Despite what you hear about recovery, you see indicators: gas back over 4 dollars a gallon. Many Americans still struggling to put food on the table unable to secure home and auto loans. Those tight lending practices apparently have trickled up to municipalities: the Daily Gazette reports the city of Schenectady failed a credit check for a loan to purchase eight new police cruisers and two vans for use in detective work. City officials tell the paper they found another lender that takes "riskier loans" but that bank wants to run its own credit check first. Some city council members were concerned about the cost and gas mileage of the vans, and the fact that the employees who would be using the vans would get to take them home at night.
Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.