Low-pay workers would welcome NY minimum wage hike

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Workers who earn low wages making hotel beds, ringing up groceries, delivering pizza and tending tables in New York say the proposed hike in the state's minimum wage won't erase all their financial worries.

But it will help.

Lawmakers in Albany are considering a proposal by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to increase the state minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.75 an hour in July. Assembly Democrats proposed making it $9 an hour after President Barack Obama proposed in his State of the Union address last week increasing the federal minimum wage, also $7.25 an hour, to $9 in stages by the end of 2015.

Cuomo has described the current minimum wage as “unlivable.” It works out to about $15,000 a year for full-time work.

NY officials: Include Hudson areas in flood study

IRVINGTON, N.Y. (AP) New York officials are calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to include Hudson River communities in a $20 million study of flood-prone areas in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

Sen. Charles Schumer says local governments and groups like Poughkeepsie-based Scenic Hudson are concerned about the long-term effects of rising sea levels.

They note that 150 miles of the Hudson River, starting in New York Harbor, are in sync with the ocean's tides.

Schumer's efforts are also backed by the mayor of Irvington, N.Y., as well as business owners and economic development officials.

Cops: NY mom hired strippers for teen's birthday

SOUTH GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (AP) Police say a 33-year-old upstate New York woman accused of hiring strippers for her son's 16th birthday party has been arrested on child endangerment charges.

South Glens Falls police tell local media outlets Judy Viger of Gansevoort faces five counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

They say she hired two women who did lewd dances for five teens under the age of 17 during the party at a bowling alley.

The investigation began after people concerned about the November party showed authorities racy photos posted online. One showed a scantily clad, tattooed woman clinging upside down to a seated teen as others looked on.

The answering machine at Viger's phone number wasn't accepting messages Monday.

No other arrests are expected.

South Glens Falls is in Saratoga County, 44 miles north of Albany.

New art gallery to open in Winooski

WINOOSKI, Vt. (AP) A new art gallery is going to be opening in the Vermont city of Winooski.

On March 1, the Heron Dance Wild Nature Art Gallery will hold its grand opening.

The opening exhibit will feature Roderick MacIver's original watercolors and acrylic ink paintings of wild nature.

MacIver lives in a cabin deep in the Adirondacks and his paintings are inspired by his life in the woods.

Music for the event opening will be performed by The Hardscrabble Hounds & Helen Hummel.

Vermont gas prices increasing slower than elsewhere

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) Gasoline prices are continuing to rise in Vermont, but they're not going up as fast as in other parts of the country.

AAA says gas prices have risen for 32 straight days.

Nationally, the average price has increased 42 cents a gallon.

But in Vermont prices have gone up 27 cents a gallon over that same period.

WCAX-TV (http://bit.ly/WS6Sz0 ) says Vermonters are still paying more for gas than most other Americans, an average of $3.84 a gallon, compared to a national average of $3.73.

Ontario's top court to hear cases on mandatory minimums sentences

TORONTO - Ontario's highest court begins hearing a number of landmark cases today on mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes. A special five-judge panel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario will hear six different cases raising similar issues the rest of this week. The panel will consider the constitutionality of minimum sentences for several gun-crime laws.

Critics in the legal community say mandatory minimums don't reduce crime and do more harm than good. Both the federal and provincial governments will be arguing in support of the harsher sentences, which they say were enacted in response to an increase in illegal handguns.

It's likely that arguments will centre around the case of Leroy Smickle.

(The Canadian Press) (from Broadcast News Ltd.)

(All stories copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)