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Scientists and researchers have found many relationships between our health and our happiness -- it seems that the two are not mutually exclusive. Dr. Laura Kubzansky is a professor of social and behavioral sciences and co-director of the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, a new center at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her task, in the coming years, is to understand the relationship between psychological well-being and physical health.

At an event Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo defined the conflict over changing the health care laws in Washington as a class struggle, saying it’s all about the rich versus the rest.

Cuomo did not mention President Donald Trump by name, but he said the nation’s health care is in crisis and the struggle is really about those with lots of money, and those with lesser means.

“Make no mistake. The rich are always going to have the best health care system in the world,” Cuomo said. “What they’re trying to decide is what’s the health care for the rest of us.”

The latest numbers of new HIV/AIDS infections in New York State show a dramatic reduction in one particular population. AIDS activists say it’s proof the Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s blueprint to end AIDS in New York by 2020 is off to a good start.

The number of newly diagnosed HIV cases from 2014 to 2015 fell substantially among men who have sex with men, according to Wil Murtaugh, head of ACR Health in Syracuse.

State lawmakers say help is finally here for the property owners who have experienced damage from flooding along Lake Ontario this year. Community leaders are organizing residents as the state prepares to distribute the recovery funding.

The $45 million redesign of Syracuse’s Hancock International Airport will begin in late August. Ever since Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the renovations during a State of the State speech in January, airport officials have been fine tuning plans to update the airport’s terminal, with construction expected to start in late-August.

The brain is not only the regulator of our entire body, but also the basis for the experiences we’re having, good or bad. We’re pretty dependent on our brain, according to Dr. Rick Hanson. He’s a psychologist and New York Times best-selling author of many books about the brain and happiness.

“So, one of the key takeaways here is to realize that this phenomenal organ -- three pounds of tofu-like tissue inside the coconut between your ears -- is vulnerable and fragile,” Hanson says.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s name has been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2020, but first, he may be facing some obstacles to win a third term as governor in 2018.

Cuomo has taken actions in recent months that could be viewed as steps toward a presidential run. He’s hired key staff from President Barack Obama’s administration, as well as new chief of staff Maria Comella, who has worked on Republican presidential campaigns and was a top aide for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

New York state residents receive a five percent discount on Thruway tolls if they have an E-Z Pass. Last year, the New York State Thruway Authority decided to eliminate that discount for out-of-state drivers. Some state lawmakers want to see that new revenue go to local governments.

Researchers define happiness as consisting of two components: having a sense that your life is good and having relatively frequent happy experiences. But what if genetics determined how happy you feel on a day-to-day basis?

Big changes could be coming to the Onondaga County War Memorial if the county legislature gives its approval. County officials are keeping veterans in the loop as the county looks to sell the naming rights to the War Memorial arena.

The arena is where the Syracuse Crunch hockey team plays and Deputy County Executive Bill Fisher said selling the naming rights could bring in revenue for renovations to areas like the bathrooms which Fisher called a disgrace.

As high water levels start to recede along the southern shore of Lake Ontario, the question remains: could something have been done to stop flooding that has devastated much of the shoreline?

Several New York representatives are joining the calls for the federal government to declare the flooding along Lake Ontario a disaster. The move would bring federal funding and assistance to the recovery process.

The second voter survey in two weeks shows Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s job approval rating plummeting to a near record low.

According to the Siena College poll, Cuomo’s job performance rating dropped to 43 percent. His overall favorability rating, at 52 percent, is down nine points from just two months ago. Last week, a poll by Quinnipiac University also found the governor’s approval rating at a near-record low.

Siena spokesman Steve Greenberg said the major reason is transit troubles downstate; riders overwhelmingly blame Cuomo for the mess.

Crouse Hospital is opening up a new emergency room Tuesday, replacing an ER that’s four decades old.

The new ER is replacing a space that hasn’t been working well, according to Crouse’s Emergency Department Medical Director David Mason.

“The space is so small we’re tripping over each other. A lot of our care and talking is done in the hallway, so lack of privacy,” said Mason.

An attempt to get the U.S. military to buy utensils solely from an Oneida County factory, the only silverware manufacturer in the country, was unsuccessful, but Sherrill Manufacturing's CEO is optimistic about a meeting the company has at the White House this week.

Thousands of law enforcement officials and community members gathered at Fort Drum Saturday afternoon to mourn the loss of New York State Trooper Joel Davis.

Hundreds lined the streets of downtown Watertown Saturday for the funeral procession of New York Ttate Trooper Joel Davis, who was killed while responding to a domestic abuse call last week. 

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) kicked off a series of town halls across the state at Syracuse University Friday. The generally friendly audience gave Gillibrand a warm reception but asked questions on the biggest issues facing Washington.

Gillibrand was welcomed with a standing ovation but the attention quickly turned to health care and President Donald Trump. Gillibrand called the Republican health care bill "terrible" and said millions of people could lose coverage.

New York State led the country in a decorative arts movement in the early 20th century and an exhibition at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica showcases those products and objects. The country lacked a modern art identity in the mid-1920s, but the revolutionary time period changed everything.

Motion sickness is a phenomenon that can keep many people from enjoying a cruise, an amusement park ride, or even a drive in a car. And with the advent of virtual reality, you don’t even have to be moving anymore to experience motion sickness.

New studies are challenging the assumption that motion sickness has to do with the relationship between the inner ear and the vestibular system, which provides sensory information about motion, equilibrium and spatial orientation. “Take Care’s” guest this week is Dr. Thomas Stoffregen. He’s professor of kinesiology at the University of Minnesota and has been studying motion sickness for more than 25 years.

Stuttering affects over 3 million Americans. While it’s often easy to recognize that someone has the condition, there are many myths surrounding what causes stuttering.

This week on “Take Care,” Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation of America, helps clear up some of those misconceptions about stuttering. The foundation is the oldest and largest nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of stuttering. Fraser is the daughter of Stuttering Foundation founder Malcolm Fraser, who established the organization in 1947.

If you suffer from motion sickness, it can be difficult flying in a plane, taking a cruise on a ship or even riding in a car. For years, the explanation was that the stimulation in your eyes and middle ears while on a ship or in a car would make you sick because it's different from a normal experience. But one doctor thinks there may be another explanation.

The corruption conviction of former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was overturned Thursday on a technicality by a federal appeals court.

Silver’s attorneys say they are “grateful” for the decision, but the U.S. Attorney’s office for New York’s Southern District said it will retry the case. Until recently, the office was headed by Preet Bharara. He was fired by President Donald Trump earlier this year.

State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie started a tour of upstate New York this week, with several stops in the Syracuse area.  

Heastie, a Democrat from the Bronx, admits that while he was just an Assembly member, he didn’t make it much out of the confines of New York City. But since he’s taken a leadership position in state government as the most powerful member of the Assembly, he says it’s part of his job to take a broader view of the state.

The group working to revamp a 4-mile stretch of Erie Boulevard East in Onondaga County is sharing the results of a survey it launched last year. More than 1,200 surveys were completed about how to best improve the highly trafficked corridor between Syracuse and Dewitt. 

The historically high water levels in Lake Ontario this year have threatened homeowners, municipalities and nuclear power plants - almost triggering emergency action at the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Facility in Oswego County.

The law enforcement community across New York continues to mourn the loss of a colleague, after State Trooper Joel Davis was shot killed Sunday night while responding to a call in Jefferson County. 

They may not have worked in the same county, or same law enforcement agency, but some Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputies knew Davis. It’s the nature of the job.

“We see each other on calls for service. We go to training together. We go to schools together. And we’re all part of the community,” said Onondaga County Undersheriff Jason Cassailia.