Brian Mann

Governor Andrew Cuomo traveled to the Adirondacks on Sunday, bringing with him most of his executive cabinet and dozens of downstate reporters. He made the trip to promote a new $50 million land purchase that will add tens of thousands of acres to the park's forest preserve.

Democrat Congressman Bill Owens from Plattsburgh says passage of the federal farm bill that has stalled in Washington is one of his top priorities.

Congressman Bill Owens (D-Plattsburgh) says he will repay more than $20,000 for a junket that he took last December to Taiwan.  The trip was paid for by a university in Taiwan.  But it was planned and organized by a New York lobbying firm, which is no longer allowed under House of Representatives ethics rules. 

A new rule that took effect this year in New York state is designed to stop the illegal sale of black bear parts for use in Asian medicine and cooking. While the sale of parts is still allowed, hunters will now have to document that they were taken legally.

The tiny village of Keene, N.Y., in the Adirondack Mountains is part of a trade network that supplies Asian apothecaries and restaurants from New York City to Seoul, South Korea.