Thursday, May 03, 2007
AM RUSH HOUR SPECIAL
State Has First Black Governor -- for a Day ................"AP -- New York had its first black governor - for a day, anyway. Under the state constitution, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, a Harlem Democrat, was in charge on Monday. That's because Governor Eliot Spitzer was out of state, attending a California campaign fund-raiser. It was actually the third time Paterson, under the constitution drafted in 1777, had the powers of the governor this year. The other two times Spitzer was in Washington, D.C. on state business".......TODAY MUST BE COLOR THEME DAY FOR STORIES........Governor's mansion going green..............."ALBANY -- Solar panels should start showing up at the Executive Mansion this summer under an effort to make it the nation's first "green" residence for a governor.
The goal is to meet about 40 percent of the mansion's electrical needs from the sun by next year, First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer said Tuesday.
"Starting today, the mansion will also function as a sustainable building," she said. As she addressed reporters off a side porch, workers inside were preparing the first step of a project that's expected to cost about $650,000 -- replacing an 11-year-old washing machine with a new, energy-efficient model.
That's part of an effort to cut the 20,000 square-foot, 151-year-old mansion's demand for electricity by 15 percent." OK.......HOW ABOUT A FEW STATE JUDGE'S FACES TURNING RED..............Senate approves commission to study state salaries................"Albany — Few things draw the ire of taxpayers like lawmakers conspiring to raise their own salaries, especially in a state that already has the nation's third- highest paid Legislature.
That could be why legislators seized on the idea of creating a bipartisan commission to review and impose pay hikes for elected officials. The commission would do the dirty work.
The commission concept was put forth by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, who hoped to finally break the political game of chicken that has forced the state's 1,200 judges to go eight years without a raise.
Kaye says lagging salaries are forcing talented lawyers from the bench. But each year, lawmakers have refused to give the judges a raise without getting their own." AND ON A VERY SAD NOTE.............Slain Trooper laid to rest with full honors................"Delmar -- New York State Trooper David Brinkerhoff was laid to rest Wednesday, and his family and close friends remembered him as someone who was always there to enlighten and bring a positive outlook to a situation, and someone who just lived his life to the fullest." AND STATE COMPTROLLER IS PUTTING Money's where his mouth is ............"ALBANY - Wading into the heated debate over changes to campaign finance, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli yesterday proposed turning his re-election bid in 2010 into an experiment with spending limits, contribution caps, mandatory debates and public financing.DiNapoli, a former assemblyman from Great Neck, said the "pilot project" would provide an opportunity to test the alternatives pushed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Assembly Democrats and good-government groups. The results could be used to institute changes affecting the races for governor and other statewide offices in 2014, he said.
Under the initiative, DiNapoli and other candidates for state comptroller would restrict contributions from individuals to $10,000, and cap campaign spending at $5 million per candidate for a primary and $7.5 million for the general election.".........WAY TO GO TOM!!!!!!!!!!!! ..................ANDY
The goal is to meet about 40 percent of the mansion's electrical needs from the sun by next year, First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer said Tuesday.
"Starting today, the mansion will also function as a sustainable building," she said. As she addressed reporters off a side porch, workers inside were preparing the first step of a project that's expected to cost about $650,000 -- replacing an 11-year-old washing machine with a new, energy-efficient model.
That's part of an effort to cut the 20,000 square-foot, 151-year-old mansion's demand for electricity by 15 percent." OK.......HOW ABOUT A FEW STATE JUDGE'S FACES TURNING RED..............Senate approves commission to study state salaries................"Albany — Few things draw the ire of taxpayers like lawmakers conspiring to raise their own salaries, especially in a state that already has the nation's third- highest paid Legislature.
That could be why legislators seized on the idea of creating a bipartisan commission to review and impose pay hikes for elected officials. The commission would do the dirty work.
The commission concept was put forth by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, who hoped to finally break the political game of chicken that has forced the state's 1,200 judges to go eight years without a raise.
Kaye says lagging salaries are forcing talented lawyers from the bench. But each year, lawmakers have refused to give the judges a raise without getting their own." AND ON A VERY SAD NOTE.............Slain Trooper laid to rest with full honors................"Delmar -- New York State Trooper David Brinkerhoff was laid to rest Wednesday, and his family and close friends remembered him as someone who was always there to enlighten and bring a positive outlook to a situation, and someone who just lived his life to the fullest." AND STATE COMPTROLLER IS PUTTING Money's where his mouth is ............"ALBANY - Wading into the heated debate over changes to campaign finance, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli yesterday proposed turning his re-election bid in 2010 into an experiment with spending limits, contribution caps, mandatory debates and public financing.DiNapoli, a former assemblyman from Great Neck, said the "pilot project" would provide an opportunity to test the alternatives pushed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Assembly Democrats and good-government groups. The results could be used to institute changes affecting the races for governor and other statewide offices in 2014, he said.
Under the initiative, DiNapoli and other candidates for state comptroller would restrict contributions from individuals to $10,000, and cap campaign spending at $5 million per candidate for a primary and $7.5 million for the general election.".........WAY TO GO TOM!!!!!!!!!!!! ..................ANDY
