New York News

The City of Albany has unveiled a replica Medal of Honor on the Henry Johnson statue in Washington park and presented the first Henry Johnson Award for Distinguished Community Service.

A man who crashed a motorboat into a wooden vessel on Lake George last summer, killing a young girl and injuring her mother, has been sentenced.

RPI, Cornell University and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), have announced the creation of the Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE) Consortium.

A University at Albany grad who has directed three successful short films is dabbling in the literary world.

Supporters of a constitutional convention in New York say the amendment deserves prominent placement on the November ballot. Opponents say the entire idea is too risky, and that the state should skip it.

President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord is not winning him any friends in the environmental community.  That’s reflected by reaction from regional advocates.

With the New York State Legislative session scheduled to wrap up at the end of this month, a familiar face — and voice — will bid farewell to Albany.  WAMC's Capital Region Bureau Chief Dave Lucas spoke with Barbara Bartoletti, a longtime advocate for reform at the capitol, who will be retiring from her job as the League of Women Voters' legislative director. 

New York law enforcement is cracking down on underage drinking at summer concerts and festivals across the state.

The federal government is contributing about $17 million to upgrade airports in upstate New York.

Federal regulators say a six-year cleanup of the Hudson River is producing positive results, but PCB levels in fish remain high.

Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo says he’ll sign an executive order committing New York state to meet the Paris Climate Accord standards, calling President Trump’s decision Thursday to withdraw from the agreement “reckless” and “irresponsible.” And the governor says he’s joining with the governors of the states of California and Washington to form a coalition of states that are committed to upholding the Paris Accord. ​ New York state has already begun a plan to get 50 percent of the state’s energy from renewable sources, like wind and solar, by 2030.

The New York Public Interest Research Group has opened an online database giving residents a shortcut to accessing federal and state test results for contaminants in drinking water.

Some lawmakers and officials are irritated a Rochester brewery receiving state economic development funding has purchased beer fermentation tanks from China that could have been produced in New York.

Marquis Dixon, the Albany youth who was sentenced to nine years in an adult maximum security prison for stealing a pair of sneakers when he was 16, is back in trouble with the law.

Legislation that would allow a physician to assist a terminally ill patient to die has been stalled in the New York state legislature but the state’s highest court will hear arguments in the debate Tuesday. The Court of Appeals will hear Myers v. Schneiderman, a legal argument that supporters say is needed to bring clarity to the issue, but opponents say such a law could open the door to a dangerous and inherently discriminatory practice.

Repair crews on New York state highways are taking a break over the busy Memorial Day holiday weekend.

A black bear spotted for weeks in rural New York state with his head trapped in a plastic food jug has been rescued from his plight.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered the former owners of a shuttered baby food factory in the Mohawk Valley to clean up the site. But the former owners say it’s not their problem.

A small group of activists were at NY Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s office in Plattsburgh Thursday to drop off a copy of the Congressional Budget Office report on the American Health Care Act. The Republican-led House narrowly passed the bill on May 4.  They are not the only people upset with the plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Two Congressman representing two centers of horse racing, upstate New York and Kentucky, have re-introduced a bill intended to improve the sport of kings with new anti-doping requirements.

Democratic Congressional representatives from districts surrounding the Hudson River have written to federal authorities asking for an expanded assessment of the river. WAMC’s Southern Adirondack Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports the letter comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to soon release a second five-year review of the massive Superfund cleanup.

Members of the New York state Senate met with community leaders in the Mohawk Valley region Wednesday to get more information on the battle against heroin and opioid addiction.

The outgoing Chancellor of the SUNY system says President Trump’s budget, if enacted, would seriously hamper the chances for many of New York’s young people to attend college.  SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher says cuts to programs that help disadvantaged high school students gain the opportunity to attend college, as well as reductions to federal college aid, and cuts to medical research, including cancer research, would have a huge negative impact on New York’s colleges.

A proposal to curtail the nation's food stamp program has activists and politicians up in arms.  Advocates for the poor worry President Donald Trump's $4.1 trillion budget proposal would worsen conditions for American families struggling to pay for groceries.