Hello, Wednesday. Happy hump day, hikers. Here's your Trail Mix:
President Obama stops by Albany for the third time.
Five is I-81's magic number in downtown Syracuse.
And, coming soon to a school district near you: N.Y. teachers getting the ax.
Politics
Did you hear? President Barack Obama dropped by Albany yesterday. He called on Congress to pass tax breaks that would spur job creation. He also dispersed high praise for both Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and the New York legislature's newfound functionality (Tom Precious, Buffalo News).
Business
A downtown Buffalo theater vacant since 2008 has new owners who vow to raise the curtain this fall (Helen Jones, Buffalo News).
Tax breaks for a pizzeria were quashed Tuesday in a vote by the Lancaster IDA. The move caught both IDA critics and supporters by surprise (Stephen Watson, Buffalo News).
A Burmese hotelier visits Xerox in Rochester, saying her country is open for business (Mathew Daneman, Democrat & Chronicle).
The rehab of a former New York State office building in downtown Buffalo has started after years of discussion. Developers released their vision Tuesday, which includes a hotel, law offices and retail space (Aaron Besecker, Buffalo News).
Transportation
The Innovation Trail's Ryan Delaney shows us the different scenarios for the future of I-81 in downtown Syracuse.
Hurdles to the removal of a section of a Niagara Falls expressway appear to be clearing. Advocates say the project would reconnect some neighbors with the Niagara River (Charlie Specht, Buffalo News).
Navigating Albany could be tough this week. Some streets are closed off for the filming of a new biopic about Muhammad Ali (Paul Nelson, Albany Times-Union).
Education
New York's property tax cap means teacher layoffs are on the horizon (Joseph Spector, Gannett).
Government
Funding for Rochester's surveillance cameras will be scrapped in the near future. And, apparently, one in every four existing cameras is not working (Brian Sharp, Democrat & Chronicle).
