The family of a man killed in the 2018 limousine crash in Schoharie is suing a shop used by the limousine company.

Attorneys for the estate of Michael Ukaj recently filed a proposed amendment to an ongoing lawsuit against limo company operator Nauman Hussain and Mavis Tire Supply, LLC in state supreme court. They allege mechanics at the Mavis in Saratoga Springs knew the limo's brake lines had issues for years before the Oct. 6, 2018 crash and failed to warn Hussain.

In office less than two months, President Donald Trump is sending economic shockwaves across the world — including New York City. From cutting the federal workforce to launching massive tariffs, Trump’s fiscal moves are already having an impact on Wall Street and the rest of the five boroughs. Greg David, an economics reporter from the news outlet The City, has been detailing how Trump’s measures could affect New York City residents.

David joined NY1’s Errol Louis to discuss the vulnerabilities of various federal aid programs like Medicaid and food stamps, the potential effects of the stock market’s decline, what tariffs could mean for local businesses and the broader economic impact for the city’s post-pandemic recovery. They also examined the lack of clarity on economic policies among New York mayoral candidates.

The 22-day prison strike officially came to an end Monday when about 75% of correction officers across the state agreed to return to work.

About 2,000 officers did not accept the deal with the state and have been fired from their jobs, and barred from seeking jobs with the state in the future.

Several groups came together in Rochester on Wednesday to call for New York state to pass legislation protecting immigrants.

Organizations, including the New York Immigration Coalition, gathered in an effort to help pass the New York For All Act.

President Donald Trump’s so-called border czar, Tom Homan, was in Albany on Wednesday, backing a Republican-led effort to reverse New York’s immigration policies.

The visit comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul faces a lawsuit over the state’s driver’s license law by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

This week, the New York legislative houses released their budget proposals in the next stage of the state budgeting process.

Nathan Gusdorf, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, joined Capital Tonight on Wednesday to help make sense of the proposals and what they mean for the state’s fiscal future.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Ontario, Canada briefly threatened to charge an extra 25% on power it sends to New York state, Michigan and Minnesota.

However, after the Trump administration responded by saying it would double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Premier Doug Ford agreed to suspend the surcharge and plans to meet with the U.S. Commerce Secretary Thursday to discuss renegotiating the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement.

While not reminiscent of the battle over Foundation Aid that took place at this time last year, with the release of one-house budgets Tuesday, there is daylight when it comes to education policy and funding between Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal and that of legislative leaders.

When it comes to a cell phone ban in schools, Hochul is gearing up to push her bell-to-bell proposal across the finish line when the state budget is due April 1, with the backing of the powerful New York State United Teachers union and other education groups.

The Oneida County Board of Legislators on Wednesday approved a resolution allowing them to sue New York state in response to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive order that bars correction officers who were fired for striking from being hired by local municipalities unless they go through a specific program.

County Executive Anthony Picente said the legislature approved the resolution because lawmakers think the governor overstepped.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Following the end of a correction worker strike at various prisons across New York state that lasted 22 days, what’s next for the members of the National Guard who stepped in to fill the void?

They are staying put, for now, but the New York Army National Guardsmen and airmen on this mission are now going to get even more money for their efforts inside the state’s prison walls.

Getting what's needed from the U.S. health care system can be difficult, but it’s even more challenging for people living with traumatic brain injuries.

“One hundred-and-fifty-seven New Yorkers every day are sustaining a brain injury,” said Eileen Reardon of the Brain Injury Association of New York State.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that Republicans do not have enough Democratic votes to advance the GOP funding stopgap bill approved Tuesday.

Schumer’s declaration raises the prospects of a government shutdown this weekend.

New York lawmakers have included a correction to the overtime tax credit in the budget proposals, which previously excluded some farms from receiving the credit, industry advocates said Wednesday.

Prior to the correction, the law, which mandates farmers pay overtime to workers after a decreasing number of hours, didn’t allow farms that operate through a management company or payroll company to receive the tax credit meant to help offset the increased costs.

Mahmoud Khalil will remain detained in Louisiana until at least next week following an initial court hearing in New York on Wednesday over the Trump administration’s plans to deport the Columbia University graduate student for his role in campus protests against Israel.

The brief hearing, which focused on thorny jurisdictional issues, drew hundreds of demonstrators to the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan to denounce the Saturday arrest of Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen. Khalil, 30, didn't attend — after initially being held in New Jersey, he was moved to an immigration detention center in Louisiana.

A federal bankruptcy judge's ruling on Wednesday allows several child sexual abuse suits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany to go to trial in state court, which attorneys hope will pave the way for settlements.

Judge Robert Littlefield Jr. of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District of New York ruled eight cases against the Albany Diocese can advance to trial, reopening Child Victims Act cases that were sidelined by the diocese's filing for bankruptcy two years ago in March.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a felony, after allegedly getting abortion pills from a New York doctor and giving them to her teenage daughter to terminate a pregnancy.

The woman's arraignment is part of a cross-state legal battle that involves what may be the first instance of criminal charges against a doctor accused of sending abortion pills to another state, putting Louisiana’s near-total abortion ban in tension with New York’s shield laws.

Senator Chuck Schumer is criticizing reported cuts targeting the Watervliet Arsenal's workforce.

Schumer, in a statement Wednesday morning, said the rumored DOGE-recommended cuts to the Arsenal's workforce, reported by the Times Union, "would undermine Watervliet Arsenal’s production of the top-notch large-caliber cannon tubes, gun barrels, and other critical components for the U.S. Army."

Two of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s big proposals — a cellphone ban in schools and tax rebate checks for New Yorkers — may not survive state budget negotiations, which have now begun in earnest ahead of the April 1 deadline.

“What a radical concept, the thought that students should be paying attention to their teachers!” Hochul said on Tuesday in Albany, building off her successful crusade against social media targeting minors.

During Mayor Eric Adams’ weekly briefing with reporters Tuesday, he deferred to the federal government over concerns surrounding the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder from Columbia University.

“I’ve said it over and over again, that free speech is important and actually this country advocates for that, but when it comes down to the determination of the status of who stays in the country and who doesn’t, that’s the federal government,” he said.

With New York state on Monday declaring the illegal corrections officer strike over, lawmakers are still reacting as the state budget process moves into a phase many on the picket lines had hoped to use to their advantage.

While always highly unlikely, a top-line demand of those on strike was a legislative repeal or significant revision of the HALT Act, which limits solitary confinement and replaces elements of it with rehabilitative programming.

The legislative chambers on Tuesday released their one-house budget proposals in the latest advancement of the state budget process.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger joined Capital Tonight after the release to talk about what made it in as legislators prepare for negotiations with the governor.

The New York state Department of Health issued a cease-and-desist letter to certain fiscal intermediaries and licensed home care agencies after receiving complaints about the spread of false information.

The department said some of these groups provided deceptive information to people who use the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP, in an effort to undermine the state's transition to a single fiscal intermediary.

From the day New York state Democrats passed the SAFE ACT — the law banning certain assault weapons and limiting magazine capacity — many Republicans have been vocal about their displeasure.

More than a decade later, it’s a battle that continues.

Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters Tuesday that the correction worker strike at various prisons across the state that lasted 22 days has been a consuming affair.

State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said Monday evening more than 5,000 officers came back to work while termination letters have been sent to more than 2,000 workers, ending the strike.

Hundreds of correction officers and their families filled the halls of the state Supreme Court in Erie County on Tuesday for hearings on the state's Taylor Law in regards to the recent prison worker strike.

State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS ) officials, along with officials with the union that backs COs, were on hand for a contempt hearing.

Any worker who continued to participate in the wildcat strike at prisons across New York after Monday's agreement with the state will no longer be able to be hired at any state service job, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who announced Tuesday that she signed an executive order putting the ban into effect.

The executive order also recommends these workers be removed from the Central Registry of Police and Peace Officers for cause. It means they would also be prevented from being hired as a police or peace officer in state and local jurisdictions.

Rochester mayoral candidate and city council member Mary Lupien had an exchange with Vice President J.D. Vance during the congressional cities conference in Washington D.C. on Monday.

Lupien interrupted Vance's speech after he spoke about immigration.

President Donald Trump warned Monday that the arrest and possible deportation of a Palestinian activist who helped lead protests at Columbia University will be the first “of many to come” as his administration cracks down on campus demonstrations against Israel and the war in Gaza.

Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful U.S. resident who was a graduate student at Columbia until December, was detained Saturday by federal immigration agents in New York and flown to an immigration jail in Louisiana.

The New York state inspector general's office is calling for changes to be made to the state's body camera policy after the automatic video recall function was used to review footage during the investigation into the death of Robert Brooks after he was beaten at Marcy Correctional Facility.

Inspector General Lucy Lang wants the state Division of Criminal Justice Services to revise the 2015 guidance to reflect the technological advances. Lang's letter to the DCJS can be found here.

Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill could be doing more to push back against President Donald Trump, warns a historian who studies the rise of autocracy.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor at New York University and author of the book “Strongmen,” warns the United States is in a “democratic emergency” that is “getting worse every day.”

In a stunning fall from grace in August 2021, Andrew Cuomo resigned as governor.

Facing multiple sexual harassment allegations, the governor said he never meant to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, chair of the Senate Health Committee, joined Capital Tonight Monday to outline his budget priorities and his concerns with potential cuts on the federal level.

The gantries have been collecting tolls for over two months. There is now the first real barometer of how new Yorkers feel about congestion pricing.

Siena College Research Institute pollster Steve Greenberg explained the question asked.

“The strike is over.”

That’s what New York state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said in an update Monday evening, 22 days after correction officers across the state walked off the job and four different agreements that attempted to bring them back to work.

A new mutual agreement has been reached to return New York's striking correction officers to work on Monday, according to the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS).

According to a statement Saturday night from DOCCS, the agreement will take effect upon at least 85% of staff returning to work.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has a commanding lead in a hypothetical 2026 Democratic primary, according to a Siena College poll released Monday.

According to the poll, the governor has the backing of 46% of Democrats, far above support levels of 11% for Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado and 10% for Rep. Ritchie Torres. Neither has announced they are running for the office.

Several workers who lost their federal jobs as part of thousands of layoffs by the Department of Government Efficiency said Friday they did not expect to lose their employment after President Donald Trump took office.

The cuts, led by Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, are in attempts to reduce the nation's $2 trillion annual deficit, they say.

Amid political challenges on the state and federal level, Gov. Kathy Hochul is also trying to close a deal on her $252 billion spending package known as the state budget.

The April 1 deadline is fast approaching, and the Democratic-led state legislature is poised to release its own counterproposals.

After another busy week in Planet Albany, Ken Lovett, former Albany bureau chief for The New York Daily News and current partner at Ichor Strategies, breaks down the prison strike and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo jumping into the race for New York City mayor.

LOCKPORT, N.Y. -- Known for movies like "Wet Hot American Summer" and his standup, Michael Ian Black said he's always had an interest in comedy and politics but has never been a political comedian.

However, Black has become something of a progressive champion on social media, using platforms to advocate for issues important to him.

The aunt of a 22-year-year old Mid-State Correctional inmate who died last week and prison reform activists spoke Friday, days after Gov. Kathy Hochul said it appeared “extremely disturbing conduct” led to the man's death.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) placed 15 individuals on leave in connection to the death of Messiah Nantwi.

One of the most urgent campaigns of this state budget cycle is one to end child poverty in New York state.

A diverse group of organizations sharing that mission converged on the state Capitol earlier this week urging lawmakers to help improve long-term outcomes for children and families from households experiencing economic hardship.

A former U.S. solicitor general brought in to help a federal judge decide whether to accept a Justice Department request to drop corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams recommended Friday that the charges be dropped but that the government not be allowed to refile them at a later date.

Judge Dale E. Ho in Manhattan appointed Paul Clement, who was solicitor general under President George W. Bush, two weeks ago to present arguments on the government’s request.

Subway safety is on the right track, according to new statistics that show a drop in transit crime.

To mark one year since Gov. Kathy Hochul launched her subway safety plan, the state on Thursday released encouraging numbers.

New York state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said he is directly delivering contents of an agreement to striking correction officers across the state Thursday evening that would be applied if they return to work for their shift beginning Friday morning, bypassing the union that represents the workers.

Martuscello and state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Jackie Bray outlined the terms Thursday evening, which included:

The new acting commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation said the agency will release draft regulations later this month for a cap-and-invest system that would generate revenue for green energy projects after Gov. Kathy Hochul delayed its implementation late last year.

Acting DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton, who assumed the role Tuesday after Hochul nominated her to the role last month, said the department will advance long-awaited details of the cap-and-trade system mandated by law, which will require companies to buy credits from the state to contribute to its greenhouse gas emissions and fund rebates to reduce utility costs for taxpayers.

Mayor Eric Adams announced Friday the appointment of four new deputy mayors, each charged with overseeing various swaths of city government.

Adolfo Carrión Jr. will serve as deputy mayor for housing, economic development and workforce; Suzanne Miles-Gustave as deputy mayor for health and human services; Jeffrey Roth as deputy mayor for operations; and Kaz Daughtry as deputy mayor for public safety.

A bill that would establish a statewide emergency and crisis response council for Daniel's Law has passed through the New York State Senate Mental Health Committee, according to state Sen. Samra Brouk's office.

The bill incorporates recommendations made by the Daniel’s Law Task Force Report. If it is passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, trauma-informed, peer-led crisis response teams would serve as first responders to emergency calls when someone is experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis.

Buffalo Congressman Tim Kennedy is calling on President Donald Trump to permanently rescind tariffs on Canada.

Rep. Kennedy said that Canada is our greatest ally and trading partner. He said that Trump's pausing of the tariffs is a positive step as Trump needs to avoid an all out trade-war.

Andrew Cuomo finally made it official: he’s running for mayor. The former governor jumped into the race and instantly became the frontrunner. A Quinnipiac poll found him with a double-digit lead over his closest rival – incumbent Eric Adams. Another new entrant, however, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, could shake things up a bit. NY1 investigative reporter Courtney Gross, political reporter Bobby Cuza and statehouse reporter Bernadette Hogan discuss the very crowded race.

After that, New York’s sitting mayor, Eric Adams, was in Washington D.C. this week, testifying before the House on sanctuary city policies. His deal with the Justice Department also got scrutiny — and it came from fellow Democrats. Political director Bob Hardt joins the "Off topic" team to weigh in on Adams’ Capitol Hill grilling.

When he jumped into the 2013 primary race for city comptroller, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer caused a sensation.

The media was enthralled as Spitzer sought to rehabilitate his political career in the city, just a few years after a prostitution scandal forced him from office.

Democratic lawmakers are expected to push Gov. Kathy Hochul to spend the extra $1 billion in her executive budget to address climate change a few years faster than the governor proposed.

Hochul's budget commits an extra billion dollars for sustainable energy projects and other programs to reduce emissions to keep up with requirements mandated under the 2019 Climate Act.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said Wednesday she is joining the race for mayor, becoming the 10th Democrat to announce their candidacy.

"New Yorkers can't afford to live here, City Hall is in chaos, and Donald Trump is corrupting our city's independence. It's time to stand up," Adams said in a statement. "I never planned to run for Mayor, but I'm not giving up on New York City. Our city deserves a leader that serves its people first and always, not someone focused on themselves and their own political interests. I'm a public servant, mother, Queens girl and I'm running for Mayor. No drama, no nonsense — just my commitment to leading with competence and integrity."

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- County leaders from across the country converged on the nation's Capitol this week.

New York State Association of Counties Executive Director Stephen Acquario says they got few answers on the Trump administration's implementation of new executive orders and budget directives.

Editor's Note: This story was reported and published before DOCCS announced Thursday evening they had put forward a new offer to striking correcion officers that would go into effect if they returned to work on Friday. That deal, DOCCS said, was negotiated directly with striking correction officers and was not done with union support.

It's been 18 days since New York correction officers walked off the job at prisons across the state, demanding better work conditions and a repeal of the state's HALT Act. There was some confusion on some picket lines Thursday about negotiations for a deal, and some protesters decided to quit their jobs altogether.

Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation backed a resolution Thursday supporting the ongoing strike by correction officers at prisons across the state that is now in its 18th day.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, of New York's 24th Congressional District, introduced the resolution in the House of Representatives and was cosponsored by Reps. Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Nick Langworthy, Andrew Garbarino and Nicole Malliotakis.

One day after the Congressional Budget Office said the proposed House GOP budget was impossible without cutting Medicare and Medicaid, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said the CBO assessment is proof of what Democrats have been saying since Republicans approved the budget blueprint last week.

“House Republicans and Donald Trump have proposed the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, and they’ve also put the target on the back of Social Security and Medicare,” Jeffries said during a news conference Thursday.

The New York State Business Council and more than a dozen chambers of commerce sent a letter Thursday pressing the state's congressional delegation to push back against President Donald Trump's proposed cuts to National Institutes of Health grants — arguing it would be detrimental to New York communities.

Business leaders urged the state's 26 representatives to fight cutting the NIH grants, which provides over $3.5 billion to more than 250 entities across the state for some of the nation's leading biomedical, cancer and other health care research.

Bronx U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres is re-introducing legislation aimed at improving the federal government’s response to public health emergencies, Spectrum News NY1 has learned.

The bill was initially inspired by concerns over the government’s handling of COVID-19 and mpox, formerly known as monkeypox. Torres is reintroducing it in this session of Congress as the U.S. grapples with outbreaks of the bird flu and measles.

New York Attorney General Letitia James says her Office of Special Investigation will recuse itself from further investigation of the correction officers related to the death of an inmate at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Oneida County, her office announced Thursday.

Messiah Nantwi, 22, was pronounced dead at Wynn Hospital in Utica on Saturday. The state attorney general's office had opened a preliminary assessment into the death. The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) placed 15 individuals on leave in connection to the incident. Mid-State Correctional is located across the street from Marcy Correctional Facility, where authorities say the use of force by correction officers led to the death of Robert Brooks in December. Six prison workers have been charged with murder in that case.

The rising cost of food is magnifying calls from advocates to address child poverty.

According to a new poll from the organization No Kid Hungry New York, about half of New Yorkers have seen their debt increase in the past year due to rising food costs.

By the time Andrew Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021, almost every elected Democrat in New York was calling for him to resign or be impeached in the face of multiple sexual harassment allegations.

It’s a different story now — with many in Cuomo’s party biting their tongues when asked about him as he runs for mayor in New York City.

After much anticipation, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo officially entered the race for New York City mayor, joining a crowded Democratic primary field. Cuomo resigned in 2021 amid 11 allegations of sexual harassment, though Cuomo has denied wrongdoing. NY1’s Errol Louis spoke about Cuomo’s legacy and his future, with Christopher Robbins, an editor and co-founder of the news outlet Hell Gate. They also talked about recent polling that shows Mayor Eric Adams’ job approval rating dipping to an all-time low. And they discussed the reasons why Robbins started Hell Gate and what he sees in the future for the news outlet.

***Spectrum News NY1 and Roosevelt House will be co-hosting a special panel discussion on the political career and legacy of New York City Mayor John Lindsay.

Several state lawmakers said Wednesday they do not expect either the Senate or Assembly's counter budget offer to Gov. Kathy Hochul's spending plan will amend a controversial change to a $9 billion Medicaid home care program that takes effect April 1.

More than 150,000 disabled and elderly people who use the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program need to be registered with new management company Public Partnerships LLC with just over three weeks to go.

Democrats in the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill flipped the script Wednesday, sharply questioning one of their own: New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

During the hearing, they pressed him repeatedly on the Trump Justice Department’s controversial push to drop the federal corruption case against him. More than a half dozen veteran prosecutors resigned, some alleging an improper quid pro quo between the White House and the mayor over immigration enforcement.

Leaders from the state Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) came out Wednesday appearing to feel isolated from its members and the state as the wildcat strike its members are partaking in hit its 17th day.

Executive Vice President Matt Keough acknowleged that members at this point do not trust union leadership.

Eighty-seven percent of roads in New York are owned and maintained by the state, which means you probably drove on at least one such road on your way home from work today.

But funding for repairs and maintenance of those roads hasn’t been increased in three years. This budget cycle, there have been calls by lawmakers from both parties to increase funding for the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program, or CHiPs.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- During his congressional address Tuesday, President Donald Trump boasted the country has seen $1.7 trillion in new investment over the past several weeks — a result, he said, of confidence in his election and new economic policies.

That included a $100 billion commitment from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to expand its Arizona operations.

Mayor Eric Adams and three other Democratic mayors of major cities said Wednesday that Congress and the Trump administration are exaggerating crime committed by immigrants and attacking so-called sanctuary cities simply to score political points, as Republicans hammered the policies for shielding criminals and discouraging cooperation with federal officials.

The comments came in an often fiery hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where Republicans accused the mayors of putting their cities in danger and undermining President Donald Trump's mass deportation efforts.

Mayor Eric Adams' approval rating dipped to a record low in a new Quinnipiac University poll, with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo seeing a double-digit lead over him as voters' preferred Democratic mayoral candidate.

The poll found only 11% of registered Democrats would throw their support behind Adams in the June mayoral primary, while 31% would back Cuomo, who officially entered the race less than a week ago.

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Federal Emergency Management Agency doesn’t need to immediately return more than $80 million that it took away from New York City last month in a dispute over funding for sheltering migrants.

Judge Jennifer H. Rearden in Manhattan declined to issue a temporary restraining order, saying the city had failed to prove it will suffer irreparable harm. The city's lawsuit against President Donald Trump and other federal defendants was expected to proceed as New York seeks a preliminary injunction.

Despite the release of some federal funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, many programs are still in limbo, leaving New York farmers without funding they were counting on.

In some cases, according to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a freeze or end to some programs puts farmers at risk of defaulting on loans without contracted funding from the USDA.

Despite what President Donald Trump may have said during his address to Congress on Tuesday night, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon says, the future Micron plant outside Syracuse is "full steam ahead."

McMahon, in a statement after Trump's speech Tuesday, said he's worked with the Trump administration, including EPA Administrator and former New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, to further an environmental review of the CHIPS & Science Law project. He added that he met with Zeldin on Monday regarding keeping the Micron project on schedule.

Correction officers from around New York state rallied in Albany Tuesday as strikes continued into their third week at dozens of prisons.

They're calling for action from the state Legislature, including a repeal of the HALT Act.

The New York state budget is due in a month. While we’ve seen a barrage of news coming out of Washington, D.C., as well as ongoing wildcat strikes among New York correction officers, the state Legislature has been quietly working behind the scenes on the annual state spending plan.

Both houses held revenue consensus meetings last week. It appears that the one-house budgets, which are being released on Monday, will call for spending that is between $500 million and $800 million more than Gov. Kathy Hochul had planned on.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Public service is in Western New Yorker Alissa Ellman's DNA.

She joined the U.S. Army in 2001, still a junior in high school. Then early in her senior year, Sept. 11, 2001 happened.

Gov. Kathy Hochul blasted President Donald Trump's long-threatened tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports as they took effect Tuesday — warning they could prove detrimental to New York farmers.

The governor was also expected to publicly rebuke the Trump's administration's efforts to cut federal aid for low-income public schools later in the day, but Hochul did not attend as hundreds of corrections officers and their families protested nearby.

As correction officers strike, people behind bars are facing a slew of challenges, including a lack of communication.

The no-visitation policy in place apparently also applies to an organization providing legal representation and help to prisoners.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has directed the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to place 15 individuals on leave in connection to the death of Messiah Nantwi, an inmate at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy, she said in a statement Tuesday.

Messiah Nantwi, 22, was pronounced dead at Wynn Hospital in Utica, according to the New York State Police, who are investigating the circumstances of his death with DOCCS’ Office of Special Investigations.

Every four years, all four of upstate New York’s largest cities along the Interstate 90 corridor hold elections for mayor. Always held one year after a presidential election and one year before a gubernatorial election, they may not get as much fanfare, but in 2025, the stakes for each are higher with more options for voters thanks to three open contests. The transfer of leadership will in each put one political era to an end and begin another.

Starting east to west, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan will not run for a fourth term. The first female mayor of the state’s Capital City, Sheehan was first elected in 2013, herself succeeding an entrenched mayor in Jerry Jennings, who spent 20 years in city hall.

A bill that would amend New York’s special election schedule remains stalled, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told reporters Tuesday in Albany.

Democrats in the state Legislature introduced a measure earlier this year that would allow the governor to delay congressional special elections until Election Day. Republicans labeled the measure as a pure political one, as it would directly impact the race to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik in the 21st Congressional District once she resigned to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

New York state Senate Democrats are advancing legislation that aims to enhance workplace protections and combat wage theft, they revealed Tuesday.

The package of legislation includes measures that would:

New federal tariffs put in place Tuesday will negatively impact farmers who rely on selling products internationally and consumers could see prices jump, Gov. Kathy Hochul warned.

“From the North Country to the Southern Tier, farmers are the backbone of New York state. Many of our farmers rely on export sales of their products, and I’ll continue to do everything in my power to fight against this misguided tariff policy and ensure the government is doing what it is supposed to do, which is help, not hurt, New York farmers,” Hochul said.

The head of the state's ethics watchdog said he's putting the pressure on legislative leaders to quickly fill three vacancies on the commission after the state's highest court affirmed the agency's constitutionality.

On Feb. 18, the state Court of Appeals rejected former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's arguments that the state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government violated the separation of powers mandated under New York's constitution.

The expected 25% tariff on Canadian goods coming into the U.S. is expected to begin Tuesday.

And while this could have a major impact on trade with the U.S.' neighbors to the north, it could also affect local communities that depend on Canadian tourism.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is appointing Michael DiGiacomo to be the next U.S. Attorney General for the Western District of New York. He was officially sworn in by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo on Monday.

He will serve in the role for 120 days or until a presidential nominee has been confirmed by the senate.

The head of the FBI's New York field office, who was reported to have resisted Justice Department efforts to scrutinize agents who participated in politically sensitive investigations, has told coworkers that he has retired from the bureau after being directed to do so.

James Dennehy said in a message to colleagues obtained by The Associated Press that he was told late Friday to put in his retirement papers but was not given a reason. The move comes in a period of upheaval at the bureau after new FBI Director Kash Patel took office last month and as conservative podcaster and Trump loyalist Dan Bongino has been named to serve as deputy director.

The budget debate to change New York's discovery laws has started to heat up as pushback mounts against Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal to roll back the 2019 law that hastened the deadline for prosecutors to turn over legal evidence to defense.

Hochul proposed evidence-sharing changes in her executive budget to avoid case dismissals when a judge fails to disclose materials they deem irrelevant and to make penalties for discovery violations proportional to criminal charges after an uptick in dismissals of low-level criminal cases in New York City on technicalities.

Andrew Cuomo made his campaign for mayor official this past weekend.

The former governor also released a 17-minute video explaining all the issues facing the city and how he’s the best-equipped candidate to take it on.

New York state officials on Monday were forced to address the failure of a deal between the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervison (DOCCS) and the State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) to quickly bring striking correction officers back to work for their shifts on Saturday, as DOCCS officials in a briefing declined to request that lawmakers make changes to the state's HALT Act, which limits solitary confinement and replaces aspects of it with rehabilitative programing.

Some facilities have had staff return, but more than 30 remain on strike after two weeks as officers continue to protest what they describe as dangerous working conditions, excessive overtime and issues related to HALT.

New York state’s 10 refugee resettlement agencies, located in Buffalo (4), Rochester (2), Syracuse (1), Utica (1), Binghamton (1) and Albany (1), are in limbo, as are similar agencies around the nation.

On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump paused the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program and then attempted to indefinitely suspend it. While a federal judge has blocked that effort, aid to these programs across the country has been frozen as part of the dismantling of USAID.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Some of the wealthiest people in the world may soon have a new way to become American citizens if they pay up.

Last week, President Donald Trump announced his "gold card" Visa plan.

Mayor Eric Adams criticized his growing field of primary challengers.

“All I’m saying to all of them is get an OI, an original idea. Get your originality, don’t run on what Eric ran on and accomplished," he said Monday during his weekly question-and-answer session with reporters.

Solitary confinement has long been a controversial practice in New York state prisons. Historically used as a primary disciplinary tool, its extensive application raised significant concerns among mental health professionals and legal advocates.

“In the 1990s, solitary confinement was so widespread that individuals could face years in isolation for disciplinary infractions,” said James Bogin, senior supervising attorney at Prisoners’ Legal Services. “Experts have called such long-term confinement a form of torture.”

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — President Donald Trump is going ahead with plans to impose new tariffs beginning Tuesday on Canadian and Mexican exports to the United States.

Trump on Monday said there is “no room left” for the leaders of Canada and Mexico to stop his long-pledged 25% tariffs on imports from the two U.S. North American neighbors from taking effect after midnight.