Dave Lucas

It's "casino crunch time." Today is the deadline for developers to submit their casino proposals to the New York State Gaming Commission.

David Brain is president and CEO of EPR properties ... heard in the recorded version of this article in an excerpt from a promotional video for Adelaar, one of two casinos proposed for Sullivan County. Mohegan Sun is behind the other project in the town of Thompson at the former Concord Resort.

The Republican candidate for New York attorney general John Cahill was in Rensselaer County Thursday afternoon.

With the casino application deadline fast approaching in New York, the city of Albany is apparently not supporting any of the projects proposed for neighboring cities.

Local municipal approval is required for applicants seeking one of four casino licenses expected to be granted in upstate New York this fall. The developers face a Monday deadline to submit their casino applications. More than a dozen development groups are in the running to apply for a license.

Political newcomer Elise Stefanik has won the battle for the Republican Party's slot on the November ballot in New York's 21st Congressional district, a key step in the race to replace retiring Democrat Bill Owens in the massive district.

A Capital Region charter school could close for good due to academic failure.  A last-ditch effort is under way to save it.

Some 220 students at Ark Community Charter School in Troy may be displaced if final court proceedings affirm a SUNY Trustees Charter Schools Committee decision that agreed with findings by SUNY's Charter Schools Institute that Ark failed to meet its academic goals.

New York's Senior US Senator was in Troy Monday, pledging to fight possible federal cutbacks in Department of Housing and Urban Development funding to the city -  the battle cry may be moot.  

Senator Chuck Schumer voiced concerns that Collar City census figures dropped below 50,000 residents, it could lose Community Development Block Program funds earmarked for neighborhood improvements.  "It would deprive Troy of about $2.5 million in CDBG funds each year, and that would de-leverage and reduce private funding by millions and millions more."

Dan McCoy, a Democrat, is Albany County's fourth county executive. He was born, raised and resides in Albany, where he has worked as a public servant his entire professional career. McCoy recently sat down with WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief Dave Lucas to talk about his broader role as a community leader.  

New York Senator Chuck Schumer was in Troy today to kick off his campaign to prevent the Department of Housing and Urban Development from reforming the Community Development Block Program in a way that would remove the Collar City from eligibility.

People count. A census tally of the number of residents that came up 54 citizens short could cost Troy funding the city has come to rely on.

As New York awaits a decision from the state’s highest court on whether communities have the right to use local zoning laws to ban the use of land for oil and gas activities, several local governments in many states are regulating hydraulic fracturing.  Experts from affected states recently briefed reporters on the growing trend of community control over fracking.

This weekend marks the 10th Annual Albany Juneteenth Celebration. The free community event is planned for Sunday, in Washington Park.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation called for the liberation of Confederate slaves on Jan. 1, 1863, its effects weren't immediate.  Two and a half years later, the emancipation took effect—when the Union army rode into Galveston to enforce President Lincoln's executive order.

Juneteenth has been sporadically celebrated in the South as a black independence day ever since June 1865, when slaves in Texas learned of their freedom.