Tagged: new york

New York conservation officials have updated the advice they give people about the safety of eating fish from the state's waterways.

Among this year's changes is the addition of the Lewiston Reservoir in Niagara County and part of the Beaver River in Lewis County to the advisory list. And there are changes in the fish species included in advisories for four Adirondack waters: Fall Lake in Hamilton County; Francis Lake in Lewis County; Schroon Lake in Warren and Essex counties; and Cumberland Bay on Lake Champlain.

New York legislators say the state's important apple crop took a beating this spring.

Lawmakers are proposing the Family Farmers and Apple Growers Relief Act. They say apple growers have lost as much as 75 percent of this year's crop, a major commodity in New York.

Assemblymen Jim Tedisco, George Amedore and Pete Lopez are joining in the measure with Senators Hugh Farley and Patty Ritchie, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

The Republicans say New York is the second largest apple growing state with 694 farms that employ more than 10,000 people.

The head of the state ethics commission, Janet DiFiore, says she has “done nothing wrong”, after allegations she used her influence as Westchester County DA to obtain welfare benefits for her maid.  DiFiore spoke after a lengthy closed door session of the ethics commission.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports…

A court in New York says it's no longer slander to falsely call someone gay because it's not something society sees as negative anymore.

The mid-level appeals court says that although falsely calling someone gay or lesbian has for decades been grounds for slander, that's no longer the case.

The decision Thursday by the mid-level appeals court involves the case of a Broome County man who sued a woman who called him gay in what he says was an effort to get his girlfriend to leave him. He says it hurt his relationship.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is attempting to revive New York’s iconic ‘I Love New York’ tourism promotion campaign with some new ads.  The governor says the state not been aggressive enough in its promotions in recent years.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports…

Governor Cuomo’s popularity with New York voters continues- in the latest poll he has the highest ratings of any New York governor since the dark days after September 11th.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports…

Mickey Carroll, with Quinnipiac University, says Cuomo’s favorability numbers are the highest for a governor since the days after September 11th, 2001, when then Governor George Pataki received an 81% approval rating. Cuomo’s numbers stand at 71%, the highest yet for the consistently popular governor, says Carroll.

New York's top court will consider reinstating the lawsuit filed by French investors who lost $43 million out of $50 million they put in two structured investment vehicles. The investors claim Barclays Bank, Standard & Poor's and two management companies were all complicit in leaving investors holding plummeting securities shortly before the Wall Street collapse. WAMC’s Dave Lucas reports.

Occupy Albany demonstrators in the Capitol insist the movement to increase the minimum wage is unstoppable. About 40 protesters wound throughout the building Tuesday, chanting and refusing to accept that the measure is politically dead. WAMC’s Dave Lucas has more…

The Occupiers targeted Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos and Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, saying their refusal to push the Assembly bill is "shameful." Neither Cuomo nor Skelos was in Albany.

A federal judge has set February 4 to start the retrial of former New York Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno on fraud charges and imposed a gag order on the lawyers. More from WAMC’s Dave Lucas…

U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe says Tuesday the case will be tried in court, not the press, while acknowledging he imposed the same rule at the 2009 trial, where Bruno himself held daily press conferences on the courthouse steps to say he was innocent while his lawyers stood quietly by.

The Cuomo administration is suspending its restrictions on smoking in parks, pools, beaches and historic sites after a smokers' rights groups objected. WAMC’s Dave Lucas reports.

The administration says Tuesday the measures will be voluntary for at least two months while a full rule-making process including public comment is concluded.