NY landowners frustrated by long wait for fracking

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) Thousands of landowners across southern New York saw shale gas as the answer to their prayers for debt relief and a secure future.

But five years after the gas rush began across the border in Pennsylvania, their dreams have faded to frustration. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly delayed a decision on whether to allow fracking, a drilling technique that shatters shale with chemically treated water to free the gas.

For some, time may have run out. Kimberly More says she may lose her horse farm to back taxes that gas-drilling money would have covered.

Nick Schoonover, head of a landowners group, fears bankrupt farms will be sold to out-of-state investors who have been shopping for land with mineral rights in hopes Cuomo will lift the 5-year-old fracking ban.

NY tax collections up 3.3 percent for 10 months

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) New York's comptroller says state tax collections for the first 10 months of the state fiscal year total nearly $56 billion, up 3.3 percent from the same period a year earlier and $538 million more than projected.

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the boost in personal income tax receipts, up 4.7 percent or $1.6 billion from a year earlier, is partly due to high-income taxpayers shifting income into 2012 in response to federal tax increases in 2013, including bonus payments and asset sales at the end of December.

He says the state's general fund had a closing balance of $7.1 billion on Jan. 31. That was $1 billion higher than the latest projections.

Upstate NY man found dead days after wife suicide

WALTON, N.Y. (AP) State police say they've found the dead husband of a woman whose body was discovered along with the remains of another man in a burning upstate New York house.

Troopers say the investigation of 48-year-old Debra Sundstrom's suicide last Tuesday at the home of 51-year-old Dominick Bosco in the town of Walton led them to her nearby home and the discovery of her husband's body on Friday. They say 49-year-old Randy Sundstrom had been killed, possibly in February 2010.

Lt. Jeffrey VanAuken says Monday they haven't determined who killed Sundstrom or how.

Debra Sundstrom died from a gunshot to the head. The cause of Bosco's death hasn't been determined. The house had been set on fire.

Walton is in Delaware County, 120 miles northwest of New York City.

Upstate NY woman charged in death of grandson, 8

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) Authorities say a 43-year-old old woman has been charged with beating her 8-year-old grandson repeatedly over a prolonged period, eventually leading to his death.

Gloria Nelligan of Schenectady was arraigned in city court on a manslaughter charge Monday and ordered held without bail.

Police say Sha'hiim Nelligan was found unresponsive by family members in their Schenectady home Saturday morning. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. Gloria Nelligan was his legal guardian.

In a 2007 story in the Daily Gazette of Schenectady about women raising grandchildren, Nelligan described her history as a domestic violence victim. She said she had taken parenting classes, battered woman counseling and college courses in hopes of making a better life for Sha'hiim, who she said was abandoned by her drug-abusing teenage daughter.

Officials: Tenant making meth torched NY apartment

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) Officials say a man trying to make methamphetamine started a blaze in an upstate New York apartment building that drove more than 40 people out of their homes.

They tell the Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin reports that 36-year-old Daniel Kauchis was trying to make the drug in his apartment when there was a small explosion that left him with minor burns and started the fire at about midnight Saturday.

Binghamton police say Kauchis was arraigned on first-degree reckless endangerment and fourth-degree arson charges and sent to the Broome County jail. Court officials weren't available Monday evening to say if he has a lawyer.

No other injuries were reported.

There are 21 children among the 43 being given emergency shelter or have moved in with friends or relatives.

Cops: Hudson Valley man leaps from Jeep at 60 mph

NEWBURGH, N.Y. (AP) Police say a fleeing motorist who jumped out of a Jeep doing 60 mph suffered only minor scrapes.

Newburgh police say the driver began a chase after officers tried to stop him for speeding at about 2:45 a.m. Monday.

They say the Jeep wove through several city streets before the driver bailed out and was caught after a foot chase.

The unoccupied Jeep ran into a fire hydrant, parking meter and a set of roll-down gates at a church.

Police say 22-year-old Casiem Hart of Poughkeepsie was wanted for a parole violation and had some cocaine when he was caught.

He's being held on charges including reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, drug possession and driving while ability impaired by drugs. Court officials weren't available to say if he has a lawyer.

Neglected horses found on Onondaga Nation property

ONONDAGA, N.Y. (AP) An animal welfare organization has taken 14 neglected horses from property owned by the Onondaga Nation where seven other horses were found dead.

The Syracuse Post-Standard reports volunteers from the Central New York SPCA went to the 156-acre farm in the town of Onondaga after getting reports of mistreatment earlier this month.

Paul Morgan, the organizations executive director, says the surviving animals were emaciated, in poor condition and appeared to be wild.

The property has been owned by the Onondagas since 1999, but isn't on their reservation.

Morgan says the tribe is cooperating and a group of Clan Mothers issued a statement saying they weren't aware of the mistreated horses.

Morgan said Monday the horses may have been on the property since before the Onondagas acquired it.

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