Migrant updates: Hochul called out Biden for federal inaction on immigration, particularly focusing on the need to expedite work permits. The state attorney general reminded public schools that they need to admit migrant children. (The law already included special protections for those living in temporary housing so they don’t need to wait for proof of residency to enroll.) She also informed DocGo, the company which has been doing a very bad job at managing housing and services for migrants it’s been contracted to serve, that it’s under investigation. It does not seem they are assisting migrants in applying for asylum.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/nyregion/hochul-biden-migrants.html
https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/hochul-pitches-biden-new-yorkers-new-strategy-18329023.php
https://www.timesunion.com/capitol/article/state-officials-direct-n-y-schools-enroll-18332913.php
https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/ag-investigating-docgo-say-cease-limitations-18307511.php
Horseracing stuff: Two horses died on Travers Day, bringing up this year’s total number of deaths to 14. NYRA said they would “examine the overall condition of all three racing surfaces.” A new federal authority was already conducting an expanded review of the track.
https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/new-federal-authority-probing-saratoga-race-18330442.php
Attempts to unionize Saratoga backstretch workers are tricky because they are employed by individual owners/trainers, because its agricultural classification would mean that unionization is overseen by the state Public Employment Relations Office instead of the federal NLRB, and because most workers are immigrants who do not speak English. (This last bit, of course, means they are more easily exploited.)
https://www.timesunion.com/business/article/group-pushing-saratoga-backstretch-workers-18310466.php
Some horseracing dude in Walkill filled 18 acres of federal wetlands, rerouted streams, and discharged pollution into waterways. He has regularly won more than a million dollars per year, so the $200K civil penalty won’t hurt him much.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/epa-reaches-deal-ny-horse-trainer-wetlands-18303737.php
The nanotech college is back at SUNY Albany, splitting off from SUNY Poly.
Albany Bicycle Coalition meets at 6pm on 8/30 at the Bull Moose Club to propose improvements to pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure.
A man who refers to himself as “Mr. Pickles” is going to jail for cocaine trafficking, so will miss out on the Mr. Pickle beer that will be release at Indian Ladder Farms’ Picklepalooza on 9/2.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/christopher-kelly-key-witness-mafia-linked-drug-18303828.php
The Albany school district wants public input on what to do with 16 stained glass windows from 1887-1909.