Some Internet providers to block child pornography

Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner Cable have agreed with New York state officials to block access to child pornography disseminated through some of the tens of thousands of newsgroups and user groups available on their services, according to AP.

 

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday the Internet service providers will block child pornography on the sites, which are designed for private communications between users sharing an interest and are difficult to police because of their numbers and privacy concerns, according to AP.

 

The companies also agreed to eliminate the material from their servers and will pay $1.125 million to help fund efforts to remove child porn from the Internet, according to the report.

Cigarette prices soar today

New Yorkers started paying the highest cigarette taxes in the nation today with the latest $1.25 spike per pack that officials expect to bring in $265 million a year.

 

Convenience stores in New York and the smokers who will be pay the price are angry about the change, but health officials hail the tax increase as a success. Officials said cigarette taxes will raise a total of $1.3 billion for the state budget in fiscal year 2008-2009, including the new tax.

 

“Isn’t that something — to say that I’m excited about a tax increase? But I am,” said Dr. Richard Daines, the New York health commissioner. “This is a public health victory. We know one of the really effective tools to get people off of their nicotine addiction is to the raise the price.”

Smokers will be paying $2.75 per pack in state taxes. The average price of a pack of cigarettes is currently $5.82 statewide, and about $8 a pack in New York City, Daines said.

 

An estimated 140,000 New Yorkers will stop smoking with this tax increase, Daines said. That number is based on prior tax increases and cigarette consumption.

 

Source: Associated Press

Land claim to go to federal appeals court

The Oneida Indian Nation will ask a federal appeals court Tuesday to overturn a lower court decision that the tribe has no right to take back title to 250,000 acres of disputed land in upstate New York, according to the AP.

 

At the same time, attorneys for New York will appear before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the lower court’s determination that the Oneidas might be entitled to millions of dollars in compensation, AP is reporting.

 

The New York Oneidas joined with Oneida tribes from Canada and Wisconsin in a 1974 lawsuit claiming that more than 250,000 acres of Oneida land in Madison and Oneida counties had been illegally purchased by New York state in the 18th and 19th centuries, according to the AP.

 

After years of failed negotiations, U.S. District Court Lawrence Kahn ruled last May that the tribe could not reclaim title to the land it sold more than a century ago, but it could be entitled to some of the profits the state made reselling that property, AP reports.

 

The Oneidas claim the state underpaid them by about $500,000. With compound interest over two centuries, that is worth $500 million today, Peter Carmen, one of the tribe’s attorneys, said Monday, according to the AP.

Opposition to Paterson's directive to recognize gay marriages

Opposition is surfacing against New York Gov. David Paterson’s directive to state agencies to recognize gay marriages legally performed in other states and countries, according to the AP.

 

The Rev. Duane Motley of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms says the Democratic governor is circumventing the Legislature and courts and slapping New Yorkers in the face, AP reports.

 

Motley says granting government benefits to gay couples will come at a cost to the state even as Paterson calls for cuts in spending because of looming deficits, AP reports.

 

Motley says Paterson shouldn’t force the state to recognize gay marriages when they remain illegal in New York, AP reports.

 

Paterson is directing agencies to recognize gay marriages performed legally elsewhere when granting state employment and other benefits, AP reports.

Legislature may hold off on some issues

With a month left in the legislative session, state lawmakers are talking about putting off the remaining thorny issues until after the November elections, according to the AP.

 

On Tuesday, Gov. David Paterson held his last in a series of closed-door meetings with legislative conferences. And as with the Senate’s Republican majority, his meeting with the Assembly’s Democratic majority was full of jokes and pledges to work together while putting the animus of the clashes with former Gov. Eliot Spitzer behind them, AP reports.

 

There were no agreements on priorities or hashing out compromise, which many lawmakers said would seem fitting with four full weeks left in the six-month legislative session, AP reports.

Paterson hospitalized

Gov. David Paterson is at a Manhattan hospital after experiencing migraine-like symptoms, according to the AP.

 

Paterson’s office said in a statement Tuesday that he asked to be brought to The Mount Sinai Medical Center for an evaluation. His office says preliminary tests were normal. It says he is resting comfortably and will undergo further tests, according to the report.

 

In April 2006, when he was state Senate Minority Leader, Paterson was hospitalized for almost 12 hours after complaining of chest pains. The tests came back normal, AP reports.

New state traffic alert system

State officials have launched a traffic alert system that provides real-time information about delays on New York’s highways, according to the AP.

 

The new system, called TransAlert, sends e-mail or cell-phone text messages to subscribers to let them know when there are significant travel disruptions, such as highway accidents or lane closures, AP reports.

 

State Transportation Commissioner Astrid Glynn says users can customize the service to receive statewide alerts or narrow the service by county.

 

The service is free. The information is distributed through the state Emergency Management Office’s electronic alert system, which officials say has more than 1.4 million subscribers, AP reports.

 

Drivers can sign up for the traffic alerts at www.nyalert.gov.