Leaders hit the brakes on license plate fee, sewer system fix could be very expensive, controversial church returning to protest Albany HS play, "angel" gives $40k to restaurant owners
It looks like the $25 fee for new license plates is dead. David Paterson reiterated on Sunday that he would consider eliminating the fee if the legislature can come up with a way to replace the revenue generated by the new plates. And now legislators in both the Assembly and Senate say they'll work toward repealing the fee. More than 100k people have reportedly signed the "No New Plates" petition organized by the St. Lawrence County clerk. [TU] [Fox23] [AP/Troy Record]
The state legislature is back for another special session today to work on budget cuts. The two groups who appear to be most at odds right now are the Paterson Administration and state Senate Democrats. Senate finance chairman Carl Kruger is vowing to block any cuts to health care and eduction. Kruger is reportedly pushing to raise $1 billion from new taxes on health plans. [Bloomberg] [NYDN] [NYT] [NYDN]
Joe Bruno Trial Day 10: A construction company owner testified on Friday that he hired Bruno as a consultant because, "To get to the top people ... you needed somebody to open the door." Also: a handful of witnesses have testified that aspects of Bruno's private business were being conducted in his Senate offices -- an apparent violation of ethics rules. [TU] [TU]
The big Albany County H1N1 flu shot clinic at the TU Center on Sunday filled only about 2,900 of its 4,500 open appointments. A county official said it looks like many people were able to get a shot at their doctors' offices instead. Sunday's clinic was only open to priority groups, but county officials say they expect to open the flu shot clinics to more people as vaccine supplies increase. [TU] [CBS6] [Troy Record]
Other Northeast cities have had to spend between $500 million and $1 billion to fix the the type of sewer overflows that occur in the Capital Region during wet weather. [TU]
The state Department of Transportation says it's "confident" that its bridge inspect protocol works well -- and the recently closed Chaplain Bridge is a "unique" case. [TU]
Members of the Westboro Baptist Church will reportedly be protesting outside Albany High School's production of The Laramie Project this Friday. This year's production was prompted by protests earlier this year by the same group. [TU] [WNYT]
A Rensselaer County man has pleaded guilty in federal court to trying to buy a slave from Nigeria. [TU]
The City of Troy hasn't had a property reassessment in 30 years. [Troy Record]
The US Humane Society is offering a $2500 reward for info leading to the arrest of the dog duct taper in Saratoga County. [Post-Star]
Andrew Cuomo is reportedly thinking about potential lieutenant governor candidates. [NYT]
BullEx, firefighting simluation/training company started by RPI grads, recently opened new facilities in Albany and is looking to add jobs. [Troy Record] [TU]
Says an immigrant of the land mix-up he and his wife have been caught up in in Albany: "It's like I'm living in Pakistan." [TU]
The owners of the Good Times Lakeview restaurant in Ballston Lake say an anonymous donor gave them $40,000 to pay off their back taxes -- "Because God told me to and I'm your angel of hope." [WTEN]
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Thrilled to hear the the Senate and Assembly are "working" to repeal the fee. We'll see how far they get.
Very good news about Good Times! I love that restaurant and would hate to see them disappear after all these years.
... said Jon (was) in Michigan on Nov 16, 2009 at 12:26 PM | link
I know I'm definitely in a minority for feeling this way, and I know that the state's fiscal irresponsibility should not cost us anything, but I was OK with the license plate thing. I looked at it as; if every car owner "contributes" $25 to the problem, perhaps some people won't have to lose their jobs. I dunno.
As for the sex slave thing, I just don't believe it. I can't believe there are people in the world who are still this douchey. Wow.
Lastly; bring it Fred Phelps. Bring it.
... said Summer on Nov 16, 2009 at 12:34 PM | link
@Summer I hate to pick a bone with you since you’ve made it clear that you are willing to buck up and do your part to chip in on the state’s budget mess, but when I read something like this I can’t help but wince: “I know that the state's fiscal irresponsibility should not cost us anything.†Thing is, it can, should, does, and has to. You can’t treat your government like it’s some autonomous entity who you are not responsible to and for. For lack of better term, this is a democracy. Just by virtue of living here we have elected into a system where we agree that our elected officials will be allowed to make decisions on how we’re taxed and how that money is spent. So if our elected officials did a crappy job managing those finances it’s our problem, and our fault. After all, we decided to live here, and we elected them. So it has to cost us, it’s our money in the first place, it’s our debt, and it’s our government making the decisions (solely because we give them the authority to do so).
... said Jackers on Nov 17, 2009 at 10:55 AM | link
@Jackers: I actually agree with you. However, I have been barked at too often for attempting to make similar points, so now I don't even bother to "go there."
... said Summer on Nov 17, 2009 at 1:59 PM | link