Lauren Stanforth reports in The Albany Times-Union that a land sale for the state-funded convention center is in the midst of a state corruption scandal. Political contributions to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the report shows, overlapped with deals for the 82,000-square-foot Capital Center. "Columbia Development sold to the Albany Convention Center Authority [in 2014] for $4.05 million. Public records indicate the sales took place about two weeks before a limited liability company run by [developer Joseph] Nicolla and involved in the land deal gave $50,000 to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign fund -— among $150,000 in donations reported by the governor's campaign that day from LLCs tied to Columbia," the story says. In September Nicolla, 59, pleaded not guilty to a bid-rigging charge, a low-level felony carrying a maximum of four years in prison. The convention center land deal is not the story, "but the interplay of large campaign contributions and public contracts has recently drawn the scrutiny of federal and state prosecutors, even when there is no allegation of criminal wrongdoing, because they can illuminate the relationships of individuals involved," the story, in The Albany Times Union, says.