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

[Livyjr]

"Four shot in Albany within 24 hours - Police probing two unrelated shootings in city on Sunday"

By DANIELLE FURFARO, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 11:07 a.m., Monday, April 30, 2007

ALBANY -- Four people were wounded in the city Sunday in two unrelated shootings.

Police say three males were standing on a sidewalk at 100 Clinton St. when a dark colored vehicle pulled up and stopped near the victims about 2:30 a.m.

A man got out and fired several shots, striking all three, said Detective James Miller, a police spokesman.

Michael White, 32, was struck in the left thigh and left forearm.

Eliot Lopez, 41, was wounded in the right thigh and Jerry Lee King was hit in the right thigh.

The three men drove themselves to Albany Medical Center Hospital for treatment, Miller said.

He said Lopez and King were treated at the hospital and released.

White's condition was unavailable from police.

Meanwhile, Lamar Herring, 16, was walking near 305 First Street about 9:30 p.m. Sunday night when two males followed him and fired three shots in his direction, police said.

Herring was hit in the left calf and was taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital for treatment.

The assailants ran westbound on First Street.

[Livyjr]

"Legislature pay raise support derailed"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:43 p.m., Monday, April 30, 2007

ALBANY -- A quiet effort by the Senate and Assembly majorities to give themselves pay raises was scuttled Monday by the Senate's Democratic minority when it withdrew its support -- and the ability to override Gov. Eliot Spitzer's likely veto.

State Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, a Queens Democrat, withdrew his support Monday for the Senate Republican's bill, derailing the effort for now.

The bill tied the pay raises for lawmakers as determined by a commission to the first pay raises in eight years for state judges.

But Smith dropped his support for the Senate Republicans' measure he and his members co-sponsored last week because the slim GOP majority hasn't agreed to campaign finance reform.

"As a result, the members of the minority conference will remove their names as sponsors of Sen. Bruno's pay raise bill," Smith said in a prepared statement.

"Moreover, we will oppose this bill absent an agreement by the majority to embrace meaningful campaign finance reform."

Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno had counted on the sponsorship of all 62 senators on the bill.

Without Smith's members, the Senate's 33 Republicans cannot muster the two-third's vote needed to override a veto.

The bill was passed 34-24, mostly party lines in the chamber, but not in numbers that could override a veto.

Bruno said he won't allow the pay-raise proposal back "in any form" for judges or lawmakers anytime in this two-year session and he won't negotiate privately with Spitzer on campaign finance reform.

Republicans described the measure not as a pay raise, but reform of a process to take politics out of pay raises.

They also criticized Spitzer for "linking" the bill from Chief Judge Judith Kaye to Spitzer's unrelated campaign finance bill.

Bruno said Smith was "steamrolled" by the Democratic governor after all legislative leaders appeared to have a deal late week.

"Your word should mean something," Bruno said of Smith.

"I don't need leaderless leaders who abdicate their responsibility."

Spitzer said he spoke to Smith about the pay raise proposal over the weekend.

"I'm glad he's done what's he's done," Spitzer.

The Senate majority and the Assembly's Democratic majority had introduced identical bills that could lead to pay raises for lawmakers and judges, as well as executive branch workers.

Judicial pay raise proposals -- which are widely supported -- are usually tied to legislative pay raises -- which have often been widely opposed outside the Legislature.

But Spitzer has said he won't let judicial raises be "held hostage" to legislative raises.

Spitzer, closely allied with Smith, has sought drastic reductions in the limits to campaign contributions and other measures to address special-interest influence.

"There's a bill that I proposed that I think captures the essence of what we need to fundamentally change the contours of campaign finance and I'd like to see the Legislature move on that," Spitzer said Monday.

"Hopefully, they'll do so."

The issue dominated the state's annual Law Day, with Kaye, the state's chief judge, chastising Albany for failing to act on judges' pay raises.

She called it a crisis and abandoned the previously planned topic -- engaging youth in the law -- to lobby for the pay raises.

"Appropriate judicial compensation is at the very core of judicial independence," Kaye said.

She said the judiciary finds itself "once again, snared in the jaws of Albany politics."

"No raises for the judges, no retroactivity (payment) not even cost-of-living increases, for no reason that is related to us."

The Assembly on Friday introduced its bill to raise the base salary from $79,500 to an amount that would be determined by a special commission.

The commission could also decide against a raise.

The Senate's bill on the politically dicey topic was introduced without fanfare last week.

Lawmakers have gone for eight years without a raise.

Under law, the Legislature can't immediately raise its own pay.

But they can approve raises for the next elected Legislature -- in January 2009 -- and there is a more than a 90 percent win rate for incumbents.

In a lengthy floor debate, Republican Sen. Stephen Saland of Poughkeepsie said he thought a monarchy was eliminated in America in 1776, but it appears Spitzer is now making all the decisions and "then decided we would all march forward in lockstep much as we would were we mindless, willy-nilly little puppets on a string of a marionette master."

Democratic Sen. Thomas Duane of New York City said he simply changed his mind.

"If Gov. Spitzer thinks that he can put real campaign finance reform on the table and get it accomplished at the same time, you know what?"

"I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt," Duane said.

The turn of events wasn't lost on Sen. Martin Connor, a Brooklyn Democrat, who feigned confusion at voting against a bill on which he was a co-sponsor days before.

"I can't quite explain it," Connor said.

"I think maybe my boyhood dream has come true."

"When I was 10 I wanted to run away and join the circus."

The legislation would provide $48.2 million to cover judicial pay raises retroactive to Jan. 1 to give raises for all state judges, most of whom hadn't had a raise since 1999.

The assembly didn't plan to take up the proposal Monday.

[Livyjr]

"Few employees, but big tax breaks - Many companies benefiting from Empire Zones aren't creating jobs as expected, analysis finds"

Associated Press

First published: Monday, April 30, 2007

SYRACUSE -- New York's job-creating Empire Zone program gives $102 million a year in tax breaks to companies with three or fewer workers, according to a newspaper analysis.

That represents more than one-fifth of Empire Zone incentives.

On average, those employers receive more than $47,000 a year in tax breaks for each employee while paying many of those employees less than half that amount, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Many companies that benefit are commercial landlords.

For example:

An Illinois real estate group expected $1.3 million a year in zone tax breaks for five Syracuse office buildings.

It had 3.75 employees there, records show.

The owner of AXA Towers (formerly MONY), another out-of-state landlord, expects more than $1 million per year in breaks.

Employees: two $10-an-hour maintenance workers.

Former Gov. George Pataki, the top Empire Zone booster, found the situation objectionable and in 2004 and 2005 proposed cutting the zone property tax credit for landlords with few workers.

During state budget negotiations the Pataki plan was abandoned.

Instead, in 2005, the state Legislature passed changes that do not apply to the 9,000 businesses already in the program.

In 1999, companies run by Norton Herrick of Boca Raton, Fla., bought the twin MONY Towers for $61 million.

The 18-story towers had enough space and the kind of visual presence a big New York City company would like, Western thought, so the county put the MONY Tower 2 in its Empire Zone.

The Bank of New York leased space there for a year, then left for an office park in an Empire Zone in DeWitt.

But Tower 2 remained in the zone, so the credits continue.

Creating a single job qualified Herrick's companies for full reimbursement for 10 years of the $1.1 million per year it gives Syracuse in payments in lieu of property taxes on the buildings, now named AXA Towers.

[Livyjr]

"Killed in the crossfire - State Police fired nearly 70 times in shootout with fugitive, and one of those rounds hit trooper"

By BRENDAN J. LYONS and CAROL DeMARE, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 28, 2007

ALBANY -- State Police announced Friday that the trooper who died in a shootout with a fugitive this week was killed by another trooper's bullet.

The fatal shot came during an "extremely intense firefight" after the suspect opened fire as four troopers entered an upstairs room in a country house, acting State Police Superintendent Preston L. Felton said.

The troopers fired nearly 70 shots, he said.

Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff, 29, was caught in a crossfire between the fugitive Travis Trim and members of his own Mobile Response Team.

He was hit in the back of the head.

"As you can imagine, this new information is a source of great consternation and sadness within the MRT team and throughout the entire New York State Police family," Felton told a late-afternoon news conference.

NY TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

May 1st, 2007 8:13 am

The City of Albany Police Dept., to the north of here, can be said to have as much or more of a problem with both guns and gun-slingers as the NYSP do, and the City of Albany has a SWAT team, and while you never hear much about them, in fact, they are fairly active, and the reason that you never hear about them is because they do nothing spectacular as they calmly and methodically go about their business of apprehending perps with guns!

And there is no rocket science in involved in any of this, nor do the team members have to be rocket scientists, although if you cannot shoot straight and hit what you aim at, you are re-directed over to SCUBA, maybe, or traffic tickets, where you won’t be a danger to your fellow team members with a gun or weapon in your hands!

Which is to say that there is a rigorous process by which SWAT team members are picked in the first place, and you can know the Mayor, and then God, in that order, and if you cannot shoot straight and pass the other requirements, which are in place to protect the public and the team members, then you just are not going to be a member of that team, plain and simple!

And the Albany SWAT team is continually training and honing their skills, which really are based on the use of applied psychology, as opposed to macho!

Arrogance gets people killed!

And arrogance is instilled into members of the NYSP from the first moment that they enter the training academy!

And arrogance may indeed have played a factor in the death of that trooper the other day, although that yet remains to be determined!

And with respect to things that are “yet to be determined”, along with the question of the role that arrogance may have played in this fiasco, in the upstate Albany TU article “Killed in the crossfire - State Police fired nearly 70 times in shootout with fugitive, and one of those rounds hit trooper” by BRENDAN J. LYONS and CAROL DeMARE, Staff writers, first published: Saturday, April 28, 2007, it is stated:

“Three other troopers, also members of the unit, were downstairs at the vacation house in Arkville, Delaware County, but did not fire a shot.”

And I can assure you that up here, that statement has really caught the attention of people who have loved ones or relatives on other SWAT teams who had to be called out to go down to the Catskills that fateful day!

What exactly were these other three doing downstairs?

Making sandwiches?

Checking out the pool table and the wide-screen TV?

Or what?

And how was it that they did not fire a single shot in what the state police themselves have called a “melee”?

And these thoughts must be cast against the backdrop of the fact that when the other police SWAT units arrived down there as reinforcements, ALL state police were out of that structure and had essentially surrendered tactical control of the situation to the perp by vacating the premises, and pulling back from the structure themselves!

SO?

When the shooting erupted upstairs, where it now looks like the trooper who was killed had himself killed the perp before he himself was killed by his fellow troopers, what did these three downstairs who never fired their weapons do?

Panic?

Run like Hell for the exits, which presumed maneuver by these three has the wags up here calling that a “tactical Felton”?

“Uh-oh, he has a gun, we better Felton the hell out of here, and fast!”

Or did one of those three who stayed downstairs and never fired his weapon tell the other four who did go upstairs to go up and take a look around, but that it was unlikely that Trim would still be in the building, with that many state troopers around?

A cardinal rule of SWAT work, as I understand it, is never separate your team, and yet that is one of the first things the NYSP apparently did upon entering the structure!

Yes, for the protection of the lives of the public, and the members of other police departments who must be called in to pull the fat of the NYSP out of the fire when they botch the job themselves, a sweeping top-to-bottom review of the management structure of the NYSP is required, and it is required now, not next week, not next month and not next year, but now!

And so …

— Posted by Livyjr

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...-fire/#comments

[Livyjr]

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Can't fix this! Brooklyn judge Garson guilty of bribes"

BY NANCIE L. KATZ, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, April 20th 2007, 4:00 AM

A disgraced Brooklyn judge, who was caught on hidden cameras accepting boxes of cigars and expensive liquor during cozy meetings with a crooked lawyer, was convicted yesterday of fixing divorce cases.

Former Supreme Court Justice Gerald Garson did not react when the jury, which deliberated for two days, found him guilty of receiving bribes and official misconduct.

He was acquitted of four other lesser counts.

The ex-judge faces up to 15 years in prison at his sentencing in June.

During the four-week trial, prosecutors showed Brooklyn jurors excerpts of hundreds of hours of profanity-laced audio and videotapes of Garson, 75, accepting boxes of expensive cigars, top-shelf liquor and other gifts from his pal Paul Siminovsky from October 2002 to March 2003.

Siminovsky testified against Garson.

"We proved the court system is corrupt," said Frieda Hanimov, who in 2002 raised suspicions that Garson was accepting bribes to fix divorce cases.

She had been told her husband, who was divorcing her, paid a bribe to win custody of their children.

"It's a big shame."

"It proves no citizen should trust anyone in the court system," she said.

Garson's conviction comes as the result of a wider investigation District Attorney Charles Hynes conducted into whether judgeships were being bought and sold.

The probe nabbed the head of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, Clarence Norman, who was convicted three times, including once for forcing a judicial candidate to pay $10,000 to Norman's pals or lose his political machine's support.

Garson's attorney, Michael Washor, vowed to appeal.

He called the videotapes a "Class-D" movie that created the "illusion of criminal conduct."

nkatz@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file...arson_guil.html

New York Daily News Daily Politics

"Brooklyn's Double Whammy - It's not a good day for Brooklyn Democratic politics"

Not only was former Kings County Democratic Party Treasurer and ex-state Supreme Court Justice Gerald Garson found guilty on charges of accepting bribes and official misconduct, but a federal judge said two-time 40th Council special election candidate Eugene Mathieu manipulated the election process in order to get on the ballot the second time around.

The Politicker has helpfully posted the decision that restored Eugene's opponent, Wellington Sharpe, to the ballot.

The New York Law Journal (unfortunately, subscription only) wrote about both Brooklyn stories today.

In the case of Garson, a Brooklyn political observer wrote in to note that the former judge is joining a long list of disgraced jurists from the borough, which includes, but is not necessarily limited to:

Victor Baron, elected to the Supreme Court in 1998, who was caught on videotape in his chambers accepting $18,000 in marked bills;

Reynold Mason, who had served on the Supreme Court bench since 1997, and was removed by the Court of Appeals on May 1st, 2003 for unethical conduct;

Michael Garson (brother of Gerry Garson) a former Supreme court judge forced off the bench for looting his dead aunt's fortune;

and Michael Feinberg, the Brooklyn Surrogate judge removed from the bench for looting the estates of the dead.

They join former favorite of the Brooklyn organization City Councilmember Angel Rodreguiez, who was convicted of taking bribes to fix a development project; former Assemblyman Roger Green, convicted of padding expenses, and, of course, our former Kings County Democratic party leader Clarence Norman who has been convicted in three separate cases (and just this week was sentenced to yet more jail time).

If you've got more, feel free to let me know.

This observer further notes that the current Brooklyn judiciary is filled with additional relatives and friends of the County Democratic organization (see his rundown after the jump).

"The bottom line in Brooklyn it's who you know," he writes.

"The thousands of highly-qualified lawyers who would give their right arm to be a judge have no chance against these insiders."

"The time for merit selection is now!"

Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced his support of merit selection during his first State of the State address in January.

The New York State Bar Association has proposed a model plan for merit selection.

District Leader Dilia Schack's husband Arthur is a Supreme Court judge, District Leader Lori Knipel's husband Larry is a Supreme Court judge, District Leader Earl Williams daughter Jacqueline is a Civil court judge, County Leader Lopez's girl friend's brother is Supreme Court judge Jack Battaglia, Lopez daugther Gina is a Court of Claims judge, District Leader Roberta Sherman's son Kenny is a Civil Court judge, disgraced former Executive Director of the Brooklyn Democrat party Jeffrey Feldman's wife is Brooklyn Supreme Court judge Marsha Stenhardt, Supreme Court judge Yvonne Lewis is the god daughter of District Leader Assemblywoman Annette Robinson.

Supreme Court judge Karen Rothenberg was Gerry Garson's law partner, Acting Supreme Court judge Rachel Amy Adams is the former law clerk to convicted judge Victor Barron as well as being the wife of Greg Brooks, former borough President Howard Golden's Chief of staff.

Supreme Court judge Abe Gerges is a former party operative and former City Councilmember, Supreme Court judge Martin Solomon is a party mainstay and a former NY State Senator.

Civil Court judge Robin Garson is the wife of convicted judge Gerry Garson.

Supreme Court judge Michael Pesce is a former Assemblyman.

Posted by Elizabeth Benjamin on April 20, 2007 12:14 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...hammy.html#more

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Garson's wife may face rap on ethics"

BY NANCIE L. KATZ

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, April 30th 2007, 4:00 AM

The wife of disgraced Brooklyn judge Gerald Garson, who was convicted this month of accepting bribes for fixing divorce cases, could be soon facing her own legal problems, the Daily News has learned.

The state Commission on Judicial Conduct may begin investigating possible judicial ethical lapses by Robin Garson, a Civil Court judge, involving campaign funds and failing to report criminal behavior, a legal source said.

Her husband, 75, a former Supreme Court justice, was convicted on April 19 and faces up to 15 years behind bars at his sentencing on June 5.

"They decided to let the trial get over with, to let out what would be aired," said a well-informed source.

At Robin Garson's husband's trial, corrupt lawyer Paul Siminovsky testified that Gerald Garson asked him to solicit campaign contributions and provide free legal help for her 2002 judicial campaign.

In 2004, Robin Garson testified at a grand jury investigation of her husband's cousin, retired Supreme Court Justice Michael Garson, who was suspected of stealing thousands of dollars from his elderly aunt.

She said Michael Garson confessed to improperly taking $100,000 from his aunt Sarah Gershenoff.

She also testified that a power of attorney the nephews used to pilfer Gershenoff's nearly $1 million fortune was forged, according to sources.

Robin Garson was Gershenoff's guardian at the time.

Ethical rules require judges to report criminal acts.

The commission is also reviewing a letter sent by the National Organization for Women about Robin Garson's behavior on the day of her husband's conviction.

The letter accused her of "exploiting her official status to obtain special privileges" at the trial, passing notes to defense attorneys and entering the courtroom through special doors reserved for officials.

Garson's lawyer, Richard Godovsky, dismissed the charges in the NOW letter.

"There is nothing against her," he said.

"That's going to be clear."

The administrator of the judicial commission, Robert Tembeckjian, declined to comment, but confirmed the panel had received the NOW letter.

"We will deal with it as we deal with all complaints," he said.

nkatz@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file..._on_ethics.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Gov, keep it simple - Drops the ball by juggling too much, too soon"

By BILL HAMMOND

Tuesday, May 1st 2007, 4:00 AM

Gov. Spitzer had better slow down or he's liable to drive his steamroller off a cliff.

Spitzer's headlong rush to change everything by yesterday has succeeded mostly in alienating the Legislature and confusing the public.

The governor's stature in Albany has fallen to the point that even the Senate's minority Democrats, once his closest allies, were ready to defy him on the issue of pay raises for legislators.

Although Spitzer managed to suppress that mutiny at the eleventh hour, he should learn a lesson from his near-death experience: Slow and steady wins the race.

Instead of flitting from one issue to another every five minutes, he should pick two or three big things he wants to accomplish and see them through to the end.

So far, however, Spitzer has shown all the focus of a hummingbird hopped up on Starbucks.

He started out last Monday demanding campaign finance reform, blasting Republican senators who opposed his plan.

It was a fitting choice for his No. 1 goal, since every big decision in Albany is distorted by the influence of special-interest money.

By the end of the week, however, Spitzer had gone completely off-message.

He proposed to legalize gay marriage.

He promised to strengthen laws guaranteeing abortion rights.

He introduced no less than two major constitutional amendments - to reorganize the entire court system and change how legislative districts are drawn.

He also found time to talk about his "children's agenda," including bills to restrict kids' access to violent video games and bar sugary and fatty foods from school cafeterias.

Also on Spitzer's mushrooming to-do list are proposals to crack down on human trafficking, eliminate excess layers of local government and improve the state university system.

A lot of this stuff probably should happen - someday.

But making a 10-year-old get his parents' permission before he rents "Grand Theft Auto" won't improve the upstate economy, fix the public schools or make health-care more affordable - which is what 70% of New Yorkers elected Spitzer to do.

Spitzer's hyperactive style hurts him in a couple of ways.

For one thing, he tends not to follow through on threats.

He vowed to travel the state criticizing GOP senators on the campaign finance issue, but stopped after two or three visits.

Lawmakers are learning his bark is worse than his bite.

Secondly, he doesn't take the time to rally the public to his cause.

Instead, he pushes for quick deals in closed-door negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

They're the last ones Spitzer should be counting on to help him change the status quo.

Spitzer got so caught up in his agenda-setting frenzy last week that he almost missed a mortal threat to his governorship.

Spitzer was trying to use the promise of a pay raise for the Legislature as leverage to push campaign finance reform.

But Bruno got every single Democrat to co-sponsor a pay-raise bill - signaling that he had the votes not just to pass the bill, but override a veto if necessary.

Spitzer would have been seriously weakened just four months into his term.

Spitzer saved his skin by twisting the arm of Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith, who backed out of the deal.

Let's hope the governor calms down enough to dodge the next bullet, too.

whammond@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2007/0..._it_simple.html

[Livyjr]

NY TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

April 26th, 2007 12:55 pm

While all of the political immensities and pomposities down there in Albany get up on their high horses and pedestals and stumps and bully pulpits to shout back and forth at each other about another slain State Troopers here in NYS, out here in the countryside, where people actually do live, and have relatives and yes, even loved ones, who are police, there is a much different dialogue going on, which centers around the essential question of “How in the Hell were two more Troopers shot, after that last fiasco?”

“What exactly can be going on here?” is the question on our minds, anyway!

Was one NYS Trooper shot in the face and killed, and another shot in the upper arm and wounded because of ineptness and just plain amateurishness on the part of the NYS Troopers?

My God, in this day and age of “political correctness”, can we countryfolks even think this way?

Or must we just moan, and wring our hands, and rend our garments, and such-like, while crying out, like the politicians down in Albany, Spitzer, Bruno, Tedisco, about “cruel fate”, and the need to restore the “death penalty”, as if that would make any difference at all to someone who just has it in their head to kill them a State Trooper before they themselves die?

In this day and age of “poltical correctness”, can we ask ourselves, when it comes to “special weapons and tactics”, is it true that the NYS Troopers have the special weapons alright, but the tactics of a bunch of bumbling amateurs, which alleged rinky-dink tactics puts the lives of people’s loved one and relatives at risk?

Did the NYS Troopers, while on the hunt for a suspect who had just shot another Trooper respond to a burgler alarm at this country farmhouse with just a partial emergency response team?

Upon arriving at the farmhouse, in response to a burgler alarm, did the NYS Troopers notice any signs of forced entry, that would lead them to believe that someone, anyone might actually still be in the structure?

Did the NYS Troopers believe that a man who had just shot one trooper would be intimidated by a bunch of them, so that he would not be waiting to shoot them through the door of the room that he was in, when they announced their presence by pushing in the door he was hiding behind, and walking in upright, so that all he had to do was to fire through the door at head height, which guaranteed him the kill that he got?

Did the other NYS Troopers then fire a number of rounds through the door and walls into the room, and then actually vacate the premises, thus losing any tactical advantage that they might have had from superior firepower?

Yes, in the minds of the countryfolks, these are the operative questions on our minds right now, as people ponder whose relatives and loved ones might be the next to fall, because of the possibility of sheer stupidity and tactical blunders on the part of the management of what is seen as nothing more than a political police force up here in the country, where people hope that their relatives and loved ones are not next.

And so ….

— Posted by Livyjr

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...-life/#comments

NY TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

May 1st, 2007 8:13 am

The City of Albany Police Dept., to the north of here, can be said to have as much or more of a problem with both guns and gun-slingers as the NYSP do, and the City of Albany has a SWAT team, and while you never hear much about them, in fact, they are fairly active, and the reason that you never hear about them is because they do nothing spectacular as they calmly and methodically go about their business of apprehending perps with guns!

And there is no rocket science in involved in any of this, nor do the team members have to be rocket scientists, although if you cannot shoot straight and hit what you aim at, you are re-directed over to SCUBA, maybe, or traffic tickets, where you won’t be a danger to your fellow team members with a gun or weapon in your hands!

Which is to say that there is a rigorous process by which SWAT team members are picked in the first place, and you can know the Mayor, and then God, in that order, and if you cannot shoot straight and pass the other requirements, which are in place to protect the public and the team members, then you just are not going to be a member of that team, plain and simple!

And the Albany SWAT team is continually training and honing their skills, which really are based on the use of applied psychology, as opposed to macho!

Arrogance gets people killed!

And arrogance is instilled into members of the NYSP from the first moment that they enter the training academy!

And arrogance may indeed have played a factor in the death of that trooper the other day, although that yet remains to be determined!

And with respect to things that are “yet to be determined”, along with the question of the role that arrogance may have played in this fiasco, in the upstate Albany TU article “Killed in the crossfire - State Police fired nearly 70 times in shootout with fugitive, and one of those rounds hit trooper” by BRENDAN J. LYONS and CAROL DeMARE, Staff writers, first published: Saturday, April 28, 2007, it is stated:

“Three other troopers, also members of the unit, were downstairs at the vacation house in Arkville, Delaware County, but did not fire a shot.”

And I can assure you that up here, that statement has really caught the attention of people who have loved ones or relatives on other SWAT teams who had to be called out to go down to the Catskills that fateful day!

What exactly were these other three doing downstairs?

Making sandwiches?

Checking out the pool table and the wide-screen TV?

Or what?

And how was it that they did not fire a single shot in what the state police themselves have called a “melee”?

And these thoughts must be cast against the backdrop of the fact that when the other police SWAT units arrived down there as reinforcements, ALL state police were out of that structure and had essentially surrendered tactical control of the situation to the perp by vacating the premises, and pulling back from the structure themselves!

SO?

When the shooting erupted upstairs, where it now looks like the trooper who was killed had himself killed the perp before he himself was killed by his fellow troopers, what did these three downstairs who never fired their weapons do?

Panic?

Run like Hell for the exits, which presumed maneuver by these three has the wags up here calling that a “tactical Felton”?

“Uh-oh, he has a gun, we better Felton the hell out of here, and fast!”

Or did one of those three who stayed downstairs and never fired his weapon tell the other four who did go upstairs to go up and take a look around, but that it was unlikely that Trim would still be in the building, with that many state troopers around?

A cardinal rule of SWAT work, as I understand it, is never separate your team, and yet that is one of the first things the NYSP apparently did upon entering the structure!

Yes, for the protection of the lives of the public, and the members of other police departments who must be called in to pull the fat of the NYSP out of the fire when they botch the job themselves, a sweeping top-to-bottom review of the management structure of the NYSP is required, and it is required now, not next week, not next month and not next year, but now!

And so …

— Posted by Livyjr

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...-fire/#comments

"Deadly shootout took troopers by surprise - Search team believed suspect in earlier shooting had fled to nearby woods"

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

First published: Wednesday, May 2, 2007

The team of elite troopers that entered a Delaware County farm house last week searching for Travis Trim, trained for almost any situation, did not expect a deadly gun battle, police said Tuesday.

In fact, authorities believed that Trim, 23, the prime suspect in the shooting of a trooper a day earlier, had fled into nearby woods skirting the Catskill Park.

State Police on Tuesday released a timeline, the most detailed account to date, of the events that preceded the shooting death of Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff, of Coxsackie, in the house a week ago today in the hamlet of Arkville.

Compiled from interviews with those involved and a reconstruction of the scene that was largely destroyed by the massive fire that ended the manhunt, the timeline was meant, in part, to clarify how, why and when troopers entered the house, authorities said.

The account mirrored statements by acting State Police Superintendent Preston L. Felton, who on Monday stressed that his troopers did not rush ill-prepared into the situation.

"This was not a situation where we knew (Trim) was in the building or even thought he was in the building," Felton told the Times Union.

The chain of events began about 18 hours into the manhunt with a burglar alarm that sounded just after 7:30 last Wednesday morning.

The alarm focused police attention on the property, a vacation hunting retreat, one of several in the area not far from where Trim ditched his getaway vehicle the afternoon before.

Police searched the outbuildings first and found Trim's wallet, bag and a handgun in a nearby barn where they believe he spent the night.

State Police say Trim used a handgun to shoot and slightly wound Trooper Matthew Gombosi in the village of Margaretville the day before, prompting the hunt that led police to the white farm house near Cemetery Road the next morning.

But the house, authorities said, showed no signs of a break-in and the alarm company detected no movement inside.

Officials say they faced conflicting signs and realized that Trim could be anywhere.

Late the night before, troopers had descended on a spot 13 miles away near Grand Gorge, believing Trim could have made it that far on foot.

As a precaution, a team of troopers trained in close-quarter searches assembled to check the house before looking elsewhere.

The team was ordered to "search, clear, and secure the house," according to the timeline.

It was not immediately clear Tuesday who issued the order that sent seven members of the Mobile Response Team, including Brinkerhoff, into the farm house.

But the search was called a "preventative security measure" rather than a tactical assault.

Less than an hour after the alarm was first triggered, around 8:30 a.m., "consistent with procedures" and not knowing if anyone was inside, the troopers entered the house and systematically searched the first floor room-by-room.

During "a methodical ascent to the second floor," law enforcement authorities said, Trim opened fire on the team, triggering the firefight in which one trooper, Richard Mattson, was seriously wounded and the 29-year-old Brinkerhoff was killed by a bullet from another trooper's gun.

Trim, too, was fatally wounded in the gun battle, in which troopers fired nearly 70 shots as they dragged Brinkerhoff and Mattson away, though authorities would not know that until much later.

After surrounding the house, police moved in that evening.

Shortly after lobbing gas into the house before an assault, flames erupted.

Trim's body was recovered from the charred wreckage hours later.

State Police say the investigation continues.

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

[Livyjr]

"3 bedrooms, 2 baths, price reduced (again) - Region's home sales fell 15% in March as market swings in buyers' favor"

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, May 1, 2007

It's getting harder to sell a house in the Capital Region.

Proof of that is provided by March statistics released Monday showing that the number of homes sold in Saratoga, Albany, Schenectady and Rensselaer counties decreased by 15 percent from a year ago.

The average sale price in most counties, however, is stable.

Only Albany County saw a decline in March, to $190,000 from $194,000 a year ago.

The numbers from the Greater Capital Association of Realtors are the latest evidence the housing market is cooling from the record sales numbers seen in recent years.

The inventory of available houses is growing.

And buyers are getting choosy, demanding that sellers drop their asking prices.

"It has certainly turned from being a sellers' market, as it was for years, to what you'd have to classify as a buyers' market," said James Ader, CEO of the Realtors' association.

To be sure, the Capital Region housing market is far from a free fall.

Prices remain steady, and while many real estate agents interviewed by the Times Union said they have experienced a slowdown, some claimed they are as busy as ever.

Likewise, some homeowners remain convinced they will sell their homes quickly.

"I know real estate nationally is slowing down, but Albany seems fairly solid," said Brian Pier, who just put a three-bedroom house on Sycamore Street in Albany on the market and has already had nibbles.

"I'm confident we'll sell it for no problem."

Still, there are signs the region's housing market is entering a sustained slowdown.

Home sales completed in March, down 15 percent from last year, reflect purchases that were agreed to months earlier.

But sales pending in March also fell 10 percent in the four counties, meaning the decline continued for several months.

Realtors suggest a wide variety of reasons for the sales sag.

Some note that the market in recent years has been unusually active and said a cooldown was inevitable.

Some blame the harsh weather of recent months.

A few blame the media.

"They keep telling you nationally that the market is bad," said David Heer, a real estate agent in Troy.

"And if they keep telling you that, you believe it."

Many Realtors, meanwhile, believe the number of sales is being affected by sellers with unrealistic expectations, folks who think their homes should sell for what the neighbor got a year ago.

"The price of the house has to come down to sell," said Geraldine Abrams of Geraldine and Associates in Saratoga Springs.

"What people thought they could get is not in line with what's real."

The real estate market in the Capital Region varies greatly by location.

Schenectady County has seen the steepest drop during the first three months of the year, with completed sales down 20 percent.

Closed sales for those months are down 8 percent in Rensselaer County and 9 percent in Saratoga County.

But in Albany County, sales increased by 6 percent.

Taken together, home sales in the Capital Region's four core counties are down 7 percent for the year's first three months, when compared with the same period one year ago.

Only Saratoga County saw a median sale price decline for the year's first three months, from $258,000 in 2006 to $255,000 in 2007.

Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at cchurchill@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Loan firm lays off workers - 35 more are out of work at Guardian as mortgage market slows, competition grows"

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

First published: Tuesday, May 1, 2007

CLIFTON PARK -- The slowing mortgage market cost another 35 people their jobs Monday at Guardian Loan Co., Chief Executive Stuart Schultz said.

The company is down to about 75 employees as it cuts back in the wake of a slowing real estate market, Schultz said.

Subprime loans, which once made up 100 percent of its business, are down to 11 percent, he said.

The subprime market has stalled as banks tighten loan standards and reject mortgage applications from consumers with weak credit.

But as Guardian shifted to targeting those with better credit, it faced increasing competition from other mortgage brokers.

"Banks that don't do subprime are making the prime lending tighter," Schultz said.

"We've scaled back."

In July 2005, Guardian had about 240 employees and three satellite offices.

Those have closed and the company is now "under one roof," Schultz said.

Guardian, which is in an office park off Northway Exit 9, began in Brooklyn more 75 years ago, founded by Schultz's grandfather in 1932.

The company moved to Clifton Park in 2000.

Schultz said the company has started a real estate brokerage that represents buyers only, and that it hopes to handle their mortgage business as well.

But that hasn't been enough to avoid the need for job cuts.

One former employee said he was told commissions wouldn't be paid for April.

But Schultz said employees would be paid "every penny that anyone's owed."

He said cutting staff was difficult.

"I hope that some day in the future I can hire back the people that were laid off," he said.

"They may not like me anymore, but they're good people."

[Livyjr]

"Feeding off taxpayers no crime, lawyer says - Cronyism, big spending called usual government practice at Strevell trial"

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

First published: Thursday, January 18, 2007

ALBANY -- A defense lawyer for the Rensselaer County entrepreneur whose organization got more than $1 million in member item grants directed by Sen. Joseph L. Bruno is arguing in federal court that dishonesty isn't necessarily a federal offense.

William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, the former director of the now-defunct Institute for Entrepreneurship, also said that Strevell's actions, including putting relatives on the state payroll, were normal practices in government.

Fanciullo asserted that the U.S. attorney's case against Strevell is full of allegations that should not be classified as federal crimes.

In his motion to dismiss the federal case, he suggested that by the prosecution's logic, state employees could be hauled to court for taking a sick day to play golf.

"According to the indictment it has become a felony to have a conflict of interest," says Fanciullo.

"Any 'dishonesty,' any state law violation, connected to employment, coupled with mailing or wire, becomes a federal felony."

Strevell is charged with nine counts of mail fraud and six counts of wire fraud.

The case before U.S. District Court Justice Gary L. Sharpe centers on Strevell's lavish spending on himself and on parties that honored lawmakers who helped him get public money.

Among its funding sources, the institute received two $500,000 discretionary grants, known as member items, through Bruno in 1999 and 2001.

Strevell allegedly misused some of the $8 million in mostly taxpayer funds raised by the institute during his reign from 1998 to 2001, when he and his brother, Chauncey, the former chief operating officer, abruptly quit.

While at the institute, Strevell hired friends, relatives of powerful Republicans, his daughter and his daughter's boyfriend.

He also used institute funds to purchase clothing and trips for himself and family members.

The institute's activities, revealed by the Times Union, became an embarrassment for Republican leaders who had supported it, including Bruno, R-Brunswick, Gov. George Pataki and his administration, and former U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park.

Prosecutors say Strevell, a former state bureaucrat, manipulated the system to set up the nonprofit institute as an offshoot of state government.

He worked to improperly enrich himself and his family, the indictment says, receiving a base salary of $225,000 plus $24,000 for a housing stipend, trips for family members and merchandise for his personal use, including a $64,000 recreational vehicle.

Strevell also allegedly doctored the record of a board vote that resulted in his pay rising by $95,000.

Fanciullo said Strevell's management of the institute followed normal and accepted practices of government, including the hiring of kin, and that the salary vote was legitimate.

In his motion to dismiss, Fanciullo attached a deposition from Chauncey Strevell saying he and two other members of the board, Jeffrey Pfiel and Georgette Mosbacher, voted to approve the raise.

He said the other two board members, including another Strevell brother, Felix, and Joseph Magno, abstained.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Lord, in her response to the court, said Fanciullo used "wildly hypothetical" situations to demonstrate unsuitable prosecutions.

She added that mail fraud is a legitimate charge because Strevell used the mail to conduct his alleged frauds.

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

"Strevell admits to fraud at nonprofit - Former CEO of the SUNY-affiliated Institute for Entrepreneurship faces up to 5 years in prison, fine"

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

First published: Tuesday, May 1, 2007

ALBANY -- The former head of a publicly-funded program meant to help jump-start businesses admitted Monday to finagling a fraudulent $95,000 pay raise, using his corporate credit card for a trip to Disney World and insisting his father be included on two business junkets to China.

J. Felix Strevell, 45, of Schodack, the former chief executive and executive director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship, could face up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for those and other instances of fraud he admitted in federal court.

Strevell, who quit the not-for-profit in 2001, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gary L. Sharpe to one count of mail fraud, ending years of speculation about the organization's murky finances.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 30.

As part of the 20-page plea agreement, the former deputy secretary of state agreed to pay $111,000 in restitution.

In a 2005 civil settlement brokered by then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Strevell and his brother, Chauncey Strevell, the Institute's former chief operating officer, dodged personal liability -- though the state hoped to recover $170,000 from the Institute and its insurance company.

In the course of the federal criminal case, Strevell's lawyer, William Fanciullo, argued that his client's actions, including putting relatives on the state payroll, were normal government practices.

"Any 'dishonesty,' any state law violation, connected to employment, coupled with mailing or wire, becomes a federal felony," he said, arguing earlier for dismissal.

The Institute for Entrepreneurship was founded in 1998 under the State University of New York and affiliated with Empire State College.

The Institute solicited millions of dollars in public grants and private donations.

Strevell joined the institute in 1999 and quit abruptly in July 2001, with his brother, as the first state investigations into his tenure there, the organization's finances and its claims of accomplishments gathered steam.

While at the institute, Strevell hired friends, relatives of powerful Republicans, his daughter and his daughter's boyfriend.

He also used institute funds to purchase clothing and trips for himself and family members.

The institute's activities, revealed by the Times Union, became an embarrassment for Republican leaders who had supported it, including Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, R-Brunswick, Gov. George Pataki and his administration, and former U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park.

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

[Livyjr]

"Court backs counties on trash-disposal rules"

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

First published: Tuesday, May 1, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that local governments can compel private trash haulers to use municipal facilities, even if it would cost more to keep garbage at home than to dispose of it elsewhere.

The ruling upholding local ordinances in upstate New York protects a stream of money that allows the counties, like other governments that have built recycling centers and landfills, to help pay off millions of dollars in debt they incurred to establish such facilities.

The trash companies had argued that Oneida and Herkimer counties violated constitutional protections for interstate commerce.

The companies said they would pay much less to send the garbage to out-of-state transfer stations where it is sorted and baled before being shipped off for disposal.

But the court, in a 6-3 decision, said the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority treats "in-state private business interests exactly the same as out-of-state ones," avoiding any constitutional problems.

"It bears mentioning that the most palpable harm imposed by the ordinances -- more expensive trash removal -- is likely to fall upon the very people who voted for the law," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

The authority charges $72.15 a ton for solid waste.

The trash haulers say they could dispose of the garbage they collect in the two counties for $37 to $55 a ton.

[Livyjr]

"Fifth shot in Albany since Sunday - Victim, 18, wounded while riding his bike on Sheridan Avenue"

By TIM O'BRIEN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 4:45 p.m., Wednesday, May 2, 2007

ALBANY -- An 18-year-old bicyclist was shot in the arm Tuesday as he rode near a group of men on a street corner -- the city's fifth shooting victim in less than a week.

Ikiem Davis, 18, of Albany was wounded on Sheridan Avenue about 8:30 p.m. and taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital, where he was treated and released, said Detective James Miller, a spokesman for the city Department of Public Safety.

"He came across a group of four or five men," Miller said.

"When he approached them, they started to chase him."

"It appears someone from that group took a shot at him."

Miller said police have yet to determine a motive for the shooting.

He could not say whether Davis knew any of the men.

While the police have said gun arrests are declining in the city, Davis is the fifth person shot in Albany since Sunday.

Miller said the latest incident does not appear to be related.

Three men were wounded on Clinton Street in the South End around 2:30 a.m. when a dark-colored vehicle pulled up and a man stepped out and opened fire.

The victims were identified as Michael White, 32; Eliot Lopez, 41; and Jerry Lee King, 33.

Lopez and King, both struck in the thigh, were treated at Albany Medical Center Hospital and released, police said.

White was hit in the thigh and forearm.

Lamar Herring, 16, was shot around 9:30 p.m. while walking in the 300 block of First Street in West Hill.

Police said two males followed him and fired three times, wounding the youth in the left calf.

Police have made no arrests in any of the shootings, Miller said.

[Livyjr]

"New York seeks new ethics commission chief"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:13 p.m., Wednesday, May 2, 2007

ALBANY -- The state began searching Wednesday for a new ethics commission executive director who may also run a planned Commission on Public Integrity, but the effort immediately raised concern from a likely candidate and a good-government advocate.

An advertisement in Wednesday's New York Law Journal stated a candidate will be chosen "with the likelihood of becoming executive director of the Commission on Public Integrity."

The ethics commission, which will soon merge with the state lobbying commission into the Commission on Public Integrity, has been without an executive director since Karl Sleight resigned in March to join a law firm.

The current executive director of the lobbying commission, David Grandeau, says he won't apply for the job.

But he said he still wants to be considered for the Commission on Public Integrity position when it's created.

What happens to Grandeau is not just of interest to political insiders.

Grandeau's continued rule as a regulator is important to good-government groups that have been lukewarm about the new commission, which came out of a reform agreement announced earlier this year by Gov. Eliot Spitzer and legislative leaders.

The advocates said the commission is lacking because it won't regulate the ethics of lawmakers and left Grandeau's role uncertain.

"Grandeau has been a tough cop on the beat," said Rachel Leon of Common Cause-New York.

"He certainly deserves to be considered and the work of the lobby commission must remain as a strong component of the new commission."

"The public deserves and needs a strong, independent watchdog to head up the Public Integrity Commission."

Common Cause, the New York Public Interest Research Group and other good-government advocates have long said Grandeau and the lobbying commission are more aggressive than the ethics commission.

But Grandeau said the ad puts him in a bind, because he won't leave the lobbying commission in its closing months.

"When it comes to integrity, you have to do what's right," he said.

"I don't think it's right to leave a commission I basically built up ... in a very difficult time."

"I would hope that wouldn't disqualify me from applying for the executive director's job at the government integrity commission once the commissioners whose legal responsibility it is to make that decision are appointed," Grandeau said.

Grandeau was referring to Spitzer's responses in recent months when asked if Grandeau will get the job at the new integrity commission.

Spitzer, who as attorney general had some conflicts with Grandeau, said the commission will do the hiring.

Walter Ayres, spokesman for the ethics commission, said Spitzer's new ethics chairman, John Feerick, will only recommend his choice to the government integrity commission.

Ayres also said Grandeau could apply for the current opening and the lobbying commission could operate as many agencies do with an acting executive director.

"It's a likelihood that the person will get it, but there's no guarantee because not all the commissioners have been named," Ayres said.

"We want this to be an open process."

"Anybody can apply, nobody is excluded."

Leon said the search, which the ad said ends May 11, should be open and extensive.

"The question is: Are they getting ahead of themselves by selecting a possible successor before they appoint the new commission?" she said.

In January, Spitzer and legislative leaders agreed on the new commission as part of ethics reforms aimed at ending practices that have painted state government in Albany as beholden to special interests.

Lobbying Commission member Patrick Bulgaro said he wasn't consulted on the decision to hire someone who would likely lead the government integrity commission.

"I think we have something to add to the direction of the commission and in the selection of an executive director," said Bulgaro, an appointee of Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

[Livyjr]

"New York postpones launch of racing Web site"

By PAT EATON-ROBB, Associated Press

Last updated: 7:22 p.m., Wednesday, May 2, 2007

HARTFORD, Conn. -- New York horse racing officials have backed off a plan to allow Connecticut residents to bet on races over the Internet after Connecticut's attorney general threatened Wednesday to sue them.

The New York State Racing and Wagering Board last week approved plans by the New York Racing Association to take bets on horse races over the Internet from gamblers in Connecticut and New York.

In order to bet on the races, users of the association's site would have to register, set up an account and place a deposit in that account.

Internet gambling is illegal in Connecticut.

After being contacted by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, New York racing officials said Wednesday they would bar Connecticut residents from registering for the online gambling service.

"I am absolutely delighted that New York has demonstrated respect for our law," Blumenthal said.

"It's great news and a great victory for the public interest."

The launch of the Web site, originally scheduled for Wednesday's opening of New York's Belmont Park, was pushed back to Thursday, said John Ryan, chief administrative officer with New York Racing Association.

Ryan said his agency looked at Connecticut law in advance of starting the Web site and plans to discuss it with Connecticut for a clarification to "find out where we missed this."

"Our intention is to abide by the law," Ryan said.

--------

On the Web: http://www.nyra.com

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"FELLOW DEMS RIP GOV'S 'HYPOCRI$Y'"

By KENNETH LOVETT Post Correspondent

May 3, 2007 -- ALBANY - A number of Gov. Spitzer's fellow Democrats yesterday slammed his controversial fund-raising efforts at a time he's pushing lawmakers to reform the campaign-finance system.

"The reforms he has suggested are well-intended and an improvement on the current system, but he's opened himself up to criticism by participating in fund-raising that doesn't seem to comport to the spirit of his suggested changes," Assemblyman William Parment (D-Chautauqua) told The Post.

"In simple terms, you can't have it both ways," Parment added, as Democrats, for the first time, publicly took issue with Spitzer's fund-raising.

The Post reported last week that Spitzer is asking potential donors to bundle donations by raising $25,000 to $1 million for him in exchange for varying degrees of special access.

Then on Tuesday, while the Legislature was in session, Spitzer was in California holding private fund-raising meetings.

Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson defended the governor's fund-raising practices as "beyond what is aboveboard and proper," noting how he voluntarily agreed to adhere to lower campaign-donation limits than required by law.

She also argued there is nothing unusual about offering those who raise big dollars access to special barbecues, dinners and other events with the governor and his wife - a practice criticized by Republicans, government-reform groups and now Spitzer's fellow Democrats.

"I think there's an inconsistency; leadership means leading by example," said Assemblyman John J. McEneny (D-Albany).

Asked if he agrees with Republicans who have labeled Spitzer a hypocrite, McEneny said, "I used the word 'inconsistency' and your readers will understand what a synonym is."

Assemblyman Michael Benjamin (D-Bronx) said Spitzer and reform groups would be the first to blast lawmakers if they left the state on a fund-raising trip on a session day to tap into "a network of wealthy donors."

"It sends the wrong message," Benjamin said.

"As a leader in reform, it should be a similar standard for all."

"He's taking less money but widening his net - a net not available to us."

Until now, many Democrats have privately grumbled about Spitzer's recent fund-raising practices, but didn't go public for fear of retribution from the governor.

They have left the heavy criticism to Republicans, particularly Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who has repeatedly ripped Spitzer over the past week.

A usual Spitzer supporter, Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat who has long pushed for campaign-finance reform, acknowledged that the governor "has a p.r. problem on this."

"This was a mistake, but hopefully he'll get by this and we can pass a strong campaign-finance reform bill," Krueger said.

She said that Senate Democrats are having private discussions with the governor to improve on his bill, including ways to regulate the practice of bundling through better disclosure and possible caps.

kenneth.lovett@nypost.com

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05032007/news/...rrespondent.htm

[Livyjr]

"Assemblyman censured over intern fraternization"

Associated Press

Last updated: 5:32 p.m., Thursday, May 3, 2007

ALBANY -- A Republican state assemblyman from the Buffalo area has been censured and stripped of his leadership position on an Assembly committee after spending a night sleeping on the floor of an intern's apartment, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said Thursday.

Assemblyman Michael Cole, the married father of two children, had previously apologized for the incident that had already led to the firing of the 21-year-old female intern from the program.

In losing his position as the ranking minority member on the Assembly's Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Cole also loses the $9,000 annual stipend that comes with that.

His base salary as a member of the state Legislature is $79,500 a year.

Silver also stripped Cole, 35, of the seniority he has amassed since winning a special election in May of last year to capture the seat and barred him from participating in the Assembly intern program.

Cole had said he walked the intern home from an Albany sports bar April 16 after watching a Stanley Cup playoff hockey game between the Buffalo Sabres and the New York Islanders.

He had said nothing inappropriate occurred and that he spent the night on the apartment floor after he felt he was too drunk to drive.

In a May 2 letter to Cole announcing the censure and admonition, Silver said the chamber's ethics committee had determined the assemblyman had spent the night in the intern's bedroom.

"I declare your conduct with respect to this matter to be inconsistent with the public trust and with the standards of conduct to which a member of the Assembly should be held," Silver wrote in his letter to Cole.

A telephone message left for Cole on Thursday seeking comment was not immediately returned.

The Assembly's anti-fraternization policy was adopted in 2004 after several high-profile cases involving sexual relations and Assembly staffers.

In one of those cases, Silver's former top counsel, Michael Boxley, had pleaded guilty to a sexual misconduct charge and been sentenced to six years probation and fined $1,000.

[Livyjr]

ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

"Business Groups Unite to Lobby"

May 2, 2007 at 3:59 pm by James M. Odato

Five trade groups, now calling themselves the Retail and Service Employers of New York, will be lobbying on issues of common interest, such as workers’ compensation reform.

The groups united as the Business Council of New York State is evolving under a new leader, Ken Adams.

Representatives of the new group said the council hasn’t represented some of the concerns.

The new coalition includes The Retail Council of New York State, the Food Industry Alliance of New York, the New York Association of Convenience Stores, the New York State Restaurant Association and the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association.

The individual members of the new group felt left out when the Business Council and the Spitzer administration met with union officials to come up with a workers’ compensation law without consulting them.

The issues they plan to focus on include unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, health care, energy costs, business taxes and general economic development

Comments

Comment by John Galt — May 2, 2007 @ 7:35 pm:

Interesting!

Just like a continuation of a conversation that downstate maven and I were having on this exact subject of who had been excluded or shut out of the “negotiations” when “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer made his now-famous compromise of his office with Ken Adams of the NYS Business Council on the issue of Worker’s Comp. in NYS ….

And so …..

Comment by WayUpstate — May 3, 2007 @ 8:44 am:

Didn’t workers comp reform already happen this year?

Comment by John Galt — May 3, 2007 @ 6:06 pm:

Well!

There’s the question, isn’t it?

Certainly, there were press conferences ….

And there was a union guy involved ….

Although what he really did, nobody knows, except that he apparently agreed to cut the Iron Workers out of permanent lifetime partial disability compensation benefits, and it is a question as to whether the members of that union ever had a voice in the process, or indeed, even knew that it was going on …

Nor did anyone, really ….

Outside of the union guy, and Ken Adams of the NYS Business Council and “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer …

As if those three had some kind of authority to speak for everyone in NYS, unilaterally …..

Which they don’t ….

But acted as if they did, anyway ….

In this matter of Worker’s Comp. ….

And so ….

Comment by John Galt — May 3, 2007 @ 6:59 pm:

In a response to another post, downstate maven, who has a view of this Spitzer W.C. compromise from the perspective of someone who is in the insurance industry, stated that what is called “reform” of W.C. in NYS really meant “cap the benefits and lower the premiums” ….

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=4462#comments

Which is a scenario in which the workers are the ones who have to get screwed …

Since the insurance industry is not going to give anything back, in terms of executive salaries and bonuses and such like ….

So they worked out a deal that allows the insurance companies to “maintain their end” while reducing employer’s premiums by cutting down on what the companies will have to pay out on …

Like permanent partial disability for an ironworker …

Or for a public employee who has been forced from their employment by the creation of a hostile workplace because the public employee was going to blow the whistle on corruption …

And so …

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=4558#comments

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK SUN

"Pirro Accused of Withholding Evidence in Murder Case"

By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN

Staff Reporter of the Sun

May 3, 2007 updated 11:47 am EDT

The saga of Jeanine Pirro is about to take a dramatic new turn, with the disclosure that while serving as district attorney of Westchester, Ms. Pirro was in the habit of secretly recording work-related telephone conversations, and a federal grand jury wants to hear them.

That fact was disclosed in a filing in federal court in Manhattan in the course of an investigation the purpose of which is not yet fully in the public record.

But the disclosures so far indicate that when Ms. Pirro left office in 2005 to run for state attorney general, she asked an investigator to destroy a box containing at least some of the tapes, an assistant district attorney in Westchester, Richard Hecht, wrote in a letter to the 2nd United States Circuit Court of Appeals.

The investigator, who is not identified in the letter, did not follow through, Mr. Hecht wrote.

One of the reasons this is of interest is that that Ms. Pirro's successor now is in possession of a tape suggesting Ms. Pirro failed to disclose evidence that could have helped a man whom Ms. Pirro subsequently charged with murder.

But the existence of any tapes immediately raises the question of whom Ms. Pirro was talking to over her years in office and what conversations, whether of a political or legal nature, might be recorded in the surviving tapes.

"The fact that the then District Attorney secretly recorded certain conversations in her office and on her telephone came to light during a still continuing federal grand jury investigation conducted jointly by the United States Attorney and this Office," Mr. Hecht wrote.

A lawyer for Ms. Pirro, William Aronwald, said that Ms. Pirro "did not regularly tape all of her conversations," but declined to comment further.

He said any allegations that Ms. Pirro had ordered the destruction of any tapes was "wrong."

"In so far as any claim that she ordered destruction of tapes at any time, that is categorically false," Mr. Aronwald said.

This description of Ms. Pirro's alleged conduct is emerging in court filings before the 2nd Circuit.

The appellate court is hearing the case of Anthony DiSimone, who was prosecuted for murder by Ms. Pirro's office in the gang-related murder of Louis Balancio, which occurred outside a bar in Yonkers in 1994.

Mr. DiSimone was convicted in 2000, after turning himself in unexpectedly in 1999.

A federal judge overturned Mr. DiSimone's conviction earlier this year, after he served seven years in prison.

The district judge, Charles Brieant of United States District Court in Manhattan, said Ms. Pirro's office had withheld evidence that should have been turned over in the case.

Mr. Hecht's letter suggests that the tapes of Ms. Pirro's conversations contain additional leads which were never entered into the case file, much less passed on to the defense.

The two taped conversations, both from December 18, 1997, are of telephone calls between Ms. Pirro and the chief of criminal cases for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, Mark Pomerantz.

They discuss whom Ms. Pirro ought to charge with the high-profile murder.

According to a transcript of the conversation, Mr. Pomerantz told Ms. Pirro that an FBI informant had heard a different man, whom was also charged in connection to the murder, confess to holding down the victim while yet another man stabbed him.

"This tape was never maintained in any of the files relative to the Balancio homicide or for that matter in any file regularly maintained by the District Attorney's Office," Mr. Hecht wrote to the court.

"Additionally, no written record of the taped conversations or the substance of either conversation was found in any of our Office files."

A lawyer for Mr. DiSimone is arguing that the new evidence should bar their client from being retried, according to a letter filed with the court.

"This admission was never turned over to the defense," a lawyer for Mr. DiSimone, John Bartels Jr., wrote in a letter to the 2nd Circuit.

"The state now admits that Ms. Pirro attempted to destroy this evidence."

The tape appears to have come to light during a federal grand jury investigation in Manhattan.

"The tape was among numerous other tape recordings discovered during the course of the federal probe," Mr. Hecht wrote.

"The tapes were apparently maintained over the years by criminal investigators on Mrs. Pirro's security detail."

It is not illegal under New York law for one person to record a telephone conversation without telling another.

But it is a requirement that a prosecutor turn over to a defense matters that might prove exculpatory or helpful in court.

Mr. Pomerantz, now in private practice, could not be reached for comment.

According to the transcripts, Ms. Pirro responds to Mr. Pomerantz's new information by asking how she should handle the press conference she planned to hold in connection to the case the following day.

The tape ends with Ms. Pirro saying, "I really don't mean to be pushy here, but I gotta know how I'm gonna handle this in the morning," according to the transcript.

Then the tape ends, with Ms. Pirro giving no indication of what she intends to do.

Ms. Pirro did not return a call for comment this morning.

http://www.nysun.com/article/53782?page_no=1

[Livyjr]

"Change of plans is bad news for local company - Massachusetts firm that bought East Greenbush manufacturer to close plant despite earlier pledge"

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

First published: Friday, May 4, 2007

EAST GREENBUSH -- When Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Electron Corp. acquired East Greenbush-based Rupprecht & Patashnick two years ago, it assured workers and founder Harvey Patashnick the plant was there to stay and grow.

This week, however, the parent firm apparently had a change of heart.

It notified workers, Patashnick and the state Department of Labor that the plant, which makes high-tech air monitoring devices, will close by October.

Of the 79 workers there, just 18 have been offered jobs when the company, now called Thermo Fisher Scientific, consolidates operations at another plant in Franklin, Mass.

Thermo paid $32.5 million for the April 2005 acquisition of R&P.

"We have no intention of leaving the region or reducing the footprint here," Marijn Dekkers, the CEO of Thermo Electron, told local employees during a visit in July 2005.

The following May, Thermo Electron acquired Fisher Scientific for $10.6 billion.

"All I can say is it's inconsistent with statements made before and during" the purchase, Patashnick said Thursday morning.

Had he known Thermo would close the plant, "it would have painted a whole different picture," Patashnick added.

A spokeswoman for Thermo said the consolidation was done to "maximize synergies in the business."

Thermo likely will hire 50 to 60 people in Franklin once the operation is up and running, said company spokeswoman Karen Kirkwood.

She said there were no state incentives offered at either location.

The consolidation was a business decision.

A spokeswoman for the Empire State Development Corp. said the decision to close was "out of the blue.

"We were actually completely surprised by this news," said spokeswoman Anna Marie Mannino.

The department, she added, had talked with Thermo in the past about contracts and future business opportunities with state agencies.

"We would love to talk to them about staying," she added.

Thermo Fisher Scientific late last month reported sharply higher earnings following the Fisher acquisition, with revenue more than tripling in the first quarter to $2.34 billion from $684.3 million, and income before one-time charges reaching 59 cents a share, beating analysts' estimates of 53 cents.

Earnings for the combined companies totaled $138.9 million after the charge, compared to $46.9 million for Thermo Electron a year earlier.

Dekkers, the CEO, began his career in the Capital Region in 1985 as a polymers researcher at GE Global Research in Niskayuna.

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

[Livyjr]

"AMD gives Malta a surprise - Company shows interest in opening more factories during briefing on $3.2B chip fab proposal"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer

First published: Friday, May 4, 2007

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Company executives for Advanced Micro Devices Inc. meeting in the Spa City to discuss the $3.2 billion computer chip factory planned for Malta announced Thursday that the company may be interested in opening a second, or perhaps third, factory in the Luther Forest Technology Campus.

The announcement came as other company executives attended the annual meeting in San Jose, Calif.

The news was a shocker unveiled at the Saratoga Economic Development Corp.'s annual dinner at the Saratoga City Center.

SEDC, after all, is the nonprofit group that is developing the Luther Forest Technology Campus, just a few exits south on the Northway.

So while AMD chief executive Hector Ruiz was on the West Coast fielding questions from shareholders upset with the chip manufacturer's recent poor performance, other AMD executives were here assuring locals that the company's "chip fab" plan is still alive and well.

Before the big news at the Thursday dinner, AMD executives had exhibited some of their plans to a select few on Wednesday.

"We believe AMD has a need for this facility," Terry Caudell, AMD's director of wafer manufacturing strategies, said as he pointed to a large rendering of the proposed facility that AMD unveiled Wednesday.

"The question is the timing."

Caudell spoke to a small group of journalists before the dinner, and provided some insight into what Capital Region residents should expect from AMD in the coming months.

But he left the possibility of the second and third factories as a dinner-time surprise.

Few details were released, although a conceptual design of another two factories was part of a slide show.

A design review process that began in February is expected to be completed at the end of this month, and during the second half of the year, AMD management will decide on a probable timeline for the project, which is expected to create 1,200 manufacturing jobs and spin off thousands of additional construction and supplier jobs.

AMD's board of directors would then have to give the final go-ahead to the project to break ground.

However, even under the best-case scenario, the first shovel wouldn't hit the ground -- at the very earliest -- until spring 2008.

That is because even after it gets board approval, the project would require a six-month regulatory process, and a harsh Saratoga County winter would prevent any construction until next spring.

Caudell gave no indication of whether the company was leaning toward starting the project next year or in 2009, when $650 million in cash incentives from New York state expire.

Including tax breaks and infrastructure improvements, the state's package for AMD totals $1.2 billion.

Caudell said market conditions and the company's new cost-saving strategy will play a big part in determining the timeline.

AMD reported a $611 million loss for the first quarter last week and will cut capital spending -- on projects like factories -- by $500 million this year.

The new strategy, which Ruiz calls "asset light," is still being developed by the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company.

Caudell is part of the management team that is working on asset light, and the company has said it will give Wall Street analysts a better idea about how that strategy will work in July.

Some analysts are saying that asset light is code word for the company moving toward more of a "fabless" model of doing business in which computer chip companies outsource their manufacturing to factories called foundries, many of which are located in Asia.

AMD already uses foundries, but it also has two of its own factories in Dresden, Germany.

Under the asset light model, AMD will slow its conversion of one of those factories to more advanced technology.

But Caudell said that asset light will in no way preclude an investment in the Luther Forest factory, which would be 1.2 million square feet.

"This business is a very volatile business, you have ups and downs," Caudell said.

"We regret last quarter was such a bad quarter for us."

"(But) the plans for Luther Forest are long-term."

In fact, Luther Forest could hold the key to AMD's fierce battle with rival Intel Corp., which owns about 80 percent of the market for so-called x86 chips that are used in most personal computers and servers.

Ruiz said at the annual meeting Thursday that he believes the future of the business is in "visualization" technologies that are being driven by consumer's thirst for video and multi-media.

AMD recently acquired a Canadian graphics chips company called ATI Technologies, and is expected to soon develop so-called "fusion products" that combine graphics and microprocessing.

Caudell said those types of cutting-edge chips could be made at Luther Forest.

AMD could also benefit from recent advancements that IBM Corp. has made in manufacturing computer chips -- work that has been perfected at the University at Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering.

IBM announced Thursday a new breakthrough process called "self-assembly" in which trillions of insulating holes are made in chip wafers to improve performance.

AMD and IBM collaborate on R&D, and although AMD officials did not know if that particular new technique would be used in AMD's chips, Caudell said AMD and IBM "do share" intellectual property.

That could bode well for Luther Forest and UAlbany because New York's package includes $150 million in R&D money for AMD to be used at IBM's East Fishkill facility and at Albany NanoTech, UAlbany's $3.5 billion semiconductor manufacturing research facility on Fuller Road in Albany.

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