Albany Times Union Local News

The first congressional debate between U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik and challenger Tedra Cobb on Monday night in Watertown was a blistering one-hour battle with Stefanik attacking Cobb for "running from her record," while Cobb said Stefanik has twisted her words and lied.

Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, pushed Cobb, D-Canton, on her stances on issues from health care to gun control. She portrayed Cobb as a puppet of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the "far left."

The state Department of Health says it will attempt once again to inspect the Rensselaer County-run Van Rensselaer Manor nursing home now that the facility is battling an outbreak of coronavirus.

The department has been denied access to the facility for inspections twice this year, with the most recent attempt coming just three days before the current outbreak began on Oct. 3.

Inspectors have been denied admittance by County Executive Steve McLaughlin, who has said he will allow them in once they provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Inspectors have declined to do so, but have provided documentation from department attorneys instead which states they are tested weekly in accordance with the same executive orders that apply to nursing home staff.

Albany police are investigating the fifth and sixth shootings in the city since early Sunday morning.

BALLSTON SPA - A former Galway man accused of letting his mother die while she was in his care accepted a plea deal on Monday, sparing him from facing a jury in a manslaughter trial, Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen said.

Richard Carr III, 29, pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of an incompetent person with an agreed upon sentence of five years probation.

ALBANY – A 15-year-old was shot early Monday morning and an 18-year-old was charged with attempted murder in connection with the shooting.

It was the fourth shooting in the city in just over 24 hours.

ELMIRA — Chemung Financial Corp. reported net income nearly tripled in the third quarter ending Sept. 30 to $5.7 million, from $2.0 million in the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share were $1.19, compared to 40 cents a year earlier.

Mortgage forbearance for customers experiencing hardship from Covid-19, which affected 15.77 percent of the bank's loan portfolio as of May 31, declined to 2.98 percent of the portfolio as of Sept. 30.

Chemung operates Capital Bank & Trust Co. in the Capital Region. Shares (Nasdaq: CHMG) closed at $34.45, down 54 cents.

NEW YORK — Two loyal NXIVM disciples who joined Keith Raniere’s secret “master/slave” group have signed sworn affidavits accusing federal prosecutors in Brooklyn of threatening them with legal consequences if they testified at trial on behalf of the man they call “Vanguard,” court papers revealed Monday.

Television actress Nicki Clyne, a first-line “slave” to the jailed NXIVM leader in Dominus Obsequious Sororium (DOS) and Michele Hatchette, a “slave” to actress and first-line DOS member Allison Mack, swore in affidavits that they wanted to testify that DOS was not the abusive cult portrayed by prosecutors and witnesses at Raniere's trial.

Rensselaer County announced its first COVID-19 death in over a month Monday.

The victim was an 83-year-old Troy man who had been hospitalized with the disease and then released to his family, officials said.

He is the county's 43rd confirmed death from the disease, and its first known virus death since Sept. 5.

Ken's Bowl in Pittsfield, Mass., has closed, and, according to the Berkshire Eagle, a cannabis company wants to build a marijuana cultivation and processing facility in its place. While not within the Capital Region borders, the 50-lane center was a popular destination for area bowlers and the closest stop for the New England Bowlers Association scratch tour.

One piece of good news has emerged from the closure. The monthly Saturday sweepers will be moving to Barbecue Recreation in Hoosick Falls.

Schenectady

Transfinder, the transportation software company based in Schenectady, has reduced the costs of its Routefinder PLUS software that allows school districts to plan out the safest and most efficient bus routes. The promotion is being done as school districts struggle with costs amid the covid-19 pandemic.

The company is offering the software for as little as $4,995, which is a fraction of the typical upfront retail cost. The company is also allowing districts to defer the costs until July 2021.

Items about McGreivey's Restaurant launching brunch, a Pakistani restaurant opening in Altamont and a French restaurant debuting in Hoosick Falls, and Brick House Tavern + Tap reopening in Latham.

Guilderland

Crossgates Mall is suing Lord & Taylor, alleging the upscale retailer owes more than a half-million-dollars in back rent and will end of violating its lease when it closes as planned in December.

Crossgates, which is owned by Pyramid Cos. of Syracuse, is suing over $594,407 in back rent and says that Lord & Taylor, which has filed for bankruptcy, will be breaking its lease when it closes its store in December.

Crossgates said it invested $23 million to bring Lord & Taylor to the mall, at a reduced rent of just $80,000 a month in hopes the store would attract new, wealthy customers to the mall.

BETHLEHEM — The Bethlehem school board is again fielding requests to remove former NBC talk show host Megyn Kelly's photo from Bethlehem Central High School's Hall of Fame - this time for her criticisms of the Black Lives Matter movement on her podcast and on Twitter.

The board first weighed the issue in 2018 after the Delmar native claimed on her NBC show that wearing black face on Halloween was acceptable when she was growing up. But ultimately, a Hall of Fame panel decided against retracting the honor. Kelly was inducted into school's Hall of Fame in 2015.

Administering a COVID-19 vaccine to the United States' populations, including nearly 20 million New York residents, is going to be one of the "operations challenges of all time," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Monday.

In a conference call with reporters, Cuomo said that the Trump administration was again underplaying the challenge faced by the country. Cuomo compared Trump's approach to the beginning of the pandemic this spring, when COVID-19 testing, procurement of medical supplies, and other aspects of the response were largely left to state governments.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – In this city, another election cycle means another battle for charter change.

For the fourth time in nearly 14 years, voters will flip their ballot to answer this question -- should City Hall modernize its form of government to a larger city council and professional city manager or preserve it's unusual, historic commission form of government.

Those who oppose the move say its too expensive and its going to carve the city up into feuding factions. But for those who have been calling for change for more than a decade says reform is essential in order to allow for better representation, budgetary efficiency and opening the candidate pool.