Governor Cuomo announced that he will deliver his state of the state & Annual Budget Proposal next Tuesday in Albany.  Lawmakers have until April 1st to pass the budget plan; the Governor will be working with Democratic Majorities in Both Houses of the legislature this year.

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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced the Assembly Majority agenda in Albany Wednesday, which he feels has a great chance of being enacted this year with the corresponding Democratic majority in the State Senate:

(Heastie 1-10-19)

Heastie said that the majority agenda includes the Reproductive Health Act, Affordable health care, criminal justice reform, reforming the bail system, & passing the “DREAM Act” for the children of immigrants to have access to Higher Education.   Local Assemblyman Cliff Crouch commented the Lawmakers need to reverse the trend of people leaving the state for opportunities elsewhere:

(Crouch 1-10-19)

Lawmakers have until June 19th to get their bills passed for the 2019 session.

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State Senator Fred Akshar is cosponsoring the “Anti-Corruption Constitutional Amendment” with Democratic State Senator Liz Krueger to establish a new regulatory body to oversee the legislative and executive branches of state government, following years of corruption.   Akshar said that it would replace the Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the Legislative Ethics Commission, which are both comprised of individuals, appointed by the legislature and the executive branches and have been criticized for a lack of independence and transparency.  The bill requires a constitutional change and must pass both houses of the State Legislature before going before the public as a referendum at the polls, if it passes, the Governor would not have to sign it for it to become law.

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Utica Police have arrested 29 year old Naythen Aubain on 2 counts of murder, for allegedly killing his grandmother, 90-year-old Katherine Aubain, and their 87-year-old landlord, Jane Wentka, on Sunday night in East Utica.  Aubain is accused of stabbing both women in the neck & dismembering the bodies and moving them to other locations in the city.  Aubain was arraigned Tuesday & a psychiatric evaluation was ordered.

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31-year-old Gordon Carr-Wisner of Otego was reported to law enforcement his parole officer, for allegedly accessing the internet and illegally using social media sites. 7 different accounts were found that were operated by Carr-Wisner, which resulted in 7 counts of Failure to Notify of an Internet Change within 10 Calendar Days for Registered Sexual Offender.   Carr-Wisner was returned to jail without bail pending court action on the parole violations & the charges.

Governor Cuomo announced more than $35 million was returned to over 35,000 victims of wage theft in 2018 by the state Department of Labor.  In the Southern Tier, over $346,000 was returned to 385 employees.

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The Delaware County Chamber of Commerce is a featured participant at the 2019 Annual Catskill Regional Agriculture Conference to be held at SUNY Delhi Today.  Registration opens at 9:30 a.m. Workshop sessions will be held on a variety of topics.   More information is available by calling Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County at 865-6531 or at ccedelaware.org.

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The Public Comment period on the East Sidney Dam project by the US Army Corp of engineers ends tomorrow a public meeting is planned to occur sometime in April.   The Master Plan Update and public meetings may be found at nab.usace.army. More information about the Plan is available at (410) 962-1846

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