Today in your Trail Mix, a helping of holiday cheer.
Binghamton University has a new president.
Gas drilling causes severe housing shortages in North Dakota.
The state's pension fund dips.
Holiday cheer
Heading to the airport? Tell NewsHour how long the lines at security are by tweeting details with the hashtag #TSATime and your airport code.
New Yorkers want a shorter holiday season, according to a new Siena poll. They're also planning to pay as they go this year, instead of racking up debt for gifts (Chris Churchill, The Buzz).
Occupy Albany activists are planning a "flash mob" at Santa's perch in the Crossgates Mall on Friday (Casey Seiler, Capitol Confidential).
Police are cracking down on texting-while-driving during the holiday season, so hands off the phone, and back on the steering wheel (Kate Rafte, WRVO).
A Meals on Wheels van was stolen in Albany yesterday. Thanksgiving: you're doing it wrong (Dayelin Roman, Times Union).
Those items not cheery enough? OK then, here's a Flickr set of people wearing turkey hats that they made to wear at Thanksgiving dinner.
Higher education
Binghamton University has a new president: Harvey G. Stenger, formerly the interim provost at the University at Buffalo (Jennifer Micale, Press & Sun-Bulletin).
SUNY's board of trustees approved the school system's $8.1 billion dollar budget yesterday (Cara Matthews, Gannett).
The University of Rochester's "college town" development, with amenities like a grocery store, bookstore, and hotel, is moving forward (James Goodman, Democrat and Chronicle).
Energy
Gas drilling in North Dakota has caused a housing shortage so severe that people are sleeping in tree houses, according to one official (Stacey Vanek Smith, Marketplace).
RG&E is spending $250 million on new transmission capacity and distribution for the Rochester area (Steve Orr, Democrat and Chronicle).
Actor Ethan Hawke is lending his name to a movement against oil drilling in Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence (CTV).
Government
Rocky markets dropped the state's pension fund by 7.48 percent in the most recent quarter (Jon Campbell, Vote Up!).
New rules that require fire districts to submit their proposed budget to the state are being flouted by 56 percent of the state's districts (Nick Reisman, State of Politics).
A fuel cell manufacturer in Rochester has received state funding to grow its facility (Diana Louise Carter, Democrat and Chronicle).
Buffalo's blighted Central Park Plaza will be cleaned up following action by the state attorney general (Mark Leitner, WNED).
The FCC has given the all-clear for Arkansas-based Windstream to purchase Rochester's PAETEC (Will Astor, Rochester Business Journal).
Buffalo's city council wants to add $400,000 worth of infrastructure projects, like a boat launch, to the city budget (Aaron Besecker, Buffalo News).
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