New York |
 |
|
|
Sensing the moment favors them, unions in Albany push for gains
By Danny Hakim and Nicholas Confessore, The New York Times
With the downfall of Gov. Eliot Spitzer and an approaching state election that has senators of both parties desperate for support, labor unions are flexing their muscles in the capital to a degree not seen in years.
Read More
|
NY prosecutor wins big with Spitzer investigation
By Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press, The Washington Post (registration)
NEW YORK -- Michael Garcia's predecessors as U.S. attorney in Manhattan took on all five mob families, the titans of Wall Street, Osama bin Laden and even Martha Stewart. So it was largely unnoticed when Garcia wanted to attack public corruption.
Read More
|
|
|
|
Sex offenders told to disclose all online names
By The Associated Press, Times Union (Albany)
New York officials started sending letters Wednesday to more than 25,000 registered sex offenders, telling them to disclose all their Internet user names as part of an effort to keep them from trolling social networking Web sites to meet children.
Read More
|
|
Escort booker admits guilt
By The Associated Press, Times Union (Albany)
NEW YORK -- The woman said to have arranged a tryst between a call girl and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer pleaded guilty Wednesday to money laundering and promoting prostitution and will cooperate with a grand jury investigating the pricey escort service, authorities said Wednesday.
Read More
|
|
Study finds no evidence of risk in synthetic turf
By Timothy Williams, The New York Times
A draft report conducted on behalf of the Bloomberg administration says that there is no scientific evidence that synthetic turf fields in New York pose major health hazards for people playing on them.
Read More
|
|
Michigan votes to join Great Lakes pact
By Gary Heinlein, The Detroit News
Without a single dissenting vote, the state Senate and House voted Wednesday to include Michigan in a historic international compact designed to reserve all of the water in the Great Lakes for the eight states and two Canadian provinces surrounding them.
Read More
|
|
Great Lakes compact earns final approval
By Andrew Beckett, Wisconsin Radio Network
After months of debate, the measure designed to prevent water diversions from the Great Lakes passed the Assembly late Wednesday afternoon. The vote came just hours after the Senate approved the bill.
Read More
|
|
New York launches seat belt campaign
By Dan Osburn, Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester)
A 20-foot-tall inflatable King Kong stood outside the Capitol on Wednesday to symbolize that New Yorkers should stop "monkeying around" and buckle up ? to usher in this year's "Click It or Ticket" week.
Read More
|
|
States to enforce molester law on tribal land
By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer
A little-noticed provision in a 2006 federal sex-offender law is rankling American Indian tribes in six states — Alaska, California, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon and Wisconsin — because it would give state law enforcers unprecedented authority to monitor child molesters living on tribal land.
Read More
|
|
N.J. enacts paid family leave
By Christine Vestal, Stateline.org Staff Writer
New Jersey this month joined California and Washington in adopting family leave insurance plans that allow workers to take time off with pay to care for sick family members or newborn and newly adopted children. New York and Oregon are expected to consider similar laws next year.
Read More
|
|
States, locals swamp immigration program
By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer
Sudden demand by state and local police to join the federal 287(g) initiative, which lets local police start deportation proceedings for suspects and criminals who are illegal immigrants, is overwhelming the federal government. That means long waits and alternative programs offered to police departments that want to join.
Read More
|
|
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.
Read More
|
|
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
|
|
WORTH NOTING: South Carolina's shampoo specialists
By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer
The Palmetto State cleans up a law requiring hairstylists to get more training than cops. Frog legs are frowned upon by Florida health officials. And an aide to Utah's lieutenant governor gets way ahead of his boss. In case you missed those stories this week, "Worth Noting" fills you in.
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
|
|
Gov and Bloomberg on opposite tracks
By Brendan Scott, New York Post
In his first major break with Mayor Bloomberg, Gov. Paterson said yesterday the stalled Moynihan Station project should be turned over to the Port Authority.
Read More
|
|
Great Lakes compact passes
By Stacy Forster and Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Both houses of the Legislature overwhelmingly approved the Great Lakes compact Wednesday, sending it to Gov. Jim Doyle and putting pressure on the states that have not yet ratified it.
Read More
|
|
Michigan Legislature approves Great Lakes pact
By David Eggert, The Associated Press, Booth Newspapers (Lansing)
After months of waiting, the Michigan Legislature on Wednesday unanimously approved a regional compact to prevent Great Lakes water from being sent to thirsty regions.
Read More
|
|
Great Lakes rising after record lows
By Tina Lam, Detroit Free Press
The Great Lakes that touch on Michigan will be at or above their levels of last year through the summer, bringing at last some cheer to boaters and cottage owners who faced wide, weedy beaches and boat-scraping shallows last year, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
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
|
|
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
|
|
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.
Read More
|
|
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
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
|
ISSUES
SECTIONS
RESOURCES
Powered by