Banned firearms for TV, movies OK under NY gun law

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) New York wants to make sure running gun battles on the streets of Manhattan can still be seen on the big screen.

State officials say they'll change the state's newly toughened gun law so military-style rifles and high-capacity handguns can be used on the sets of TV shows and movies.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislators say Wednesday they'll exempt the productions from bans they quickly passed in the aftermath of the Newtown school massacre.

They must also quickly fix another error that could put police officers carrying high-capacity magazines in violation of the law.

The need for a cleanup bill means the fight over the law may not be over. Thousands of opponents of the new restrictions are expected to descend on Albany Thursday as legislators consider additional amendments.

Opponents of NY gun law to rally in Albany

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Opponents of New York's new gun control law plan to lobby lawmakers and rally at the Capitol against measures they say infringe on their constitutional right to bear arms.

The New York Rifle and Pistol Association, the rally organizer, says busloads of demonstrators from more than a dozen counties around the state are scheduled to arrive Thursday morning and many buses will be full.

About 500 opponents rallied outside the Capitol two weeks ago, at one point chanting they won't comply. The association has separately filed notice of its intent to file a lawsuit in an attempt to overturn the law.

It sets a seven-bullet limit on magazines, tightens the definition of illegal "assault weapons" and requires owners of formerly legal semiautomatic guns to register them.

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf to be buried at West Point

WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf is being laid to rest at West Point.

A memorial service for the Desert Storm commander famously nicknamed "Stormin' Norman" will be held at the U.S. Military Academy's chapel Thursday afternoon. His remains will be buried afterward at West Point's cemetery.

Schwarzkopf commanded the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991. He was 78 when he died in Tampa on Dec. 27 of complications from pneumonia.

Schwarzkopf graduated West Point in 1956 and later served two tours in Vietnam.

Schwarzkopf will be buried near his father, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the founder and commander of the New Jersey State Police.

Authorities: 6 teens jailed in eastern NY killing

TROY, N.Y. (AP) Three more teenagers have been arrested and pleaded not guilty to charges they took part in the robbery and killing of a man in eastern New York.

Local media outlets report 18-year-old Keyanna Bradley and 17-year-olds Ravenal Dunbar and Keith Ferguson were indicted on second-degree murder and robbery, conspiracy and weapon charges in connection with the Feb. 4 killing of 21-year-old Takim Smith in Troy.

Prosecutor say Smith was lured with a promise of sex to an apartment where he was stabbed to death and robbed of a cell phone and jewelry.

Three other teens charged in the indictment were arrested earlier. They are 16-year-old Mariyah Zeigler, 18-year-old Davonte McGill and 19-year-old Eric Mallard.

The teens were all being held Wednesday without bail in the Rensselaer County jail.

NY nursing home aide accused of resident attack

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) A western New York man accused of throwing a chicken bone at an 83-year-old nursing home resident in his care and ramming her wheelchair into a door has been arrested.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says Groven Glenn was a certified nurse aide at the Park Ridge Living Center in the town of Greece when he got angry and attacked the woman on Nov. 5.

He says Glenn has been charged with felony endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person based on surveillance video footage. The crime carries a possible sentence of from 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison.

Authorities weren't available to say if Glenn has a lawyer.

NY puts tighter controls on hydrocodone refills

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) New York has set tighter restrictions on the popular painkiller hydrocodone, now prohibiting automatic refills.

The reclassification, part of the law passed last year that will require doctors to issue drug prescriptions electronically, is intended to help curb the black market fueled by painkiller addictions and doctor shopping.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who pushed for the law, has sent an open letter to doctors, pharmacists and other medical professionals to remind them that hydrocodone is now a Schedule II controlled substance under New York law, like the painkiller oxycodone.

Popular brands include Vicodin, Lortab and Tussionex.

State authorities say the restrictions apply to all products containing hydrocodone, including combinations with acetaminophen or ibuprofen.

Fed audit says NY county should repay $48M

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) A federal audit says an upstate New York county should pay back $48.5 million in disaster aid it received following a 2006 snowstorm because the county violated federal rules.

The audit by the inspector general at the Homeland Security Department says Erie County was wrong to give hiring preference to local contractors to remove fallen trees following the storm known as the "October Surprise." The auditors said that limited competition.

County officials said Wednesday they got permission to do so from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but the auditors say they can't find documentation to back that up.

Elected officials are challenging the audit's findings.

DiNapoli withdraws DTE shareholder proposal

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has withdrawn a shareholder proposal at DTE Energy Co. with the utility agreeing to report more on its website about renewable sources, energy efficiency measures, reductions in greenhouse gases and discussion of costs and benefits.

The shareholder proposal on behalf of New York's $153 billion retirement fund for public workers called for a committee of independent directors to assess the company's environmental efforts.

The fund has 652,561 shares of Detroit-based DTE worth almost $43 million.

DiNapoli, in concert with other shareholders, is pushing similar resolutions at the utilities Ameren, FirstEnergy and SCANA, noting all relied on coal for more than half of their electricity generation in 2010.

The $11 trillion Investor Network on Climate Risk says shifting to clean energy reduces shareholder risk.

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