If you thought New York was done talking about fracking 12 years ago, think again.

A new experimental form of fracking that uses carbon dioxide rather than water to extract shale gas is being introduced to landowners in the Southern Tier.

On a typical afternoon at the migrant shelter located off Hall Street in Brooklyn, local residents describe seeing migrants eating their own food and selling products.

And some feel this is a sign that the city has not done enough to help the 3,000 migrant men who are being housed at the emergency shelter site.

A bankruptcy court judge has approved a plan by the cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global to return about $3 billion to its creditors and investors, including thousands of people who New York regulators say were defrauded by the company.

The plan and settlement approved Friday by Judge Sean H. Lane includes up to $2 billion to settle a lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said the company misled investors about the risks of putting their money into a company program known as Gemini Earn.

Rep. Marc Molinaro hosted a roundtable discussion Monday to address the ongoing housing crisis facing Hudson Valley residents.

Officials and decision makers from all aspects of housing met to discuss the challenges they’re facing, including the price of building materials, keeping projects in line with highway, water and sewer standards and battling opposition to affordable and transitional housing opportunities.

SPECTRUM NEWS VIDEO: For more than 120 years, the Legislative Correspondents' Association, the association of journalists tasked with covering state government, has put on an annual show lambasting the very people and institutions it covers. The event has historically attracted the incumbent governor and a member of the opposition party to deliver a rebuttal to the show. This year's show, "Kathy Land," will feature Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay giving the Republican rebuttal.

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The New York State Department of Transportation estimates there are 65,000 deer-vehicle collisions every year. The estimated average cost for a driver for repairs and medical bills is $40,000.

There's an effort underway in the western part of the state to create a wildlife pathway. It would start in Western New York and span across the state, to connect with the Staying Connected Initiative already in place, and end in Canada.

Dozens of business organizations from across the state are fighting hard against lawmakers' efforts to expand consumer protections — shifting their pushback into high gear by sending a letter to all members of the Legislature this week with three weeks of session remaining.

More than 30 business groups, led by the Business Council of New York State, warn small businesses will suffer the consequences if legislation is signed into law to enhance the state's consumer protection laws after 44 years.

The Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board, created to determine how to spend New York’s cut of at least $26 billion in opioid settlement money, met Friday in Albany.

It was an at times contentious meeting with discussions about how to best spread the money across work done by different organizations that have at times clashed. But there were also demands coming from the public as well.

Gov. Kathy Hochul says New York has made major progress in reducing gun violence. She says the rate has reached historic lows after declining for two straight years.

New York's Gun Involved Violence Elimination Initiative released data showing shooting incidents with injury and the number of shooting victims each decreased by more than 35% through April 2024. That's compared to the average from January to April over the last five years in the major metropolitan areas outside New York City.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is continuing efforts to make New York state a global hub for the semiconductor industry.

The governor on Friday announced that Irish manufacturer Niacet Specialty Chemicals is investing $50 million in its Niagara Falls, New York facility.

With declining membership, rising costs and heavy impact legislation debated in the halls of the state capitol and Congress, the new New York Farm Bureau leader says she hopes to push for new youth career initiatives and advocate for support for Empire State farmers.

CEO Deanna Fox grew up on a dairy farm in Chenango County, and many of her family members were farmers.

This week, both Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul broke out their passports. The mayor went to Rome to attend a conference, and the governor went to both Italy and Ireland to speak at conferences. NY1 investigative reporter Courtney Gross, political reporter Bobby Cuza and statehouse reporter Bernadette Hogan discuss Adams’ and Hochul’s international travel and what it may mean for them in the long run.

According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, as of 2022, there were 63,858 officers in the state. But the split of male versus female officers is far from 50/50.

The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office began allowing men and women to hold the same rank in 1974.

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday to shore up a fund that compensates victims of terror attacks, including Sept. 11.

Rep. Mike Lawler formally introduced the bill, which updates the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund. New York Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Dan Goldman and New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer are co-leading the legislation.

A bill was introduced earlier this year to create a registry to track Frontotemporal Degeneration, or FTD, in New York.

FTD is a group of disorders that occur when nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are lost.

Education stakeholders in New York have been trying to make changes to the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) of teachers and principals for years.

The APPR, according to teachers, school boards and superintendents, yielded little or no benefit in improving teaching or learning while imposing enormous time demands on school personnel.

New York City’s housing crisis has been covered for years, so it’s easy to forget that upstate New York cities face similar challenges.

But Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and Binghamton saw a major victory in the recently passed state budget. Parts of New York state Sen. Sean Ryan’s four-part housing plan received funding, including $40 million to build one and two family homes.

Fresh off frustrations with health spending in the budget and cuts to Medicaid ahead of future spending gaps, lawmakers introduced new legislation to require Managed Long Term Care plans to publicly report how they spend taxpayer dollars.

Lawmakers hope mandating plans to release detailed spending data will ensure that raises allocated for home care workers in past budgets will go to staffers as intended.

Gov. Kathy Hochul showcased New York’s environmental commitment Thursday during an international climate conference organized by the head of the Catholic Church.

Hochul was introduced to Pope Francis and, according to her office, she received rosary beads as a gift.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says her trip and presence in Europe this week “certainly puts New York in the spotlight” in the eyes of the world.

Hochul was in Italy Thursday morning to participate in Pope Francis’ Pontifical Academy of Social Science's three-day joint summit with a focus on climate change.

Through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, New York will offer $14.7 million in funding for farmers and food businesses to strengthen the infrastructure of the food supply chain, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul's office.

“The Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program provides critical funding to support our food supply chain by investing in projects that modernize agricultural facilities, improve training and facilitate the purchase of new equipment,” Hochul said in a statement.

The child poverty rate in New York remains one of the highest in the country and is “alarmingly” high in some cities, according to a report released Thursday by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

The report found New York’s child poverty rate ranked 41st in the nation in 2022, which was at least six percentage points higher than states that border New York. More than 2.7 million New York residents were living in poverty in 2022 and more than a quarter of them were children, the report said. Almost half of all children living in poverty are in “deep poverty,” meaning they are in a household with income that is 50% below the federal poverty line.

The New York state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government is appealing a court ruling last week that said the ethics watchdog was created unconstitutionally amid its investigation into former Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his book he wrote about his administration’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move continues a previous stay on the case and means it would move to the state’s highest court — the state Court of Appeals.

The New York state Public Service Commission has adopted a Statewide Solar for All program that aims to spur development of solar and retail energy storage projects, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office announced Thursday.

Statewide Solar for All will combine the utility-managed Energy Affordability Program (EAP) and market-based community solar with the goal to deliver clean energy savings to low-income households.

The New York state Senate has confirmed two new commissioners — Barbara Guinn as commissioner of the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance and Dr. DaMia Harris-Madden of the state Office of Children and Family Services — Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.

Guinn has been acting commissioner of the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance since July, replacing Daniel Tietz, and concurrently serves as executive deputy commissioner, a position she has held since March 2017. The office aims to help low-income residents meet their basic needs and to help those who can work become financially independent. In the past, she has also worked in the Division of Integrated Family Assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, state Department of Labor and state Division of the Budget.

Building on the success of NY1’s documentary about the career of Mario Cuomo, NY1 and Hunter College’s Roosevelt House held an in-depth discussion about the former governor that was moderated by Errol Louis. Errol’s panelists were Mary Ann Crotty, Cuomo’s former director of state operations; Harold Holzer, a former top aide to Cuomo who now serves as Roosevelt House’s director; and renowned journalist Denis Hamill.

The special live taping of the panel on May 14 was held at Roosevelt House — Hunter College’s Public Policy Institute and the former Manhattan home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Democratic lawmakers said Wednesday they plan to pass legislation to be sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk for the second time to improve transparency of state contracts that begin during a public emergency after the governor vetoed the legislation last year.

Assembly Republicans called for greater oversight of the $4.3 billion New York is spending to house and care for migrants arriving in New York City — including $2.4 billion in the latest budget and nearly $2 billion last year.

The U.S. House approved legislation Wednesday mandating federal safety standards for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in e-bikes and scooters, with the goal of preventing fires.

The bill passed with wide bipartisan support, 378 to 34. It now heads to the Senate.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, took the wraps off a sweeping 20-page report on artificial intelligence Wednesday, offering recommendations for how to foster innovation while also establishing guardrails for the innovative technology.

The document, dubbed a roadmap, is the product of a year of Senate forums with high-profile technology leaders, including the heads of Google and Facebook, plus labor leaders and civil rights advocates.

A push is on to introduce public banking in New York state, and start the trend in Rochester.

While a bill to allow municipalities to start their own public banks has floated around for several years, a focus on the Flower City is gaining traction.

Albany lawmakers are making another attempt to pass a package of bills aimed at regulating social media use by New York teens.

Critics argue the attempt could be a government overreach but supporters say now is the time to act.

New York state Assemblymember Anna Kelles has introduced legislation that serves as an alternative to the state’s emerging cap and trade system.

Cap and trade is a program used to help meet climate goals by capping pollution and then authorizing tradable allowances between companies, creating a new market.

The Rockefeller Institute and the Center for Women in Government & Civil Society will hold a conference on immigrant integration efforts in New York state next Wednesday, May 22.

The role that immigration will play in the next presidential election, as well as how New York is handling the influx of migrants, has been covered extensively by the media, but not how migrants are fitting into our communities.

Advocates are pushing for the passage of bills in Albany to protect New Yorkers from the negative impacts of artificial intelligence.

They're calling for more industry and legal accountability in the use of AI in the state.

Many higher education institutions are fighting tooth and nail to keep students enrolled across the country. That's because a number of colleges and universities are closing their doors due to a lack of students.

State University of New York Chancellor John King reports a different trend. Approaching this final week of commencement ceremonies across New York state, King is weighing in on a range of topics from enrollment to layoffs.

Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced discounts for Hudson Valley commuters to New York City, but one elected official from the area said Wednesday it’s not enough to offset commuter pricing.

With congestion pricing set to begin for Manhattan's Central Business District on June 30, Hochul last week announced a pilot program that would include ticket discounts for the Newburgh Ferry, several bus services and parking at the White Plains train station.

As Gov. Kathy Hochul announced an overhaul to New York’s cannabis program, longtime cannabis expert Jesse Campoamor joined NY1 political reporter Bobby Cuza on “Inside City Hall” to talk about the changes and the future of the industry.

Campoamor also weighed in on the state report into the Office of Cannabis Management and efforts to crack down on the illegal market.

As the community prepares to honor the two-year anniversary of the Buffalo mass shooting on Tuesday, state and local leaders revealed the final design for the 5/14 memorial on Monday.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Rep. Tim Kennedy and members of the 5/14 Memorial Commission unveiled renderings of the memorial to the public for the first time. The final design has 10 interconnected pillars that feature the names and photos of each of the 10 victims who lost their lives during the racist attack at the Tops supermarket on Buffalo's Jefferson Avenue in 2022. The design also includes a new building that is slated to be a location for education, exhibitions, community activities and events, according to Gov. Hochul.

As the Buffalo community honors the two-year anniversary of the 5/14 mass shooting, U.S. Reps. Timothy Kennedy (D-NY26) and Grace Meng (D-NY6) have reintroduced a bill named for one of the victims.

The Aaron Salter Jr. Responsible Body Armor Possession Act was reintroduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. If passed, the legislation would prohibit the sale or possession of enhanced body armor by anyone except members of law enforcement, military personnel or others who use the equipment for work. Enhanced body armor is armor that meets or exceeds level three ballistic resistance.

A long-awaited critical infrastructure project could soon be full steam ahead, regardless of who is president next year.

Gateway Development Commission CEO Kris Kolluri told Spectrum News NY1 that they are close to unlocking billions of additional federal dollars for a new train tunnel under the Hudson River.

A group of organizations are pushing for New York lawmakers to pass a bill that would disaggregate data of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) individuals, according to a letter sent Monday.

The bill (S6584-B/A6219-A) would direct every state agency, board, department and commission that collects demographic data to use separate categories to collect data for the “White” and “Middle Eastern or North African” groups.

Lawmakers at the state Capitol on Tuesday continued their push to, as they put it, rescue Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in New York.

They said there are an abundance of challenges facing EMS organizations, and short of a complete overhaul of the system, or massive increases in Medicaid spending, targeting specific problem areas that would increase funding and changing the ways organizations are supported locally are the best ways to address them.

There are a variety of worker protections that New York advocates are pushing hard to pass during the final few weeks of the legislative session.

Rochester Democratic state Assemblyman Harry Bronson, who chairs the Assembly Labor Committee, is the lead sponsor of many of them.

Only 122 legal marijuana retailers have opened over the last three years or so since New York’s marijuana law came into effect, falling far short of the number promised, and leading Gov. Kathy Hochul to ask Office of General Services Commissioner Jeanette Moy to undertake a 30-day assessment into the operations of the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM).

Moy’s report, which she delivered to the governor last week, was critical of the agency’s leadership capacity, failure of centralized operations, lack of customer service and overly complex licensing requirements, among other issues.

Lawmakers amended legislation this week to halve the number of annual lockdown drills required for New York schools, including removing a provision that allowed parents to opt students out of participating altogether.

With 13 scheduled session days remaining for the year, lawmakers Tuesday said lockdown drill reform remains a top priority. Sen. Andrew Gounardes sponsors legislation to reduce the number of annually required school lockdown and active shooter drills from four to two.

BUFFALO, N.Y, (AP) — The city of Buffalo on Tuesday marked the second anniversary of a racist mass shooting that killed 10 Black people with the dedication of a memorial space honoring the victims.

Anchoring the space outside the Tops supermarket targeted in the attack is a sculpture entitled “Unity,” which features purple metal pillars representing each person killed. Three gold pillars represent those who were wounded.

All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives are up for reelection in November, including the 26 in New York. Spectrum News political reporters will be providing updates throughout the campaign season on New York's congressional races.

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The Central New York Regional Market Authority's financial position has deteriorated and will continue to see annual net losses if measures are not taken to increase revenues and reduce expenses, according to an audit released Tuesday by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office.

The audit found the Syracuse-based public authority, which operates a farmers market and flea market to help vendors sell their products and has programs and services to promote agriculture in the region, has seen a total net decline from $6 million at the start of fiscal year 2020-21 to $4.9 million at the end of fiscal year 2022-23. Cash available to pay operating costs declined from $502,807 to a deficit of $6,539 over the same time period.

Retired Israeli Ambassador Yoram Ettinger, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations and Middle East affairs, joined Capital Tonight host Susan Arbetter on Monday to discuss the civilian death toll in Gaza and the Biden administration’s decision to halt some weapons shipments to the Jewish state.

In 2015, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued new rules requiring state and local governments to disclose certain tax abatements in annual financial reports. This new requirement makes information about tax abatements at the state and local government levels available for the public to review, according to the Tax Policy Center.

The organizations Good Jobs First and Reinvent Albany recently published an analysis of that public information.

A criminal defense expert offered analysis Tuesday on Michael Cohen’s testimony in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, in which he claimed the ex-president sought to cover up his alleged encounter with an adult film star to protect his presidential bid.

During an interview on “Mornings On 1,” Duncan Levin, a criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York, pointed to the strategic timing of Cohen's testimony by the Manhattan district attorney's office, suggesting they set up Cohen, Trump's former attorney, to be the puzzle piece in their presentation of evidence.

A letter from President Joe Biden will be read at a ceremony on Tuesday marking two years since the mass shooting at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo that left 10 people dead and three others wounded.

The letter will be read by Greg Jackson, White House deputy director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

Less than a month from the end of the legislative session, lawmakers and advocates are working to get their priorities across the finish line.

For some Democrats in the majority, one priority is sentencing reform. It comes amid ongoing and sometimes heated debates over criminal justice reforms.

New York is poised to play a decisive role in the battle for control of Congress this fall, with roughly a half-dozen House seats considered up for grabs in November — most of them currently held by Republicans.

But polling shows President Joe Biden’s popularity in New York has sagged since 2020, raising questions about whether he might be a drag on Democrats’ chances of winning those contested seats and taking back the majority in the United States House of Representatives.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will travel to Europe later this week to make an address at Pope Francis’ summit, “From Climate Crisis to Climate Resilience,” and deliver keynote remarks at the Global Economic Summit in Ireland, the governor’s office said Monday.

Hochul will be in Italy and the Vatican Wednesday and Thursday to participate in the Pontifical Academy of Science and the Pontifical Academy of Social Science's three-day joint summit.

A newly enacted Rensselaer County law will publicize the name and address of any person convicted of one of a dozen felony charges related to the criminal sale of drugs on a registry, but some state lawmakers are skeptical the online database will pass constitutional scrutiny.

Earlier this year, the Republican-led county Legislature unanimously voted to create a drug dealer registry in efforts to reduce substance abuse and overdose deaths related to opioid use that have spiked nationwide.

The mayor went to Rome, saw Vatican City and met the pope on a recent three-day trip.

Mayor Eric Adams was in Italy to attend the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, a global peace conference.

Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz was honored by the New York state Senate on Monday for his prolific career and philanthropic work.

The Boston Red Sox great, nicknamed "Big Papi," has long leveraged his celebrity status to raise awareness and money for a variety of causes that connect him to New York, according to the resolution passed by state senators.

New York lawmakers are considering criminal justice reforms to improve transparency of county jails throughout the state before session ends next month.

Legislation to improve the oversight of local jails and protections for incarcerated people in those county facilities advanced through the state Senate Crime Victims, Crime & Correction Committee last week, giving supports hope it could clear both houses of the Legislature before June 6.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been changed to reflect the correct number of students arrested.

While graduation ceremonies go on throughout the weekend, there are safety concerns being looked at as protests and encampments continue at some colleges across New York state.

A New York judge on Friday struck down a Long Island county's order banning female transgender athletes after a local women’s roller derby league challenged it.

Judge Francis Ricigliano ruled that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman didn't have the authority to issue his February executive order, which denies park permits to any women’s and girl’s teams, leagues or organizations that allow female transgender athletes to participate.

In the weeks after what some described as a shocking overturn of ex-media mogul Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, state lawmakers introduced a new bill that they say, if passed into law, would prevent future sex crime cases from similar reversals.

“Feeling that he had not had a fair trial? I never had a trial,” Ambra Battilana Gutierrez said on Thursday. She was one of the women who testified against Harvey Weinstein in 2020, describing her past experiences with him.

Mayor Eric Adams has left New York for the “Eternal City” of Rome.

Adams left Thursday to meet the pope in Italy and attend the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, where he discussed with world leaders city and international issues.

Another hurdle was thrown in the path of New York’s ethics watchdog on Thursday when a New York state appeals court ruled the Commission on Ethics & Lobbying in Government (COELIG) is unconstitutional.

The Appellate Division, Third Department issued a unanimous decision affirming that the manner in which COELIG was authorized violated the principles of separation of powers.

New York state’s school districts are required to replace their gas and diesel-powered buses with electric buses by 2035. And in just 3 and half years, by 2027, districts will no longer be able to purchase buses that are gas or diesel-powered.

It’s a huge undertaking, and districts are struggling with the costs of the electric buses, as well as the electric infrastructure to power them.

Former New York State Sen. Tim Kennedy just wrapped up his first week in his new job as a member of the United States Congress.

Kennedy took the oath of office on Monday evening, less than a week after winning a special election to represent his Buffalo-area House district.

Some cannabis business owners threw support Friday behind ousted state Office of Cannabis Management Executive Director Chris Alexander as he prepares to depart the agency following a damning report released Friday that shows sweeping department inefficiences.

The state Office of General Services report, which was first reported in The New York Times after a nearly six-week review by OGS Commissioner Jeanette Moy, shows OCM failed to give a license to 90% of cannabis business applicants. The governor on Friday called the department "a disaster" and said the report shows deep-seated issues in the agency with leadership that have prevented fulfilling its licensing role.

WEST SENECA, N.Y. — Green Philosophy 716 is an established state-licensed hemp retail store in West Seneca.

President and double board-certified physician Dr. Jackie Schneider said she became interested in cannabis because it helped her husband deal with post-traumatic stress disorder when traditional western medicine failed.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday afternoon that the executive director of the state's embattled Office of Cannabis Management will step down at the end of his term in September.

The office's chief equity officer, who is under investigation because of a retaliation allegation, also will be removed from the agency after an investigation concludes, multiple sources confirmed to Spectrum News.

Update 5/10/24: According to documents obtained from Webster Town Court, Doorley was fined $90 and had an additional surcharge of $93, which she has paid. Doorley pleaded guilty to speeding for going 55 in a 35-mile-per-hour zone.

Original Story:

Saying EMS services in New York are in crisis, the New York State Association of Counties, with lawmakers and other advocates, have banded together for a campaign called Rescue EMS.

Frustrated that priorities outlined earlier this year weren’t included in the state budget, they are gearing up for a big late-session push next week to make progress on items that they say will help keep these organizations afloat.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The New York State Assembly moved legislation expanding the state's bottle deposit program and another aimed at reducing the production of packaging plastics out of the Ways and Means Committee this week.

Labor groups, including Teamsters and AFL-CIO, as well as industry groups like the Association of Convenience Stores, have sent letters of opposition to lawmakers.

More than 120 House lawmakers are demanding that additional funding for a federal program that helps tens of millions of low-income Americans access the internet be attached to a must-pass FAA reauthorization bill, currently under consideration on Capitol Hill.

New York Reps. Yvette Clarke, a Democrat, and Brandon Williams, a Republican, led the bipartisan letter, which calls for extending the Affordable Connectivity Program.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A state commission that investigates ethical violations in New York was created unconstitutionally, an appeals court said Thursday in a ruling in favor of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo that targets the watchdog agency’s enforcement powers.

Cuomo is fighting in court an attempt by the state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government to force him to forfeit $5 million he got for writing a book about his administration’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Early this session, it seemed like Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Legislature had reached an agreement on at least one thing: to modernize the state's short-term Temporary Disability Insurance for employees who cannot work due to illness, pregnancy or non-work-related injury.

The maximum TDI, or paid medical leave, benefit of $170 per week has not changed for 35 years. In January, legislative leaders agreed it must be increased, but it was removed from the state's $237 billion budget at the last minute after Hochul wanted to reduce the benefit to 20% of a worker's average weekly wage for the second half of the 26-week program.

The 2025 mayoral race seems to be coming into focus.

On Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams drew a second possible Democratic challenger, this time from his home turf of Brooklyn.

State Senator Joe Addabbo brought out the big names at the state Capitol this week in support of a bill that he says would modernize daily fantasy sports in New York.

Former New York Yankees star Tino Martinez argued that if passed, the bill will also enhance the fantasy experience for New Yorkers like him in the process.

Several dozen people representing the Capital Region Muslim community took their calls for a cease-fire in Gaza to the state Capitol in Albany on Wednesday as peace talks continued amid an Israeli offensive in Rafah.

The group put on display their support for Palestinians in Gaza and a cease-fire agreement between warring parties.

Could this be the year that Albany passes the Medical Aid in Dying Act?

Advocates have been pushing the bill for almost 10 years, but they say there are several reasons to be especially hopeful this session: According to a variety of polls, about two-thirds of Americans support the issue. Also, the sponsors of the bill are two powerful lawmakers, the chair of the Assembly Health Committee Amy Paulin and the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee Brad Hoylman-Sigal.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- It was a homecoming Tuesday for one of the president of the United States' top advisors.

Western New York native Tom Perez, the White House director of intergovernmental affairs, spent the first half of the day in Syracuse before traveling home to Buffalo as he toured projects in part funded through the bipartisan federal infrastructure law.

The 2024-25 New York state budget features $500,000 allocated for the review and update of Holocaust curricula in schools, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemblymember Nily Rozic announced.

This comes roughly two years after legislation was passed requiring the state Department of Education to examine whether the Holocaust is being properly taught in schools. That survey showed all school districts that were required to include Holocaust education in its curriculum did so. The 2022 review also showed most districts taught students about the Holocaust in social studies and English Language Arts (ELA) classes, not through specialized courses or events.

The Capital Region will receive almost $11 million in federal funding to help with public housing improvements, Rep. Paul Tonko announced Wednesday.

Six area housing authorities received a total of $10,762,770 in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support affordable housing renovations. It's part of $3.17 billion awarded to 2,756 public housing authorities across the nation.

Sen. Zellnor Myrie, a Democrat who represents parts of Brooklyn, said Wednesday he is seeking a run against Mayor Eric Adams.

The progressive lawmaker announced that he has formed a committee to consider a mayoral candidacy in 2025 and has begun fundraising.

Former President Donald Trump's alleged hush money payments trial took a dramatic turn Tuesday as adult film star Stormy Daniels took the witness stand.

Daniels faced a barrage of personal questions related to her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, with prosecutors delving into explicit details, including descriptions of the former president's underwear.

Child care advocates say they are disappointed with what was included in the final enacted state budget, and say it doesn't address the depths of the crisis here in New York.

Meanwhile, they are looking ahead thanks in part to a long-awaited report from New York’s Child Care Availability Task Force released last month that offers recommendations which align with many priorities advocates are pushing. Some are already supported by legislation and one significant recommendation was already vetoed by Governor Kathy Hochul last year.

Rep. Dan Goldman has introduced legislation aimed at enhancing the federal government’s ability to investigate potential cases of antisemitism and discrimination on college campuses.

His bill would allocate an additional $280 million to the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, which Goldman, a Jewish Democrat representing lower Manhattan and part of Brooklyn, says currently “does not have sufficient funding to conduct the number of investigations that are now necessary with the rise of antisemitism on campus.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul was doing damage control Tuesday after suggesting Monday that some Black children in the Bronx do not know what a computer is.

“We will be the best. We will be the first, and I want others to follow because right now, we have, you know, young Black kids growing up in the Bronx who don’t even know what the word computer is. They don't know,” Hochul said Monday at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills.

There are dangerous chemicals, including PFAS, in some personal care products and cosmetics that many people use on a daily basis, according to a coalition of environmental organizations.

A package of bills would ban or force the removal of the carcinogens and give the commissioner of the New York State Department of Health more say in what chemicals can be used in the products.

A senior White House adviser made a stop in Syracuse on Tuesday.

Tom Perez, director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, was part of a roundtable discussion on the importance of transportation equity and mobility as well as community involvement. He highlighted the $180 million federal money aimed to go toward reconnecting communities and neighborhoods for the Interstate 81 viaduct project.

Combating gun violence around the state. That's the call from advocates at a rally held Tuesday at the state Capitol. It comes as officials in Western New York continue investigating a violent weekend.

Six people were shot and killed in Rochester over the weekend. Six teens were shot in Buffalo at a party, and a 14-year-old girl died. And Tuesday morning, a man was shot and killed outside a Buffalo bar.

In an interview with Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin on Tuesday ahead of the start of the 13th day of his hush money trial, former President Donald Trump said that he will “probably” testify in the case.

“I would like to,” Trump, speaking from New York, told Spectrum News’ Anthony DaBruzzi before launching into a laundry list of now familiar complaints about the case, the judge overseeing it and the gag order preventing him from talking about witnesses.

Before it was knocked off the ballot by a state Supreme Court justice Tuesday, New York voters were set to decide in November on Proposition 1, also known as New York’s Equal Rights Amendment.

The ERA would solidify abortion rights in the state constitution and expand protections against discrimination against women and LGBTQI+ individuals, among others.

A New York judge on Tuesday blocked a politically important abortion rights amendment from appearing before voters on the November ballot, dealing Democrats a setback as the party moved to focus battleground races in the state around abortion access.

State Supreme Court Justice Daniel J. Doyle found that state lawmakers failed to follow procedural rules around passing constitutional amendments, incorrectly approving the amendment before getting a written opinion on the language from the attorney general.

One year from today on May 7, 2025, all New Yorkers will be required to have a REAL ID to board a domestic flight and access certain federal facilities.

There are several types of ID now available: standard, REAL ID and enhanced. REAL ID will get you on flights within the United States and enhanced allows you entry to Canada without a passport.

Worksport Ltd. will invest $6 million and expand its state-of-the-art facility in the Town of West Seneca, adding 280 new jobs over the next five years, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday.

The company, which manufactures tonneau covers and solar-powered systems for pickup trucks, currently produces approximately 50 covers daily, but the addition of new manufacturing lines will allow the company to produce up to 900 covers per day.