SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) - The party's over for the Whitney Gala, a mainstay on the Saratoga racing season's black-tie circuit for decades.
    
John Hendrickson, husband of socialite Marylou Whitney, tells local media outlets that the couple has decided to end to the annual Whitney Gala, held every summer the night before the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
    
The event was called off last year for just the third time since Whitney started hosting the lavish affairs in the 1960s with her then-husband, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. Hendrickson said last summer that he and his wife wanted to focus their fundraising efforts on the racetrack's backstretch workers. He gave the same reason this week.
    
Hendrickson says his 86-year-old wife is in excellent health after suffering a stroke in 2006.
    

ALBANY - Two and a half years after he walked away with five not guilty and two guilty verdicts in his first trial, the now 83 year old Joe Bruno once again was walking into federal court.

Last time he always stopped to say hello and to proclaim his innocence. This time, both going in and later coming out, Bruno said nothing. His attorneys say that's what they firmly advised.

The superseding indictment concerns Bruno's dealing with local businessman Jared Abbruzzese.

The government alleges that from 2004 to 2006 Bruno, at the time State Senate Majority Leader, devised a scheme to deprive the state and its citizens of his honest services through bribery and kickbacks.

The indictment claims Bruno solicited payments from Abbruzzese totaling 440-thousand dollars while performing almost no work or turning over anything of significant value.

The Capital Region Economic Development Council will hold a meeting on Tuesday, May 1.

According to a statement, the CREDC meeting will include an update on council activities and project tracking, an overview of the council’s new workgroup structure and a quick presentation on the work of the regional councils in 2012 and the second round of the Consolidated Funding Application process.

People who attend the meeting will also have the opportunity to provide the council with written questions and feedback related to the Strategic Plan and CFA process.

The meeting will begin at 2 p.m. at the RPI East Campus Athletic Village (ECAV) gymnasium in Troy.

Members of the CREDC, businesses, individuals, organizations, labor and education representatives from the Capital Region are invited to attend the event.

The council defines the Capital Region as Albany, Columbia, Greene, Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Warren and Washington counties.