Vance Mims Jr. is accused of shooting Iris Vazquez in Albany a year after his 17-year-old son was killed in a chaotic July 4 spate of violence.

We turned the heat up on Hearst and wished King George a happy early Independence Day 🔥 Thank you to our fellow labor unions who joined us and everyone who showed support (including those truck drivers and EMTs) and shout-out to our fellow Hearst unions! We're just getting started ✊🗞️

Police have closed off the area around the home where Harbi Nagi was last seen Sunday afternoon www.timesunion.com/news/article...

Ezra attended UAlbany and worked at Uncommon Grounds. He made vibrant artwork he shared online and adopted a cat named Greyson Last year he was found dead in a cell in the Dominican Republic, with little word on how he died, or how he got there to begin with www.timesunion.com/news/article...

Ellis Medicine won’t say how many other hospital systems responded to its request for proposals. But Albany Med is among them.

Ringleader in Sam Nordquist’s torture admits she killed him. Will feds enter case?

This is amazing, but please no one refer to me as a nonbinary cutie

Coolest thing ever was wayy back when my partner got the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy signed by the entire team that made it at Vicarious Visions since they, unbeknownst to us, worked in the area at the time "I loved playing this growing up," he told them. "Yeah, us too!" they said.

The picket is this Saturday! Sign ideas include: Justice for Justin (our chief steward who was fired) No temporary workers We need guaranteed maternity leave Honor our agreements If you fire us, we should be able to challenge you Don’t let AI replace us We need a raise

A trial date has been set for Raymond Wright Jr., who has been charged with the murder of Samantha Humphrey.

Workers at 3 Hearst-owned newspapers represented by The NewsGuild-CWA — including the Times Union — have filed unfair labor practice charges against Hearst with the NLRB this week, accusing the company of violating federal labor law and retaliating against workers for union activity.

'Tom Homan can shove it': New York to enact ICE accountability measures www.timesunion.com/state/articl...

Bear sightings aren’t unusual at this time of year, even in urban places, the DEC said.

New York lawmakers are advancing bills to regulate AI chatbots and crack down on social media scams before session ends, citing child safety concerns and rising online fraud.

This is one of the wildest stories I’ve read on the stupidity of AI-driven federal anti-DEI efforts. Kathleen Moore reports. www.timesunion.com/education/ar...

State Supreme Court judge will decide if TV and police interviews are admissible at potential trial of Lorenz Kraus, the Albany man who admitted in a televised interview that he killed his parents.

Two firefighters and a bystander who helped others out of the building were injured  Wednesday in the fire that destroyed a multi-family home on Fifth Avenue.

A Washington County man who shot and killed a 20-year-old woman when the vehicle she was in made a wrong turn into his driveway continued his attempts to overturn his murder conviction Tuesday afternoon before a state appeals court. @schneidlee.bsky.social reports. www.timesunion.com/news/article...

Despite overall improvements, the Albany area continued to see worsening spikes in polluted air, according to a report by the American Lung Association.

Ali Faqirzada, the Afghan refugee living in Ulster County who was arrested by ICE at a credible fear interview last year and whose case became a rallying point in the Hudson Valley, was released from detention www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley...

Worth a listen. Wendy did a great job breaking down the difficulty of being part of the press while still trying to advocate for yourself, as well as what we're facing here. Guild members can't repair their cars or pay deductibles for their doctor's appointments

Got to be on bear watch today www.timesunion.com/news/article...

State Police on Monday said Andrew Hernandez, 42, is one of three prisoners under investigation for killing other inmates last week.

Albany Co. employees racked up over $7K in fines, fees associated with school zone camera violations in the city of Albany. The county assumed it could pay half that sum and call it a day; city says that's no more the case for the county than it would be for any other offender. Patrick Tine reports.

ICE arrested more people in NY in Nov, Dec and Jan than any other months going back to 2022, new data shows. More details on ICE enforcement in NY in @timesunion.com www.timesunion.com/news/article...

Matthew and Samantha Dylewski on Tuesday admitted to neglecting their 3-year-old daughter Joycelynn Ann Dylewski to the point of death last year in Corinth.

In the last few days, three Guild leaders were unfairly disciplined by management. One member was fired in what we see as an unwarranted, retaliatory action (1/5)

The top challenge rural ambulance networks face, according to the report, is a lack of funding and an inability to receive more due to barriers imposed at the state level.

BREAKING from Lana Bellamy: Edward Holley has been acquitted of the 2003 murder of Megan McDonald. Jurors at the retrial took two full weeks of deliberation.

Name changes are not automatically sealed in New York (outside of cases like divorce or adoption). But applicants can request they be, and state law says judges must consider being transgender (due to the risk of being outed) among the reasons to do so

From @patricktine.bsky.social: Video shows an Albany police officer pepper-sprayed a group of women Sunday morning after police were summoned to Washington Tavern for reports of a man armed with a knife

An uncredentialed "behaviorist" directed an upstate NY school district to use wooden "timeout" boxes to confine elementary schoolers. That violated state education regulations concluded a lawyer hired by the Salmon River CSD. More in @timesunion.com www.timesunion.com/news/article...

A flood watch will begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday and remain in effect until Thursday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Rules requiring permits, a 30-day notice, $300 fee are the subject of Wednesday night’s public hearing at town hall.

Fake license plates can incur real toll charges on unsuspecting E-ZPass customers. The novelty items are cheap to buy on websites like Amazon, and some people use them for illegal purposes.

A bill in the New York state Legislature would require social media companies to add new safeguards for protecting users against scams and fraud perpetrated on their platforms.

Recorded phone calls and stonewalling local officials: Wild story from Nora Mishanec on the mystery of who, exactly, gave the green light for Flock to install surveillance cameras in Pine Plains?

We had yet another frustrating bargaining session Thursday. The company declined to discuss any topics without seeing a comprehensive proposal from us. Except we did provide a proposal in November, one detailing many tentative agreements as well as sections that still need work (1/4)

The massive blaze at the 43 Mall in West Sand Lake drew firefighters from around the area.

Air quality appears to have worsened in the Capital Region and Hudson Valley. Stagnant winter air trapping pollutants close to the ground is likely to blame.

from the "great reporting and also duh" files

#UAlbany researchers are partnering w/ UConn to develop an #AI model that can better predict weather-related power outages across North America — aiming to help utilities keep the lights on during severe storms & lower costs. More via @timesunion.com: www.timesunion.com/business/art...

Good morning! Cut/paste journalists said ICE had purchased a warehouse in Orange County to use as a detention facility. Maria Silva took the time to check out that claim, and guess what? www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley...

Files trace Luciano Frattolin's movements and increasingly worried calls and texts from the mother of Melina Frattolin on the night the 9-year-old disappeared.

“I haven’t seen or heard from you for months,” Jeffrey Epstein wrote in May 2016. “If I made a mistake I’m sorry.” Bard President Leon Botstein assured Epstein that that was not the case. “I miss you,” he wrote. Sarah Trafton reports.

journalists are workers who deserve to be paid fairly for our labor and I think that far too few consumers of media recognize or even care about this fact

Hochul hopped on the anti-ICE train with some new, two-pronged legislation. One proposal, to ban jail contracts, would be big. The other... maybe not so much. I've said it before: 287(g) is the red herring of local ICE collaboration. From @liv-veazey.bsky.social and @sammellins.bsky.social:

The jet stream currently blowing cold air into the region may move away by mid-February.

ICYMI

After a few weeks delay, ICE just released new detention statistics. They show 70,766 people in detention as of 1/26/2026. I believe this is the first time this data source has reported a detained population over 70k.