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The body of 20-year-old Brian Lanzo of Endicott has been recovered. Lanzo jumped off a bridge in Harpursville Saturday, his body was found at about 9:30 Sunday morning in the Susquehanna River between Center Village and Ouaquaga. The Investigation is continuing.
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New York State of Health reported that 1.2 million New Yorkers have completed their applications and 933,000 have enrolled for coverage since the launch of the Marketplace in October. The Small Business Marketplace offers small businesses with 50 or fewer employees a range of options; they can access expert advice and enroll at nystateofhealth.ny.gov/employer, or by calling toll-free at 1-855-355-5777, or by contacting an insurance broker.
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Governor Cuomo submitted 483 vetoes, eliminating pages of unnecessary language from the recently enacted State budget. The vetoes include 328 reappropriations where spending has been exhausted, 19 were duplicates, 4 were vetoed previously, 6 were listed as new appropriations improperly & 6 items were unconstitutional.
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Governor Cuomo, state leaders & Industry & Tourism leaders held the 2nd Wine, Beer, Spirits and Cider Summit in Albany today. The governor said that their efforts are paying off with an increase in jobs across the entire industry:
(Cuomo 4-8-14)
The Governor said that the 60 million dollars spent in tourism advertising has led to an increase in revenues for the tourism & Agriculture industries by over 4 billion dollars.
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The Catskill Watershed Corporation has extended eligibility guidelines for its Septic Rehabilitation and Replacement Program. Homeowners within the New York City Watershed in Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan or Ulster Counties may be eligible for assistance if their property is within 300 feet of a watercourse, and if their homes were built prior to November 2, 1995. The program pays 100% of the cost of replacing failed septic systems for permanent residences; 60% for non-primary residences. Homeowners who may be eligible for this program, should call 845-586-1400 to arrange for a CWC staff visit.
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New York State of Health reported that Over 1.2 million New Yorkers have completed their applications and over 908,000 have enrolled for coverage since the launch of the Marketplace last October 1st. More than 70% of those who have enrolled to date were uninsured at the time of application. New York State of Health will continue to provide additional assistance to individuals who began the application process by March 31. All applications and enrollments must be completed by the end of the day on April 15th.
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On April 3rd Delaware County Deputies participated in Operation Safe Stop to combat the illegal passing of stopped school buses. Deputies shadowed school buses during their morning and afternoon bus routes in the Downsville, Deposit, Delhi, Franklin and Stamford Central School Districts. During the Operation deputies issued 1 traffic summons to an individual that passed a Franklin School District Bus that was stopped with flashing red lights. Statistics show that increased awareness of school bus traffic laws has brought the umber of potentially deadly incidents way down since Operation Safe Stop began.
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The prospects are not good for passage of a medical marijuana bill in the Legislature this year according to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Silver said there has been “no interest” from the Senate in bringing up the issue for a vote. The Assembly’s Democratic majority included a medical-marijuana plan in its one-house budget resolution, but the issue never gained traction in closed-door budget negotiations. In his State of the State address in January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his administration will authorize medical marijuana on a limited basis, allowing up to 20 hospitals statewide to prescribe it to terminally ill patients.
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Binghamton & Johnson City Police Chief Joseph Zikuski confirmed this morning at about 7:05 AM; an officer with the Johnson City Police Department was shot and killed near Wilson Hospital in Johnson City. The shooting suspect was in surgery & was confirmed dead moments ago. The suspect’s car was located on Hudson Street, Bomb-detecting dogs and bomb squads were called to the scene, and Harrison Street was blocked off to the public, and Hospital staff have evacuated from 30 and 22 Harrison Street. WCDO will have further details as they become available.
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State lawmakers are voting on the rest of the budget bills today, making this the 4th straight year that New York will have an on-time budget. Area state senator Jim Seward comments on the tax cutting aspect of the budget;
(Seward budget 3-31-14)
State senator Tom Libous also commented that tax cuts, education aid and the slowing down of common core implementation is in this budget:
(Libous Budget 3-31-14)
The budget also contains 10 million dollars in start up money for the new Binghamton University school of Pharmacy building, to be built in Johnson City near Wilson Hospital.
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New York State of Health reported that 1,130,600 New Yorkers have completed their applications and 782,472 have enrolled for coverage since the launch of the Marketplace on October 1st. The deadline for individuals and families to enroll in coverage through is today, more than 70% of those who have enrolled were uninsured at the time of application.
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22-year-old Brad Goodrich of Greene was released from Wilson Medical Center after being treated for internal injuries and faces vehicular homicide charges for allegedly driving drunk and causing a crash that killed his passenger. Goodrich had a blood alcohol content of 0.25% when his vehicle crashed into a utility pole on March 7th on Hogsback Road in Greene, 23 year old Brandon Archer, was pronounced dead at the scene. Goodrich was indicted by a grand jury on March 20th & faces arraignment today in Chenango County Court, for aggravated vehicular homicide, 2nd degree manslaughter, 2nd degree vehicular manslaughter, DWI, and reckless driving.
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Chenango County sheriffs department arrested 62-year-old Maxie James Godfrey of Oneonta, who is accused of paying an undercover DEA agent, to murder 1 person & requesting the agent murder a 2nd individual. Godfrey had asked other inmates at the Otsego county jail about murder for hire, the DEA supplied an agent to pose as a hit man; they met at the Jail, where Godfrey was arrested and is being held at the Otsego County jail on $10,000 bail.
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The state Attorney General’s office is trying to dismiss 2 lawsuits that seek to force a decision on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in New York. The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York, and the bankruptcy trustee for Norse Energy, filed separate legal challenges recently, arguing that the Cuomo administration is unnecessarily delaying a review of hydrofracking. Hydrofracking has been under a moratorium in New York since 2008, when then-Governor David Paterson began the environmental review process. A hearing on the lawsuits is currently scheduled for April 25th in state Supreme Court in Albany.
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The state Gaming Commission’s Facility Location Board will put out requests for applications today for 4 privately owned casinos in 3 regions of the state: the Albany area, Catskills and Southern Tier. 9 bidders have already come forward with their plans, working out to 3 bidders in each region. The application process will end on June 30th.
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Oneonta Police Department arrested 62-year-old Maxie Godfrey of Oneonta for 1st degree Criminal Sexual Act, for allegedly using forcible compulsion to engage in sexual acts with another person. Godfrey is currently being held at the Otsego County Jail on other related charges and is scheduled to reappear at a later date.
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New York State of Health reported that 696,880 New Yorkers have completed their applications and 412,221 have enrolled for coverage since the launch of the Marketplace last October. 66% of New Yorkers who have enrolled to date were uninsured at the time of application. The open enrollment period for individuals runs through March 31st.
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The Sidney school district Odyssey of the Mind teams will hold a performance tonight, starting at 6:00PM at the Sidney high school auditorium. Spokesperson Marissa Orezzoli comments:
(Marissa Orezzoli 2-11-14)
The Odyssey of The Mind regional competition will be held this Saturday the 15th at the Harold BOCES Campus on route 206 in Masonville, the state competitions are scheduled in April at Binghamton University.
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