Albany Times Union Local News

COLONIE - Another part of the Northway's Exit 3 will open Sunday as the $32.2 million project that will links the highway to Albany International Airport enters its final weeks.

The southbound exit from the Northway was expected to open by lunchtime Sunday. The southbound entrance ramp for the highway opened a few weeks ago, leaving just the flyover ramp from the northbound side of the highway as the only part that is still under construction.

Standing on the exit ramp Sunday morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said work on the project, begun earlier this year, was ahead of schedule and the exit should be completed within a month.

He called the exit, which simplifies the drive between the heavily traveled highway and airport, a key part of the economic expansion in a region that's seen grown in the semicconductor and nanoscale technology industries. Easy access to the airport, he said, was key to continued grown.

"The airport becomes the front door," Cuomo said.

It's a chilly start to our Sunday, but not as cold as it could be in the southern half of our area, with some high clouds spilling in from what was Tropical Storm Nestor.

WASHINGTON — If British poet Samuel Coleridge were to rewrite his epic “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” with U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, in the lead, he’d have her navigating the ever-changing waters with an albatross named “Donald Trump” around her neck.

The 35-year-old Republican from Schuylerville has represented the North Country in Congress since winning the 2014 election. As a veteran of the George W. Bush White House and a disciple of former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., she appears at times to be walking a virtual tightrope between her brand of traditional conservatism and the bruising split-lip version espoused by Trump.

And at no time in her nearly five years on Capitol Hill has the contrast been more stark than now, with an impeachment vote in the House likely as early as Thanksgiving. As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, she is in the thick of the controversy as the committee continues its plunge into Trump’s critical July 25 phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The ValleyCats, who play at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy, just completed their 18th season as a farm team of the Houston Astros. Tri-City’s player-development contract with the Astros expires after next season.

“Having been in the business for 31 years and understanding the industry, I’m pretty confident that the ValleyCats and the future of baseball in the Capital Region is sound,’’ Tri-City president Rick Murphy said Saturday night.

The New York Times reported Major League Baseball is proposing to eliminate or change the nature and affiliation of as many as 40 teams around the country, or about 25 percent of minor-league franchises, beginning with the 2021 season.

That would include taking some teams from the lower-level minor leagues and putting them in what would be called the Dream League, intended for undrafted players looking to break into professional baseball. It would be co-owned and operated by MLB and Minor League Baseball.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Skidmore College's Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery has received $1 million from two donors to support its collections and publications.

A $500,000 gift from the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation will support the Tang collection’s endowment, and a $500,000 challenge grant from photographer, curator and collector Jack Shear will support the museum’s award-winning publications program.

The Adirondack High Peaks are drawing ever-larger crowds of hikers, causing traffic and parking problems and challenges for rangers. Hikers don't seem to mind though and they keep on coming.

The Great Danes capitalized on four turnovers in the third quarter, including a game-turning 55-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Shaker graduate Nick Griffin, on its way to a 35-28 victory over Rhode Island before a homecoming crowd of 7,763 at Casey Stadium.

"That's the most important thing to us, is turnovers,'' UAlbany head coach Greg Gattuso said. "We talk about it all the time and it showed up in the third quarter and got us rolling. But we did something with them, (that) was most important."

UAlbany won its second straight game to improve to 5-3 overall, 3-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association going into a sorely-needed bye week. The Great Danes also avenged blowout losses to URI the past two seasons.

The Great Danes, already missing starting cornerback Karim Gibson for the second straight game, also lost starting safety Josh Wynn of CBA and starting corner Jarren Williams to injuries during Saturday's game.

ALBANY — New Yorkers can start heading to the polls 10 days before Election Day this year.

The local elections this fall will serve as the test run for the state's adoption of early voting, which will be required for all municipal, state and federal elections in the future. New York joins 38 other states that have tried to expand access to the polls by allowing voters to cast their ballot before Election Day.

Schenectady

Union College remained undefeated Saturday with a 38-17 win against St. Lawrence at Frank Bailey Field.

The game remained close throughout the first half until touchdowns by sophomore wide receiver Andre Ross Jr. and sophomore running back Joseph Ferreira broke open the game for Union.

ALBANY – A 16-year-old male was taken to the Albany Medical Center Hospital with what police are describing as non-life threatening injuries after being shot in the leg Saturday afternoon, according to police.

In a tweet, Officer Steve Smith, the city police spokesman, said the teen was struck by a gunfire on Southern Boulevard at 4:50 p.m.

He was treated at scene by first responders before being transferred to Albany Med.

The shooting is the latest in a string of gun violence in Albany, including a fatal shooting Friday night in the West Hill neighborhood that claimed the life of a 26-year-old man.

Police are continuing to investigate both incidents.

Anyone with information on this or any of the other shootings can anonymously call the department's detective division at (518) 462-8039.

Tourism in Warren County is making strides this year, according to a new report, with hotels reporting their greatest occupancy rates since the Great Recession more than a decade ago.

The shooting that claimed the life of an Albany man in West Hill Friday night happened only two blocks away from a separate fatal shooting this week, and another two blocks from another, non-fatal shooting last week.