New York on Friday July 03, 2009

NY: Paterson calls session through July 6
By Irene Jay Liu, Times Union (Albany)
Gov. David Paterson has elevated the Senate stalemate from a "conflict" to a "crisis." The governor didn't make much news today in his Red Room press conference, except to say that he has issued proclamations for special session every day at 3 p.m. through July 6 — which means that the Senate will be in Albany through the holiday weekend.
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Stimulus eases community college troubles
By Kimberly Leonard, Special to Stateline.org
States are digging into their federal stimulus money to help finance community colleges, where rising tuition, soaring enrollment and budget cuts threaten to shut students out of the system.
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Weekly wrap: Report questions states' use of stimulus road funds
By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer
States are spending too much stimulus money on new road construction and not enough on public transit projects, a national advocacy group claims in a report issued Monday (June 29). Meanwhile, Michigan and California consider teaming up to solve their prison problems and North Carolina and Rhode Island face off with Amazon.com over taxes.
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NY: Senate inaction is hurting many towns across state
By Nicholas Confessore, The New York Times
New York City marshals can no longer enforce financial judgments. The City of Yonkers cannot send out property tax bills to homeowners. And in the Town of Deerpark, in Orange County, local officials cannot issue bonds that the town is counting on to balance its budget.
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NY: Senate impasse forces city to revive old school board, in name
By Javier C. Hernandez, The New York Times
Back from the dead, almost by accident, the New York City Board of Education met for the first time in seven years Wednesday as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg technically lost control of the school system.
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NY: Senate deadlock hits New York schools
By Suzanne Sataline, The Wall Street Journal
New York City officials scrambled Wednesday to re-create a system of school governance that hasn't existed in seven years after a deadlocked state Senate failed to renew the mayor's control over public schools before a Tuesday deadline.
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NY: $2 million settles kickback
By Andrew McIntosh, The Sacramento Bee
A California financial company on Wednesday agreed to repay $2 million to New York state's giant public pension fund after one of the company's former partners was implicated in paying a kickback to secure investment deals from the fund.
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NY: Libous evades 'Aponte's militia'
By Elizabeth Benjamin, Columnist, Daily News (New York)
The Senate gaveled in and gaveled out today for the ninth extraordinary session ordered by Gov. David Paterson since the June 8 coup, and members of the warring factions managed to spend two minutes in each other's company without incident.
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NY: State moves to end gaps in court files
By David Andreatta, Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester)
The state Office of Court Administration moved Wednesday to address lapses in court filing practices across the state, instructing judges from Westchester to Buffalo that they, and not lawyers, are responsible for ensuring that case files available to the public are complete and accessible.
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NY: It's Dem payback vs. mayor
By Fredric U. Dicker, Columnist, New York Post
After years of watching Mayor Bloomberg bankroll Republican control of the Senate, hearing his high-handed lectures on congestion pricing and seeing him back a primary against one of their own, Senate Democrats unexpectedly got their chance to take revenge.
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NY: Albany stalemate will cost city $60M per month, Mayor Bloomberg warns
By Kenneth Lovett and Glenn Blain, Daily News (New York)
The Senate stalemate will cost New York at least $60 million a month, Mayor Bloomberg warned Wednesday - and the sudden budget hole may cost some city workers their jobs.
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VT: N.H. among states hit by E. coli in beef
By The Associated Press, Burlington Free Press
WASHINGTON — At least 12 people, two of them suffering kidney failure, have been hospitalized in connection with a possible E. coli outbreak in beef suspected of having sickened people in nine states, federal health officials said Wednesday.
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US: Coming to 25 states -- higher taxes
By Mark Trumbull, The Christian Science Monitor
More than half of US states are responding to budget challenges with an answer that's often unpopular with their residents: tax hikes.
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US: Mississippi tops obesity rankings; Colorado is leanest state
By The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- Mississippi remains at the top of the list in this year's national annual obesity rankings, with Alabama coming in second. Outside of fairly lean Colorado, there's little good news.
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