New York’s Medicaid program, administered by the state Department of Health (DOH), is a federal, state, and locally funded program that provides a wide range of medical services to those who are economically disadvantaged or have special health care needs.
Read the full report here.
The head of the state Association of Chiefs of Police is calling on Gov. Cuomo to expand ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft to upstate to curb drunk driving.In a letter to Cuomo, Cheektowaga Police Chief David Zack wrote that upstate accounts for 51% of all licensed drivers in New York, but 65% of alcohol- and drug-impaired arrests and 59% of all fatal and personal injury crashes.The percentages are significantly lower in New York City, which offers an array of ridesharing and mass transit options that upstate does not, Zack wrote.
The event is billed as "a conversation about 'What Works' with individuals touched by child welfare systems."
Participants will include: Anni Keane and Rose Williams from You Gotta Believe - a NYC organization that seeks to find permanent homes for older children in the foster care system; Sheila J. Poole, the Acting Commissioner from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services; Linda S. Spears, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families; Molly McGrath Tierney, the Director of the Baltimore City Department of Social Services; and Jeanette Vega from Rise - a parent support organization in NYC.
The event will run from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm in the Dora Maxwell Auditorium, 700 Patroon Creek Blvd, Albany, NY 12206.
It isn't often that the state Conservative Party is in agreement with liberal groups, but that is the case when it comes to urging Gov. Cuomo to sign a bill that would gradually shift the funding of legal services for the poor from the localities on to the state.The Conservative Party... said that a requirement that the state's counties, including the five boroughs, fund legal defense programs for the poor amounts to an unfunded mandate that is choking the finances of the localities.....The bill has won the support across the political spectrum....The New York Civil Liberties Union, the state Catholic Conference, NAACP, Lambda Legal Defense Fund, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Innocence Project and the Brennan Center for Justice have also urged Cuomo to sign the bill.
The current email subject line says: "The Office of The State Attorney Complaint." No such office exists in New York.If you received the email, please delete it immediately. Do not follow any links or open any attachments. If you do, your computer or cell phone could be exposed to a virus.
The Office of the New York State Attorney General has issued a press release about the scam. Link: http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-issues-alert-phishing-scam-targeting-new-york-attorneys.
For more information about how the AG's office handles complaints against businesses, go to: http://www.ag.ny.gov/consumer-frauds/Filing-a-Consumer-Complaint.
New York state's Roman Catholic church leaders and a coalition of civil rights and legal groups are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to approve state takeover of local government costs of legal representation for indigent criminal defendants."The Catholic Conference believes a well-resourced indigent legal defense program is firmly in keeping with our long-standing advocacy of criminal justice reform and must be supported," the executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, Richard Barnes, said in a letter to the governor Nov. 23.
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In a separate letter earlier this month, national NAACP President Cornell William Brooks told Cuomo that the faults of "New York's underfunded patchwork system are well-documented."
Brooks was joined by leaders of the Brennan Center for Justice, the Fund for Modern Courts, the Innocence Project, the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and 16 other groups.
Letters of interest should be sent to Town Clerk James Vangalio at PO Box 452, Ovid, NY 14521. Letters should be received before December 12, 2016.
For more information, contract Supervisor Walt Prouty at 607.279.7170
Seneca County Sheriff Tim Luce has issued a travel advisory for Seneca County.deputies are currently responding to many calls of vehicles off the road. Sheriff Luce reports most roads are snow covered and slippery, and that many roads have not been plowed.
Sheriff Luce urges no unnecessary travel until further notice.
Residents living in Schuyler County have something to look forward to for 2017. On Monday, Schuyler County officials held a public hearing on next year's budget.The 2017 budget is just over $46 million, and calls for a tax rate reduction of %5. This means, for every $1,000 assessed property value, homeowners will see about $50 a year in savings.
During the public hearing, one audience member asked if there would be any staff cuts. County Administrator and Budget Office Tim O'Hearn said no. Legislators then passed the budget, unanimously.
The department of largest growth is public safety - something O'Hearn explains is due to increased trends of higher drug activity and arrests.
This is the fifth straight year Schuyler County had a reduction in the tax rate.
