News stories tagged with "little"

(10/06/11) Attorneys were in court this week in Albany, arguing a case that could dramatically reshape the way North Country legislative districts are redrawn. A new state law requires that inmates be counted in their home communities -- the places they last lived before being sent to prison.

But that would shift a lot of people back to downstate Democratic districts, stripping population from districts held by North Country lawmakers like Betty Little from Queensbury and Patty Ritchie from St. Lawrence County. Republicans are hoping to overturn the law and as Brian Mann reports, the case could be settled in the next two months.

(06/20/11) Clyde Rabideau has emerged as one of the North Country's most enduring, colorful and sometimes controversial politicians. Rabideau was mayor of Plattsburgh for a decade in the 1990s and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1998.

Sixteen months ago, the Democrat was elected mayor of Saranac Lake, the largest community in the Adirondack Park. His latest adventure in politics has been marked by some big successes, including a public campaign to convince the Trudeau Institute to keep its laboratories in Saranac Lake.

But he has also clashed publicly and fiercely with other leaders in the North Country and his brash style is sparking criticism. Brian Mann sat down to talk in-depth with Rabideau and has our profile. more

(04/08/11) The North Country State Senators are suing to block a new law for redistricting this year. It would count prison inmates in the districts where their home residence is, not in the North Country town where they're held. David Sommerstein reports. more

(01/06/11) In his speech yesterday, Governor Cuomo fired a shot across the bow of the North Country's prison industry. For decades, correctional facilities have been used to shore up the region's economy, providing thousands of high paying, dependable jobs.

Inmate populations have been dropping the last few years, in part because of reforms to the Rockefeller drug laws last year. Those laws imposed long prison sentences even on low-level, non-violent offenders.

As Brian Mann reports, the new governor says using prisons as an economic development tool is unaffordable and morally wrong. more

(12/06/10) For nearly twelve months, Adirondack businessman and environmentalist Peter Hornbeck has been waiting. Hornbeck is a boat builder in Omstedville, in Essex County. Last year, Governor David Paterson appointed him to sit on the Adirondack Park Agency's board of commissioners.

But his track record as a conservationist sparked opposition from local government groups and from Republican state Senator Betty Little. Little convinced Democrats in the Senate to delay Hornbeck's confirmation. Once again last week, a key committee left his appointment on the shelf.

Now Governor Paterson is leaving office and Republicans appear to have won a new majority in the Senate. After all those months, Hornbeck's bid to sit on the APA board appears to have reached a dead end. On Friday, Hornbeck told Brian Mann that he's been in a kind of political limbo, with little information about the process in Albany or what might happen next.

(10/01/10) A new firestorm has erupted between the Adirondack Park Agency and some local government leaders in the North Country.

The Park's Local Government Review Board issued a report last week, claiming that the APA is "under the influence and in need of detoxification."

Park Agency chairman Curt Stiles responded with a letter questioning the Review Board's honesty and its legitimacy. Brian Mann has our story. more

(02/10/10) State Sen. Betty Little opposes the latest of Governor David Paterson's nominations to the Adirondack Park Agency commission. And she says she's introducing a measure that would give local governments more control over the park commission's board. Martha Foley has more.

(01/28/10) Governor David Paterson was in the North Country yesterday, announcing that a new, temporary ferry will begin serving Crown Point and Addison Vermont as early as this weekend. The Lake Champlain bridge closed in mid-October after inspectors founds the concrete pilings were disintegrating. As Brian Mann reports, residents and business-owners in the Champlain Valley see the new ferry as another big step toward returning their lives to normal.

(01/22/10) State officials have confirmed that a plan to add more than sixty thousand acres of land to the Adirondack forest preserve is on hold until the state budget crisis has passed. The massive project, known as the Finch, Pruyn deal, was hailed by Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis when it was unveiled in 2007. The state's decision leaves the Adirondack Nature Conservancy holding more than $80 million of debt. Environmentalists were angered by this week's decision. But as Brian Mann reports, some critics are questioning whether the project should go forward at all.

(01/07/10) Most of the reforms and initiatives Gov. David Paterson outlined yesterday require legislative approval. Early reaction to his package of ethics reforms, including campaign finance reform and term limits, has been cool. But there were signs of comity yesterday. Martha Foley has reaction from the region.