The New York State Gaming Facility Location Board approved Governor Cuomo’s request for a new round of bidding for a casino in the Southern Tier. The Board originally reviewed 16 proposals for casino resorts in 3 upstate regions, they recommended licenses for only 3 projects instead of the original 4, last month and ignored 2 requests from the Southern tier in Johnson City & in Nichols. Governor Cuomo asked the board to consider a new round of bidding for a casino license specifically for the Southern Tier following the urging of State Senator Tom Libous & other local leaders.
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State Police, the Vestal Police, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the DEA & Endicott Police arrested 38-year-old George Clarke Jr., of Endicott, following the execution of search warrants & the discovery of illegal drugs with a street-value of more than $180,000 and a large amount of cash. Clarke was charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, Criminal Possession of Marihuana, Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia, Clarke was arrested after police executed search warrants at 2 locations, Police seized cocaine, marihuana, methamphetamine, and a Pickup truck during the searches. Clarke was arraigned in the Town of Union Court and remanded to the Broome County Jail without bail.
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A morning fire Tuesday the home of the Pitcher- Eastwood family at 7 Vine Street in Gilbertsville. The family of 3 has lost all possessions in Tuesday’s fire; no one was home when the fire broke out. Donations for the family are being accepted at fundrazr.com.
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The state Assembly & State Senate are back in session for the 2015 sessions. Sheldon Silver was re-elected as Assembly Speaker again; he outlined the assembly agenda for this year:

(Silver 1-14-15)

Governor Cuomo will outlined his agenda and his executive budget proposal to a joint session of the legislature on January 21st.
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Area Congressman Chris Gibson will serve on the House Small Business Committee during the 114th Congress; he will also continue his service on the House Agriculture and Armed Services Committees. The Small Business Committee has jurisdiction over agriculture policy, healthcare, domestic energy resources, tax policy impacting small businesses, financial aid, regulatory flexibility, and paperwork reduction. The committee also oversees the Small Business Administration, which provides loans and counseling to entrepreneurs and supports efforts to award government contracts to small businesses.
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18 Year NHL Hockey player Todd Bertuzzi will give Binghamton hockey fans a treat when he laces up for the Binghamton Senators this week. Binghamton Senators Executive Vice President of Operations, Tom Mitchell comments:

(Tom Mitchell 1-14-15)

Mitchell said that tickets are still available for Friday night’s game against rival Syracuse at binghamtonsenators.com.
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