All Over Albany

Ravitch appointment blocked, motivational event jams traffic, Schenectady SD paid $13k for Raucci report, Troy dog park drama continues

A state Supreme Court justice in Nassau County has issued an injunction stopping Richard Ravitch's appointment as lieutenant governor. The justice also ruled that Malcolm Smith -- who's (again) the state Senate president -- would take over the role of governor if something happened to David Paterson. A spokesman for Paterson says the administration will appeal in the ruling. Despite the injunction, Ravitch says he'll be showing up for work today. [NYT][NYDN] [Daily Politics] [Fox23]

The "Get Motivated" event at the TU Center yesterday contributed to a big traffic jam in downtown Albany yesterday morning -- I-90 and I-787 had mile-long lines of standing cars. The event featured motivational speakers -- including Colin Powell and Rudy Giuliani -- pitching optimism, faith, skepticism of government and motivational products. Powell's speech was apparently the highlight of the day. (Question for another day: if having this gathering during a weekday snarled traffic so badly, what will happen if/when there's a convention center downtown?) [Fox23] [TU] [TU] [Daily Gazette] [Troy Record]

Albany police say two banks -- one on New Scotland and another on Delaware -- were held up yesterday within a span of 15 minutes. And they say it looks the same person was involved in both. The guy apparently got frustrated during the first robbery attempt -- so he left without money and headed for the second bank. [Troy Record] [TU] [CapNews9]

The chairman of the Troy City Council's public safety committee says RPI needs to "bring more to the table" in assistance for fire department coverage of the campus. The union that reps Troy firefighters has been lobbying for RPI to pay a "public safety fee" to help fund firefighter staffing near the campus -- and it appears the union is going to keep pressing the issue. [TU] [Troy Record]

The water main break in North Greenbush has been fixed (with a borrowed part from Albany). The boil water advisory is still in effect for Rensselaer, East Greenbush, parts of Schodack and many of the areas along Route 4. [TU] [Troy Record]

The Schenectady school district paid almost $13k for the outside report on Steven Raucci -- the report that it it won't be releasing to the public. [Daily Gazette]

Saratoga Springs public safety commissioner Ron Kim -- a Democrat -- is scheduled to formally announce today that he's running for mayor. [Saratogian]

The non-profit that provide ambulance coverage to Saratoga Springs has apparently been awarded the contract to continue doing so -- though what exactly the contract entails seems to be unclear. [Saratogian]

Demand for free summer lunches for kids in Schenectady is way up this year. [Daily Gazette]

Kirsten Gillibrand has proposed that trans-fat be banned in schools. She also supporting the creation of a commission that would set definitions for junk food. [TU]

Joe Bruno's lawyers say that subpoenas recently served to one of the former state senator's daughters and his spokesman are "either aimed at intimidating our client and harassing his family and co-workers or are so insensitive to those impacts that it is hard to believe them to be benign." [Troy Record]

EPA tests show a recent spike in PCB levels in both the water and air near the Hudson River dredging project. [Post-Star]

Troy's dog park drama continues. The latest bone of contention -- where to place to the dog parks. [Troy Record]

Colonie Center's manager says business is good -- especially at the new movie theater. [TU]