Albany corruption epitomized: the attorney general Democratic Party primary, supposedly random, somehow puts both of the Albany incumbent legislators at the top of the ballot and favorite Kathleen Rice at the bottom-- but what do you expect when a state agency picks the order? (NY Observer)... 8/6

They don't care about you: Southern Tier gas drilling ban passes state senate, 49-9, with almost every senator in the southern tier voting against it (senate record)... 8/5

Farm labor bill dies-- again-- in committee, with Catharine Young involved in its demise (Jamestown Post-Journal)... 8/5

Report: Janice Volk petitions are to be thrown out, on the grounds that there's no such town as Gowanda??? Volk considering lawsuit, may also circulate independent petitions (Hornell Evening Tribune)... 8/5

NEW YORK STATE BUDGET PASSES... 8/4

CATTARAUGUS COUNTY FAIR WEEK... 8/2-8

JUDGE AIN'T GONNA SAVE YA THIS TIME: THE PACT ACT STANDS-- ALL MAIL-ORDER CIGARETTE BUSINESS MUST SHUT DOWN IMMEDIATELY (Buffalo News)... 7/30

Kevin Gaughan wants to take away your voice in Albany (WGRZ)... 7/27

It looks like the Taxpayers Party might be a legitimate force in New York politics (Liz Benjamin)... 7/26

"MANY TORNADOS TOUCHED DOWN TODAY. RANDOLPH NEW YORK WIDE SPREAD DAMAGE. ALLEGANY NEW YORK TREES DOWN POWER OUT.I -86 ALLEGANY AND CARROLLTON TREES SHEARED OFF. POWER OUT IN ALLEGANY RANDOLPH MAYVILLE WATER TOWER GONE WIDE SPREAD DAMAGE DEBRIS. MORE STORMS COMING AND TORNADOS POSSIBLE HANG ON KIDS ITS GONNA BE A HECK OF A NIGHT....well reports are coming in landmark chevrolet roof gone the truck stop is gone. My exs girl friends house on Airport road trees all gone and plants and shingles gone on roof. touched down in Alleghany Ny. talked to my sister inlaw and son no power trees down sheared off hit on I 86 by rest area and in Carrolton 5 miles from me B& F tire guy across the road lost his truck and race cars trees down..." Photos... NWS reports... 7/24 UPDATE: Three tornadoes confirmed, including the Randolph and Carrollton tornadoes; a downburst was confirmed in Great Valley.

The federalist revolt begins: Counties begin to refuse paying the state (AP)... 7/24

LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST SENECA NATION PERTAINING TO EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES AND THEIR PREFERENCE OF SENECAS OVER NON-SENECAS (Niagara Falls Reporter)... 7/24

Chautauqua County assemblyman Bill Parment to retire at the end of this term... Democrats pick three-time loser Nancy Bargar as their nominee to replace him... Republicans sticking with former county executive Andrew Goodell (Jamestown Post-Journal)... 7/23

For once, Chuck Schumer does something I agree with-- but why eight years later after he passed the bill the first time??? (AP)... 7/22

Bad faith: Sheldon Silver sues to get opponent off the ballot-- AND BLOCK ANY OPPORTUNITY TO REPLACE HER (Azi Paybarah)... 7/22

And then there were two: Angelo Campini fails to deliver petitions to the board of elections, leaving Tom Reed and Janice Volk to battle for the NY-29 Republican primary (Gannett)... 7/16 UPDATE 7/19: Reed files challenge against Volk's petitions (WLEA)...

Is this serious? Pennsylvania proposes eliminating all towns, cities and boroughs (what they call villages) and passing all of their duties to the counties (WKPQ)... (I'm sure the Census Bureau would LOVE that move.) 7/16

The golden parachute strikes again! Governor Paterson nominates Ed Sharkey for parole board-- one of the cushiest patronage positions available (Olean Times Herald)... 7/15

How did I miss this?! Motorcyclists lead county police on 100-mph wild goose chase from south of Gowanda through Cattaraugus, Little Valley, Salamanca and Mansfield... two remain at large, the other, Kenmore's Jose Amaro, is in custody (WESB)... 7/12

Hey, pinheads! The Amish are the last people you should try robbing! (WGRZ)... 7/11

HERE WE GO: OLEAN TIMES HERALD TWEETS: SENECA TERRORISM BEGINS! AMTRAK TRAIN COLLIDES WITH A SENECA-PLACED RAILROAD TIE BLOCKADE ON THE CATTARAUGUS REZ... SENECAS THREATENING "NO MAIL, NO RAIL..." WGWE CONFIRMS... BUT MENTIONS THIS HAPPENED FOUR DAYS AGO AND NOTHING WAS SAID ABOUT IT... BARRY SNYDER DENIES ANY INVOLVEMENT, PER WIVB... DEVELOPING...

Local cat lady arrested for animal cruelty-- as a result of a traffic stop in front of her own house??? (WGRZ)... 7/9

All I can say to the Senate Republicans is this: don't take the bait (New York Post)... 7/5

Happy 4th of July from Fullervision... yours truly will be announcing the annual Freedom Daze Demolition Derby at the Little Valley Speedway at 7:30 p.m. tonight... fireworks will be displayed after the derby... 7/4

REPORT: IRS AUDITING THE SENECA NATION BUSINESS DEALINGS... BARRY SNYDER AMONG THOSE BEING INVESTIGATED (Buffalo News)... 7/2

Simon Griffis (i.e. the guy behind the Griffis Sculpture Park in Ashford) found dead in Zoar Valley (WIVB)... 6/29

Should we rename him "David Partisan?" Actual quote: "If it bothers them so much that I’m making the cuts during an election period, I’ll do it after the election period is over." (Jimmy Vielkind)... 6/29

Judicial activism at its finest yet again: judge blocks implementation of PACT Act for two more weeks (WGRZ) (WIVB)... attorney for the suing Seneca (who, surprisingly, was not Scott Maybee this time around like it usually is) actually had the gall to invoke the same 14th Amendment rights that they willfully violate every day?! (Buffalo News)... Sharon Turano reports that the injunction applies only to the company that sued, and that everybody else still has to comply (update 7/2: BN reports that a separate injunction covers many of the rest, including most of the tribal bosses) until July 30 according to WGRZ... hearing set for July 7 that will hopefully settle this once and for all. 6/28

Report: national GOP circumventing the state party and funneling its funds directly to the counties... state chairman Ed Cox has gone into seclusion (Liz Benjamin)... 6/28

The primary battle for NY-29 is heating up... and give Janice Volk credit, she seems pretty adept at getting media attention and seems to be making a decent push against favorite Tom Reed (Gannett)... (where's Campini now?) 6/27

What Sheldon Silver calls property tax relief: "[It's] called school aid" (Albany Times-Union)... 6/27

Catharine Young's response to the "tax the Senecas" plan: frames it upstate-downstate again, raises issues with Pennsylvania, and doesn't say much other than that the Senecas believe they have sovereign treaties (in other words, I get the hint that she doesn't but doesn't quite have the guts to admit it) (Jamestown Post-Journal)... 6/27

Langworthy's Restaurant in Kill Buck catches fire... developing... 6/27

Route 219 expansion beyond Ashford has been defunded (Buffalo News)... 6/26 (And Young is once again apoplectic.)

REPORT: PATERSON SECRETLY NEGOTIATING WITH INDIAN TRIBES WITHOUT CONSULTATION FROM LOCAL OFFICIALS (Albany Times-Union)... 6/24 update 6/25: legislature is not happy about it and is moving to yank its permission to do so...

Surprise: Lake County Dairy, a local convenience store with several branches (including one in Randolph), abruptly shuts down after the sole owner goes bankrupt, citing New York State taxes and economic malaise as the primary reason... apparently it had lost the lease to the Randolph site earlier in the year, and most will remain open under Crosby's or Arrow Mart management (Jamestown Post-Journal)... 6/25

Paterson proposes levying sales taxes on clothing... no increase in the general rate has yet been proposed (multiple sources)... 6/24

Report of funnel cloud in East Otto... unconfirmed by NWS, which did report hail in West Valley... 6/24

5.0 magnitude earthquake reported in western Quebec; effects felt throughout western New York, though some places apparently didn't feel anything (USGS)... 6/23

Paterson proposes supposed property tax cap-- from which schools are exempt! (Gannett)... 6/22

Both beaches at Allegany State Park scheduled to open this weekend (6/26) as scheduled...

Still not getting it: Even though the PACT Act has taken effect, the Seneca nation is still circumventing state taxes on other goods-- such as candy (Albany Times-Union)... 6/21

IRS data: at least 80 people moved out of Cattaraugus County to the Carolinas or Florida in 2008 alone, and another 19 moved to Phoenix... we have a net gain of people from Potter County, PA but a net loss to McKean County... Pennsylvania counties show no noticeable migration to the South (Forbes)... 6/21

This is ridiculous: West Valley teacher is granted tenure-- AFTER ONLY TWO YEARS ON THE JOB! (Springville Journal)... 6/18

Illegal ChiCom busted with $2,000,000 worth of marijuana in Cold Spring (WGRZ)... 6/19

SHOOTING ONESELF IN THE FOOT: Olean Times Herald and Salamanca Press going to subscription Web sites (press release)... they don't even post most of their stories online anyway, just a few of the front-page ones. Ask the Post-Journal how that one went-- it failed. I, however, am relishing the opportunity. 6/19 UPDATE: Because of the change in policy I have removed the links to all Bradford Publishing newspapers.

The next state budget extender has (brace for it): a surprise $1.60 hike in the cigarette tax, and, on top of that, enforcement of taxes on Indian reservations (meaning they go up $4.35 a pack, or nearly triple in price in some cases) (YNN)... 6/18 (Good luck enforcing that one.) UPDATE 6/22: Details of the plan (as explained by Gannett) show some big loopholes-- negotiation with tribal leaders will be a key factor, Seneca owned brands will apparently be exempt, and WIVB reports the Senecas are already planning a false flag revolt. The Watertown Daily Times reports the Mohawks will engage in "aggressive resistance."

Three juveniles arrested Tuesday in connection with arson at fairgrounds in April (Olean Times Herald, no link)... I know the three names involved but because the three are juveniles I am not at liberty to disclose them at this time. 6/17

New York State government does not care about you: Consider the Marcellus shale-- a vast resource of natural gas that has already begun reversing the economic malaise in northern Pennsylvania and begun producing jobs. New York won't have any of that and is proposing a moratorium (WKPQ)... 6/16

From a local tipster: "bad accident in salamanca, across the street of antones on central ave.semi trailer flip over on a van with entrapment possible hit the house on the corner also" 6/10

Matt Zeller claims it was coincidence that he planned on moving back to NY-29 the same day Eric Massa resigned... sure... (Olean Times Herald)... 6/9

On the one-year anniversary of the Senate deadlock crisis, its mastermind, Pedro Espada, is back and ready for more: he's threatening to join the Republicans to block any further budget extenders, possibly forcing a shutdown (AP)... the next vote is next Monday. 6/7
...oh, and by the way... the governor says he's including funding cuts, but apparently the biggest one-- education aid-- is off the table (New York Times)... 6/8

CUOMO'S ANTISEMITIC GAFFE: In defense of his housing policies as chair of HUD, blames "greedy... bankers" (two well-known Jewish stereotypes) for the housing crisis (New York Post) (New York Daily News)... 6/7