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Rally in Albany Tuesday Over H1N1 Flu Shot Debate (New York, NY) -- Hundreds of health care workers will rally in Albany Tuesday, angry that they are being made to receive H1N1 flu shots. The State Health Department has made it mandatory that all health care workers get immunized by November 30th. The protestors say their rights are being violated and that they can not be forced to get a H1N1 flu shot. Officials say there will be exceptions for those health care workers who have a personal health issue that would prevent them from getting the shot. WOR News...

A special prosecutor is already being eyed amid a burgeoning scandal in Troy over the alleged forgery of absentee ballots in this month’s Working Families Party primary. The scandal is focused on suspicions people tied to the Troy Democrats forged ballots. News of the fakes surfaced in Saturday’s edition of the Times Union. The details were eye opening because so many voters interviewed by the Times Union said they didn’t vote despite ballots cast in their name. Voters said their signatures had obviously been forged and comparisons between their registration cards and the ballot applications showed distinctly different signatures. Today,...

p>The Schenectady Light Opera Company is buying a former Catholic church downtown and will raise money to convert the property into a 300-seat theater and performing arts center. The Light Opera Company, an 83-year-old community theater group, signed a contract with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany to buy the former St. John the Baptist Church on Franklin Street. St. John the Baptist, said to be the oldest church in Schenectady, closed June 24, one of 33 worship sites that will be closed or merged in the diocese over the next three years. The first mass was held at St....

Near majority of voters want all senators thrown out of office When it comes to state government, New Yorkers want a do-over. They're mad about the budget. They're mad about the senate stalemate that brought state politics to a screeching halt for a month. They're mad at Gov. David Paterson. New Yorkers are so frustrated with how things are going in the state that nearly half of registered voters say almost everyone in the State Senate, including their own legislators, deserves to be thrown out, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. Voters aren't thrilled with their representatives in the...

Albany politicos skirt protestersSenate Democrats enter fundraiser protected by curtain By Phil Fairbanks and Mark Sommer NEWS STAFF REPORTERS July 19, 2009, 7:08 AM They entered behind a black curtain that kept protesters at bay. And if that wasn’t protection enough for the visiting VIPs, Buffalo’s police commissioner was on the scene ordering protesters and reporters to stay clear and on the sidewalk. Keeping the public from the politicians was just one part of the scene Friday as State Senate Democrats arrived in Buffalo for a $5,000-a-plate political fundraiser. Outside, about 60 protesters, undeterred by police, shouted slogans that suggested...

I strongly disagree with the prudential opinion expressed by Bishop Howard Hubbard: "The US bishops have given their enthusiastic support to the Waxman-Markey bill, a piece of legislation designed to address climate change, which Republican opponents have characterized as entailing "the largest tax increase in American history." The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 proposes a complicated series of schemes known as "cap and trade," ultimately imposing taxes on the carbon-dioxide emissions that are cited as a major factor in global warming. Even before the 1,200-page legislation was made available to Congress, the members of the House...

ALBANY - Bronx state Sen. Pedro Espada, whose defection to the Republican camp helped trigger the current Senate crisis, will return to the Democratic fold and end the month-long Senate stalemate, The Post has learned. Espada, whose defection to the Republicans was the main reason for Gov. Paterson's controversial action yesterday "naming" Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor, revealed his startling plans to The Post.

Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. has returned to the fold, giving the Democrats a 32-30 majority in the state Senate—again—and taking the title majority leader. Espada (D-Bronx) said during a news conference this afternoon that his disagreement with fellow Democrats on June 8, which led to a Republican-led coup, “has never been about titles,” though he received the title of temporary president as a result of the coup. “Today I stand here with another title,” he said. “I tell you very clearly, I have always been a Democrat. I will continue to be a Democrat. I never left home. I had...

SEN. ESPADA RETURNING TO DEMOCRATS POWER IN ALBANY FLIPS AGAIN ALBANY - Bronx state Sen. Pedro Espada, whose defection to the Republican camp helped trigger the current Senate crisis, will return to the Democratic fold and end the month-long Senate stalemate, The Post has learned. Espada, whose defection to the Republicans was the main reason for Gov. Paterson's controversial action yesterday "naming" Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor, revealed his startling plans to The Post. The defection would bring a quick end to the Senate's current 31-31 vote stalemate, in which Espada has repeatedly joined with the 30 Republican members in...

During the first five months of this year, with the Senate under the control of its first African-American majority leader, Smith, top Democrats bemoaned the lack of minority Senate staffers. But instead of trying to recruit new hires, they fired nearly 200 almost exclusively white workers and replaced them with a large number of minority employees, many of whom were seen by their fellow workers to be unskilled at their new jobs. The move produced severe racial tensions, made worse by the fact that, as a high-level Democratic staffer confided, "We've been told to only hire minorities.''

STATE GOVERNMENT HAS NEVER BEEN SO CLOWNISH, SO EVIL, SO IRRELEVANT Having witnessed the anarchy, chaos and lack of leadership that has engulfed the state Capitol during the past month, I have a painful confession to make. After three decades as a journalist covering state government, if I had to do it all over again, I'd find another job. I've covered Govs. Hugh Carey, Mario Cuomo, George Pataki, Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson and for New York to wind up like this after 35 years of modern leadership, it's clear to me that my real job has been to chronicle...

<p>ALBANY (AP) - The Republican-dominated faction claiming control of the New York Senate says a Democrat-appointed legislative staffer doctored the original, official minutes of the session three weeks ago to delete the GOP-staged coup to seize the majority.</p> <p>"The Senate journal - and they (Republicans) know this, they were in the majority for 40 years - is a living, breathing document that changes through the course of the week," Grainger said. "The resolution was passed once adjournment occurred. This is what was cleaned up in the final journal."</p>

07/01/09 03:04 PM Assembly Democrats refuse to accept Senate Democrat bills By Tom Precious ALBANY - Assembly Democrats have refused to accept more than 100 bills that Senate Democrats insist they legally passed on Tuesday in a session that Republicans say was illegal in the first place. Gov. David Paterson has already said he will not sign the bills if sent to him, but the Assembly has the ability to block them from even being transmitted to his office � saving him some political grief. At issue are about 125 bills Senate Democrats say were legally approved Tuesday when a...

Updated: 06/30/09 01:48 PM State Senate Democrats use bizarre maneuver to start passing bills ALBANY — In a bizarre twist, Senate Democrats claimed this afternoon they have established a quorum when a Republican senator — on his way to a lounge adjacent to the chamber — was counted as present for the purposes of holding a legal session. The Democrats quickly gaveled in and started passing a long list of stalled bills submitted by Gov. David A. Paterson. "I think it's fraud," said Sen. Frank Padavan, a Queens Republican, who the Democrats counted as present for the noon-time session. Padavan...

See the video Democrats refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance! In this case, though, the context actually improves the story. This takes place in Albany, where the New York state Senate remains locked in a power struggle in an evenly divided chamber. Rather than an insult to American patriotism, the Democrats here engaged in an insult to the intelligence of New Yorkers:

New York's annual Gay Pride parade was a colorful celebration of 40 years of progress toward civil rights for gays, but once the dust settled, gay couples who wish to marry in New York state remain thwarted. A bill to legalize gay marriage in the state that saw the dawn of the gay rights movement is mired in political stalemate in the state capital Albany, where Democrats and Republicans are battling over control of the state Senate. "I had hoped today's march would have been a bit of a wedding march. It's not," Christine Quinn, the gay speaker of the...

ALBANY (CBS) ― The battle for control of the New York State Senate got even more bizarre Tuesday. After talks of a power-sharing arrangement broke down, Democrats locked themselves in the Senate chamber, Republicans tried to conduct business on their own and none of the "people's business" got done. As incredible as it may seem, pictures obtained by CBS 2 HD are of the Democratic senators who locked themselves inside their chamber so they could be "first in" for Gov. David Paterson's special session. The pictures, shot through the window of a Senate door, seem to show that it was...

Dems Refuse To Recognize Espada As President Pro Tem, Don't Stand For Pledge Of Allegiance During Special Session Republicans Fail To Take Podium, Pass Bills By Acclamation

ALBANY — Senate Democrats entered the Senate chamber through a back hallway on Tuesday afternoon and locked themselves in, pulling off a sneak attack of sorts in the ongoing battle for control of the State Senate. The move took the Capitol by surprise, and left Republicans scrambling to plan their next procedural move. Republicans had planned to enter the chamber at 2 p.m. — an hour before the special session called by Gov. David A. Paterson was scheduled to begin. Who would be in the chamber first became a key question on Tuesday as Republicans and Democrats failed again to...

Calling all NY Freepers!! Liberty Starts Here Again! Much of the significant fighting early on in the Revolutionary War occurred in New York – Fort Ontario, Fort Ticonderoga, The Battle of Saratoga, The Battle of Long Island, Fort Stanwix, Manhattan, White Plains, and many more. With Liberty so imperiled today, our hope is that Liberty starts here again in New York. Our message to our representatives is simple: We're Voting the Ins Out! Tuesday, June 16th at high noon (12 – 3 pm) in East Capitol Park

By the time the dysfunctional body that passes for a Legislature in New York State gets through the 2009 session, calling someone an Albany reformer will be an insult. In a display of chutzpah that startled even old political hands, the Senate Republicans and two of the least-reputable Democrats in a deeply disreputable place brazenly declared themselves to be a reform coalition and staged a palace coup against the Democratic majority. We’re still puzzling out how these defections came about and what tawdry promises were made. But make no mistake: Reform and bipartisanship had nothing to do with it. Two...

ALBANY -- Confusion gripped the Capitol and the Senate chamber remained dark yesterday, as Democrats feverishly scrambled to regain control after a Republican coup knocked them out of the box. Deposed Senate leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) accused the Democratic mutineers of rank extortion and influence peddling. The fast-paced, never-before-seen developments at the Capitol yesterday included: * Senate business -- usually at a fever pitch in June -- ground to a halt yesterday while Democrats mulled legal action to delay a session scheduled for 3 p.m. today. * Rumors swirled that a handful of other Democratic lawmakers were preparing to defect...

The State of Shame has descended into a state of shambles.Yesterday's coup d'etat revealed Albany for the madhouse it has become, with the lunatics firmly in charge of the asylum.All you need to know to size up the execrable events is that control of New York's Senate hinged on power-playing by one man who is under indictment for allegedly slashing his girlfriend's face and by a second man who supposedly represents the Bronx but lives in Westchester and is a recidivist ethics violator.Meanwhile, Republican boss Dean Skelos is only too happy to welcome turncoat Democrats Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada...

Updated, 4:15 p.m. | ALBANY – Democrats appeared to have lost their majority in the New York State Senate on Monday, in a stunning and sudden reversal of fortunes for a party that has controlled the chamber for barely five months.

On Wednesday, April 15, a rally will be held in Albany’s Riverfront Park at the Corning Preserve. From 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. citizens from throughout the capitol region will gather to peacefully but forcefully express their disgust with elected officials and where they are taking our country.

ALBANY — Cities across the greater Capital Region will bear the brunt of a massive plan to close 33 worship sites throughout the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, Bishop Howard Hubbard announced Saturday. Troy will be ground zero in an unprecedented consolidation the 14-county diocese is undertaking to cope with shifting demographics and a shortage of priests. Hubbard, despite lobbying to change the outcome, decided to close six of the Collar City's dozen Catholic churches. That is more than any other city. And the list of soon-to-be-shuttered Troy churches includes St. Peter's, the state's third-oldest Catholic parish.Elsewhere, St. Teresa of...

COHOES — Al Rigney knows the pain of closing a church. A decade ago, Rigney performed the grim ritual of boarding up the windows of St. Agnes, the big-steepled Cohoes landmark where he was confirmed and married. He gave up after a few. "I can't do any more," Rigney told a fellow window-boarder. "It hurts too much."The bundled-up 80-year-old spoke before the 12:10 p.m. Mass on Friday in a light wood pew at St. Bernard's, another historic treasure of this river city. It, too, may close in a new round of Albany Catholic Diocese parish consolidations that will be announced...

COLONIE-- Roughly 20 percent of worship sites in the 164-parish Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany will close or merge in an unprecedented restructuring plan expected to be released this month, Bishop Howard Hubbard said Wednesday. But Hubbard said his decisions will largely hew to the recommendations of 38 local planning groups from across the 14-county diocese. Those panels of lay Catholics and priests analyzed parish resources and made suggestions to Hubbard in June as to which churches should merge or close."There will be some surprises," Hubbard said. "There will be some places that were recommended for closure that won't close....

Albert P. Carey, President and CEO Frito-Lay North America 7701 Legacy Drive Plano, Texas 75024 Dear Mr. Carey, I would like to make a proposal for Frito Lay to consider. Please bear with me as I 'Lays' the ground work. If your not aware, New York State is offering 1.2 Billion dollar subsidy for a chip fabrication plant to be located in Saratoga New York. We the citizens of New York, are led to believe this is an effort to bring new jobs to the State –roughly 1,400 jobs. The State has been in lengthy discussions with Advanced Micro Devices...

Farmers Panic About a ‘Cow Tax’ By Kate Galbraith Should their greenhouse gases be taxed? (Photo: Steve Ruark for The New York Times) The comment period for the Environmental Protection Agency’s exploration of greenhouse gas regulation ended last Friday, with farmers lobbying furiously against the notion of a “cow tax” on methane, a potent greenhouse gas emitted by livestock. The New York Farm Bureau issued a statement last week (PDF) saying it feared that a tax could reach $175 per cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and upward of $20 for each hog. Such a tax would represent a...

NY officials want older trucks fitted with emission-reducing equipment; cost put at $195M ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York is taking steps to reduce diesel emissions in its construction fleet. The Department of Environmental Conservation is floating proposed regulations requiring trucks made before 2007 to be fitted with emissions-reducing equipment and to use ultra-low-sulfur fuel by 2011. The new regulations would apply only to state-owned trucks or trucks used for state contract work. The DEC estimates it will cost $195 million to retrofit about 30,000 state trucks. The New York State

Hey, Cuomo, stand up and fight. I’m talking to Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general of New York. Stand up and fight. For the last two weeks, as the Caroline Kennedy coronation has been going on, the man whose career she is destroying has been silent. It’s as if he fell off the face of the earth. The story is that Caroline Kennedy has announced that she wants to be a U.S. senator from New York. She has no experience, no preparation, no training. She has never stood before the voters. She has never even visited vast stretches of the state...

There’s no “change” when it comes to politics as usual in The Empire State, in fact the Emperor’s latest edict is not being well-received. Gov. Paterson’s proposed $121 billion budget hits New Yorkers in their iPods - and nickels-and-dimes them in lots of other places, too. Trying to close a $15.4 billion budget gap, Paterson called for 88 new fees and a host of other taxes, including an “iPod tax” that taxes the sale of downloaded music and other “digitally delivered entertainment services.” “We’re going to have to take some extreme measures,” Paterson said Tuesday after unveiling the slash-and-burn budget....

You drink diet soda, so you must be healthier. Right? That's what New York Gov. David Paterson is talking about with his proposal for an "obesity tax" — a 15 percent slap on non-diet sugary soft drinks. Think $1 for a Diet Coke, $1.15 for a Coke. There's just one problem: Studies have found links between drinking diet sodas and obesity and diabetes. A 2005 study at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, and separate studies released in 2007 at the University of Alberta in Canada and the University of Massachusetts found that diet soda drinkers were...

ALBANY - Gov. Paterson released a $121 billion slash-and-burn budget Tuesday morning that slams New Yorkers with 88 new fees and taxes - even on their iPods. Calling the budget the "greatest economic and fiscal challenge of our lifetimes," Paterson acknowledged his spending plan cuts deep. But he said the pain must be shared to deal with the fallout from the Wall Street collapse. The budget will cost the city an estimated $650 million in aid. But it's the $4 billion in new fees and taxes that are sure to aggravate everyday New Yorkers, who would be

A can of Coke could soon cost New Yorkers more than just calories. Gov. Paterson, as part of a $121 billion budget to be unveiled Tuesday, will propose an "obesity tax" of about 15% on nondiet drinks. This means a Diet Coke might sell for a $1 - even as the same size bottle of its calorie-rich alter ego would go for $1.15. Paterson's budget also calls for a 3% cut in education spending, a $620-a-year tuition hike at SUNY and a $600 increase at CUNY - and about $3.5 billion in health care cuts, a source said. The Democratic...

Gov. David Paterson is heading near Indian Country to sign a bill that would call for the state to collect taxes on sales by Indian retailers. Despite urgings by the Seneca Nation for the governor to veto the measure, he is traveling to Oneida County to sign the legislation in Utica on Monday

New taxes, deep cuts to education and health care, and a restructuring of the state's economic development programs will be hallmarks of Gov. David Paterson's first budget plan to be released in two days, according to interviews of people briefed on components. The plan will come with a host of revenue raisers — increased taxes on hospitals and insurance policies, for instance — and at least one new assessment, a so-called obesity tax on non-diet soda to raise $404 million. The governor also is contemplating requiring new license plates to raise cash, reviving sales tax on clothing purchases, removing the...

Advanced drilling techniques that blast millions of gallons of water into 400-million-year-old shale formations a mile underground are opening up "unconventional" gas fields touted as a key to the nation's energy future. The mother lode of these deposits, where natural gas is so tightly locked in deep rocks that it's costly and complicated to extract, is the Marcellus shale underlying the Appalachians. Geologists call the Marcellus a "super giant" gas field. Penn State geoscientist Terry Engelder believes it could supply the natural gas needs of the United States for 14 years. But as word spread over the past year that...

Albany Councilman Glen Casey wants to give some city employees an additional ten days off next year. The Catch: He doesn't want to pay them for it. "the idea is for all non union Albany city employees making $55,000 or more to have to take an additional ten days off next year. They would not get paid for it. I want to take what would be between $150,000 and $200,000 dollars in savings and give it to those employees making under 40,000 a raise" says Casey Casey pitched the idea to Council Members at Mondays meeting while they talked about...

SOME FAMILY MAN: Asse Sam Hoyt ALBANY - A married assemblyman got caught with his virtual pants down - busted by XXX-rated e-mails to a 19-year-old intern.....In one sex message Hoyt made it embarrassingly clear they shared not only an interest in the people's business, but in lusty sex and personal hygiene. Titled "what i wish," the Democratic assemblyman's list included: ". . . that i could be painting your toenails right now . . . that i could see you do that little cheerleader move . . . that i could be your human lollipop . . ....

A Roman Catholic priest from the Hudson Valley is going to federal prison for four years after pleading guilty to downloading child pornography. Raymond Ethier of Hudson was arrested in May 2007 for having videos and still images of minors engaged in sexual conducted on his home computer when he was the pastor of St. John Vianney.... The 51-year-old pleaded guilty in November to one count of possessing child pornography. He was sentenced Monday to 48 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release. He must also register with the state's sex offender registry and participate in a sex...

Truckers in Albany protested at the New York Capitol amidst concerns their industry would be hit hard by skyrocketing fuel prices and climate change legislation. About 100 truckers attended the demonstration, where they paraded big rigs past the Capitol building and blasted their horns. They’re specifically directing their anger at Democrat-controlled State Assembly for refusing a vote on a proposed gas tax holiday bill to suspend New York’s fuel tax through Labor Day. The truckers even invited Democratic Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno for a ride on one of their big rigs to lobby him.

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Albany DA to release Spitzer, aides testimony in probePosted at: 06/06/2008 04:46:53 PM Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares says he will release the secret testimony of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his top aides in the dirty tricks probe that consumed much of Spitzer's abbreviated term. Soares will release thousands of pages of documents sought by several news organizations after the material is reviewed according to county policy. The testimony could show how involved Spitzer was in the work of two staffers who collected state police travel logs that showed Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno - Spitzer's adversary...

ALBUQUERQUE, NM, April 25, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "I want to save others from the same fate that I was almost put into," said 14-year-old Janelle Bushnell referring to a silent protest against abortion she has been punished for planning at her New Mexico middle school. Bushnell and a friend have been distributing flyers to fellow students at their James Monroe Middle School, encouraging them to wear red armbands and duct tape in protest of the scourge of abortion that has silenced the voices of so many of Bushnell's unborn peers. Bushnell was inspired to protest abortion after learning that her...

About two dozen bikers descended upon the Code Pink headquarters in Albany Saturday. The bikers are former marines and say Code Pink's protests in front of the Marine recruiting office in Berkeley goes too far. The Marines Motorcycle Club roared into Albany for what turned out to be a rather quiet protest. The veterans obtained a two-hour permit to demonstrate in front of the Code Pink headquarters on Solano Avenue, but no one was home. Code Pink left a sign saying, "Sorry we missed you boys." "Since they're in our house, the Marines Recruiting Center, we're coming to their house...

ALBANY, N.Y. (WIVB) - - The Albany Police Department has activated the New York State AMBER Alert and is investigating a confirmed child abduction that occurred at 41 North Allen Street , in Albany, NY at about 3:00 PM on 4/7/2008. The CHILD, Jose Estrada is a Hispanic male , approximately 6 years old with brown hair and brown eyes . He is approximately 3 feet 1 inch tall and weighs about 48 pounds. Jose was last seen wearing blue jeans, a mustard colored shirt and/or a plaid button down shirt, an orange jacket with blue sleeves, and black sneakers....

March 31, 2008 ALBANY - The scandal-scarred State Police is suspected of harboring a renegade unit that for years has secretly compiled personal information on top New York officials - possibly including Gov. Paterson, The Post has learned. The governor got a whiff of the existence of such an illegal, politically directed operation after being told by several lawmakers that the State Police targeted them for unjustified traffic stops and "interfered in their personal lives," a senior Paterson aide told The Post yesterday. The explosive information - supplied to Paterson by both Democrats and Republicans - suggests that the Dirty...

Of all the wisecracks heard in the marble halls of New York's Capitol after Gov. Eliot Spitzer's downfall in a call-girl scandal, one jest enlightened as much as it stung: Spitzer's got to be the only guy in Albany who PAYS for sex. It is an open secret that there is a lot of fooling around going on at the statehouse. And at other statehouses, too. In fact, Gov. David Paterson, in an extraordinary news conference on Tuesday, his first full day on the job after taking over from Spitzer, acknowledged he had had extramarital affairs with a number of...