Witness Testimony has begun in the 3rd murder trial of Cal Harris. Barbara Thayer was the first to testify, she served as the Harris family’s nanny around the time of Michele Harris’s death in September 2001. Cal Harris was convicted twice before in Tioga county court, those convictions were overturned on appeal; this 3rd trial was moved to Schoharie county court.
—————————————————
US Senator Charles Schumer is calling on the Centers for Disease Control to make measles vaccines and booster shots free & readily available, following an outbreak of the long dormant disease in California. Schumer is also pushing for free mumps and rubella shots in schools & health clinics as soon as possible. The CDC reported that 121 people have the measles since January 1st, most of those cases stemmed from a multi-state outbreak linked to visits to a Disney amusement park in California, following an anti-vaccine movement.
———————————————-
Governor Cuomo today deployed New York State assets to Massachusetts to assist the state in its cleanup efforts following the historic snowfall in the region over the last several weeks. More than 60 personnel and 71 pieces of heavy equipment, left New York this morning, New York joins Vermont, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in assisting Massachusetts.
—————————————–
Republican in both houses of the state legislature are working to convince Governor Cuomo to can the “Gap Elimination Adjustment”, which they claim has cut funding to poor rural school districts. Area Assemblyman Cliff crouch said that Governor Cuomo so far is playing hardball with the budget:

(Crouch 2-11-15)

The Senate Majority announced that they are prioritizing the idea of removing the Gap Elimination Adjustment in the coming fiscal year budget.
—————————-
The number of school districts overriding New York’s property tax cap declined by more than half over the past three fiscal years, dropping from 44 school districts in 2012-13 to only 19 in 2014-15, according to a report issued today by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. The report also found low- and average-need districts were twice as likely to override the tax cap compared to high-need districts. 14 districts exceeded the cap in two of the three years and one district exceeded the cap all three years. The full report is available at osc.state.ny.us.
——————————–
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that the Community Overdose Prevention program, which provides funding to equip state and local law-enforcement officers with naloxone, has saved more than 100 lives in less than a year. The abuse of heroin and prescription Opiod Drugs is a growing problem, Nationwide, fatal overdoses from heroin doubled from 2010-2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Broome County Sheriff’s department was among the top life saving organizations with 5 saves by Naloxone since the program started.
———————————–