THE "PORK" IN NEW YORK, Thoughts of an older American on Constitutional Government in the USA Options

[Livyjr]

"NY Power Authority under scrutiny over deleted e-mails - Cuomo wants NY Power Authority to account for deleted e-mails related to probe of state police"

By VALERIE BAUMAN, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:02 p.m., Wednesday, May 7, 2008

ALBANY -- Attorney General Andrew Cuomo wants the New York Power Authority to provide the names of employees who deleted e-mails from a computer and phone used by the authority's inspector general, Daniel Wiese.

Cuomo also asked NYPA to do everything it can to restore the missing e-mails from backup systems and provide them to his office.

Wiese, a former state trooper, was named in Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares' investigation of aides to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer who used the state police to gather information on Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Spitzer's chief political rival.

Soares found no criminal wrongdoing but concluded Spitzer, who later resigned in a prostitution scandal, may have lied about his role in the plot.

Gov. David Paterson asked Cuomo to investigate allegations state police have been improperly monitoring elected officials for years, but the probe has been stymied by the deletion of e-mails from Wiese's computer and Blackberry.

In a letter sent Tuesday to NYPA President and CEO Roger Kelley, Cuomo said Wiese's e-mails were deleted on April 1 -- the same day the investigation was announced.

"It appears that NYPA's IT system deleted many past e-mails on Wiese's computer system."

"These e-mails are relevant to this investigation."

"Undoubtedly you appreciate the seriousness of this extremely troubling conduct," Cuomo said in the letter.

Wiese was put on indefinite paid leave last month, and was placed on non-paid administrative leave as of the end of business Wednesday, Power Authority spokeswoman Christine Pritchard said.

"We will do everything in our power to get to the bottom of the matter and take appropriate action -- including holding accountable any personnel who acted in an inappropriate manner," Pritchard said.

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"Ex-Schenectady chief's wife among 24 named in drug probe - Indictment: Lisa Kaczmarek told associate husband Greg would 'mule'' drugs"

By LAUREN STANFORTH and MIKE GOODWIN, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 1:13 p.m., Thursday, May 8, 2008

SCHENECTADY -- Lisa Kaczmarek, the wife of former Schenectady Police Chief Gregory T. Kaczmarek, is among 24 people facing indictment as part of a state organized crime investigation into a major Capital Region illegal drug operation, the Attorney General's office confirmed this morning.

The ex-chief faces no charges, but the indictment unsealed this morning says investigators were listening in on a tapped phone line when his wife on Feb. 18 told an associate that her husband, Greg Kaczmarek, would "mule" -- or transport -- cocaine for the associate.

And as an ex-police officer, she promised, he would "flash his badge" if the need arose.

The indictment alleges that the ex-chief was also present when he and his wife met with a drug dealer on Feb. 20 "to discuss the details surrounding the police seizing cocaine and other narcotics from the drug organization earlier in the day, and how to proceed with their drug organization in view of that police seizure."

The Kaczmareks have hired high-profile local attorney Kevin Luibrand, who represented several plaintiffs who successfully sued the city for police misconduct when Kaczmarek was chief.

Luibrand declined comment today.

Lisa Kaczmarek, 48, faces charges of felony drug sale and possession.

A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation described her as a "retail" dealer who moved small amounts of cocaine for the operation.

State Police fanned out across the area this morning to apprehend those named in the indictment.

Cuomo is expected to detail the Organized Crime Task Force investigation at a news conference later today.

Authorities describe the operation as a highly organized group that moved cocaine from New York City to the region and then hid the drugs -- and guns -- in local apartments.

It's not the first time Lisa Kaczmarek has been in trouble with the law.

Three years ago, she was arrested after allegedly being caught with marijuana when she went through a security checkpoint at City Court.

That case was later adjourned and the case sealed.

Kaczmarek's husband retired in 2002, six years after he was appointed to lead the city department.

Gregory Kaczmarek headed the force when the U.S. Department of Justice launched a corruption probe that ended with four officers in federal prison.

The City Council, civil rights leaders and others criticized Kaczmarek as an out-of-touch leader who lost control of his department.

During Kaczmarek's tenure, the Justice Department's civil rights unit launched a separate investigation that faulted the department for violating the Constitutional rights of citizens.

For years, Kaczmarek was dogged by rumors of drug use.

When then-Mayor Albert P. Jurczynski was considering him for chief in 1996, Kaczmarek held an remarkable news conference to refute the rumors.

"I'm not a drug user or abuser and never have been one," he said at the time.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

January 18, 2008

"GOVERNOR SPITZER LEADS FIRST MEETING OF COMMISSION TO MODERNIZE REGULATION OF FINANCIAL SERVICES - Commission Discusses Regulatory Reform to Help Maintain New York’s Status as World Financial Capital and Ensure the Highest Standards of Consumer Protection for New Yorkers"

Governor Eliot Spitzer today hosted the first formal meeting of the Commission to Modernize the Regulation of Financial Services, which includes heads of major financial services organizations, consumer advocates, the business community, legislators and regulators.

The commission discussed an innovative proposal to institute principles-guided regulation in New York along with other potential reforms.

New York’s financial services market has been burdened by current regulations – a litany of detailed rules that are ineffective at achieving consumer protection.

The United Kingdom and other international markets are moving to principle-based regulation, which focuses on broad guidelines.

Some companies and consumers are concerned this may mean diminished compliance with specific rules, but the new principles-guided approach preserves relevant rules, while asking regulators and companies to focus on achieving desired outcomes.

The result will be healthy markets and strong consumer protection without unneeded burdens.

The financial services industry is a bedrock of New York’s economy.

The commission will make recommendations for new laws and regulations that promote competition and business growth, while effectively protecting consumers and honest businesses from unfair or unethical practices.

By reforming burdensome and ineffective regulation, the commission's recommendations will help New York retain and enhance its status as the world's financial capital.

“Modernizing regulation of financial services is first and foremost about keeping New York the financial capital of the world,” said Governor Spitzer.

“The fact of the matter is that New York’s current regulations are out of date."

"We must have regulations that promote our essential goals: a healthy, creative competitive market for financial services, access for consumers and businesses to the services they need, and strong, effective consumer protection."

"Furthermore, my experience has demonstrated to me that proper regulations will have a positive impact on the financial market."

"We have brought together many of the best minds in the State to accomplish this task.”

After the meeting, Governor Spitzer was joined by Herbert M. Allison, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, TIAA-CREF, Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BlackRock, John J. Mack, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Morgan Stanley and Martin J. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer, AIG at a press conference to discuss the work of the commission and how principles-guided regulation will lead to a focus on outcomes rather than process.

http://www.ny.gov/governor/press/0118081.html

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

AND AS WE CONTINUE TO TRACK THE PASSAGE OF THE TOXINS AND POISONS OF THE FINANCIAL DISEASE KNOWN VARIOUSLY AS "WALL STREET FEVER" OR "EXCESSIVE SHERIFF-ITIS" OR A RAMPANT RUN OF "ELIOT SPITZER'S GALLOPING TROTS" THROUGHOUT THE FINANCIAL MARKETS OF THE WORLD ...

Courtesy of EB and the New York Daily News, of course ...

By way of a quick review, on January 18, 2008, Governor Eliot Spitzer hosted the first formal meeting of HIS Commission to Modernize the Regulation of Financial Services in New York State, to make New York State's regulation of the financial services industry here FASTER and LOOSER than anywhere else in the world ....

According to his PRESS RELEASE, after the meeting, Governor Spitzer was joined by, among others, Martin J. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer, AIG at a press conference to discuss the work of the commission and how principles-guided regulation will lead to a focus on outcomes rather than process.

According to Spitzer, the principles he is proposing for New York guide the regulator to focus on outcomes, rather than the rules in and of themselves.

According to "ex-SHERIFF OF WALL STREET" Spitzer, examinations of financial services companies should focus on what is important and what really makes a difference.

And in Spitzer's PRESS RELEASE, Martin J. Sullivan, President and CEO of American International Group, Inc., said:

“We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in this important and promising initiative."

"We look forward to helping ensure that the commission achieves its goal of streamlining the regulation of New York’s financial services sector in a way that enhances the industry’s ability to compete globally and better serve its customers.”

http://www.ny.gov/governor/press/0118081.html

"Long-term Treasurys rise on CDO worries"

By LESLIE WINES, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:52 p.m., Monday, February 11, 2008

NEW YORK -- Long-term Treasury prices rose Monday after news of problems at American International Group Inc. again raised concerns about risky low-quality debt.

The insurer said it will make more information public about the methods it used to value the complicated debt pools known as collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs.

These assets are a major concern to investors because CDOs contain some subprime debt instruments that are likely to default and it is widely suspected their current prices do not reflect that liability.

The subprime crisis was also discussed at length over the weekend at a meeting of the Group of Seven finance ministers in Tokyo.

After the global economic summit, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck said the group fears that losses on securities due to subprime exposure in time will total $400 billion.

The finance chiefs also expressed concern that it is still unknown where much of the subprime pain will emerge, as collateralized debt obligations were sold to institutional and government investors around the world.

And subprime debt is not the only risky asset class that investors are worried about.

In recent sessions there also have been concerns about a possible wave of defaults on the low-rated corporate loans that were used to finance a leveraged buyout boom in 2006 and 2007.

Investors suspect that banks will try to sell off these leveraged loans at bargain rates to get them off their books soon.

Posted by John Galt on February 12, 2008 7:27 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...he-day-189.html

AND THE GAME KEEPS GOING ON AND ON AND ON ....

BECAUSE AS SOMEONE ONCE SAID ....

THERE IS A FOOL BORN EVERY MINUTE ....

AND SHEEP ARE FOR SHEARING ....

AND DISGRACED EX-GOVERNOR AND "SHERIFF OF WALL STREET" ELIOT "STEAMROLLER" SPITZER CALLED AIG'S MARTIN SULLIVAN "ONE OF THE SMARTEST MEN IN NEW YORK STATE" ...

SO THAT MUST BE TRUE ...

And so ...

"AIG posts 1Q loss of $7.8B, plans to raise $12.5B in capital - AIG loses $7.8 billion in 1st quarter on credit default swap and investment portfolio losses"

By STEPHEN BERNARD, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:42 p.m., Thursday, May 8, 2008

NEW YORK -- American International Group Inc. said Thursday that it swung to a first-quarter loss of $7.81 billion because of losses tied to credit swaps and mortgage-related operations and that it plans to raise a total of $12.5 billion in new cash to shore up its capital base.

AIG, the world's biggest insurer, will raise $7.5 billion through an offering of common stock as well as equity units.

The equity units will consist of subordinated debt securities and contracts that require the holders to purchase AIG stock at a future date.

An additional $5 billion will be raised through the offering of fixed-income securities at a later date.

No pricing for the offerings was disclosed.

AIG lost $7.81 billion, or $3.09 per share, during the quarter ended March 31, compared with earnings of $1.58 per share, or $4.13 billion, during the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, on average, forecast a loss of 76 cents per share.

Like so many other financial services firms, AIG has been hit hard by deterioration in the credit markets.

As defaults sharply increased on mortgages beginning in the middle of 2007, investors shied away from purchasing all but the safest debt.

Because of the illiquidity in the credit markets the value of risky debt has plummeted, forcing firms like AIG to reduce the value of their investments in products such as credit default swaps and mortgage-backed securities.

"While we anticipated a difficult trading environment, the severity of the unrealized valuation losses and decline in value of our investments were beyond our expectations," Martin Sullivan, AIG's president and chief executive, said in a statement.

New York-based AIG lost $9.11 billion in its credit-default swaps portfolio during the first quarter.

The swaps promise to cover losses on $579 billion in bonds or other kinds of debt.

AIG recorded an $11.12 billion loss on the swaps portfolio during the final quarter of 2007.

Losses in its investment portfolio, which includes debt backed by troubled mortgages, totaled $6.09 billion.

It booked a $3 billion loss on the portfolio a quarter earlier.

Much of the charges in the investment portfolio were tied to losses on mortgage-backed securities -- investment instruments backed by pools of residential mortgages or other residential loans.

AIG says it lost $352 million in its mortgage insurance business, United Guaranty.

The losses were mostly tied to increased claims incurred on both first- and second-lien businesses.

Premiums written in the division did increase 14 percent from the year-ago period, but were unable to offset the spike in claims.

Overall, the insurance writing business at AIG was relatively flat compared with the first quarter last year.

Net premiums written fell less than 1 percent during the first quarter to $12.08 billion.

AIG's net premiums written totaled $12.11 billion during the same quarter last year.

AIG's combined ratio increased to 96.86 during the first quarter, compared with 87.52 during the year-ago period.

Combined ratio measures the amount of money an insurer receives from writing premiums compared to how much it spends on claims and other expenses.

A ratio above 100 means the insurer is spending more than it earns.

Separately, the board of directors approved a 2-cent per share, or 10 percent, boost to its quarterly cash dividend, to 22 cents.

The dividend will be paid Sept. 19 to shareholders of record on Sept. 5.

The company also appointed Steven Bensinger vice chairman of financial services.

He previously served as executive vice president and chief financial officer at AIG.

He will continue in his current role until a replacement can be found, the company said.

Shares of AIG tumbled $2.70, or 6.1 percent in after hours trading to $41.45, after closing at $44.15 in the regular session.

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"Jobless claims post sharp decline - New applications for jobless benefits decrease by 18,000"

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:02 p.m., Thursday, May 8, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The number of newly laid off workers seeking unemployment benefits dropped far more than expected last week.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits fell to 365,000, a decline of 18,000 from the previous week.

Economists had been looking for a much smaller decrease of around 5,000.

Weekly jobless claims have been exceptionally volatile in recent weeks because of strike-related layoffs in the auto industry and an unusually early Easter, which played havoc with the government's seasonal adjustment measurements.

Many economists believe a prolonged housing slump and severe credit crisis have pushed the economy into a recession.

For that reason, they think job layoffs will rise in coming months as the unemployment rate climbs higher.

Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics, said that even with this week's improvement, claims are now at a level equal to where they were at the start of the last recession in March 2001.

He predicted layoffs would increase further in coming months.

However, many economists believe job losses will be less severe than in previous recessions because they are expecting this downturn to be relatively mild and brief.

The Bush administration is counting on 130 million economic stimulus payments to boost consumer spending and trigger a rebound in growth starting this summer.

The Labor Department reported last week that employers cut jobs for a fourth straight month, often a sign of a recession, but the job loss of 20,000 was much smaller than had been expected and was well below the 81,000 jobs lost in March.

Wall Street closed a quiet trading session with a moderate advance Thursday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average up by 52.43 points to 12,866.78.

In other economic news, consumers gave retailers some relief in April after a long stretch of dismal sales.

Early reports from the nation's big chain stores showed customers bought the basics at discounters and wholesale clubs, putting Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. among the top performers last month.

Analysts predicted the flood of rebate checks will boost sales in coming months, helping to offset soaring gasoline prices and falling home values.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other administration officials fanned out to government check printing centers around the country Thursday to highlight that stimulus checks were starting to be mailed out.

"By the end of May, we will have pumped almost $50 billion into the economy and another $50 billion will follow."

"By early July, about 130 million households will have almost $100 billion of payments in hand," Paulson said after visiting a check processing facility in Kansas City.

The report on jobless claims showed that the total number of laid off workers receiving benefits dipped slightly to 3.02 million for the week ending April 26 but remained above the 3 million-mark for the second straight week.

For the week ending April 26, 32 states and territories had a drop in initial claims while 21 had increases.

The biggest increase was in Massachusetts, a rise of 5,591 that was attributed to higher layoffs in transportation, services and public administration.

Other states with big increases were New York, up 4,648; Kentucky, up 3,776, and New Jersey, up 3,521.

The state with the biggest decline was Texas, where jobless claims fell by 3,373, reflecting fewer layoffs in trade, service and manufacturing industries.

Other states with large declines were Rhode Island, down 1,835; California, down 1,689, and Pennsylvania, down 1,597.

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"Groups say companies may violate NY campaign giving limits - Weak election law blamed for possible violations of New York campaign contribution limits"

By VALERIE BAUMAN, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:13 p.m., Thursday, May 8, 2008

ALBANY -- A study conducted by good-government groups says dozens of corporations with business before the Legislature may have exceeded the legal limit in 2007 on how much they can legally contribute to candidates.

The campaign filings released Thursday identify more than 100 companies that appear to have donated more than the $5,000 limit, which applies to a corporation's total contributions to all candidates.

Good government groups say part of the problem in New York is that the election law has a number of loopholes, meaning many of these companies may not have acted illegally.

Over-limit contributions break the law only if they're done "knowingly or willingly," and if the company, group or organization is actually a corporation -- a fact that was difficult to determine through the state filings.

That means companies that are a "limited liability company" instead of a corporation, or corporations that didn't know they weren't allowed to donate $5,000 per candidate instead of $5,000 aggregate each year, could avoid getting in trouble.

In one example, Riccelli Enterprises Inc. spent $11,600 in 2007 on campaign contributions, according to the study.

The trucking company, which hauls bulk commodities and waste, was also identified as one that had overspent in 2006.

Multiple calls to Riccelli Enterprises were not immediately returned Thursday and it was unclear if the company knowingly donated more than the limit.

The good government groups also blame the Board of Elections for a lack of oversight.

"We're coming close to completing the 2006 (campaign filings) and I know we're under way on the 2007."

"There was a bit of an issue, in 2005 they changed the law," board spokesman Robert Brehm said.

The legal change created more work for the board by including filings from local governments, so instead of tracking only about 1,700 files in a year, the board now deals with about 10,000 files, Brehm said.

In many cases information is entered incorrectly, Brehm said.

He pointed out that the board was able to eliminate the majority of the potentially illegal filings from 2005 -- ultimately referring only 14 companies to district attorneys.

The board did not know if any of those cases have been prosecuted.

"There are instances of treasurer error, and clearly the campaign finance unit is actively reviewing these documents," Brehm said.

"They are looking at corporations that have made over contributions, they have hired three individuals to work as auditors to do this kind of work."

The groups releasing the report argue that the data has been computerized for the Board of Elections and they have the tools to distinguish companies that broke the law from those that legally contributed more through various loopholes.

"In politics, unless someone enforces the law aggressively, people will do what they feel like they want to do," said Blair Horner, a spokesman for the New York Public Interest Research Group.

"At the state Board of Elections, they're not aggressively enforcing that."

The report was jointly released by NYPIRG, the League of Women Voters, Common Cause New York and the Citizens Union of the City of New York.

The groups argue the state's weak campaign finance law should be updated to either say corporations can't donate to politicians except through political action committees -- to match federal law -- or close the loophole that allows multiple subsidiaries of the same company to make contributions counted separately from each other.

------

On the Net: http://www.elections.state.ny.us/Contributions.html

[Livyjr]

"Cuomo: Lawyers to pay $100,000 to close school pension cases - Lawyer, firm agree to pay $50,000 each to end Cuomo probe into pensions for private lawyers"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:42 p.m., Thursday, May 8, 2008

ALBANY -- A New York Public Service Commission member has agreed to pay $50,000 to end an investigation into state benefits she was improperly awarded while working as a school district lawyer, officials said Thursday.

Maureen Harris, who was appointed to the utility regulator in 2006 by former Republican Gov. George Pataki, agreed to the settlement that ends the investigation into her past private practice, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said.

PSC spokesman James Denn confirmed Harris is paid $109,800 and is eligible for a state pension in the PSC job in which she rules on utility rate increases and other regulations.

Harris, a former partner with the Girvin and Ferlazzo firm in Albany, agreed to forfeit pension benefits she was given as a contract employee of the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES who was improperly classified as a district employee, Cuomo said.

Cuomo, a Democrat, didn't mention Harris' current paid role with the PSC when he announced the settlement.

Cuomo spokesman John Milgrim later said her role with the PSC was common knowledge and on the front page of a local newspaper.

"It didn't come up in this event because the PSC was irrelevant to this conduct," he said.

"This settlement occurred based upon events prior to her joining the Public Service Commission and has no bearing on her role as a commissioner," said her attorney, Michael Koenig of Albany.

"As is clear from the settlement agreement itself, Maureen received a benefit from her partnership of a limited one-year period based upon a long standing arrangement her firm had with BOCES."

Although Cuomo called the conduct fraudulent, Harris wasn't accused of fraud.

Many of the arrangements have gone on for years, even gaining approval by government officials who Cuomo said should have known it conflicted with law.

Maureen Harris is the sister of Pataki's former counsel, Michael Finnegan.

Harris' husband, John S. Harris, contributed $500 to Cuomo's attorney general campaign in 2006 among many contributions to Democrats and Republicans, state Board of Elections records show.

He is a partner in a law firm in Albany that specializes in public policy and regulatory affairs and represents clients to state agencies on issues including energy and utility legislation, according to the firm's Web site.

Maureen Harris' 2006 state ethics disclosure record shows her husband also is a shareholder in the Plunkett & Jaffe law firm, to which Pataki and his chief of staff used to belong.

Thursday's settlement doesn't affect her job at the PSC, Denn said.

He said neither John S. Harris nor his firm have appeared before the PSC since Maureen Harris joined the commission.

Cuomo also settled a case against the Hodgson Russ law firm in Buffalo.

The firm will pay $50,000 to end a probe into lawyers who worked for five BOCES districts in western New York.

Although the lawyers didn't collect benefits, they were improperly listed as BOCES employees, Cuomo said.

Cuomo says the payments more than compensate for taxpayers' losses.

He said the BOCES districts received "minimal" additional state aid for listing the contract lawyers as employees.

Hodgson Russ plans to continue to work for school districts, but under the conditions of the settlement, said Gary Schober, the firm's CEO.

"We will, without admitting any wrongdoing, discontinue the practice of permitting our attorneys to be placed on the payrolls of any BOCES," he said.

Cuomo's investigation continues into school districts and local governments.

"This is the tip of the iceberg," Cuomo said.

[Livyjr]

"NY court employees set to get contract raises - Tentative settlement holds cost-of-living raises for the NY state's court workers"

Associated Press

Last updated: 4:22 p.m., Thursday, May 8, 2008

ALBANY -- About 6,000 state court employees are in line for cost-of-living pay raises over four years under a tentative contract agreement.

The Civil Service Employees Association says its accord with the state Office of Court Administration will be retroactive to April 1, 2007, with annual pay raises of 3 percent in each of the first three years and 4 percent the fourth year.

The union agreed to salary increase deferrals for employees earning more than $115,000 annually until a judicial pay raise is enacted.

The 1,250 state-level judges have not had a raise for a decade and have sued legislators, challenging their failure to authorize raises as effectively a pay cut.

[Livyjr]

"Big ethanol plant proposed for port - Developers say new technology would make it more efficient than existing facilities"

By ERIC ANDERSON, Deputy business editor, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, May 8, 2008

ALBANY -- Developers of a massive ethanol production plant production plant proposed for the Port of Albany say new technology would make it far more efficient than existing corn ethanol plants.

Ed Stahl, president of BioPro Resources of Huntersville, N.C., told the Albany Port District Commission on Wednesday that the plant would use a process known as fractionation to separate the germ and fiber from the kernel.

The germ can be marketed separately, while the fiber can be used as a fuel source through gasification, he said.

Meanwhile, the material that remains is more highly concentrated, increasing the ethanol yield.

Stahl said a plant that would have produced 55 million gallons of ethanol without fractionation would now yield 70 million gallons.

The gasification of the fiber would reduce the amount of natural gas needed by 70 percent to 80 percent, he added.

"This will reduce our carbon footprint," Stahl said.

Biomass such as wood chips also could be used to provide energy to the plant, he said.

The company that would supply the distilling equipment, ICM Inc. of Colwich, Kan., already has a test plant in operation in St. Joseph, Mo., Stahl said.

The Albany port project would give ICM an opportunity to demonstrate its technology on the East Coast.

Stahl told commissioners that ethanol is being blamed unfairly for the rise in worldwide food prices, saying the corn used to produce ethanol is normally fed to livestock, not humans.

The rising price of oil is the biggest contributor to food price increases, he said.

The increased efficiency of the proposed ethanol plant should make it easier to get financing, Stahl said.

That's been an issue as corn and natural gas prices have climbed.

Stahl also is considering using agricultural-grade molasses as a source of the sugars needed to produce ethanol, replacing some expensive corn, said Robert Cross, chairman of the commission.

Eric Anderson can be reached at 454-5323 or by e-mail at eanderson@timesunion.com.

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"State adds names to list - Pension crackdown continues as more lawyers lose benefits"

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, May 8, 2008

ALBANY -- State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli expanded his statewide crackdown on pension abuse Wednesday, saying he stripped three more lawyers of their retirement system membership and took away credits from two others including Public Service Commissioner Maureen Harris.

At the same time, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is looking at what one person close to the investigation said were "firm-wide practices" at Albany's Girvin & Ferlazzo law firm, where Harris, and another lawyer stripped of pension credits, M. Cornelia Cahill, worked.

So far, 11 lawyers have lost full or partial pension credits with the State and Local Retirement System for being listed as employees of school districts, BOCES, or other government entities when they should have been deemed independent contractors.

Another lawyer has been suspended.

As the list grows, however, some targets are starting to fight back, saying they plan to appeal the loss of pension credits.

In addition, at least two lawyers have rejected deals offered in lieu of civil suits from Cuomo.

"He won't take it," Kevin Keating said of his client William Cullen, a solo practitioner on Long Island who faces loss of pension credits for his school board work.

People familiar with the matter said Cuomo offered Cullen and several other lawyers the chance to settle for a $50,000 fine and an agreement not to work for public employers for a decade.

But Keating said Cullen believes he had the right to a pension.

"He was entitled under several legal theories," said Keating, explaining his client's appointment as a school district lawyer could be construed as granting him access to the pension system.

He said he knew at least one other attorney who had turned down Cuomo's offer.

The pension crackdown is running along two tracks: with DiNapoli taking away the credits and Cuomo investigating and seeking fines in cases where he believes participants may have tried to defraud the pension system.

Last month, four lawyers at Girvin & Ferlazzo -- James Girvin, Kathy Ann Wolverton, Kristine Lanchantin and Jeffrey Honeywell -- were removed from the state retirement system by DiNapoli while another -- Salvatore Ferlazzo -- lost credits he had through BOCES but kept them from other state employment.

Cuomo continues to investigate lawyers at the firm.

Much of the probe is focusing on the alleged practice in which associates, or junior lawyers, performed the bulk of some routine BOCES tasks, even though the partners did the billing and accrued pension credits for the time involved.

A firm spokesman declined to comment Wednesday, but Harris's lawyer, Michael Koenig, said his client worked just one year for BOCES and no longer works at Girvin & Ferlazzo.

Harris was appointed to the PSC by former Gov. George Pataki in 2006.

She is a sister of Pataki chief counsel, Mike Finnegan.

Nor is Harris the only person in the pension affair with at least some connection to politics.

One lawyer under investigation is Carol Hoffman, a partner in the Long Island's Jaspan Schlesinger Hoffman law firm.

Two state lawmakers are connected to the firm.

State Sen. Craig Johnson, D-Port Washington and Assemblyman Marc Alessi, D-Shoreham are both "of counsel" there.

While details vary, that status means a lawyer typically isn't a partner or even employee of the firm, but may share office space or get benefits such as malpractice insurance.

In some instances, "of counsel" lawyers may get a cut of business they bring to a given firm.

Alessi couldn't be reached.

Johnson stressed that he focuses on commercial and bankruptcy law and is "walled off" from any school-related or municipal work at the firm.

State Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Delmar, had earlier been of counsel at Girvin & Ferlazzo but said he left the firm about a year ago, well before the pension issue erupted.

Breslin is now of counsel at the Hiscock & Barclay firm where Cahill is a partner.

Cahill, who has also worked as bond counsel for Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority and the city's IDA, didn't return a call seeking comment, nor did her lawyer, Daniel French, a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District.

Cahill is married to Richard Sise, presiding judge at the state Court of Claims.

DiNapoli on Wednesday also said he had revoked retirement credits from Niagara Falls lawyer Maria Massaro, who he said was wrongly listed as an employee for the city schools.

Also losing credits was Long Island lawyer Nathan Swergold, who was wrongly listed as a Hempstead sewer district employee.

Salvatore Evola, a district accountant, had credits rescinded, which generally means he has other intact pension credits.

Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Cuomo pursues funding inquiry - Groups that failed to claim member-item funds to be asked why"

By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, May 8, 2008

ALBANY -- Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is sending out letters to 2,700 not-for-profit groups and community organizations asking why they haven't claimed their cut of $78 million for needs lawmakers considered critically important.

The member-item grants were lined up by the Legislature for the prospective recipients more than two years ago.

For some reason the groups have done nothing to collect the money, Cuomo said.

Cuomo is taking the extraordinary step of inquiring as to why, said John Milgrim, a spokesman for Cuomo.

The first batch of letters are going out this week.

Milgrim would not provide the names of the recipients but said the attorney general's office will make public what happened to each member item on its Project Sunlight Web Page in about a month.

In his review of member items laid out by the Legislature from the 2006-2007 fiscal year, Cuomo found about 3,700 recipients entered into contracts and more than 2,700 of the 6,500 items went unclaimed.

After taking office in 2007, Cuomo announced greater scrutiny of the discretionary grants.

He said contracts between state agencies and the grant recipients would be screened and a new certification program would be required.

Those who want grants have to state in writing whether they have ties to the lawmaker making the grant and they must assure that the money would be for a public purpose.

Cuomo said historically there has been a lag in funding, but the big number of drop-outs may be related to his new review and the certification process.

"I was shocked at the number of not-for-profit groups and community agencies that clamor for money and no one steps forward to claim the money," said Russ Haven, counsel for the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Cuomo also said that 1,026 of the 3,700 recipients, seeking $122 million of the $200 million member-item fund from 2006-2007, had their applications "rejected as submitted" by his office because of defects.

He said some applicants did not identify the public purpose specifically.

Others were not in good standing because they did not file financial reports as required with the attorney general's charities bureau.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, scoffed at reports that so many member items were rejected.

"There's a lot of stories out there that aren't exactly accurate," Silver said.

"For example, the attorney general rejecting, quote, a thousand items."

He said applications are being fixed and fewer than 100 are now on the rejection list.

Silver also defended the member-item spending, saying "members are still in a position to know the needs of their district better than any commissioner."

His spokesman, Dan Weiller, said later "few if any" rejections will result.

James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 or by e-mail at jodato@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Former trooper's e-mails sought - Messages deleted from computer of suspended state agency official"

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, May 8, 2008

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is turning up the heat in his investigation of possible political interference by the State Police -- demanding that the New York Power Authority tell him who deleted e-mails belonging to former police Col. Daniel Wiese, the authority's now-suspended inspector general.

Wiese, who was close to former Govs. George Pataki and Eliot Spitzer, was placed on nonpaid administrative leave on Wednesday, said NYPA spokeswoman Christine Pritchard.

Wiese had earlier been on paid leave from his $181,701 job for his alleged involvement in political espionage within the ranks of the State Police.

According to a letter that Cuomo sent Tuesday to NYPA President and CEO Roger Kelley, Wiese's e-mails were deleted on April 1 -- the same day the investigation was announced.

"It appears that NYPA's IT system deleted many past e-mails on Wiese's computer system."

"These e-mails are relevant to this investigation."

"Undoubtedly you appreciate the seriousness of this extremely troubling conduct," Cuomo said in the letter.

Cuomo also is seeking e-mails relating to Lori DiMichelle, a NYPA travel coordinator and Albert Swanson, a deputy inspector general at the agency.

Both are said to be close to Wiese.

Cuomo wants NYPA to restore the missing e-mails from backup systems and provide them to his office.

"We will do everything in our power to get to the bottom of the matter and take appropriate action -- including holding accountable any personnel who acted in an inappropriate manner," Pritchard said.

Cuomo's probe of the State Police was started last month at the behest of Gov. David Paterson.

Paterson said he's heard complaints from lawmakers who believe some members of the force may have monitored or spied on politicians who had crossed former governors.

Wiese has emerged as a central figure in the investigation.

A former bodyguard for Pataki, Wiese lives in the ex-governor's hometown of Garrison.

He could not be reached for comment.

Wiese was named in Albany County District Attorney David Soares' investigation of aides to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer who used the State Police to gather information on Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, Spitzer's chief political rival.

Soares found no criminal wrongdoing but concluded Spitzer may have lied about his role in the plot.

Bruno said Wednesday he was confident that Cuomo would conduct a complete investigation and he expressed surprise that NYPA computer files would have been deleted.

Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com. The Associated Press and Gannett News Service contributed to this story.

[Livyjr]

"Senate gas-tax cut hits pothole"

By VALERIE BAUMAN, Associated Press

First published: Thursday, May 8, 2008

ALBANY -- The state Senate has passed legislation to suspend state gasoline taxes for the summer, but the initiative has little traction because of opposition from the Assembly and Gov. David Paterson.

The Republican-sponsored bill would eliminate the gas tax between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day.

Senate Republicans claim the bill would save New Yorkers about 32 cents per gallon in state petroleum business, sales and motor fuel excise taxes.

The measure passed the Senate 46-15.

"Look at New Jersey, where you'll find a lower tax for gasoline, and you know what you'll find?"

"A lower price for gasoline," said Sen. Andrew Lanza of Staten Island.

"Gas costs more here, because we impose a higher tax here."

"If we impose a lower tax here gas will cost less here."

"What is so hard about that to understand?"

Opponents to the state measure -- which comes in an election year when the cost of gas is a top complaint for voters -- say they don't trust the oil industry not to jack up prices to eliminate any consumer savings.

The bill would also authorize anti-price gouging penalties for gas station owners and gasoline distributors who don't pass the savings on to consumers, Republicans said.

Paterson has said the state can't afford to lose the hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue in the face of more than $20 billion of projected deficits over the next three years.

Republicans claim that if federal, state and local governments all temporarily suspended their taxes for the summer, motorists would save 65 cents per gallon.

Presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton have already called for a suspension of the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gasoline tax over the summer.

Sen. Barack Obama has opposed the suspension.

Silver said the Senate measure would result in a $500 million shortfall, cutting funds dedicated to road and bridge work.

[Livyjr]

"Group wants rules on AMD tightened - Panel cites lack of oversight on computer chip maker that has option to build factory"

By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, May 8, 2008

MALTA -- The leader of a group formed to study the impact of the Luther Forest Technology Campus will have on the community says the rules Advanced Micro Devices must follow if they build here are too vague.

Carol Henry, chairwoman of the Community Response Board, submitted a written statement to the Malta Town Board after the group studied amendments to the laws governing the tech park, called a planned development district.

The Luther Forest Technology Campus Economic Development Corp. submitted the amendments to the town in February.

The changes were intended to tailor the development district to the construction of a nanotechnology firm -- specifically AMD, which state officials are trying to lure to the site.

Henry said the development plan is "still quite generic in its approach to many topics that will impact the community."

Henry and other people who spoke at a public hearing Monday night said they worried about oversight.

Malta must not rely on state or federal officials to make sure the transportation of chemicals and other potentially dangerous work is done safely, Henry said.

Only Malta, he said, can do that effectively.

Another sticking point is the request from Luther Forest to clear the site before the plans are reviewed by the town Planning Board and before a building permit is issued.

Malta resident Robert Flanagan said he is worried about the traffic on Route 9P and other local roads during a planned 24-hour-a-day construction schedule.

AMD officials have said they want to start working on the site as early as next month, before access roads and the Round Lake bypass are complete.

AMD spokesman Ward Tisdale said he and other representatives from Luther Forest were at the hearing only to listen.

He said all the issues raised would be addressed.

The Town Board is scheduled to vote on the amendments next month.

Tom Peterson, the town attorney, said he expects the law will be "significantly different than where it stands now" and residents will have more opportunities to express their opinions about it.

[Livyjr]

"PSC aide to forfeit $50,000 - Commissioner Maureen Harris makes pension case deal; Buffalo firm bows to Cuomo"

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau, Albnany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, May 9, 2008

ALBANY -- State Public Service Commissioner Maureen Harris has agreed to pay a $50,000 settlement as part of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's ongoing investigation into state pension system padding.

Harris had obtained a year's worth of public pension credits when she was a private practice attorney with Albany's Girvin & Ferlazzo law firm.

At the time, Harris and other other partners at the firm were listed as employees of the Hamilton Fulton Montgomery Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

In addition to the payment, Harris agreed to relinquish pension credits she had through BOCES.

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who is also investigating pension abuses, had already rescinded the credits.

Also paying $50,000 was the Hodgson Russ law firm of Buffalo, whose attorneys were listed in five western New York BOCES organizations.

But because Hodgson Russ lawyers didn't sign up for pension benefits, individuals in that firm won't have to pay anything.

This marked the first settlement Cuomo has reached in his growing probe of pension abuses in which lawyers for school districts and various BOCES had been wrongly acquiring valuable public pension credits.

The practice was improper, according to Cuomo, because the lawyers should have been listed as outside contractors -- who don't qualify for public pensions or other benefits -- rather than employees.

Cuomo, in a meeting with the Times Union editorial board shortly after Thursday's announcement, said he believes the school cases are just the "the tip of the iceberg," when it comes to improper gathering of pension credits.

Noting that New York state is home to some 10,000 government entities ranging from villages and towns to water districts and public authorities, Cuomo predicted there could easily be hundreds of cases in which lawyers or others such as engineers or doctors, have wrongly been listed as employees rather than contractors in order to get taxpayer-funded pension benefits.

"It is one of the most pervasive government frauds I have ever seen in the state of New York ... this is a political perk on the local level."

Ultimately, he told the Times Union, he plans to offer legislation that would prevent such abuses and allow for better policing of these myriad government entities.

"The controls and the audits have been lacking," said Cuomo.

Michael Koenig, Harris's lawyer, stressed that the settlement agreement contains no admission of wrongdoing and he said his client reached out to the attorney general as soon as she learned that her former firm was under investigation.

"She wasn't trying to hide anything," Koenig said.

Hodgson Russ CEO and President Gary Schober noted the payment is not characterized as a fine or penalty.

Jeff Honeywell, Girvin & Ferlazzo's managing partner, said the firm is continuing to cooperate with the attorney general.

He noted, as have BOCES officials, that the arrangement by which firm lawyers were listed as employees dates back many years.

The state Education Department as well as the comptroller's office had not objected to such arrangements until this year, he said.

Cuomo, however, said the argument that the practice had gone on for years didn't make it right.

BOCES, which are educational cooperatives providing services such as legal work to member school districts, can get state reimbursement for the districts that use BOCES staff lawyers for certain functions.

For that reason, the BOCES reported lawyers as employees.

But the attorney general has said that alone isn't sufficient reason for listing the lawyers as employees.

To be considered a bona fide employee rather than contractor, a person must meet certain conditions, such as having regular hours and working under someone's supervision.

Ellen Nachtigall Biben, Cuomo's special deputy attorney general for public integrity, said BOCES pension enrollment was considered a perk for partners at Girvin & Ferlazzo.

While BOCES listed the lawyers as employee relations experts -- a function reimbursable by the state -- she noted Harris never worked on personnel issues.

Harris did perform other legal tasks for the BOCES, Koenig said.

As a member of the Public Service Commission, Harris, who was appointed by former Republican Gov. George Pataki, earns $109,800 to rule on utility rates regulations.

Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Ex-Schenectady chief's wife among 24 named in drug probe - Indictment: Lisa Kaczmarek told associate husband Greg would 'mule'' drugs"

By LAUREN STANFORTH and MIKE GOODWIN, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 1:13 p.m., Thursday, May 8, 2008

SCHENECTADY -- Lisa Kaczmarek, the wife of former Schenectady Police Chief Gregory T. Kaczmarek, is among 24 people facing indictment as part of a state organized crime investigation into a major Capital Region illegal drug operation, the Attorney General's office confirmed this morning.

The ex-chief faces no charges, but the indictment unsealed this morning says investigators were listening in on a tapped phone line when his wife on Feb. 18 told an associate that her husband, Greg Kaczmarek, would "mule" -- or transport -- cocaine for the associate.

And as an ex-police officer, she promised, he would "flash his badge" if the need arose.

The indictment alleges that the ex-chief was also present when he and his wife met with a drug dealer on Feb. 20 "to discuss the details surrounding the police seizing cocaine and other narcotics from the drug organization earlier in the day, and how to proceed with their drug organization in view of that police seizure."

The Kaczmareks have hired high-profile local attorney Kevin Luibrand, who represented several plaintiffs who successfully sued the city for police misconduct when Kaczmarek was chief.

"Ex-chief named in wire tap - Former Schenectady top cop Gregory T. Kaczmarek mentioned in drug indictment that accuses wife, others"

By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, May 9, 2008

SCHENECTADY -- A former police chief who started his tenure in 1996 by dispelling rumors he was a drug user was mentioned in a drug conspiracy indictment Thursday that charged his wife, stepson and 22 others with involvement in a Schenectady-based cocaine and heroin ring that obtained drugs from Long Island.

Gregory T. Kaczmarek, who retired in 2002, was not charged in the state attorney general's indictment, unsealed by Schenectady County Court Judge Christine M. Clark on Thursday.

But authorities allege in the document that Kaczmarek's wife, Lisa, said in a tapped phone conversation with her associates on Feb. 18 that her husband would "mule" cocaine for the operation, and that he would "flash his badge" if the need arose.

Mule means carrying or transporting drugs.

Also, the indictment alleges the former chief and his wife met with the drug ring's leader Feb. 20 to "discuss the details surrounding the police seizing cocaine and other narcotics from the drug organization earlier in the day and how to proceed with their drug organization in view of that police seizure."

Interviewed at his Schenectady home Thursday afternoon, Kaczmarek said, "I love my wife and she has my full support."

He went on to acknowledge he and his wife were friends with the ring's alleged leader, Kerry "Slim" or "K" Kirkem.

Once the investigation focused on Kirkem, "I knew we would be targets," Kaczmarek said.

Otherwise, he declined to talk about the case.

Concerning the ex-chief's possible involvement, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Thursday afternoon, "There is an ongoing investigation on this matter, and at this time I have no further comment."

The 13-month probe of the ring, which began with traffic stops for drug possession in Saratoga and Greene counties, characterizes Lisa Kaczmarek, 48, as an alleged freelance dealer affiliated with the drug organization.

A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation described Lisa Kaczmarek as a "retail" dealer who moved small amounts of cocaine for the operation.

She is charged with second-degree conspiracy and faces 8 /3 to 25 years in prison if convicted.

Her son, Miles Smith, 20, is described in the indictment as an alleged worker for the drug organization and also faces conspiracy charges.

The Kaczmareks have hired high-profile local attorney Kevin Luibrand, who represented several plaintiffs who successfully sued the city for police misconduct when Gregory Kaczmarek was chief.

Luibrand declined comment Thursday.

Lisa Kaczmarek turned herself in to a law enforcement agency Thursday after police began fanning out across Schenectady and arresting those charged in the indictment, said Robin Baker, state Executive Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice.

Baker didn't say which agency.

Kaczmarek's wife denied a request for an interview from the Schenectady County jail, where she was being held without bail.

The 84-count indictment was the result of a multi-agency investigation called "Operation Slim Chance," led by the attorney general's Organized Crime Task Force and assisted by the State Police, Schenectady police, Schenectady district attorney's office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Authorities allege that Kirkem, 40, of both Schenectady and Waterford, and Oscar Mora, 30, of Waterford, ran the organization that brought drugs from Long Island to Schenectady, where they allegedly were sold throughout the Capital Region.

The indictment covers alleged activities between January and March.

Participants rented Schenectady apartments, or "stash houses," including two on Avenue A and Union Street, where drugs, cash and weapons could be concealed, investigators said.

Workers also took organized shifts to sell the drugs, often arguing with each other about not getting the most lucrative shifts, Baker said.

More than 58 ounces of cocaine, at an estimated value of $130,000, and more than 1,600 bags of heroin, valued at $33,000, were seized during the investigation.

Five vehicles, two guns and $22,549 in cash also were taken.

The drugs are believed to have been distributed throughout Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Columbia, Montgomery and Warren counties.

Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said he believes there is a drug overdose death in Warren County that can be linked to the ring's particular drugs.

Thursday was not the first time that Lisa Kaczmarek has been in trouble with the law.

Three years ago, she was arrested after allegedly being caught with marijuana when she went through a security checkpoint at Schenectady City Court.

That case was later adjourned and sealed.

Gregory Kaczmarek ran the Schenectady police force when the U.S. Department of Justice launched a corruption probe that ended with four officers in federal prison.

The City Council, civil rights leaders and others criticized Kaczmarek as an out-of-touch leader who lost control of his department.

During Kaczmarek's tenure, the Justice Department's civil rights unit launched a separate investigation that faulted the department for violating constitutional rights of citizens.

For years, Kaczmarek was dogged by rumors of drug use.

When then-Mayor Albert P. Jurczynski was considering him for chief in 1996, Kaczmarek held a remarkable news conference to rebut the rumors.

"I'm not a drug user or abuser and never have been one," he said at the time.

Lisa Kaczmarek is scheduled to be arraigned in County Court this morning, possibly along with 19 others who were apprehended Thursday.

One person charged was already arraigned Thursday morning because he was being held in connection with a different case.

Three others named in the indictment had yet to be arrested Thursday, authorities said.

Lauren Stanforth can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at lstanforth@timesunion.com. Assistant City Editor Mike Goodwin contributed to this story.

[Livyjr]

AND FROM THE CORRUPT EMPIRE OF NEW YORK, WHERE WHAT IS LAUGHINGLY CALLED "OUR GOVERNMENT" IS FIRMLY IN THE HANDS OF THE SPECIAL INTERESTS WHO HAVE BOUGHT AND PAID FOR IT, WE HAVE ...

SPECIAL INTERESTS CREATING SPECIAL PRIVILEGED CLASSES OF PEOPLE IN THE CORRUPT EMPIRE ...

SPECIAL CLASSES WHO ARE "OWED" BY THE COMMON FOLKS IN THIS CORRUPT ****HOLE WHO ARE THEMSELVES ENTITLED TO NOTHING ...

OTHER THAN AN EVER-INCREASING DUTY TO HAVE TO WORK TO SUPPORT THESE SPECIAL PRIVILEGED CLASSES IN THE STYLE THAT THEY HAVE GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO AS SPECIAL PRIVILEGED CLASSES ...

And so ...

"Local governments fight labor-backed 'Trojan horse' retiree's health bill that calls for study"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 4:02 p.m., Friday, May 9, 2008

ALBANY -- Local governments say a proposal to study health benefits for retirees is really a "Trojan horse" that will protect forever free or nearly free lifetime health insurance for retired government workers.

The bill would for at least a year bar local governments and the state from finding cheaper ways to provide health insurance for their retirees until a task force reports its findings.

New York State Association of Counties Executive Director Stephen Acquario said Friday that the bill would prohibit governments from making cuts in local and state public spending, which has led to some of the highest taxes in the nation.

The bill (A-9393-A) could be acted on as early as next week and has strong majority sponsors in the Senate and Assembly.

It was revised in the Assembly's government employees committee where any action to reduce the health benefit for retirees would be suspended until a task force reports its recommendations.

The 12-member task force includes state government officials including at least three recommended by the AFL-CIO, but none from local governments, according to the bill.

"You're talking about retiree health care here," said AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes, who supports the measure.

"We owe it to them that they don't spend the end of their lives in misery."

The concern comes as Gov. David Paterson pushes to reduce local government spending and to cut taxes that he said are driving young New Yorkers to other states for jobs and lower costs of living.

"I think it's everybody's concern that in this panic -- in this weakened economy -- to deal with the cost of government that we do it well and do it right and we don't scapegoat the most vulnerable people, your retirees," Hughes said.

"That's my only interest."

He said he sees no problem excluding local government officials from the expert panel because labor leaders weren't included in panels created to cut local government spending.

"It's a classic legislative Trojan horse concealing a financial time bomb for taxpayers," said E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, part of the fiscally conservative Manhattan Institute.

"How about protecting taxpayers?"

"We need a detailed and objective study of options -- not a stacked task force that will deliver a foregone conclusion."

Governors George Pataki and Eliot Spitzer vetoed similar measures five times saying it would limit efforts to reduce costs.

There was no immediate comment from Paterson Friday.

[Livyjr]

AND WHILE WE ARE ON THE SUBJECT OF SPECIAL INTERESTS AND CORPORATE WELFARE IN A TIME OF RECESSION FOR THE ORDINARY NEW YORKERS WHO HAVE TO GO WITHOUT THEMSELVES TO PAY THE FREIGHT FOR THESE SPECIAL INTERESTS, WE HAVE ...

"AMD reveals little of plans - Chief executive doesn't discuss possible split, Luther Forest project at meeting"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, May 9, 2008

Hector Ruiz, chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices Inc., gave no indication at the annual shareholders' meeting Thursday that he wants to split the computer chip company in two.

Earlier in the week, AMD's stock surged on speculation the company might separate its manufacturing from chip design, a move that could have huge implications for plans to build a $3.2 billion computer chip factory at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta.

In fact, in brief remarks at the meeting, held in Austin, Texas, Ruiz did not address the company's plans for Luther Forest.

And he barely talked about AMD's "asset smart" strategy, which has analysts thinking he wants to spin off manufacturing, turning AMD into a "fabless" company.

The annual meeting was webcast over the Internet.

Shareholders attending the meeting also did not seem to care about the rumors of a split or about the company's manufacturing strategy.

Only one stockholder asked Ruiz a question, wanting to know if AMD would consider sponsoring a golf tournament in Austin, where the company has significant operations.

"Even if you go through a recession, people still play golf," the man said.

Ruiz said management would take the idea under consideration.

Otherwise, Ruiz said little about the company's plans.

Since first announcing the asset-smart strategy about a year ago, Ruiz has declined to explain exactly what it entails.

That silence has fueled speculation on Wall Street and in the international media that AMD, the world's second largest microprocessor manufacturer, would sell its chip fabs or even sell the company.

"Our plans are bold, and progress is ongoing," Ruiz told shareholders Thursday.

"And I hope to communicate additional details of this complex undertaking in the very near future."

Ruiz promised that AMD, which lost $358 million in the first quarter, would become profitable again during the last six months of the year.

"AMD will emerge in the second half of the year as a more capable and nimble organization," he said.

Despite the split speculation and its financial condition, AMD is still moving ahead with plans to build the factory in Malta, although the company has yet to officially commit to the site.

New York is offering AMD a package of cash and tax breaks valued at $1.2 billion.

AMD must reach a decision by July 31, 2009, to get the incentives.

AMD officials have been frequently visiting the region, to work on getting a building permit in hand to possibly begin construction as early as January.

[Livyjr]

July 11, 1990

Thomas A. Constantine
Superintendant
New York State Police
Building 22
The State Campus
Albany, N.Y. 12226

RE: harassment and intimidation

Dear Mr. Superintendant;

On January 26, 1990 I sent you a letter stating a belief that an attempt to run me down was being covered-up with possible involvement of uniformed members of the New York State Police.

Because of that letter, on February 7, 1990, I met with a Lieutenant and a Zone Sargeant in the East Greenbush sub-station.

During that meeting, I pointed out some factual errors in the information and supporting deposition made out by the individual who attempted to run me down.

The following day, February 8, 1990, a trooper contacted my assailant and apparently assisted him in making out a new information and supporting deposition which essentially corrected the erroneous facts, contrary to provisions of the CPL.

These facts are contained in a 38-page affidavit made out by myself and submitted to Rensselaer County Court on June 26, 1990 in support of a motion to present the facts to a grand jury.

Also mentioned in the affidavit is a conversation that I had with Trooper Gonzalez in January 1990 wherein Trooper Gonzalez had informed me that my assailant had just left the Sand Lake sub-station after attempting to have Trooper Gonzalez sign the information dated December 28, 1989 that was used to arrest me, a fact that has apparently been concealed.

Tonight, Trooper Gonzalez called me at my home at about 6:45 p.m. to inform me that he would be serving me with a summons charging me with violation of Section 140.05 of the Penal Law.

At about 7:20 p.m. two trooper cars pulled into my driveway.

I was then approached by Trooper Gonzalez and another Trooper and served with papers.

Trooper Gonzalez presented me with a summons accompanied by an information and a supporting deposition.

The supporting deposition was made out on July 8, 1990 by a Janet Priest Jones and was witnessed by Trooper Gonzalez.

The supporting deposition alleges that I went to the home of these people and threatened them, a recurring theme unfounded by credible evidence.

The supporting deposition states "for years we have tolerated his minor aberrant behavior because our sons are friends with his sons."

"However, there is a fear that his ability to handle frustration in a normal prudent and reasonable manner has become increasingly impaired making his presence a silent threat of potential violence."

The specific point that I wish to make has to do with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law dealing with standards of evidence and the factual part of an information, which provisions any law enforcement person should be well versed in.

In 1979 the Police Chief of Rock Springs, Wyoming shot and killed at close range an investigator from the Wyoming Governor's office who was investigating corruption in Rock Springs.

The defense put forth by the Police Chief was that the investigator had looked at him real mean, so scaring the Police Chief that his only recourse was to shoot the man between the eyes and kill him.

I mention the case because it was explained to me that the precedent might be relevant in my own case.

In January 1989 I presented Dr. David Axelrod, Commissioner of Health for the State of New York, with evidence of widespread corruption in Rensselaer County, which evidence was corroborated by investigators from the State.

Since that time, I have been subjected to threats of violence and general harassment which includes the hit-and-run in December 1989.

There has been a campaign by those in public office against whom I plan to present evidence to a grand jury to make me out as a violent person suffering from some psychoses acquired in Viet Nam which makes me unstable and potentially dangerous.

The information filed by my assailant in January 1990 utilized that theme of potential violence from myself toward the complainant over a period of years, despite the fact that the complainant had just moved from another town to this one only months earlier.

Now, with less than a week before I appear in County Court to request an opportunity to appear before a grand jury, another complaint surfaces alleging violent behavior on my part, with a court appearance required in Town Court the day before I am to appear in County Court.

I am no believer in coincidence, Mr. Superintendant.

The informations were made out on July 8, 1990 and were presented on July 9, 1990 to the same judge in Poestenkill who refused, according to Lt.Colonel Minahan, to entertain charges against the hit-and-run driver who ran me down.

Despite the fact that the summons was signed on July 9, 1990, it was not until tonight that trooper Gonzalez chose to serve me with same, and then only in the company of another trooper.

Why the time lapse?

I intend to find out who is running your troopers out here in the Town of Poestenkill, patiently and diligently.

One rule that I put my faith in is that eventually thieves fall out, and one will sell out the other to save himself.

The Trooper who raped that woman on the Northway did so because he knew he could.

That is the image of the Troopers now in the minds of the people of Poestenkill.

That image is perpetuated by your troopers in Rensselaer County because they are are apparently little better than praetorian guards for some local politicians who can maintain their own version of "rape" by relying on your troopers to subvert the provisions and protections of the Criminal Procedure Law to their own ends.

Sincerely, Paul R. Plante

ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

And since there are a lot of “evidence” types in here who want to “SEE THE BEEF” as it were, when charges of on-going public corruption are laid against public officials in here ..

In support of what I am stating about the “use” of the NYSP to intimidate and harass citizens in order to cover over public corruption in NYS, I have here before me right now on my desk a copy of a March 2, 1990 correspondence on STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK STATE POLICE letterhead from Edward J. Minahan, Lieutenant Colonel, Assistant Deputy Superintendent, NYSP, to former Rensselaer County Associate Public Health Engineer Paul R. Plante, P.E., of Joe Bruno’s CORRUPT Rensselaer County acknowledging receipt of a February 15, 1990 letter from Plante to the Superintendent of the NYSP at that time …

That letter to the NYSP from Plante concerned itself with the cover-up by the NYSP of a HIT-AND-RUN ASSAULT on Plante on December 29, 1989 by a GOON allegedly associated with the JOE BRUNO MACHINE in Rensselaer County …

At the time, Plante had been investigating corruption in the Rensselaer County and New York State Departments of Health, which had resulted in a March 15, 1989 REPORT OF INVESTIGATION by then-NYS Health Commissioner Dr. David Axelrod which confirmed corruption in the NYS and Rensselaer County Dept’s. of Health going back to around 1977 or 1978 …

That REPORT OF INVESTIGATION was subsequently in the hands of the FBI in Albany in connection with a federal Hobbs Act “public corruption” investigation in Rensselaer County that had roped in none other than “BIG JOE” Bruno himself, in connection with his own “land dealings” in Rensselaer County, where the Rensselaer County Department of Health was Joe’s personal “rubber-stamping machine” for him and his protected and connected “buddies” and “pals” …

So …

To get rid of the investigation, all that was necessary to do was to get rid of the witness …

And so it was done …

And the NYSP were an integral part of that “final solution” …

And this is not just smoke that I am blowing here ..

There is already discussion of this same incident at:

http://blogs.timesunion.com/localpolitics/?p=193#comments

Where then-Assistant Rensselaer County District Attorney Richard McNally can be seen having to stand before then-Rensselaer County Court Judge M. Andrew Dwyer to tell the judge that McNally “had no evidence” …

The “evidence” that McNally did have was lies from New York State Troopers …

Which is what the March 2, 1990 Minahan letter to Plante was about …

The highest echelons of the NYSP knew of this hit-and-run, and they knew of the cover-up by NYS Troopers …

And they elected to protect the Troopers and the lies …

All of which is a sorry, ugly chapter in NYS history that is very well-documented in the records of the Rensselaer County Clerk …

And yes, two of those Troopers involved in the cover-up of that hit-and-run were promoted to BCI …

And so …

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5169#comments

"Analysis: NY unsettled amid claims of rogue state police - NY probes claims of rogue police and an insider with extraordinary access"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 12:32 p.m., Saturday, May 10, 2008

ALBANY -- 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.

Tabloid headlines like "State Police Smear Squad," led by the New York Post citing anonymous sources, have rattled a New York state government already torn by an unprecedented year of scandal.

The claims prompted Gov. David Paterson last month, just two weeks into his administration, to call on Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate the state police.

The accusations stoke longtime suspicions and conspiracy theories that connect -- accurately or not -- isolated acts, associations, even family connections in the administrations of Republican Gov. George Pataki and Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

The Cuomo probe is the latest to hit New York's capitol, already gripped by scandal and investigation, including a state body investigating all the investigations.

"There was obviously an element in the police force and it wasn't Republican or Democrat, it was just out of control people who had power that were clearly monitoring a lot of the elected officials," Paterson said in a radio interview a week ago.

He said his own extraordinary admission of past marital affairs a day after his March 17 inauguration was prompted in part by fear of the alleged state police squad.

When confronted by news reporters, he backed off the personal assertion and said more than 10 lawmakers statewide, from both parties, told him state police were watching them, stopping them for traffic infractions, even releasing a tip on a speeding ticket to a blog before the lawmaker got home.

Cuomo, a Democrat with his eye on the governor's office, immediately turned up the heat publicly.

He called in a veteran prosecutor who was part of the New York City Police Department corruption case in the 1970s, detailed in the Al Pacino movie "Serpico."

But those who were deep inside the Pataki and Spitzer administrations discount the tales of such a shadow operation, even in the other's administration.

They say it's an old yarn given life in an increasingly partisan Capitol in a legislative election year where screaming headlines of scandal trump those about the impending recession and $20 billion of state budget deficits forecast for the next three years.

But these former aides also hedge their bets.

"I never saw evidence of any kind of a rogue unit in the state police," said one former high ranking member of the Spitzer administration.

"No one ever said, 'We have secret information.'"

But the former official added:

"I never say 'never' anymore because of all the bizarre things that happened."

Two former Pataki administration officials also denied any knowledge of a rogue unit.

"I have no reason to think it happened," said one of the former officials.

He then added: "I have no proof to say it didn't."

"No one was playing those kinds of games," said another former Pataki hand.

The former administration officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter that, if true, could violate civil rights laws.

"I think it's probably overstated and less sinister than it sounds," said Democratic Sen. Eric Schneiderman of New York City.

Schneiderman, like most in Albany, is quick to defend the state police, operating in a difficult spot in a power structure in which they serve the governor.

Old Albany hands say such accusations also dogged state police in the Democratic administrations of Mario Cuomo, Hugh Carey and even Franklin Roosevelt.

Those in charge of the state police during the Pataki and Spitzer administrations flatly deny troopers are used as political pawns.

"It is critically important that the state police be seen as apolitical due to their enormous power to arrest and investigate," former state police Superintendent Thomas Constantine told Cuomo's investigators.

At the center of the accusations is Daniel Wiese.

He is regarded as an accomplished and respected state police officer, fiercely loyal to the governors he worked for and a bit of a hothead.

In the 1980s, Wiese managed to earn the respect and friendship of a young prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office who liked to join covert ops.

The lawyer, Eliot Spitzer, came to believe Wiese put his life on the line for him during an investigation of the Gambino crime family.

When Spitzer became governor in 2007, Wiese called him on a direct line.

At about the same time he met Spitzer, Wiese was a young trooper making friends with a local mayor.

Wiese would become part of George Pataki's so-called Peekskill mafia of confidants who surrounded the governor when he took office in 1995.

Through the two administrations, Wiese was often there when politics mixed with police.

In March 1996, Wiese yanked the state police protection of Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey-Ross, who at the time was on the outs with her boss.

State police said she abused the unit, treating them more like chauffeurs.

Soon after, Wiese invoked the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination during testimony to a federal grand jury investigating the Pataki administration, according to reports by The Village Voice newspaper.

The grand jury was probing allegations that a Pataki fundraiser offered to help Korean-American families get parole for relatives in return for campaign donations.

Wiese, Pataki and his aides were never indicted.

The New York Times reported that Wiese tried to monitor the investigation, insisting on updated information from New York City detectives and demanding that one of his men join the team until federal investigators took over and froze state police out.

In the 2002 election, when Spitzer was running for re-election as attorney general and Pataki was running for a third term as governor, Wiese acted as intermediary, carrying Spitzer's complaint about a nasty jab by his Pataki-picked Republican opponent, according to a high-level Pataki official.

Then, in 2003, lawmakers contested Pataki's appointment of Wiese as inspector general of the state Power Authority.

A day after Wiese retired from the state police, he took the $160,000-a-year job at the Authority, whose board was appointed by Pataki.

A special waiver allowed Wiese to also collect a state police pension of about $60,000.

In March of this year, a week after Spitzer resigned after being implicated in a prostitution investigation, Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares issued a second report into claims that top Spitzer aides concocted a plot to embarrass Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno using state police records to track his use of state aircraft.

Again, Wiese was there.

The March 28 report quoted testimony by former Spitzer Communications Director Darren Dopp saying that Spitzer had arranged for Wiese to talk to a New York Times reporter to "confirm that (state police) had long held concerns about Mr. Bruno's use of the aircraft" dating to the Pataki administration.

The story countered Bruno's insistence that Spitzer started it.

On April 5, Wiese was put on paid leave pending Cuomo's investigation.

Last week, Wiese's pay was stopped during his suspension after Cuomo told reporters he believes e-mails were erased.

Wiese's lawyer, Kevin Kitson of White Plains, didn't respond to repeated requests for comment.

Schneiderman, the Democratic senator and former prosecutor, said the Cuomo inquiry could serve to clarify the long-standing concern over whether state police overstepped their bounds from public protection to political aggression.

"You are up against a very, very dangerous line," he said.

------

Michael Gormley is the Albany, N.Y., Capitol editor for The Associated Press. He can be reached by e-mail at mgormley(at)ap.org.

[Livyjr]

"Plug Power sues broker over loss - Latham fuel cell maker seeks $62.8 million, claiming UBS improperly invested its funds"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, May 10, 2008

COLONIE -- Plug Power Inc. is suing UBS Financial Services Inc. for $62.8 million, claiming the brokerage firm improperly invested that sum in so-called auction rate securities, now battered by the subprime mortgage mess.

On Thursday, the Latham-based fuel-cell manufacturer announced it was taking a $2.8 million charge to account for the drop in value of the investments, which are bonds sold through periodic auction.

That was the same day the company filed suit against UBS in U.S. District Court in Albany.

UBS has been the company's broker since 2005.

In February, after the subprime mortgage meltdown, the $300 billion market for auction rate securities, also known as ARS, dried up, leaving Plug and others unable to liquidate their holdings.

The auction rate securities UBS bought for Plug were backed by federally insured student loans, and Plug said in the lawsuit that student loan-backed ARS are the hardest to sell, with discounts of 25 percent or more.

"Throughout the fall of 2007, other brokers and investment advisers began advising clients to liquidate their ARS holdings, in light of the failed auctions and increased liquidity risks," the lawsuit states.

"UBS did not notify Plug Power of these risks."

A UBS spokesman did not return a phone call or e-mail for comment.

This week, UBS settled with 20 municipalities in Massachusetts that invested in ARS, and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo also is investigating the company.

Plug said its chief financial officer, Gerry Anderson, called UBS in October with concerns over the investments.

Plug alleges the broker told Anderson the securities "were safe and liquid."

Plug warned investors in March that it held $92.8 million in ARS and there was "increased liquidity risk" because of market disruption.

Plug spokesman Eoin Connolly said Friday he believes the company was able to convert a portion of that to cash -- resulting in the current $60 million in holdings.

He said the suit was filed to give the company options for recovering the money.

"It could resolve itself any number of ways," he said.

As of March 31, Plug had $146.8 million in cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities, among which $60 million was invested in ARS.

During a conference call Thursday, analysts asked officials how the company would manage with a significant portion of its cash position tied up in ARS.

Plug is still spending about $10 million a quarter on research and development on fuel-cell systems designed for both commercial and home power markets, but its operations have yet to break even.

It lost $20 million in the first quarter.

"We still are confident that we will have appropriate liquidity to continue to drive this business to market adoption and grow it profitably," Anderson said.

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Town GOP turns on its own - Clifton Park Republican committee disowns supervisor, three council members over appointment to water board"

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, May 10, 2008

CLIFTON PARK -- The town's one-party political scene has turned topsy-turvy after its Republican committee disowned four of Clifton Park's five top elected officials.

In the wake of a public rift several weeks ago, the committee renounced Supervisor Phil Barrett, Councilwoman Lynda Walowit and councilmen Tom Paolucci and Scott Hughes after they failed to show for a committee meeting.

"The committee regretfully must inform the community that these elected officials no longer speak for, or represent, the Republican Party in Clifton Park," committee Chairman Bob Wilcox said in a statement late Thursday night.

The internal upheaval is remarkable and, in the wake of Democrats taking Colonie last year, is at least a sign of instability in Albany's shrinking number of suburban GOP strongholds -- this one in the district of the state's most powerful Republican, Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.

Republicans haven't been in the minority on the Town Board here since a brief stretch that ended in the early 1990s.

And, technically speaking, they're still not.

But who holds sway -- and the power of the pulpit -- is now in question.

Barrett, a five-term incumbent re-elected in November on multiple party lines by a 2-1 ratio, said he learned of the news Friday when it was reported on timesunion.com.

Wilcox, the party's new chairman, said the renouncement stemmed from the foursome's failure to show at a committee meeting Thursday, when party leadership expected them to explain their public split over an appointment to the Clifton Park Water Authority Board last month.

Hughes and Paolucci accused Wilcox of pressuring them to appoint a party loyalist and campaign donor and beckoning them to party caucuses they said would be illegal because votes and appointments were to be decided.

Wilcox denied the allegations, saying he merely asked that a committeeman, Dan Keegan, be considered for the post with the water authority, which will decide whether Clifton Park joins the county's controversial water pipeline.

He also requested the board table the vote while Councilman Sanford "Sandy" Roth, who is the council's liaison to the water authority, was absent while recuperating from a heart attack.

Roth now may be the only board member who has the party's support.

Hughes, who was elected to his first term in November after briefly filling a vacancy, responded forcefully.

"I feel like Ronald Reagan, who made the quote, 'I didn't leave my party.'"

"'My party left me,' " Hughes said.

"The fact is that there are serious issues involved here, issues about ethics and open government -- principles that I will not compromise on."

Wilcox was not immediately available to elaborate on his statement.

Hughes, among others, has said a small group of people are trying to "hijack" the town committee and push elected officials toward accepting the county water plan, which some fear will be unnecessarily costly.

Saratoga County Republican Chairman Jasper Nolan rejected the idea that Clifton Park was being pressured to join the county water plan as well as the notion that he had anything to do with the town committee's actions.

He has been accused of using Wilcox to sway the Clifton Park committee -- a notion both men reject.

"Each of the towns fulfill their own destiny."

"I'm busy enough that I don't interfere," Nolan said.

"I'm no Dan O'Connell," he added, referring to the longtime boss of Albany's Democratic political machine.

Walowit was not immediately available for comment.

Paolucci said he is -- and plans to remain -- a Republican, regardless of what the Clifton Park GOP does.

"It's kind of shocking," Paolucci said.

"I got involved with Republican politics because I think government should be small and we should be giving money back to the people whenever we can."

"That's what we've been doing here."

Both councilmen have more than three years left on their terms.

Barrett downplayed whether the rift would affect town business.

He has yet to say publicly whether he will seek a sixth two-year term in 2009.

"You can reach any conclusion you want, but it is what it is," he said.

"I have been supported by the Republican, the Independence and the Conservative parties for years, and I certainly appreciate all the support I've been shown."

While Barrett was not openly critical of Wilcox like Hughes and Paolucci, he voted with them to appoint John Ryan to the water authority board.

The split left committee Vice Chairman Adam Kramer, who was out of town this week, hoping relations could be mended.

"I was not at the meeting and was not aware that this was going to happen," Kramer said, adding that he would have urged against it, even if he were outvoted.

"I sincerely hope that this family squabble could be healed and put back together."

Jordan Carleo-Evangelist can be reached at 454-5445 or by e-mail at jcarleo-evangelist@ timesunion.com.