Franklin Casatelli, who is accused of the rape in October of a young woman sleeping in her dorm room at UAlbany, pleaded not guilty in court Wednesday.

ALTAMONT — Just after midnight today, the village went dark — no streetlamps, no glow from inside homes, no bright Christmas lights.

“A tree went down on a line,” said Patrick Stella, a spokesman for National Grid. It affected 2,500 customers, he said, and power was restored by 1:30 a.m.

Tasheem Maeweather, accused of firing a gun in Crossgates in November, was sentenced today in Albany County Court to nine years in state prison for violating the terms of his probation on an earlier felony drug charge. 

Laws should be changed so that the family of an injured or killed worker can receive the benefits to which they are rightfully entitled.