New York on Monday May 12, 2008

Archive of New York on Monday May 12, 2008

In school sports, who makes the call?
By Pauline Vu, Stateline.org Staff Writer

A shot at the buzzer of a high school championship game — was it in time or not? — led the South Carolina Legislature to consider a bill to require referees to watch video replays. It was hardly the first example of armchair quarterbacking by lawmakers.

Neutral govs to remain on sidelines
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer

In the homestretch of an unprecedented presidential primary season, spinning with competing sound-bites and endless rhetoric, voters still heading to the polls in four states can’t look to their governors for any pre-election advice. These governors plan to wait until after their states vote to make their own endorsements.
Read More

GOP bill would raise pension
By James M. Odato, Times Union (Albany)
Republican lawmakers want the former secretary to the state GOP chairman to get a bigger public pension than the one she's on course to receive.
Read More

Police attitude on race faulted
By karen Matthews, The Associated Press, Times Union (Albany)
NEW YORK -- Civil rights advocates said Sunday that a recent incident in which a high-ranking black police official was ordered out of his car by a white officer points out ongoing racial problems in the city's police department.
Read More

Ethics panel works in secret
By Irene Jay Liu, Times Union (Albany)
A special commission that legislators claim is their "independent" ethics watchdog is anything but, a month long Times Union investigation has found.
Read More

Petition calls for gas tax holiday
By Lauren Stanforth, Times Union (Albany)
Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco hopes to collect the names of thousands of irate customers to pressure Assembly Democrats to lower gas taxes this summer.
Read More

Retiree health benefits bill criticized
By Jay Gallagher, Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester)
Union leaders and lawmakers are attempting to slip a "Trojan Horse" bill through the Legislature that potentially could result in higher property taxes around the state, local government leaders and analysts said.
Read More

Analysis - NY unsettled amid claims of rogue state police
By Michael Gormley, The Associated Press, Syracuse Post-Standard
The allegation is startling and the pattern it's based on unsettling: A rogue element in the state police has for years tailed and snitched on elected officials and political enemies.
Read More

Paterson and Schumer in Skaneateles
By Pedro Ramirez III, Syracuse Post-Standard
SKANEATELES, N.Y. - Gov. David Paterson and Sen. Chuck Schumer are in town to announce a solution to truck traffic in the area.
Read More

Harlem flips on Clinton
By Lara Moscrip, New York Post
Harlem was once the only place in the nation where Hillary Rodham Clinton could count on black support. Now it's hard to find any Clinton backers there, even in the shadow of her husband's 125th Street office.
Read More

Confusing ballot designs still plague elections
By Deborah Hastings, The Associated Press, The Washington Post (registration)
The solution should have been a no-brainer, voting experts say. After all, it was a badly designed ballot that enflamed the 2000 election meltdown and introduced the vagaries of chads to the political lexicon - pregnant, hanging and otherwise.
Read More

Bloomberg asks Albany to oppose union-backed retirement bills
By Danny Hakim, The New York Times
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York is appealing to Gov. David A. Paterson and legislative leaders to hold firm against two bills that the city believes would cost as much as $300 million a year.
Read More

To promote New York, handlers take steps to reclaim "I [love] NY"
By Anthony Ramirez, The New York Times
In business, as in romance, familiarity often breeds, if not contempt, then indifference.
Read More

Seizures' toll on neighbors
By Austin Fenner and Neil Graves, New York Post
Spillover from the foreclosure crisis is costing city homeowners $5,000 each time a bank seizes a house near their property, according to a lawmaker.
Read More

Gifts for governor include books, knickknacks, Spitzers' produce
By John Wagner, The Washington Post (registration)
During his first year on the job, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) netted numerous books, T-shirts, baseball caps, candy and assorted trinkets and treasures, according to a recently filed disclosure form.
Read More

Ice cream sellers under scrutiny
By Jeff Martin, Rapid City Journal
Rapid City is among the latest in a growing number of communities across the nation moving to prevent sexual predators from becoming ice cream truck drivers.
Read More

Thefts rise with copper prices
By Kari Lydersen, The Washington Post (registration)
CHICAGO - Dave Fusselman figures he has seen a lot of different items come through his family's third-generation scrap metal business in Moberly, Mo. But an attempted sale last fall broke new ground.
Read More

WORTH NOTING: Illinois treasurer shows his knowledge of charges
By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) endures a bruising charge from Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D). A new Utah law stirs Salt Lake City bartenders to create a new drink. And Louisiana prison guards get outside help to prevent escapes. In case you missed those stories this week, Worth Noting fills you in.
Read More

Silver Alert helps rescue lost seniors
By Christine Vestal, Stateline.org Staff Writer
(Updated 9:30 a.m EST, May 8, 2008)

When an elderly person with dementia is lost, eight states can trigger an alert to let the community know. Proposals in Congress would expand the successful missing persons program to all 50 states.
Read More

At-risk gubernatorial seats increase
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist

After a pair of hard-fought primaries, North Carolina joins Missouri, Washington and Indiana on Out There's list of states where partisan control of the governorship could flip this fall.
Read More

Will states fix 2012 primary process?
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer

While voters in Indiana and North Carolina go to the polls today (May 6) to help Democrats pick Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama as their nominee and Republicans rally behind John McCain, party insiders and state election officials are in informal talks to improve the presidential nominating contests for 2012 and beyond.
Read More

Oh say, is that banner made in the U.S.A.?
By Kim Mendelsohn, Special to Stateline.org
Lawmakers in 10 states have taken steps to require that American flags bought with state funds be manufactured in this country. While not all the legislation has passed, one state’s new law even bans the sale of foreign-made American flags in that state.
Read More

WORTH NOTING: Voters' guide promotes phone sex
By Pauline Vu, Stateline.org Staff Writer
An Oregon voters’ guide lists a very wrong number. California’s governor insults rural legislators. And Pennsylvania considers selling wine in vending machines. In case you missed those stories this week, “Worth Noting” fills you in.
Read More

Parents turn to states for autism help
By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer
(UPDATED 4 p.m. EDT, Thursday May 1) One of the toughest problems facing autism patients, their families and policymakers is paying for treatment. Families are increasingly relying on states to help them cope with the financial, medical and educational needs.

Read More

Fairness of death-penalty panels questioned
By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer
Death-penalty supporters are raising questions about the fairness of state commissions charged with studying how capital punishment is carried out in Maryland and Tennessee, claiming the panels will issue reports that ignore their views.
Read More

With justices' OK, voter ID moves ahead
By Daniel C. Vock and John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writers
A decision Monday (April 28) by the U.S. Supreme Court to let Indiana demand photo identification from voters paves the way for other states to do the same during November’s presidential election, experts say.
Read More

Will Democrats grow legislative edge in '08?
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist

For the past several election cycles, the Democrats have been on a roll in legislative elections. This year, the party is well-positioned to hold its majority of chambers — but greatly expanding Democratic control may not be in the cards.

'Purple' states turn a little more 'blue'
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist

The national polls point to a tight presidential race in November. But Democrats have a bit more to cheer about than Republicans do, regardless of who wins the Democratic primary, according to the latest state-by-state electoral-vote projections by “Out There.”
Read More

Governors pitch ambitious programs
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer

Billion-dollar deficits in California, New York and Arizona haven’t stopped governors there and elsewhere from proposing big-ticket items for 2008. Stateline.org looks at proposals from governors’ 2008 "state of the state" speeches and provides an exclusive summary of all the addresses so far.

Summary of the State of the State Address

After a year of partisan battles with the Legislature, Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, struck a more conciliatory tone in his Jan. 9 address, outlining an ambitious package to cut property taxes, expand health-care coverage and fund higher education by privatizing the state lottery.
Read More

Commentary: Govs beat White House hopefuls as agents of change
By Gene Gibbons, Stateline.org Executive Editor

This column was published simultaneously by The Politico.

It took a while for most of the presidential candidates to figure out that voters want “change” and action on a variety of issues that affect their lives. They might have gotten it sooner if they had noticed the way that many states, led by innovative governors, are moving forward in areas like health care, immigration and global warming.
Read More

Iraq casts shadow on 2008 state races
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist

Not a single governor or state legislator wields authority over the conduct of the Iraq War, yet a broad range of party strategists and political analysts agree that state races in 2008 will be shaped, mostly indirectly, by public attitudes towards that conflict. Unless there’s a sea change in public opinion, that’s bad news for Republicans.
Read More

Democratic mid-term gains affecting policy
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org columnist
So complete was the Democratic rout in the 2006 midterm elections that the party even gained legislative influence in Alaska, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming – states long dominated by the Republicans. And those gains, though small, are translating into policy achievements.
Read More

WORTH NOTING: Illinois gov runs up travel tab
By Christine Vestal, Stateline.org Staff Writer
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s commuting costs start to add up. South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds settles a dispute with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over a cranky game warden. California corrections officials install “flushometers” to control wasteful toilet flushing in prisons. In case you missed any of those stories this week, "Worth Noting" fills you in.
Read More

Visit the Stateline.org New York Page

Read More