Coming Soon.

They say hell hath no fury like a woman scored.

So what's Mother Nature so mad about?

She's been having a real temper tantrum.

ALBANY---A legal opinion issued Wednesday by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has concluded that the New York State Housing Finance Agency and state Mortgage Agency had no legal authority to pay health insurance premiums for board members. Such payments were illegal compensation and contracts for post-retirement benefit payments are null and void, Cuomo opined.

ALBANY---Gov. Eliot Spitzer is convening a panel to publicly evaluate proposals from the potential operators of New York State's thoroughbred racing facilities.

WASHINGTON - William J. Heaton, 28, former chief of staff for Ohio Congressman Bob Ney, has pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle for the District of Columbia to a one-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit honest services mail and wire fraud.

NASSAU COUNTY---A federal judge has rejected a 14-year-old deaf boy's request to allow his service dog to accompany him to classes.

ALBANY---The Elder Law Section of the New York State Bar Association has announced they are partnering with Albany Law School to sponsor a free legal clinic that will provide Capital District seniors with legal counsel on a wide variety of aging related issues. The senior pro bono clinic will be held March 13 from 9 .m. to noon at Albany Law School.

ALBANY----The state Commission of Judicial Conduct has determined that Cathryn M. Doyle, Albany County Surrogate's Court judge, should be censured for showing a "lack of candor" in 2004 when she gave testimony during the panel's investigative of her involvement in a legal expense fund created for the benefit of former Albany Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo.

Gary Matthews of the Los Angeles Angels.

Former Major League baseball star Jose Canseco.

Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield.

Dumb and dumber.

That's Michael Schiavo and his brother, Brian.

They just can't seem to comprehend the rather simple language contained in the forms for the Federal Election Commission for campaign finance disclosure of Schiavo's political action committee, TerriPAC such as carrying the ending balance of one quarter forward as the starting balance on the next quarter.

QUEENS---A Jamaica, Queens, man, who allegedly believed that the counterfeit cartoon character costumes that he was selling would be used in adult films, has been arrested on trademark counterfeiting charges and dozens of fake costumes including Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, Barney and Scooby Doo have been seized from his Queens storage location.

We are approaching the second anniversary Terri Schiavo's state-sanctioned execution. What was Terri's crime? Her disability fell below an arbitrary level of 21st century---public acceptability. She bore silent witness to America to be a society of justice, mercy, and love for life.

ANN ARBOR, MI - The California Supreme Court has affirmed the precedent-setting decision of a California appellate court which upheld the right of the people of San Diego to transfer the Mt. Soledad veterans memorial and cross to the federal government.

NEW YORK----More than $530 million in cash and Time Warner Cable stock has been paid to the federal government as a result of its federal forfeiture action in the prosecution of John J. Rigas, Adelphia Communications Corporation founder, and his son, Timothy J. Rigas.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli has signed an executive order which details ethics rules and principles that would apply to all employees of the comptroller's office including the comptroller himself.

GLENVILLE---A Glenville woman who was taking out the garbage was attacked by a rabid fisher Monday night and is now undergoing treatment.

MANHATTAN--A Manhattan attorney has been indicted on charges of stealing $500,000 from individuals involved in real estate transactions.

MANHATTAN---A Manhattan accountant is facing grand larceny charges for stealing $4.1 million from three men's clothing companies during a four-year period.

ALBANY---Two more top level appointments have been made by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

ALBANY--A settlement has been announced by the state Attorney General's office as part of an ongoing investigation of an illegal pyramid scheme operating in the Bronx under the names "Women 4 Change," "The Women's Gifting Circle," and "Women Empowering Women."

FORT EDWARD---Former Phish frontman Trey Anastasio pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Washington County Court to multiple charges including felony and misdemeanor counts of drug possession resulting from a traffic stop in the Village of Whitehall in December.

VOORHEESVILLE---The former teaching assistant and coach of the freshman boys basketball team at Voorheesville Elementary School has pleaded not guilty to charges that he raped a 14-year-old ninth grade girl.

ALBANY---In a continuing effort to protect New York's innocent children from being victims of violent child abusers, the New York State Senate passed and sent to the Assembly "Nixzmary's Law," a bill that would require a sentence of life without parole for parents or guardians who kill a child.

ALBANY---A new report entitled, "Protecting Children in the Internet Age" that calls for the enactment of a wide array of aggressive measures designed to protect children throughout New York from the dangers posed by Internet predators, child pornography and child sexual abuse, has been released by the Senate Majority.

ALBANY---A landmark agreement designed to reform the state's workers' compensation system has been unveiled by Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

In northern Ohio, dare to criticize the judge and government and you'll be sitting in state prison for eight years or more.

QUEENS---A Queens woman who admitted to embezzling more than $800,000 from the Drake Business School in Astoria while working as a supervisor in its account payable department has been sentenced to three to nine years in state prison.

If the Legislature won't give the judiciary a raise, then the judiciary will legislate from the bench to submit legislation that would give themselves annual pay raises through cost-of-living adjustments, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye said in her annual state of the judiciary address.

NIAGARA COUNTY---The Newfane Central School District in Niagara County has agreed to strengthen internal controls after a state comptroller's audit found that district equipment had been used for improper and personal purposes and that a former board president, while serving as an intern under the former superintendent, voted for a salary agreement that increased superintendent's compensation by $44,000 in one year.

TALLAHASSEE -Two new Web sites have been launched that will help Floridians access information about state government and ensure that government's actions are always transparent and accountable to taxpayers.

State prisons throughout the United States house convicted criminals including robbers, thieves and con artists.

Many times these inmates are miles and sometimes states away from home, relying solely on the mail and the phone to stay in touch with their families and friends.

The pressing question in northern Ohio continues to be if the U.S. Constitution and Ohio Constitution have been suspended in the case of disbarred attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner, deemed in some circles a political prisoner, being punished by the government for having dared to speak out about governmental corruption----in particular, judicial and prosecutorial corruption.

ARLINGTON, VA---Apparently the American Civil Liberties Union, or at least one of its former executives, believes that First Amendment rights and other constitutional guarantees should include the right to possess child pornography.

I was watching an episode of "Geraldo at Large" the other night during which the entire program focused on the story of Anne Nichole Smith, a rather tragic celebrity whose recent death has sparked legal and media circuses.

ALBANY--- President Bush has approved New York State's request and declared the counties of Oswego, Lewis and Oneida eligible for federal assistance as a result of the extraordinary actions taken by State and local governments to battle the record snows that fell between Feb. 2-12.

MIAMI---The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida's Greater Miami Chapter has filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Emily Vogel, a Miami photographer whose car and belongings were allegedly unlawfully searched, damaged and destroyed by police officers during the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit held in Miami in November 2003.

ERIE COUNTY, OHIO---Although visiting judge J. Ronald Bowman of Lucas County has denied motions to dismiss in the grand theft and felony fleeing case against former attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner in Erie County Common Pleas Court, the stage is now set for the reversal of any conviction should the matter go to trial or even in a no contest plea deal in exchange for appellate bond.

Mercy as a noun is defined as compassion or forbearance, especially to an offender, such as offender David March who helped his wife commit suicide and was then shown mercy by the courts. The Merchant of Venice is an example. This is not to be confused with David March showing mercy by killing his wife, as End of Life radicals would have you believe, as killing another is not merciful.

TROY---A veteran Troy firefighter has been indicted and was in the Rensselaer County Jail with no bail Friday, charged with stealing painkillers from a home during a fire call and giving them to his wife.

WHITEHALL---Trey Anastasio, former lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Phish, is expected to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Washington County Court in Fort Edward on a indictment charging him with felony and misdemeanor counts of drug possession.

MURRAY, KY--- The first rule in buying drugs is don't tell the cops. A middle school teacher in Murray, Kentucky learned that the hard way and besides feeling pretty stupid is now facing an array of criminal charges as well as being suspended with pay from her job.

WASHINGTON COUNTY---When former Ohio attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner sent email messages to retired visiting judge Richard Markus telling him he was corrupt, protected public officials and asked him to comply with the law, she was sentenced to eight years in state prison on charges of intimidation and retaliation and no threats or extortion were made or alleged.

In New York, when inmate Dennis Nelson wrote threatening letters to judges and other public officials in 2002, including making a death threat to the State Police investigator who was investigating the case, he was sentenced to three years in state prison.

WESTCHESTER---A man who claimed to be a handyman has been charged with defrauding four elderly women.

QUEENS---A former licensed securities broker and his brother have admitted to defrauding investors of more than $150,000 over a 16-month period through a "Ponzi"-style scheme known as "Zampetti Investments!"

BROOKLYN-Former Brooklyn Assemblyman and Democratic Party head Clarence Norman has been convicted yet again, this time for third degree grand larceny for extorting a judicial candidate for over $20,000.

ALBANY---A new report issued by the state Education Department indicates that over the past five years, the committee charged with investigating the moral character of teachers and administrators in New York State has seen its caseload double.

ALBANY---The New York State Department of Health has announced that influenza (flu) has been classified as "widespread" in New York based on laboratory confirmed cases and reports of influenza outbreaks in 55 counties including New York City. The death of a four-month-old infant from Oneida County was reported earlier this month from complications resulting from Type A influenza. This is the second childhood death reported this year in New York believed to be related to flu.

ALBANY---The state Health Department's Wadsworth Center laboratory has confirmed a sample of peanut butter purchased in New York State is positive for Salmonella, tying the sample to a national Salmonella outbreak.

TALLAHASSEE---Six Manatee County women are facing charges of Medicaid fraud and organized fraud. The women, all employees of Acute Care Team, Inc., allegedly defrauded the state Medicaid program out of more than $2.6 million in counterfeit billing claims. The case was investigated by authorities with the Florida Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - A Lee County woman is behind bars, charged with neglecting an elderly resident of the group home she owned and operated.

ALBANY---Two New York City women involved in the preparation of false New York State personal income tax returns have been indicted. The false returns, prepared at Gypsy Travel in Ridgewood, Queens, resulted in improper state tax refunds, according to the attorney general's office.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum has cautioned parents about model and talent search agencies which promise children fame and fortune but may disguise significant fees often associated with the offers. The Attorney General's consumer advisory was issued in anticipation of an upcoming event advertised in the Tallahassee Area.

ALBANY---The former first deputy superintendent of the New York State Police has been named to head the 5,000 member law enforcement agency.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - A Palm Beach County man has been charged with striking a disabled resident of a nursing home where he was formerly employed.

QUEENS---Two attorneys who maintain law practices in downtown Brooklyn have been charged with selling the house out from under a Rosedale woman who was experiencing financial difficulties by engaging in an elaborate real estate foreclosure bail out scheme.

CHESTERTOWN----June Maxam and The North Country Gazette have received word that they have been nominated for the Jack Newfield Award For Excellence in Investigative Reporting for a special report published last October entitled "Eden Park Nursing Home-Immediate Corrections Needed".

A promise is a promise.

It's as simple as that for two San Francisco Chronicle reporters who still will not identify a confidential news source, but who no longer face a threat of jail time for non-disclosure because a lawyer has admitted leaking federal grand jury testimony to them.

HILLIARD, OHIO---You'd think that police would have something better to do in Franklin County than arrest people for "kitty litter".

NEW YORK----The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review if New York State's method of selection of judges violates the First Amendment rights of candidates and voters by using political conventions instead of primaries to pick judicial candidates for the ballot.

COLONIE---An Albany County Grand Jury has voted to indict the two aides of the O.D. Heck Developmental Center in Niskayuna in the death of a 13-year-old autistic boy.

ALBANY---The person who has been a government watchdog for the past 25 years has now become part of the government.

SUFFOLK COUNTY---A New York State parks employee has been arraigned in First District Court for buying construction material with government funds and later reselling the merchandise and pocketing the cash.

ALBANY---The state Commission on Judicial Conduct has removed a Cortland County town justice from office and admonished a town justice in Genesee County.

ALBANY---The New York State Consumer Protection Board has warned consumers about a new series of "phishing" e-mails that are boldly labeled "Phishing" in the subject header.

WASHINGTON - A "scorecard" for evaluating Real ID Act regulations that are expected to be released soon by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been released by the American Civil Liberties Union. The rules will provide the states with precise instructions on how to implement the act, which seeks to create a backdoor national identity card system by federalizing state driver's licenses.

MANHATTAN---A Montana man has pleaded guilty to charges of scheming to defraud parties involved in various high profile lawsuits by claiming to have incriminating evidence, including evidence of illegal activity by opposing counsel and opposing parties.

NEW YORK---The New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union have called for wide-reaching reforms after Tuesday's ruling that the death of 15-year-old Darryl Thompson in a juvenile prison in New York State was a homicide.

ALBANY---The state Attorney General's office has announced a multi-state legal challenge to the federal government for adopting a rule that refuses to regulate mercury and other pollutants from existing Portland cement plants.

ALBANY---Gov. Eliot Spitzer submitted amendments to his 2007-08 Executive Budget proposal Wednesday, marking the completion of the Governor's submission of his Executive Budget proposal to the Legislature.

NEW YORK---After a federal judge last month ruled that New York City could not stop the New York Civil Liberties Union from sharing with the public reams of documents and dozens of hours of video about the NYPD's policing of the 2004 Republican National Convention, the NYCLU made those documents available to the public by posting them on its website at www.nyclu.org/rncdocs.

NORWALK, OHIO---A week after the parents of 11-special needs adoptive children were sentenced to two years in prison for forcing their children to sleep in cages, a social worker who was aware of the situation pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors of failing to report a crime.

The curtain is about to go up on the political season in Warren County.

Reliable sources indicate that Bud York of Warrensburg, senior investigator with the State Police's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, will officially retire Wednesday, Feb. 21 and it's likely that within the next week, he will officially announce his candidacy for Warren County Sheriff.

NEW YORK---The of New York Commission of Investigation (SIC) has released a report, "Cyber Crimes Against Children," after a comprehensive, nearly year-long investigation.

ALBANY---The Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a constitutional challenge brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of New York family members who pay a grossly inflated rate to receive phone calls from their loved ones in state prisons must be allowed to move forward.

MIAMI---A West Palm Beach attorney will spend the next 18 months in federal prison, following by two years of supervised release, after pleaded guilty to three counts of illegal structuring of cash deposits to avoid a currency transaction report and making a false statement to agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

LOS ANGELES--- Former Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald C. Kline was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in federal prison for possessing thousands of images of minor boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

ALBANY---An executive order creating an Executive Leadership Council and Corporate Roundtable to promote opportunities for Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) has been signed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

ALBANY----Two new exhibits have opened at the State Capitol. The first, "United Under The Flag," features an exhibit of 10 Civil War battle flags from the collection of the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs that were carried into battle by ethnic regiments from throughout the State. The exhibit provides a silent testimonial to the more than 120,000 foreign-born immigrants, free African-Americans and Iroquois who selflessly defended our liberties and preserved the Union during the Civil War.

ALBANY---An agreement with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe to build a casino in the Catskills has been signed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, amending an existing gaming compact with the Mohawks, granting the tribe authority to build and operate a gaming facility at Monticello Raceway in Sullivan County.

ALBANY---The state Attorney General's Office will enforce a State Supreme Court injunction banning Starrett City principal purchaser David Bistricer from certain real estate transactions for life, and will not permit the conversion of any of the property to cooperative apartments.

TALLAHASSEE-Unclaimed property totaling $7.8 million is being held by the Department of Financial Services' Bureau of Unclaimed Property, mostly from dormant accounts in financial institutions, unclaimed utility deposits, insurance benefits, premium refunds, uncashed checks and trust accounts.

ERIE COUNTY, OHIO----Judicial whistleblower and former attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner of Oak Harbor heads to trial this week in Erie County Common Pleas Court on charges of grand theft auto, felony fleeing and resisting arrest.

But the People, represented by special prosecutor Daniel Kasaris of the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office, have some major problems with the prosecution of the case from May 2005 according to known facts and discovery in the matter, starting with the alleged probable cause that Bay View Police under the direction of Chief Helen Prosowski claimed she had in trying to detain and arrest Baumgartner initially.

It was 17 years ago this week that Terri Schindler Schiavo mysteriously collapsed, certainly forever changing the course of her life as well as that of vulnerable adults throughout the United States.

Right-to-die proponent George Felos used the Schiavo case to promote his own ideological agenda while being compensated by monies that were to have been used for therapy and the rehabilitation of the ward of his client.

ELMIRA---A 25-year-old man, angry because his dinner wasn't ready, is facing charges of assault and reckless endangerment after striking his girlfriend's five-year-old daughter in the head with a piece of frozen meat.

FLORIDA----Some prosecutors in Florida are pushing the state Legislature to pass a law that would permit state prosecutors to alter or falsify court records if a judge approves, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Is disrespecting the judiciary a criminal act, more criminal than obstruction of justice and violating the public trust?

According to retired visiting judge Richard Markus it is.

Public corruption scored another win over free speech in northern Ohio this week in yet another courtroom manipulated by Markus.

PLATTSBURGH---A National Guardsman has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy.

HAMPTON BAYS, LI---His house on the eastern end of Long Island set back from the road in the woods, out of sight of neighbors and passersby.

ALBANY---The state Attorney General's office has reached a settlement with Blue Coat Systems, Inc. over the company's use of end user license agreements that claimed to prevent consumers from testing and criticizing Blue Coat products.

EASTCHESTER---A Mahopac man has been convicted of illegally operating a construction and demolition debris landfill on the grounds of the Eastchester High School and Middle School.

The groundhog lied.

He said there was going to be an early spring.

WASHINGTON COUNTY---A former member of the Lake George Park Commission and past town board member for the northern Washington County town of Dresden, charged with sexually abusing three young girls, has pleaded guilty and will avoid any jail time in the case.

COLONIE-Two aides of the O.D. Heck Developmental Center in Niskayuna have been charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of a developmentally disabled 13-year-old boy.

WESTCHESTER---Real estate lawyer Anthony Bellettieri, a partner in the Westchester firm of Bellettieri, Fonte & Laudonio, P.C., has pleaded guilty in White Plains federal court to bank fraud and mail fraud in connection with his defrauding of numerous banks and clients of tens of millions of dollars through an elaborate "check-kiting" scheme involving BF&L's corporate and escrow bank accounts.

ST. PETERSBURG---The hand-picked successor to take over the New York Yankees has been busted for misdemeanor drunk driving hours before the beginning of spring training.

LAKE GEORGE-The captain of the Ethan Allen tour boat and a representative of the boat's owner, Shoreline Cruises Inc. of Lake George, have obtained an adjournment in the criminal charges against them.

WESTCHESTER-Two Mount Vernon police officers are facing charges of reckless driving, charged with engaging in a speed contest.

NEW YORK---A controversial attorney known for his sex abuse litigation against Roman Catholic leaders has been fined $8,000 by a federal judge for bringing a series of "utterly baseless" lawsuits which claimed that the church's actions constituted racketeering.

The New York State Department of Health is currently assessing provider applications for Adult Care Facilities that are applying to be a licensed assisted living residence, enhanced assisted living residence and/or a special needs assisted living residence.

SUFFOLK COUNTY---The 43-year-old East Hampton woman charged with driving while intoxicated, manslaughter and eight other crimes for then hit and run death of a retired priest on an East Hampton street last summer pleaded guilty to entire indictment Wednesday in county court in Riverhead.

Where Mitt Romney goes to church doesn't disqualify him for public office: Article VI of the U.S. Constitution famously declares that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

SAN ANTONIO---The Air Force staff sergeant at Lackland Air Force based who posed nude for Playboy magazine has been removed from active duty.

COLONIE---A licensed practical nurse at the Albany County nursing home has been charged with stealing more than 1,000 hydrocodone pills from the facility where she had worked since September 2004.

WHEATON, ILL---Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia might be getting a different perspective of a court case---sitting in the gallery instead of adjudicating the matter.

QUEENS---A Bronx man who maintains an unofficial fan website based on the "Opie and Anthony" radio show has been sentenced to four months in jail after admitting to possessing nearly a hundred images of young children involved in sexual activity on his personal laptop.

MANHATTAN---The founder and former chairman and CEO of video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. has been convicted of backdating Take-Two's records to backdate stock option grants.

MORIAH---For the second time in less than a month, the death of a motorist on the Adirondack Northway may have been prevented had there been cell phone capability.

SAN FRANCISCO--- An attorney who represented a criminal defendant in the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative steroid prosecution pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to four federal charges, admitting that he leaked confidential grand jury transcripts of testimony from Major League Baseball players to the San Francisco Chronicle and sought to obstruct justice.

CLIFTON PARK----Five more counts of sexual abuse were lodged against Christopher Culver Thursday night in Clifton Park town court, the first grade teacher at a Shenendehowa elementary school.

NORWALK, OHIO---The couple who were found guilty of forcing some of their 11-disabled children to sleep in cages have been sentenced to two years in prison each.

Snowmobilers and skiers were high fiving each other Thursday and area youths were delighted with a day off from school.

But florists, restaurants and candy stores weren't smiling on Valentine's Day, what is normally one of their busiest days of the year.

WESTCHESTER----A Port Chester police officer has been arraigned on child endangerment and criminal mischief charges.

SCHOHARIE COUNTY--- Two Sharon Springs residents have been arrested in connection with a suspected fraudulent automobile insurance claim.

ALBANY---The state Assembly has overwhelmingly passed legislation aimed at reforming ethics and lobbying laws in Albany. The landmark reform agenda would crack down on gifts from lobbyists to legislators, toughen penalties for ethics and lobbying law violations and create a permanent watchdog to ensure compliance.

ALBANY---The New York State Senate has passed a small business and manufacturing assistance plan that they claim targets the biggest concerns that hold back small businesses from growing and creating new jobs. The plan would provide $590 million in assistance in the first year and almost $1.3 billion in tax relief and assistance to small businesses when fully implemented after three years.

ALBANY---Statewide special elections would be held to fill vacancies in the offices of State Comptroller and Attorney General under two reform bills introduced by Sen. Joseph Griffo (R-C, Rome). Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.

Time magazine published an article on Jan. 19, by Stephen Pinker entitled "The Mystery of Consciousness," on the science and implications of consciousness. Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Terri Schindler Schiavo has written a response. It follows.

Free speech won a Grammy Sunday night.

The Dixie Chicks took home five Grammy awards but it was really the First Amendment that won big.

WESTCHESTER---His name is Cupid but instead of shooting his arrow into his girlfriend's heart and gaining her love, he allegedly stole her identity.

ALBANY---Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced a historic expansion in the size of his Civil Rights Bureau and outlined what he says will be an aggressive agenda for pursuing cases at a meeting with members of New York's leading civil rights, social justice, and public advocacy organizations.

WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union applauded a ruling issued by a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration judge that recommends ending the federal government's 65- year monopoly on the supply of marijuana available for Food and Drug Administration-approved medical research.