:22 via timesunion.com
  TROY - At his sentencing Friday, a Hoosick Falls sex offender was accused of betraying the trust of a child.Christopher Downey, 32, already had 10 years cut off a potential prison sentence in a plea bargain prosecutors hastily cut after an investigator in the case admitted he had lied under oath.Rensselaer County Judge Debra Young sentenced Downey to 15 years in prison. It was the punishmentprosecutors agreed to earlier this month after Downey's lawyer, Joseph Ahearn, got a State Police investig
  
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• Listen Up: Fake Fall Caught, April the Giraffe's Super Bowl Pick, Hill Country Food Park

  01-02-2019 16:25 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  Find out more about the man who faked a fall that was caught on camera, the team April the Giraffe picked for Super Bowl, and Hill Country Food Park in this Feb. 01 edition of Listen Up.Photo Credit: WNBC
  
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• Zac Brown Band headed to SPAC

  01-02-2019 16:20 via timesunion.com
  Grammy-winning country act the Zac Brown Band will make its usual summer tour stop at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30.Also performing at “The Owl Tour” concert: Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real.
  
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• Legislature considers easier access to ballot

  01-02-2019 16:11 via timesunion.com
  ALBANY -Candidates for local office might have a lower threshold to qualify for the ballot this year.A change is being considered by state lawmakers in response to a new law moving up state and local primaries from September to June, which means candidates for town, city and county offices will have to start the process of collecting signatures to access to the ballot later this month, four months earlier than usual.
  
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• CBS wisely made room for Tony Romo

  01-02-2019 16:06 via timesunion.com
  New York
  The man who wore the star finally gets an audience worthy of one.
  Tony Romo, who failed to make a Super Bowl in 12 seasons as Dallas Cowboys quarterback, will show his unique talents Sunday to an audience of more than 100 million viewers.
  A four-time Pro Bowl selection and the Cowboys' career leader in passing yards and touchdowns, Romo has been even better as a TV analyst. He will put his new talents on full display at 6 p.m. when CBS begins its telecast of Super Bowl LIII from Atlanta
  
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• GlobalFoundries selling one of its Singapore fabs

  01-02-2019 15:19 via timesunion.com
  MALTA - GlobalFoundries is selling one of its Singapore fabs that makes lower-end types of chip tech known as MEMS to Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp.The $236 million deal includes all of GlobalFoundries' MEMS business in addition to what's known as Fab 3E in Tampines, Singapore. It's not expected to have any impact on GlobalFoundries' Fab 8 in Malta, which makes high-end processing chips and employs roughly 3,000 people.
  
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• One more day of brutal cold in Albany area

  01-02-2019 14:16 via timesunion.com
  ALBANY - A dramatic rise in the mercury is on the way but first brace yourself for another morning of sub-zero temperatures.As of 8:15 a.m., it was minus 6 in Albany and minus 8 in Niskayuna.
  
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• Happening Today: Border Wall, Heart Disease, Jussie Smollett

  01-02-2019 12:41 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  Here's what to know for Friday, Feb. 1.Photo Credit: UIG via Getty Images
  
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• Some Albany roads closed after manhole blast forces evacuations

  01-02-2019 12:38 via timesunion.com
  ALBANY - An explosion under a manhole near the intersection of Henry Johnson Boulevard and State Street closed the area to traffic and forced the evacuation of several homes early Friday.The blast caused a fire at 1 Henry Johnson Blvd. near where the power supply comes into the building, Fire Chief Joseph Gregory said, but the fire was quickly extinguished.Firefighters descended on the scene shortly after midnight and evacuated 1 and 5 Henry Johnson as well as 399 State St.
  
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• A flicker of lights and then a blast shakes Albany homes

  01-02-2019 12:38 via timesunion.com
  ALBANY - Dozens of people remained without heat and electricity after an early-morning manhole explosion shattered windows, forced people to flee their homes and started a fire in a building on the edge of Washington Park.The blast near the intersection of Henry Johnson Boulevard and State Street closed the area to traffic and forced the evacuation of several buildings just after midnight.
  
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• N.Y. Today: Cold Weather Tips From Outdoor Workers

  01-02-2019 11:48 via nytimes.com
  Long johns? Check. Extra socks? Check. Women’s nylons? Check.
  
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• New York Joins Movement to Abandon Use of Student Tests in Teacher Evaluations

  01-02-2019 11:00 via nytimes.com
  Under a bill approved in Albany, standardized tests could have almost no role in how teachers are evaluated — a sea change in New York’s approach.
  
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• Jail or Bail? There’s a New Option

  01-02-2019 11:00 via nytimes.com
  “Supervised release” allows judges to let those who cannot afford bail be released before trial on a kind of parole — and it may be what finally helps close Rikers Island.
  
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• And the Band Played Until Someone Complained

  01-02-2019 11:00 via nytimes.com
  For decades, it was tradition at Columbia University for the marching band to storm the library the night before finals. It was a raucous joke until the administration cut the band’s funding.
  
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• Listen Up: A Closer Look at Top Stories for Friday, Feb. 1

  01-02-2019 08:02 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  Get a closer look at the top stories for Friday, Feb. 1.
  
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• Woman Dies in Queens House Fire: FDNY

  01-02-2019 06:27 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  A woman was found dead inside a Queens home after firefighters knocked out a blaze there Thursday evening, police said.Photo Credit: TheResponder/YouTube
  
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• Robber With Knife Ties Up Family in UWS Brownstone: NYPD

  01-02-2019 06:10 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  A family was tied up by a knife-wielding robber out on parole during a home invasion on the Upper West Side Thursday afternoon, police said.
  
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• First Must-Do for Parents When Predators Strike Online

  01-02-2019 05:12 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  If you catch a predator coming for your child online, federal agents say instead of freaking out on the perv, take a deep breath and call law enforcement. And, they add, don’t tell the social media platform...
  
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• Trump, Pence Lead G.O.P. Seizure of Late-Term Abortion as a Potent 2020 Issue

  01-02-2019 02:23 via nytimes.com
  Vice President Mike Pence wrote that a push in New York and other states to expand abortion rights was a “call to action for all Americans.”
  
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• Republicans Seize on Late-Term Abortion as a Potent 2020 Issue

  01-02-2019 02:23 via nytimes.com
  Vice President Mike Pence wrote that a push in New York and other states to expand abortion rights was a “call to action for all Americans.”
  
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• Cops Look for Suspected Peeper on Staten Island: NYPD

  01-02-2019 02:17 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  Police say they’re looking for a man who's allegedly been trespassing and peering into a woman’s home on Staten Island.
  
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• Colonie bathroom surveillance case featured on Inside Edition

  01-02-2019 02:13 via timesunion.com
  Nearly one year after the perpetrator was sent to prison, a national news show dove into how police tracked the man down after a Starbucks employee discovered a camera hidden inside the Colonie cafe's bathroom.
  
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• Two Albany natives get big chance in the boxing ring

  01-02-2019 02:06 via timesunion.com
  Abraham Nova and Will Madera are Albany boxing natives who have fought repeatedly, all over the map, for an opportunity that will come Friday night in Rochester.In the opening bout of a Showtime telecast, the former No. 1-ranked U.S. amateur Nova (14-0, 10 knockouts) will face fellow unbeaten Oluwaseun Joshua Wahab (18-0, 11 KOs), of Ghana, in an eight-round super featherweight bout.Meanwhile, Madera — who recently quit a night shift at a local nursing facility to focus on boxing — w
  
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• Albany native gets big chance in the boxing ring

  01-02-2019 02:06 via timesunion.com
  It all happened very fast. But pro boxer Will Madera is getting his big break.Madera — who recently quit a night shift at a local nursing facility to focus on boxing — will meet fellow lightweight Thomas Mattice on Friday night in a quickly created replacement bout that fills out the three-match card at the Main Street Armory in Rochester.
  
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• Family Tied Up by Knife-Wielding Man in Home Invasion: NYPD

  01-02-2019 02:03 via nbcnewyork.com
  
  A family was tied up by a robber armed with a knife during a home invasion on the Upper West Side Thursday afternoon, police said.
  
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• Washington’s Cold Hypocrisy on New York’s Public Housing

  01-02-2019 02:02 via nytimes.com
  A new agreement adds some federal oversight, but no new funding.
  
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• Monmouth beats Siena men's basketball 66-55

  01-02-2019 01:49 via timesunion.com
  The Hawks scored the final 15 points of the first half to take a 28-27 halftime lead.The Saints fell behind by 8 before going on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 46-46 on Evan Fisher's layup with 8:30 to play.But with Siena star freshman Jalen Pickett on the bench with four fouls, Monmouth's Deion Hammond hit a 3-pointer to put Monmouth up 58-52 with 3:58 to play.Siena committed a season-high 23 fouls with Pickett, Kadeem Smithen and Georges Darwiche all fouling out.
  
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• Granville T. Woods, Inventor Known as ‘Black Edison’

  01-02-2019 01:28 via nytimes.com
  Woods was the most prolific black inventor at the turn of the 19th century, but when he died, he was all but forgotten, buried in an unmarked grave.
  
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• Elizabeth Jennings, Who Desegregated New York’s Trolleys

  01-02-2019 01:28 via nytimes.com
  She had been primed, by temperament and family ties, to fight for racial equality. Her moment came on a streetcar ride to church.
  
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• Campus watch: Tooker surpasses mile milestone

  01-02-2019 01:20 via timesunion.com
  Aidan Tooker reached an iconic running milestone, breaking four minutes for the mile last weekend at a meet in Boston.The Syracuse junior broke the barrier when he finished fourth at Boston University's John Thomas Terrier Classic. His time of 3:59.39 was the top performance by a collegian in the race, which drew 139 entrants.
  
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