Coming Soon.

Lottery officials have agreed to take more aggressive action to identify retailers who owed back taxes or have outstanding tax liabilities. A State Comptroller's audit identified more than 3,000 lottery retail outlet operators who owed more than $23 million in back taxes to New York State, with 350 of these individuals owing more than $10,000 each.

ALBANY--The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), which assists lower-income seniors and families with heating costs in the winter, will begin accepting applications on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Gov. George Pataki urged all eligible New Yorkers to file their applications with their county's department of social services beginning next week.

ALBANY--Gov. George E. Pataki visited Western New York Monday to oppose the Constitutional Amendment on the State Budget process, also known as "Proposal 1," which will be put before voters on Election Day, Nov. 8th.

A case raising numerous public policy issues relating to the funding of public, higher education institutions and debtor/creditor relationships as well as a case regarding one's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination will be among oral arguments heard this week before the U.S. Supreme Court.

RAY BROOK - During the next two monthly meetings, the Adirondack Park Agency will address priority community development needs for Adirondack towns and villages. The agency's Economic Affairs and Local Government Services Committees will hold two workforce-housing forums in early November and December.

TAMPA, FL--A scheme to facilitate the theft and resale of cigarettes has been uncovered as the result of "Operation Up in Smoke", an ongoing criminal investigation conducted by the Tampa Bay Regional Domestic Security Task Force (RDSTF).

I've always been curious. That's probably why I work in the field of investigative journalism. Some of my associates laughingly tell me that I just "go looking" for trouble.

From Perth, Australia to Plainwell, Mich., there is a pattern of abuse that is making headlines around the world, according to the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students, a group of concerned citizens in the United States, a voluntary organization formed to protect the exchange students that arrive in the thousands from all over the world to study in the U.S.

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL---How satisfied are you with the operations and funding of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department?

There appear to be more foxes guarding Florida henhouses than chickens in them.

Apparently Florida Speaker of the House Allan Bense is one sly fox that doesn't think that the public should have the right to amend the state Constitution and he's going to make them pay to deny themselves the right to put the issue on the ballot.

ORLANDO, FL---The day after a federal grand jury returned a three count indictment against him for allegedly laundering $45,500 into President Bush's re-election campaign, Tom Noe appeared in shackles and handcuffs before a U.S. magistrate in Orlando to be arraigned.

Must convictions for attempting to influence a public servant be vacated when they are based not on a true threat of violence, but on constitutionally protected statements in pro se pleadings?

When Dr. Yoshio Hosobuchi of the University of California at San Francisco performed an experimental procedure in December, 1990, to implant platinum electrodes into the brain of Terri Schiavo as a "brain stimulator", he was a licensed physician.

GLENS FALLS--Making a false report to the state's child abuse hot line is a crime.

OSWEGO---The city of Oswego seems to be having trouble keeping its public officials out of jail with the third city official in trouble with the law in the last three months.

A state Supreme Court judge has ruled against the state Department of Environmental Conservation in its efforts to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a North Country ATV club in regard to the state's closing of 54 roads on state land in the North Country to ATV access.

KORTRIGHT--A Delaware County town justice has agreed to vacate his office, entering into a stipulation with the state Commission on Judicial Commission three days before a hearing was scheduled to commence into a formal complaint against him for judicial misconduct.

MOHAWK---Mohawk town justice Roy Dumar, faced with disciplinary action by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct for the second time in 18 months, has resigned.

A former student at a Manhattan Montessori school who is now a police officer has filed a complaint against a teacher at the school, alleging that she and he, now 22, had sex in a school van, inside the school and in a school-owned apartment, starting in 1996 when he was 13 years old and continuing for several years.

In the wake of Harriet Miers asking to have her nomination to the Supreme Court withdrawn, Democrats have, with one voice, accused the radical right wing (of which I'm a proud member) of attempting to pack the Court and demanding a litmus test for Supreme Court justice. You know what? They are right.

TALLAHASSEE - Attorney General Charlie Crist has sued a Ft. Myers hotel, charging that it improperly inflated prices to Florida consumers seeking emergency shelter from Hurricane Wilma. This is the first price-gouging lawsuit filed by the Attorney General's Office related to Hurricane Wilma, alleging room rate increases of up to 108 percent as Wilma affected the state.

ALBANY--Gov. George E. Pataki has directed New York State's criminal justice agencies to take proactive measures so that New York's children can enjoy a happy and safe Halloween, including enforcing a curfew on sex offenders under state supervision for Halloween night.

QUEENS--A Floral Park man has been charged with a $1.2 million state sales tax theft in connection with his operation of a Jamaica, Queens, used car dealership. The dealership allegedly annually sold between 169 and 337 used motor vehicles that ranged in prices from $500 to $30,000 per vehicle.

JACKSON HEIGHTS---An attorney practicing from an office in Jackson Heights has been charged by the Nassau County district attorney's Technology Crime Unit with being an online predator and having sexually explicit conversations with a person who he believed was a 14-year-old female.

GARDEN CITY, LI--A Nassau County attorney, already incarcerated for convictions of federal money laundering charges has been charged with grand larceny, accused of stealing clients' funds amounting to $247,102.

When a reporter did an article in the St. Petersburg Times, Feb 17,1991. pg.3, about Terri's surgery in which Yoshio Hosobuchi of the University of California at San Francisco in December(1990) implanted a neurological thalamic stimulator in her brain, they reported:

ALBANY-The power of the government to acquire the title to private property for public use by condemning it through eminent domain has seemingly grown over the past few years. The impact that eminent domain can have on a community was highlighted in the recent, much-publicized Kelo v. City of New London decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. A new book published by the New York State Bar Association proves a valuable guide through the eminent domain landscape.

MALONE--A police officer with the Malone Village Police Department who has been on paid suspension was arrested Wednesday and charged with second degree criminal trespass, official misconduct and obstruction of governmental administration in regard to his alleged involvement with a 17-year-old female runaway.

Vote "No" on Proposal (1)

Our government is based on a system of checks and balances to ensure that no one person, agency or branch of government gains too much power. We learned back in social studies class that this principle is one of the cornerstones of American democracy. Despite all that we have learned about the balance of power and responsibility, on Election Day the State Legislature will offer a ballot proposal to throw our entire system out of balance, costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

The owner of a Manhattan investment firm used a classic Ponzi scheme to defraud about 60 investors of more than $747,000, Manhattan district attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said Thursday in announcing the indictment of Edwin Rodriguez, owner of Rodriguez's Investment Services Inc.

NEW YORK---On the same day the former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker issued his final report on the $64 billion scandal in the UN's Oil-for Food Program, Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he allegedly paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Iraq to buy oil from Saddam Hussein.

Local governments will have to spend at least $375 million more this year for gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, natural gas and electricity because of increased prices and millions more because of the impact of higher energy prices on the cost of goods and deliveries, according to a survey released by New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi.

Even with permission from vehicle owners, police looking for drugs and other contraband can't literally tear cars apart at traffic stops, the Court of Appeals has ruled in a 6-1 decision.

ALBANY----The state's highest court helped public officials hide from accountability to the public this week and allowed public entities even more leverage to wrongly deny citizens records to which they are entitled and make their right to know even more cost prohibitive.

CLEVELAND, OHIO--Charges of public corruption among Republicans in Ohio widened Thursday with a federal grand jury indicting Thomas W. Noe, a former Republican party fundraiser, for allegedly making illegal campaign contributions using conduit contributors.

What's going on in Fulton County anyway?

Are the public officers in Fulton County more concerned about their budgets than they are with the constitutional rights of individuals and the welfare and needs of families?

ALBANY-Requiring Americans who cross to and from Canada to carry a passport "would create serious economic problems for tourism and business activity," The Business Council said in testimony at a federal hearing this week in Buffalo.

ALBANY-- The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association says that last week's passage of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act by the United States Senate and House of Representatives will have a positive effect on New Yorkers' safety and lives. The Act, limiting civil liability for firearm manufacturers, has been passed by both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and is awaiting President Bush's signature.

Eight individuals who Nassau County prosecutors say conspired to bilk lending institutions and homeowners out of $12 million in one of the biggest money laundering schemes seen in Nassau County have been arrested.

SCHENECTADY--The owner of a Schenectady County construction and demolition debris hauling business has been sentenced to nine months in jail after repeatedly violating court orders that he properly dispose of a large pile of debris.

A Long Island resident who allegedly operated a fraudulent GED home study course has been put out of business by a court order obtained by the state Attorney General's office.

Agent 007 was arrested Tuesday and charged with exposing himself to a 16-year-old girl.

No, not James Bond, the character in the Ian Fleming spy novels.

ALBANY--The exercise of eminent domain in New York State will be the subject of a series of public hearings to be conducted by several committees of the NYS Assembly including the standing committees on judiciary, local governments and governmental operations.

ALBANY--It was just about a year ago that Albany resident Bliss Alexandra, also known as Darlene Early, was being held at the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center in Manhattan for the violent and criminally insane, being forcibly injected with anti-psychotic drugs after being arrested for protesting regulations of the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles.

CLEARWATER, FL---Tampa attorney Mark A. Adams finally won a round in Pinellas County where he's been battling the politically-entrenched law firm of Battaglia, Ross, Dicus and Wein of St. Peterburg and their claims that they can influence members of the Sixth Circuit Court's judiciary.

CLEARWATER, FL--Cameras have been a fixture in Florida courtrooms for over 20 years.

The decision of the Florida Supreme Court to permit cameras in the courtroom allowed millions of Americans to weigh the evidence in the recount debate of the 2000 Presidential election and to reach their own conclusions.

ALBANY-The U.S. Department of Justice has added New York to the National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) web site, and has once again called upon the Assembly Majority to allow a vote on legislation that would strengthen the state's Megan's Law and expand the information available on the Internet to include all registered sex offenders.

The New York State Attorney General's office has reached an agreement with UPS, the world's largest package delivery company, to help reduce youth access to cigarettes over the Internet.

The second annual independent evaluation of New York's anti-smoking and tobacco control program demonstrates that smoking is on the decline in New York and that teenage smoking is being reduced at a pace that exceeds the national average.

A New York City Police Department Police Officer, formerly assigned to the 114th Precinct in Astoria as the precinct's Youth Officer , has pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to meet for sexual relations a person he had met online and who he believed to be a 14-year-old boy. The boy was actually a New York City Police Department undercover detective assigned to its Computer Crimes Squad.

OYSTER BAY---A former mechanic for the Town of Oyster Bay has been charged with grand larceny in the third degree, a class D felony, in connection with the alleged theft of $13,118.25 in Workers' Compensation benefits.

LAS VEGAS--A federal jury in Las Vegas, Nevada has convicted anti-tax crusader Irwin Schiff and two associates of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns filed by other taxpayers in connection with a tax scam.

ALBANY--Approximately 19,000 Deer Management Permits (DMPs) will be issued to hunters who were previously not selected for permits earlier this year during the DMP Instant Lottery, according to state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) acting commissioner Denise Sheehan.

NORTH GREENBUSH---When a public officer fails to file their oath of office, it's not just a clerical or ministerial error.

BAYSHORE---A former practical nurse employed at the A. Holly Patterson Nursing Home in Uniondale, a 889-bed facility, has been charged with allegedly defrauding the Nassau County workers' compensation benefits program of $37,370.

It must be dèjá vu.

When Tops Markets bought 12 grocery stores in the Adirondacks in 2001, they were being operated as Grand Unions.

GEORGIA--A George defense attorney claimed that Fulton County Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington went "batty" in his courtroom, "branishing" a baseball bat and allegedly making "terroristic" threats towards his client.

The Traveling Heart Gallery of the Mid-Hudson Valley, a portrait exhibit to raise awareness about children available for adoption, will be unveiled in Dutchess County at a grand opening reception Friday, Oct. 28 beginning at 3 p.m. at the Poughkeepsie Galleria. The exhibit will remain on display there through Oct. 30.

ALBANY-- A social studies teacher from Western New York and a defense attorney from Albany will be honored by the New York State Bar Association for their voluntary commitment to law-related education at the 29th annual Statewide Conference on Law-Related and Civic Education, Oct. 26-29 at the Desmond Hotel in Albany.

It was early evening, about 8:30 when he decided to go for a drive. He backed his 2002 Chevy Malibu out of the driveway of his St. Petersburg home where he lived alone. His wife had died in 1998.

New York State has sent New York National Guard personnel and equipment to Florida to assist in rescue, response and recovery efforts as a result of Hurricane Wilma.

NEW YORK --Superintendent of Insurance Howard Mills has announced that the 2005 Consumer Guide to Automobile Insurance is now available online and in hard-copy form. With New Yorkers enjoying unprecedented auto rate decreases over the past year, the state Insurance Department's annual Consumer Guide is aimed at ensuring that drivers are getting the most for their premium dollar.

NEWARK, NJ-The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey is now representing tavern owner Cheng "Terry" Tan, who is fighting the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency's attempt to take his restaurant by eminent domain. Jersey City officials want to take Tan's land to give it to a parochial school, St. Peter's Prep, for its football field.

BINGHAMTON---A dialysis nurse who smeared his blood on a stone column outside U.S. District Court during an anti-war protest last month has pleaded guilty to attempting to damage federal property, a misdemeanor.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has given federal approval to Florida's groundbreaking Medicaid transformation plan. Gov. Jeb Bush said that Florida's reform program will improve quality of care and provide predictability in spending for Medicaid, the state-federal partnership charged with providing healthcare to more than 2.2 million vulnerable, disabled and elderly Floridians.

ST. PETERSBURG--In a closely-watched case in Florida involving charges of political influence and judicial corruption, Tampa attorney Mark A. Adams has charged that principals in the politically-connected, high-powered law firm of Battaglia, Ross, Dicus and Wein of St. Petersburg have allegedly bragged about the influence they wield in the Florida court system.

NEW ORLEANS--Six Louisiana hospitals and 13 nursing homes are under investigation by the state's Medicaid Fraud Control unit of the attorney general's office for the dozens of patient deaths both during and after Hurricane Katrina.

New York's Chief Judge Judith Kaye is continuing her drive for pay hikes for the state's judiciary, including herself.

In a courthouse in Fulton County, Georgia, a criminal defendant used a deputy sheriff 's firearm to shoot and kill a judge, another deputy sheriff and a court reporter.

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL---Now that Terri Schiavo has died, where are all the key players in the case?

PINELLAS COUNTY--A key player in the Terri Schiavo right-to-life case, heard in the Pinellas County courtroom of Sixth Judicial Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer, will now be sitting on the bench in that same courthouse, having been appointed to a new judgeship earlier this month by Gov. Jeb Bush.

"Culture of Corruption: The Schiavo Story", by June Maxam, a new book about the Terri Schiavo case, will soon be available only at The North Country Gazette. Pre-publication orders for the e-book are now being received at news@northcountrygazette.org

Editor, The North Country Gazette:

It's good to see Governor Pataki speak out against Proposal 1 on November's ballot ("Pataki Voices Strong Opposition To Proposal 1") http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/101905Proposal.html Eliot Spitzer has done the same, as well as former Gov. Carey and Mayor Koch, but it may not be enough. If the voters mistakenly vote for Prop. 1, thinking it is meaningful reform of Albany's dysfunctional legislative process, all accountability for state spending will be lost, and we might as well give up trying to control spending or reduce the state's sky-high taxes and debt. That's how serious this issue is, and yet most voters don't even know what Prop. 1 means.

States wishing to remain competitive for international investment in today's business climate should reduce or eliminate corporate taxes entirely, according to a new study by the Tax Foundation.

The next Hudson Valley Energy Options energy efficiency session on controlling energy use will be offered Nov. 10 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. on Route 9 in Poughkeepsie.

NORWALK, OHIO-The Ohio Supreme Court has imposed a six month suspension against the license of Norwalk attorney Thomas H. Freeman for paying a female client to pose nude for photographs in 2001.

WARREN COUNTY, OHIO----Order in the court?

Not in Warren County, it was sexcapades in the courthouse with the judge not only engaging in an affair with a court officer half his age but also allegedly sexually harassing other female court employees.

Judicial accountability.

Legal ethics.

We have long held a concern that double standards are exercised by public officers in regard to the law---particularly judges, prosecutors and the police.

FONDA--In August, the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court reversed the conviction of a former Amsterdam day care operator who had been found guilty in 2003 of child abuse and ordered a new trial, citing egregious misconduct by Montgomery County District Attorney James E. "Jeb" Conboy and improper jury instructions by Montgomery County Court Judge Felix Catena.

ALBANY-Gov. George E. Pataki has signed into law legislation creating a new voluntary check-off box on State income tax forms, allowing New York residents and businesses to donate to the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation. The Governor joined members of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation that announced that the Foundation had already raised over $100 million towards the creation of the Memorial. Governor Pataki serves as an Honorary Trustee to the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, along with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Gov. George E. Pataki joined with parents, educators, legislators, law enforcement officials and more than 4,000 schoolchildren from across the State and nation via webcast Thursday for New York's first-ever Cyber Security Awareness Conference.

More than $5 million has been awarded to 30 teaching hospitals and Graduate Medical Education (GME) consortia statewide to support clinical research training opportunities for physicians.

A Reston, VA-based oil trading company has pleaded guilty in New York State for its involvement in a scheme to pay kickbacks to Iraq in connection with oil purchases made under the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program.

WASHINGTON--Congress passed a bill Thursday protecting the firearms industry from massive crime-victim lawsuits initiated nationwide.

WASHINGTON, DC--After seven years of abusing the rights of residents and flouting the will of the public, the New London Development Corporation-the private agency that was given the government's power of eminent domain-was fired this week by a unanimous vote of the City Council of New London, Conn. The NLDC has spent almost $73 million of the public's money with literally nothing but empty fields and public conflict to show for the expense.

Today's Democrat party is determined to recover the power it lost over the past 25 years. Not at the ballot box, but in the jury box. Since 1980, the Democrats have been unable to win national elections. No, I didn't sleep through Bill Clinton's eight years, but face it. He didn't run as a Democrat. Bill Clinton was a "new" Democrat. He was a charter member of the DLC which was designed to push the Democrat party away from the Left and toward the center.

PINELLAS COUNTY-- It's looking more likely that come next year, former Pinellas County sheriff Everett Rice won't be in elected public office for the first time since 1988.

The state Attorney General's office has reached an agreement with the former CEO of a leading internet marketing company responsible for secretly installing adware and spyware on millions of home computers.

A restraining order has been obtained by the state Attorney General's office against a Long Island man who allegedly operated several Internet scams that bilked consumers out of thousands of dollars.

A former finance clerk for the Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities ("VESID"), an entity of the State Education Department that provides rehabilitation and vocational services to individuals with disabilities, has pleaded guilty to stealing from New York State in connection with the theft of 33 state-owned laptop computers worth more than $40,000.

TALLAHASSEE- The Florida Attorney General's office has filed a lawsuit against Broward County resident Evales Cena for allegedly operating a bogus nursing school that bilked unsuspecting students out of thousands of dollars.

TALLAHASSEE - Attorney General Charlie Crist has urged Floridians and visitors to take all necessary safety precautions as Hurricane Wilma approaches the state and to be alert for unscrupulous business operators who try to take advantage of them. Crist mobilized his office and staffed a toll-free hotline at 1-866-9-NO-SCAM (1-866-966-7226) to handle consumer calls over possible price gouging. The Attorney General's action follows Governor Jeb Bush's official declaration of a state of emergency for all of Florida due to Wilma, extending the ongoing state of emergency that has been in effect from Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina and Rita.

ALBANY--Thomas X. Geisel, president of Key Bank's Capital Region since August, 2002, has been promoted to the newly-created position of president of the Northeast Region for Key Community Bank.

BUFFALO--Tops Markets has announced the sale of 12 of its stores located in the Adirondack region to C&S Wholesale Grocers of Keene, NH.

COLONIE---The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court has unanimously ordered that former Colonie town justice Richard DiStefano be suspended from practicing law for two years after being found guilty of professional misconduct.

He's seven years old.

His father was granted custody in a contentious court battle two years ago in Saratoga County Family Court before Judge Gilbert Abramson. And it's gone downhill since then, with a demonstrated, remarkable change in the child, now full of hate and anger.

In a speech before the Citizens' Budget Commission (CBC) in New York City Wednesday, Gov. George Pataki voiced his strong opposition to the Constitutional Amendment on the State Budget process, also known as "Proposal 1", which will be put before voters on Election Day, Nov. 8.

Facing widespread opposition from states on the Canadian border for a plan that would require U.S. citizens to show passports in order to cross back and forth over the border, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said that the government will come up with a cheaper alternative but so far, he hasn't identified what it will be.

When Florida's Department of Children and Families made a surprise entry into the Pinellas County courtroom of probate judge George W. Greer in February during a hearing in the Terri Schiavo case, Greer refused to grant DCF legal counsel Kelly McKibben's request to address the court to announce the agency's intervention into the case.