Albany | featured news

Kendrick Lamar is bringing his “Championship Tour” to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 9, Live Nation has announced.Also performing: Schoolboy Q, SZA, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, Isaiah Rashad, Sir, Lance Skiiwalker and Zacari.

ALBANY — Watch your step, and keep your eyes on the road and hands upon the wheel: The Capital Region will kick off what's expected to be a roller-coaster weather week with a nasty mix of rain and slick surfaces that can include black ice.

Gospel singer Andrew Williamson was known for his smile as sweet as sunlight and a voice so powerful and agonized, it could convince Jesus to rescue a man from the depths of Hell. Before a an Albany pastor helped Williamson escape from Mississippi to upstate New York, Williamson sang while picking cotton in plantation fields, work he describes as endlessly harsh. Williamson landed dishwasher and restaurant cook day jobs here to support his family. Then he gained fans here singing gospel music at churches, festivals and even touring with a group called the Blue Jays.

A Schenectady man who poured gasoline on his stepfather and then used a lighter to burn him faces 25 years to life in prison when he's sentenced for murder on Monday.Andrell Leppanen, now 31, was convicted of second-degree murder on Dec. 15 despite having a diagnosis of bipolar with psychotic features and dramatic mood disorder of schizoaffective disorder.

ROTTERDAM - Firefighters rescued a 22-year-old man Sunday after he slipped at the Plotter Kill Preserve and injured his ankle, officials said.Authorities said the man slipped at a water fall and suffered the leg injury. He was being taken to a local hospital.

The first of two bribery trials this year involving former aides to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and high-profile developers is set to begin Monday in New York City.Joseph Percoco, a former executive deputy secretary and political enforcer for the governor, is charged with using connections to secure over $300,000 in bribes. Three people are accused of providing payoffs in connection with two companies that sought lucrative state contracts are set to stand trial with Percoco.

SCHENECTADY - City leaders will revisit the issue of criminal background checks and fingerprinting for potential new employees when they hold a public hearing on the issue next month.The move is the latest wrinkle in the hiring process for a city that has seen at least two employees with criminal convictions get on the payroll. A previous bid to implement greater background checks was insufficient.

Almost 25 years after Caleb Carr first thought a novel he was writing would make a good movie, a screen version has finally been made.
"The Alienist," a 10-episode series based on Carr's 1994 novel of the same name, premieres at 9 p.m. Monday on TNT. It is about a psychologist hunting a serial killer in 1890s New York City.
"I don't know how the series is going to do," says Carr, chatting on the phone last week from his home in Cherry Plain, a hamlet in the town of Berlin.

Social networking can be a great way to strengthen communities, and the Nextdoor app is one that focuses on neighborhoods and the people who live there. Unlike other social media, people on Nextdoor aren't allowed to hide behind the cloak of anonymity. There are rules for decency.

After launching its first app-based rewards program as a pilot last year, Hannaford is expanding the program to all 181 stores across the Northeast.
Shoppers earn a 2 percent reward on every store-brand item they buy, including fresh meat, seafood, deli items and packaged products. Prices stay the same whether shoppers enroll in the program or not — a different approach from some other grocery loyalty programs that offer price discounts to participating customers.
About 5,200 items qualify for rewards in an average-sized store and rewards can be redeemed quarterly.