News

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is revising the grading standards for maple syrup to match international standards so that consumers have a better understanding of what they are buying.

Among the key bills the new Congress will consider is transportation and infrastructure funding. It will also review the Highway Trust Fund, due to become insolvent at the end of May.  Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin was among governors testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works today about state-level transportation funding concerns.

It could be one and done for the new hockey team in Glens Falls. The future of the Adirondack Flames is in question, as a pending deal with the American Hockey League could move the club to the West Coast after only one season at the Civic Center.

Glens Falls is used to saying goodbye to hockey teams by now, but it was only eight months ago that officials announced the Adirondack Flames would bring American League Hockey back to the Civic Center…

“Welcome to the three-peat AHL city, Glens Falls, New York!”

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in western Massachusetts says there is a tentative plan concerning the fate of historic Cathedral High School in Springfield.  Although details have not been disclosed, advocates for rebuilding the tornado-ravaged school say they are encouraged.

      Bishop Mitchell Rozanski said the draft plan addresses how to continue Catholic secondary education in Springfield and how best to continue the legacy and mission of Cathedral — the city’s only Catholic high school.

New York's Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner has chosen a Hudson Valley Hasidic Jewish village to lead the review of a request for it to annex 500 acres of adjacent land.

State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens says cleaning up brownfields, improving access to public lands and increasing resiliency to extreme weather are among his agency's priorities in the coming fiscal year.

Martens spoke Wednesday at the first of 13 budget hearings before the Senate and Assembly fiscal committees.

The Lake George Land Conservancy, based in Bolton Landing, is one of several groups dedicated to protecting Lake George. Recently the organization announced Jamie Brown would take the helm after the retirement of former Executive Director Nancy Williams.

The New York state legislature continued about its business in Albany Wednesday, despite the leadership crisis in the Assembly. Lawmakers held the first in a series of public budget hearings. Meanwhile, several Assemblymembers officially declared their candidacy to succeed Speaker Sheldon Silver, who will leave the office on Monday.

The New York attorney general's office says  Citibank has agreed to revise its screening of those seeking to open checking or savings accounts so applicants are not rejected for past isolated or minor banking errors. 

The changes effective mid-March involve bank policies governing use of ChexSystems, a database for analyzing applicants' banking history and protecting against fraud.

Authorities say screenings by ChexSystems and other reporting agencies more often filter lower-income applicants, forcing them to use high-cost services like check-cashing outlets.

New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney of the 18th district discussed the recent arrest of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver during a taping of WAMC's Congressional Corner on Wednesday.