New York State will not be able to start collecting taxes on some Indian cigarette sales as it intended to today. A federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement for up to two weeks. The judge will meet with lawyers again tomorrow. In the meantime, the state will not be allowed to start the tax collection of Indian sales to non-Indians. The last time the state tried to enforce the taxes during Governor George Pataki’s Administration, violence broke out as tribes blocked the Thruway. The state says the tax collection is fair and will bring in 200-million dollars a year in revenue. Native American tribes have said the taxes violate their sovereignty.
Buffalo landmark restoration projects received extra help from the state. Governor David Paterson signed Assemblyman Sam Hoyt’s bill to amend historic rehabilitation tax credits on Tuesday. The bill will allow banks and insurance companies to use tax credits to help fund projects like the Lafayette and Statler hotel buildings restoration. City leaders have yet to say when the credits will be available for use.
Five Orleans County teens have been charged with disrupting a Muslim prayer service at a mosque. Authorities say the 17 and 18-year-olds from Holley honked their car horns and shouted obscenities outside the religious site in the Town of Carlton at about 11 p.m. Monday. The teens have been charged with disrupting the service at the World Sufl Foundation Mosque on Fuller Road. For one of the teens, police say it’s not the first attempt at disrupting a mosque. Investigators say 17-year-old Mark Vendetti, faces a gun possession charge for allegedly firing the weapon while trying to disrupt a mosque back on August 27th. He is behind bars on ten-thousand dollars bail.
A Niagara County judge is allowing a Niagara Falls couple accused in the death of one of their kids to visit with their other children. Prosecutors say 25-year-old Randy Colucci and 24-year-old Nicole Colucci have been allowed to have supervised visits with their other four children. The couple is charged with murder in connection with the death of their two-year-old daughter. Authorities say on March 30th, the two put a mattress weighed down by a television set on top of a playpen to keep the little girl from climbing out. She was found trapped between the guard rail and the mattress the next day. While the Colucci’s are allowed to visit with the other children, they must be supervised by a Child Protective Services supervisor and they must not talk about the court case with the kids. The two have been free on 75-thousand dollars bail since August 16th.
Buffalo police say a woman allegedly attacked a store worker over a refund she thought she deserved. Cops say it happened at the Masten Sales and Service on Masten Avenue Monday afternoon. Investigators say the woman began throwing things before she grabbed a coffee pot and smashed it against the wall. Authorities say the flying glass cut a worker. The male victim told police the woman broke the coffee machine and slammed another pot into his stomach. The investigation continues.
Police continue searching for a suspect in a shooting earlier this week which sent one man to the hospital. Cops say shots were fired Monday night just before 9 on Plymouth Avenue. Investigators say they found a shirt with blood on it and were searching for a possible victim. Police say a short time later the man arrived at Women and Children’s Hospital. The wound was said to be non-life threatening. Authorities say the man told officers he was walking in the area when a fight broke out and he was hit by gunfire.
Chasing a speeder left a state trooper and an SUV driver hospitalized on Tuesday. Officials say the trooper was traveling southbound on State Route 16 in Chaffee when he observed a 2010 Audi R8 going 20 miles over the speed limit. The trooper pursued the driver but collided with a Jeep Cherokee that made a left turn in front of it. The trooper and SUV driver sustained minor injuries from the accident. The driver that was speeding has yet to be found.
A Buffalo state Assemblyman may try and oust Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver from power. Mark Schroeder admits he would probably not come close in winning a bid for the Speakership but he says the political effort could focus attention on Western New York issues. Schroeder blames Silver’s opposition to giving the SUNY system more financial control of itself as one of the reasons for the retirement announcement from the University at Buffalo’s president. The Assemblyman says upstate New York has come up short under Silver’s leadership. Schroeder says he might mount a challenge during the Assembly session in January.
New York State is now the first in the nation to have a “Bill of Rights” for domestic workers. Governor David Paterson has signed the measure into law providing labor protections for the state’s 200-thousand nannies, housekeepers and elderly caregivers. The measure provides protections against verbal and physical abuse as well as mandates for overtime pay, three paid vacation days annually and limits to six day work weeks. The Governor says the new law rights the wrongs of the labor laws of the 1930s when he says these workers were left out based partially on racial discrimination. Advocates hope other states will follow with their own laws.
Two top state officials revealed what they’ve deemed as internal corruption in the state prison system. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Inspector General Joseph Fisch released a report stating that the former state prison director, Howard Dean, wrongfully traded gifts and food for millions of dollars in state purchases. Dean was the focus of a report by DiNapoli and Fisch earlier in the year and both men likened Dean’s actions to extortion. The Oneida County district attorney’s office is reviewing the report to determine if they’ll file charges or not.
Health insurance aid is being offered to state workers taking the early retirement incentive. On Tuesday the state announced that 346-million-dollars worth of federal funds will go towards containing the health insurance costs for early incentive retirees aged 55 to 64. The funding will last until 2014 until recently passed health care reform is phased in.
