Coming Soon.

He and his cronies in The Florida Bar say he follows the rule of law.

Public record and a televised political commercial prove otherwise.

According to Florida Statutes and past decisions of the Florida Elections Commission, Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer has violated campaign finance laws, Florida Statutes in regard to qualifying for office and has allegedly filed false written instruments with the Florida Division of Elections, allegedly committing at least one misdemeanor.

ALBANY-New York State's highest-in-the-nation Medicaid spending now costs an average $2,165 per resident, well over twice the national average, a new Public Policy Institute analysis shows.

ALBANY---A comprehensive, multi-faceted plan that will help reduce New York's dependence on imported energy, position the state to become a center for renewable energy research and job creation, and provide help for soaring home heating bills to New Yorkers has been proposed by Gov. George E. Pataki.

ALBANY--More than 40% of New Yorkers surveyed in a new poll say they have considered moving out of the state, according to the results of a new poll released by the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center.

QUEENS---A New York City subcontractor hired to dispose of contaminated solid waste has been charged with illegally dumping or selling more than 1,000 tons of the waste to various entities - including a Nassau County golf course and Queens homeowners - as "clean fill" and then billing the City for disposing of the waste.

ALBANY---The Public Authorities Accountability Act, a comprehensive reform measure that will help ensure that public authorities in New York State follow the highest standards of accountability, transparency and professionalism, has been signed into law by Gov. George Pataki.

ALBANY---The NYS Assembly has introduced emergency legislation responding to the crisis created by the newly implemented federal Medicare prescription drug program (Part D), which could result in the possibility of 600,000 low-income elderly and disabled New Yorkers being wrongfully denied access to life-saving prescription drugs.

The North Country Gazette, offering news, commentary and investigative reports of New York State and beyond, has hopefully resumed normal operations following three days of business interruption.

MONTPELIER, VT---Talk of impeaching District Court Judge Edward Cashman is rampant in Vermont and perhaps the nation after he imposed a minimum 60-day sentence for a convicted child molester who admitted sexually abusing a six-year-old girl for over four years.

ORLANDO---The wife of a former Orlando Police Department sex crimes detective, convicted in 2002 of sexual battery against a minor, has been arrested for trying to hire a hit man to murder the victim's grandmother.

DELMAR---"Problems v. Solutions: Restoring Constitutional Government to Our Dysfunctional NYS and Federal Governments" will be the topic of a forum to be held Saturday, Jan. 21 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Bethlehem Public Library, 451 Delaware Ave., Delmar.

QUEENSBURY---Arguing that Washington County has unlawfully imposed property taxes to repay bonds that were issued in violation of New York's state constitution to fund the Hudson Falls trash burning plant, constitutional activist and tax protestor Bob Schulz has refused to pay his property taxes.

SCHENECTADY---A man accused of biting and punching a Rotterdam police detective tried to evade arrest Friday by masquerading as a woman.

BUFFALO---An ex-narcotics cop convicted of distributing cocaine while on duty will serve less than two years in a federal prison.

TRENTON, NJ---If you're driving in Trenton and a police officer pulls you over and says you have an expired inspection sticker, ask him if his police cruiser has been inspected lately.

DAVIE, FLA---For the third time in less than two months, Davie's suspended town administrator has been arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents on new embezzling charges, this time totaling more than $68,000.

TAMPA---The money was reportedly inside desks, underneath books and office machines in the office of a senior fiscal assistant.

LITCHFIELD, NH---Zachary Couture is a 9-year-old boy who has been diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening disorder called adrenoleukodystrophy and is in need of a bone marrow transplant to stop the progression of the disease.

FORT LAUDERDALE---A federal grand jury sitting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has returned a seven count indictment charging attorneys Marc F. Desiderio and Loel H. Seitel with money laundering, obstruction of justice, and causing a person to making a false statement to a federal law enforcement official.

MALONE---A former forest ranger with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has admitted that he had oral sex with two teenage boys and showed one of them pornographic movies.

ALBANY---Saying that New York State "is further behind" every other state in complying with requirements to modernize its voting system, the U.S. Department of Justice has threatened to sue the state.

LAKELAND, FLA-The Polk County Sheriff's Department will soon own the domain for a porn site.

WHITE PLAINS---A New Rochelle man has been found guilty of felony assault for biting off part of his girlfriend's face on Mother's Day. The incident occurred near the house where the woman lived with her children.

WHITE PLAINS---Some for you, some for me was apparently the motto of a case manager for the Westchester Department of Social Services who has admitted to stealing over $32,000 in funds that he was in charge of disbursing for housing assistance.

PUTNAM VALLEY---A Putnam Valley man who kicked a 15-year-old dog so hard that it died the same day has been sentenced to 20 weekends in jail and 50 hours of community service.

CLIFTON PARK---A Clifton Park man who is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, is facing fines of $250 a day for numerous zoning violations issued to him by town zoning officials for feeding ducks and geese on his property. He has now been restrained from feeding the fowl by order of state Supreme Court Justice Stephen Ferradino.

QUEENS---A former New York City police officer, previously assigned to the 114th Precinct in Astoria as the precinct's Youth Officer, has been sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to charges of attempting to meet for sexual relations a person he had contacted online and who he believed to be a 14-year-old boy.

QUEENS---A Florida woman has been sentenced to four months in jail for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from four elderly Queens men by falsely claiming to need the money to pay medical bills, assistance for her ailing parents or to help start up businesses.

MIAMI---A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) employee, Ronald Johnson, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for multiple counts of theft of government money and making false, fictitious, and fraudulent claims. If convicted, the defendant faces maximum statutory penalties of 10 years' imprisonment as to each felony count of theft of government money, and maximum statutory penalties of 5 years' imprisonment as to each count of making false, fictitious and fraudulent claims.

PHOENIX, ARIZ---A federal grand jury has returned a 26-count indictment against two Glendale men who allegedly stole Christmas gifts and mail from mail collections boxes.

CORONA, CA----If you're a customer of Sprint telecommunications and a parent, you might want to think about changing cell phone companies.

JACKSONVILLE, FLA---A Jacksonville woman has been banned from attending city council meetings until the end of March after she allegedly disrupted a council meeting, wearing an Aunt Jemima costume.

LANSING, MICH---A man in court on a traffic charge now faces up to six years in prison for shaking hands with a prosecutor, a police officer and courtroom bailiff.

ALBANY---A dozen state Attorneys General have called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw proposed regulations that would sharply reduce the amount of information available to the public about toxic chemicals released by industry in communities across the nation.

ALBANY---A new 7-point plan to fight Medicaid fraud and abuse will be included in Gov. George E. Pataki's budget for 2006-07 to be unveiled next week. The Governor's plan will restructure the state's current Medicaid anti-fraud efforts and improve and expand the state's ability to detect, investigate and prosecute Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse.

ALBANY---According to Gov. George E. Pataki, his proposed budget for 2008-07 will include more than $1.1 billion in Medicaid savings -- $775 million for New York City and $391 million for counties across the state. The new savings are a direct result of the local Medicaid cap and acceleration of the state's takeover of costs of the Family Health Plus, which were part of the state budget enacted last year.

ALBANY--The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services has announced that more than $5 million has been awarded to 29 law enforcement agencies in 16 counties throughout New York State to support local programs to combat motor vehicle theft and prevent insurance fraud.

ALBANY-A list of important tips for New Yorkers in the event their insured residence or automobile is damaged due to severe winter weather, has been released by state insurance superintendent Howard Mills.

ALBANY---A total of $4.74 million in funding for 53 communities across the state for snowmobile trail maintenance has been awarded. The funds come on the heels of the "Snowmobile Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2005" legislation Gov. George Pataki signed last year that promotes new safety and trail maintenance guidelines for snowmobile owners and operators.

WASHINGTON, DC---The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) joined the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S Postal Service in observing Amber Alert Awareness Dayon Friday.

When it comes to free-speech protections for federal employees, the Constitution sometimes isn't quite enough.

As far back as 1912, Congress began work to ensure that federal agency workers wanting to blow the whistle on excesses and missteps were protected from retaliation. In addition to a raft of laws, Congress over the years has laid down protections in the Merit Systems Protection Board, established an Office of Special Counsel for whistleblowers in trouble, and even given a new federal appellate court it created in 1982 exclusive jurisdiction over litigation arising from whistleblower cases.

Newly obtained documents reveal that New York state officials are concerned that the federal Real ID Act will require extensive changes to existing practices at the Department of Motor Vehicles, will be extremely difficult to implement by the Act's deadline, and will carry heavy expenses to be absorbed by New York taxpayers and license applicants.

MAMARONECK---A disbarred Westchester County attorney told Southern District Judge William H. Pauley "I am sorry and I am ashamed" at his sentencing for fraudulently collecting disaster relief loan money in connection with Sept. 11.

SHELBYVILLE, TENN---He did all the right things.

He put on his seat belt.

ORLANDO---The program director for an Orlando radio station has been charged with child exploitation and transmitting computer pornography after he traveled to Citrus County in Florida to allegedly have sex with a 14-year old girl he met on the Internet.

QUEENS---Two Queens men have been indicted on charges of causing more than $2,000 in damages by vandalizing various Queens institutions - including Acacia and Bayside Cemeteries and a United States Post Office in Richmond Hill- with spray paint.

TALLAHASSEE--- Ninety percent or more of Florida adult residents say the constitutional concepts of separation of powers and checks and balances are important principles in the federal government, according to a new poll conducted by Harris Interactive® for The Florida Bar.

NEW YORK---The New York Civil Liberties Union and the New York University Law School Civil Rights Clinic has filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan challenging New York City's restrictions on the public's right to photograph public places.

BUFFALO-- Workplace alcohol use and impairment directly affects an estimated 15% of the U.S. workforce, or 19.2 million workers, according to a recent study conducted at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) and reported in the current issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol.

TALLAHASSEE-A former principal of the now-defunct Miami-based Aries Insurance Company, still facing charges of racketeering and fraud stemming from that company's financial collapse, has been arrested on a new charge of grand theft for allegedly stealing nearly $100,000 in premiums intended to buy insurance policies from an unlicensed insurance company.

TALLAHASSEE-- A shortage of emergency departments and trauma centers, a poor medical liability environment, and weak public health and injury prevention efforts resulted in an overall C- grade for Florida, in the first comprehensive analysis of how much support states provide for their emergency medical care systems. Florida shared its below-average standing with 12 other states, including Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky, in the American College of Emergency Physicians' (ACEP) National Report Card on the State of Emergency Medicine. The full report can be found at http://www.acep.org/.

ALBANY---New York has one of the worst emergency department shortages in the nation, based on its population ranking 49th among all states, according to a report issued by the New York Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

TALLAHASSEE--Florida's Gov. Jeb Bush will seek to strengthen the protections in Florida statutes for incapacitated persons during the legislative session "so that no one can take advantage of their vulnerable state, not even an estranged spouse", according to Rachel Rodriguez, general counsel to the Governor.

ALBANY---Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has submitted legislation to strengthen the price gouging law to better protect consumers against unconscionably excessive prices and to more clearly define violations.

TALLAHASSEE - A Florida corporation and its owner have been sued by the state Attorney General's office for selling fraudulent contracts for home health care services to senior Floridians. Clearwater-based Intrust Home Care and its president, Roy F. Fitzgerald, are accused of taking more than $146,000 from several dozen elderly Florida residents despite never contracting or paying for any of the home care services they promised to provide.

PLATTSBURGH---A former Clinton County corrections officer has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting four inmates and a co-worker at the jail.

FONDA---Days before he was scheduled to begin his second trial on sex charges, former Amsterdam day care operator Thomas DeVito pleaded guilty to having sexual contact with a minor for the purpose of his own sexual gratification.

Justice Antonin Scalia once stated, "If you think the Constitution is some exhortation to give effect to the most fundamental values of the society as those values change from year to year... If you think it is simply meant to reflect the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society - if that is what you think it is, then why in the world would you have it interpreted by nine lawyers? What do I know about the evolving standards of decency of American society? I'm afraid to ask."

CINCINNATI-While her family and former caregiver lived downstairs, a dead woman's body was placed in a chair in front of a television set for 2 ½ years because she'd told her caregiver she didn't want to be buried and was planning on returning.

ALBANY---The 2006-07 Executive Budget, which will be unveiled next week, will include $130 million in new funding to support the civil commitment of sexual predators upon their release from prison, and provide them treatment in secure facilities, Gov. George E. Pataki said Tuesday.

ALBANY---An $200 million emergency appropriation measure to augment the existing federal low income Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) was introduced Tuesday by the Assembly.

SARATOGA SPRINGS---A veteran city firefighter is facing felony charges for biting a police officer who was trying to arrest him for harassment.

WATERTOWN---The Jefferson County SPCA is facing financial straits after a burglar victimized the organization over the weekend, stealing more than $5,000 in checks and cash and vandalizing the building.

According to a new poll released by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 70% approve of the right to die. http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/010606RightToDiePoll.html

--Pew research conducted the poll about two months ago in Nov 2005
--The sample consists of 1,500 participants
--The questions are listed in the article

TAMPA-Some staff members of the news team Tampa Tribune and News Channel 8 WFLA-TV were busy making the news Sunday instead of reporting it.

ORANGE CITY, FLA---A Christmas tree exploded and a Volusia County couple were seriously injured as they were taking it down Monday.

ALBANY---Gov. George E. Pataki's 2006-07 Executive Budget will include a 20% increase for New York's Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), which would raise total funding for the program to $180 million - more than seven times the level in 1994 and the highest level in state history.

ALBANY---If a proposal under consideration by the Pataki administration that would raise the price of a pack of cigarettes by $1.50 for smokers outside New York City is adopted, the state would then host the highest excise tax on cigarettes in the country.

WASHINGTON, DC---The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed securities fraud charges against McAfee, Inc., formerly known as Network Associates, Inc., a Santa Clara, California-based manufacturer and supplier of computer security and antivirus tools.

ALBANY---A new custom license plate, the New York state Cultural Institutes and Museums plate is now available. The latest addition to the more than 300 custom plates available, this plate will help benefit the arts through a dedicated fund.

NEW YORK--The Family Connections Bill (S.5299-A) moved out of the state Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Corrections, and Crime Monday, bringing New York closer to ending what critics say is the unjust backdoor tax being on families of prisoners by MCI on telephone calls from inmates. The Assembly version of the bill (A.7231-A) passed in June of last year, but will have to pass the Assembly again in 2006.

TROY---Even though the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court ruled last year that the Rensselaer County district attorney's office and in particular, district attorney Patricia DeAngelis engaged in prosecutorial misconduct in order to obtain a first degree rape conviction against Robert S. Gorghan, the appellate court has not ruled that the case can be retried in Rensselaer County.

WASHINGTON, DC---If you want to harass someone by sending them annoying email messages, be sure to sign your name.

Otherwise you're committing a federal crime.

ALBANY---The New York State Senate passed legislation Monday sponsored by Sen, Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) that would require the lifetime registration of sex offenders and prevent sexual predators from coming off the State sex offender registry later this month.

ALBANY---As the Senate passed their bill which calls for the lifetime registration of sex offenders, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver called on the state Senate to "stop hiding behind a bill that would violate the provisions of federal legislation, create confusion in keeping track of sex offenders and potentially cause New York State to lose tens of millions of federal dollars.

ALBANY---Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Codes Committee Chair Joseph Lentol announced Monday the Assembly passed a comprehensive package of bills aimed at stopping the type of gun violence that has taken the lives of some 7,000 New Yorkers since 1999.

The American Civil Liberties Union announced Monday that it will oppose the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court.

A nationally recognized coach, law firm management consultant and author has endorsed and legitimized the editorial position of June Maxam, publisher of The North Country Gazette and co-publisher of The Empire Journal, in regard to the misconduct which existed in the case of Terri Schindler-Schiavo, the disabled Florida woman who was killed earlier this year by judicial order.

New York State Police are investigating a series of harassing and threatening email messages to June Maxam, publisher of The North Country Gazette.

At least one of the messages received late Friday night and considered threatening by Maxam and the police, was traced to Ginger Berlin, Maxam's co-publisher at The Empire Journal.

In writing some of the Florida legislators regarding HB 701 during the spring of 2005, directly related to the Terri Schiavo case, the concerns were simple--- protect the incapacitated, particularly those unable to state their wishes in regard to withdrawing nutrition and hydration. After all, we cannot provide care and protect our patients if we do not know their wishes.

SANTA ANNA, CA---A married former California English teacher said to be extremely popular with her students will spend the next six years in prison after admitting that she had seduced two of her middle school students and one of their friends.

CLIFTON PARK---U.S. Representative John E. Sweeney (R-Clifton Park) has announced that New York State will receive $127.5 million in HUD federal funds to serve homeless individuals and families throughout New York State. These funds are part of HUD's Continuum of Care program.

QUEENS--A Merrill Lynch broker has been charged with defrauding an elderly client out of more than $320,000 by stealing checks from the victim's account, forging her signature on them and then depositing the proceeds into his own bank accounts.

QUEENS---A Jackson Heights beautician operating out of the back room of a nail salon has been charged with unlawfully practicing medicine and endangering a patient by injecting a substance not approved for medical use in the United States. The patient has since developed a bacterial infection.

DALLAS---Parents and children alike have long been amused and entertained by the Sesame Street character Elmo.

ORLANDO, FLA-First there was the saga of Banana Boy in Hudson Falls, NY where a 9-foot banana crime fighter was arrested in a fruity case for enacting a scene for a TV show being filmed.

OLDSMAR, FLA----Bawk, bawk, bawk.

A bunch of clucks.

Here a chick, there a chick, everywhere a chick chick.

ALBANY---As the former spokesperson for the state's Division of Criminal Justice Services and current executive deputy director of the state's Consumer Protection Board agreed to enter into a residential rehabilitation program after being arrested last month for possession of crack cocaine, a best-selling author was calling upon the state Attorney General's office to investigate her and the agency.

ALBANY--Leaders from the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) and 200 parole officers from Brooklyn to Buffalo will attend a hearing Jan. 11 to be held by the Assembly Standing Committee on Correction.

CAPE CORAL, FLA---A Florida mother trying to drop her children off at Gulf Elementary School Thursday morning faces a felony charge of aggravated battery for allegedly driving her car into a teacher following a dispute.

BROOKLYN---Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes has significantly overpaid 178 employees who are working for him, according to an audit by the city comptroller.

TALLAHASSEE - A Clay County man has been arrested on child pornography charged after investigators from the Attorney General's CyberCrime Unit and special victims unit of the Clay County Sheriff's office executed a search warrant on his apartment and seizing multiple images of child pornography from his home computer.

An overwhelming majority of the public supports laws that give patients the right to decide whether they want to be kept alive through medical treatment, according to a new poll released by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

CAMDEN, NJ----Can you say police incompetence?

If investigators of the Camden police department missed 30 bags of what appeared to be crack cocaine and an alleged stolen credit card in the bullet-ridden, bloodied jacket of the victim entered as evidence in an attempted murder trial, wouldn't you wonder about the arrest made in the case?

Some people seem to think that if they tell the same lie enough times, it'll become true.

Just like with Pinellas County Court Judge George W. Greer.

No matter how many times those St. Petersburg Times writers and columnists tell us that George Greer is the defender of our liberties and followed the rule of law in the Terri Schindler Schiavo case, it just isn't so.

Pamela Patton, mother of Scott Thomas of Jacksonville, Florida, emerged as the victor in a Jan. 3 guardianship hearing when Judge William Wilkes of Florida's Fourth Circuit granted her an additional six months of temporary guardianship, much to the chagrin of Eliza Thomas', Scott's wife who was seeking full guardianship of her husband.

A strong comprehensive five-point plan that would protect New York's children and families from dangerous sexual predators was unveiled Thursday by Gov. George E. Pataki.

Relieved that the "holiday season" is over so you can stop fretting about how to greet your neighbor? Confused by the unintelligible debate over "intelligent design"? Tired of bitter lawsuits over Ten Commandments displays? Well, I have bad news for you. When it comes to America's holy wars, there will be little new in the New Year.

WASHINGTON, DC---In a major blow to education reform in Florida, the Florida Supreme Court today struck down the state's Opportunity Scholarship program, the nation's first statewide school choice program. For six years, Opportunity Scholarships have enabled families to opt out of failing public schools and into better-performing public or private schools by a voucher program at taxpayer expense.

ALBANY---The state attorney general's office and state insurance department have reached a settlement with a leading consulting firm specializing in life, accident and disability insurance to resolve allegations of fraud and anti-competitive practices.

ROCHESTER---After hidden surveillance cameras revealed distressing evidence of patient neglect, 19 employees at two separate nursing homes in Rochester and Cortland have been arrested.

MANHATTAN---Four downstate men were sentenced Thursday to lengthy state prison terms for stealing $3.3 million in a pyramid scheme from about 130 New York investors, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office.

ST. PAUL, MINN---An historic coalition of civil rights groups, religious leaders, trade associations, concerned citizens, and officials from Minnesota's major political parties gathered at the state Capitol Thursday to announce legislation reforming the State's eminent domain laws.

KERN COUNTY, CA---A 41-year-old middle school teacher is in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail and faces a minimum three year prison sentence for allegedly raping a 12-year-old student.

WASHINGTON, DC---The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments next week on a variety of issues including the knock and announce rule and Fourth Amendment search and seizure issues, retaliatory prosecution by the U.S. Postal Service, anti-trust and price fixing involving Shell and Texaco, sexual discrimination and Title VII employment claims and a murder-death penalty case in Tennessee involving how much evidence is needed to establish innocence.

CREEK COUNTY, OKLA---Only one witness testified at the preliminary hearing of an Oklahoma judge, charged with four felony counts of indecent exposure for allegedly using a "penis pump" under his judicial robes while adjudicating two murder trials and a civil trial in 2003.

PUNTA GORDA, FLA---Charlotte County Circuit Court Judge W. Wayne Woodard has been ordered to appear before the Florida Supreme Court on Feb. 10 for the administration of a public reprimand.

FARMINGTON, MO----If you're going to play drunk dialing, don't call a judge at 2:45 a.m. and tell him you're going to kick his ass.

PROVIDENCE, RI---Patients with illnesses such as AIDS and cancer can legally grow up to 12 marijuana plants or buy 2.5 ounces of marijuana to relieve their symptoms in Rhode Island as a result of a new law passed Tuesday.

DALLAS, TEXAS---Why would two armed men steal a cat that was available for adoption from a pet store when all they had to do if they truly wanted the cat for a pet was complete the adoption process?

LAKE COUNTY, FLA---A female corrections officer at the Lake County Detention Center was on the other side of the bars after being arrested Tuesday for sexual misconduct for allegedly trying to have sex with a 16-year-old male inmate.

LARGO---A 23-year police veteran jeopardized the public's confidence in the Largo Police Department and engaged in off-duty conduct that "adversely affects the morale" of the police department when she allowed another female police officer to lick chocolate whipped cream off her chest at the officer's birthday party in a St. Petersburg bar.

TAMPA----The efforts of Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee to learn the identities of the people who post anonymously to a Web site known as LeoAffairs.com has again been rebuffed by the court.

TAMPA---Prominent Tampa attorney Dennis Hernandez whose firm includes the son of the judge who ruled in 1990 that Terri Schindler-Schiavo was incapacitated and granted full guardianship to Michael Schiavo without the knowledge of her parents, has been arrested.

ORLANDO, FLA---An Orange County circuit court judge who was under investigation by the state's judicial panel for inappropriate comments made from the bench, has suddenly retired.

ALBANY---A veteran Albany High School teacher remains on disability leave and four of her teenage students have been charged with unlawful imprisonment and harassment for an incident which occurred in her classroom on Dec. 23.

TROY---Embattled Rensselaer County District Attorney Patricia DeAngelis, recently defeated for her bid to become Rensselaer County Court judge and reversed at least four times by the state Appellate Division for prosecutorial misconduct and lack of knowledge of the law, has a new problem.

ALBANY---New York's Governor George E. Pataki opened the 2006 Legislative Session Wednesday by delivering his 12th and final State of the State message. caling the upcoming year another indispensable opportunity to build on the great foundation of progress that has been made in the past 11 years.

SCHUYLERVILLE---A teacher's defamation suit against the Schuylerville Central School District and former principal Thomas S. Martin who suspended her for showing her 10th grade English class the district-owned film version of Shakespeare's "Macbeth", can go forward, the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court, Third Department has ruled.