Kathy Hochul

The impact of the more than a billion dollars the state has invested for economic development in central New York should be kicking in soon, according to state officials.

New York officials are split over the Republican's proposed replacement to the Affordable Care Act and how it will impact the state. As the House of Representatives prepares for the scheduled vote on the legislation, state and federal leaders are fighting to sway the public to their side.

The Empire Farmstead Brewery in Cazenovia has established itself as the largest farm brewery on the eastern seaboard. And a spate of new state laws, friendly to brewers, has made it possible.

It used to be that Madison County was a leading producer of hops, an ingredient in beer. Then along came Prohibition, which almost killed the brewing industry -- and the ancillary industries that supported it -- and created a series of laws unfriendly to brewers.

New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul is leading a commission that will celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New York State next year. In advance of that, she’s holding roundtables around the state to talk about female empowerment.

Joining her in Syracuse Wednesday, powerful women from central New York with stories about how they pushed beyond the stereotypes and barriers that often keep women out of the board rooms and legislative chambers across the state. Hochul believes mentorship is one way that women who are successful already, can reach the younger generation.

New York state has been able to offer enough incentives to keep one central New York company from moving part of its operation to South Carolina.

Tessy Plastics has two plants in Onondaga County -- one in the town of Elbridge, another in the town of Van Buren. It makes plastics products for the medical industry, but half its business is manufacturing the five plastic pieces that make up underarm deodorant containers.

A convention on the traffic management of unmanned aircraft systems will be held in Syracuse and Rome this fall. The state’s commitment to fund drone programs helped land central New York the convention.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to know what New Yorkers think the state can do to address the heroin and opioid epidemic. Hochul is traveling with a drug task force panel across the state, listening to local experts share their experiences.

“What we’re going through right now in New York is nothing short of a public health crisis,” Hochul said.

Speaking at Syracuse University, Hochul said the drug task force is putting together a plan to present to the governor and the legislature before their session ends in June.

As fans of all ages cheer on the Syracuse University men’s and women’s basketball teams in the Final Four this weekend, some are celebrating this milestone by looking back on Jim Boeheim's career. Boeheim is in his 40th year as the head coach, but started as a player on the team in the 1960’s before becoming an assistant coach.

It’s been more than 40 years since the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing a women’s right to choose an abortion, but advocates say New York lawmakers have yet to translate the provisions of the landmark Supreme Court decision into law in the state.

The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics released the top spending lobbyists in an effort to influence state government during the 2015 legislative session, finding that education and real estate groups were the biggest spenders.

The top spenders thus far in 2015 correlate with the top issues this year: fights over the future of public education and New York City’s rent regulations.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul met with the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council on Wednesday to discuss the region's proposal to win a portion of the $1.5 billion Urban Revitalization Initiative competition. Seven regions are competing and three winners will receive $500 million each, which will go towards permanent private sector jobs and investments.

Hochul, who was in Syracuse for the governor's Capital for a Day event, said central New York’s council has made a good effort to reach out to the community for input about its submission.

The state’s highest ranking female elected official, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, is defending the Cuomo’s administration in the wake of a report that shows women employed by the executive chamber make just 73 percent of what men there earn.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called himself a feminist and complained about sexism in society, yet a report by Politico New York finds that women are underrepresented in the upper layers of his administration, and overall, make less money than the men.

It may have been the most momentous sausage sandwich moment at the New York State Fair since Senate candidate Rick Lazio refused to eat the state fair staple the year he ran against Hillary Clinton. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul bought a sandwich for one of the protesting teachers trailing her on the fairgrounds opening day Thursday.

Dozens of educators dogged Hochul around the fairgrounds yesterday chanting and repeating many of the concerns they’ve had about the Cuomo administration’s education policy for years now. And communication seems to be a big part of the dispute.

During summer vacation, many low-income kids depend on free lunch programs. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul visited a summer meal site in Elmira Thursday to talk up state support for such efforts, but programs in rural areas, lilke Chemung County, still struggle with a big challenge.

Kids who participate in the government’s free summer meal program must show up at a designated site during scheduled hours to get their food. That can be a problem in rural areas.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Act saw some successes in the legislature in 2015, after the most controversial of the measures -- an abortion rights provision -- was separated out from the rest of the items.

Eight of the of the 10 provisions in the Women’s Equality Act passed in 2015, including anti-human trafficking laws, protections for pregnant workers, broadening anti-sexual harassment laws  in the workplace, and making it easier for women to sue for equal pay, says the co-chairwoman of the Women’s Equality Coalition, Suzy Ballantyne. 

The state’s lieutenant governor, in an interview with New York State Public Radio and TV,  says she’s not harboring ambitions to be the state’s first woman governor.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul says she doesn’t know when the state’s proverbial glass ceiling will be broken, and New York will have a woman in charge of the chief executive post,  but she says it’s unlikely that it will be her who reaches that milestone.

“I don’t harbor higher ambitions,” Hochul said.

A wage board appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, speaking before a packed crowd of fast food workers, says it will authorize a substantial raise for fast food workers, but would not say when, or even if the increase would be the $15 an hour that many groups are seeking.

A three-member board picked by Cuomo to examine whether fast food workers need a raise say they are in agreement that the current wage of $8.75 an hour needs to be much higher.

State lawmakers are moving ahead with approving some portions of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Act, now that  supporters are no longer demanding that all of the items, including an abortion rights provision, be tied together.

Cuomo campaigned last fall , along with his running mate, and now Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul on passing all ten of the provisions in his Women’s Equality Act,  including a measure to codify into state law the rights included in the federal Roe v. Wade decision.

The lieutenant governor for New York says the state has money for infrastructure investment in sources other than the economic development competitions.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a recent visit to Syracuse she understands the need for infrastructure upgrades in upstate, but disagrees with some leaders, including Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, who say fixing pipes and roads is necessary for economic development.

In this year's State of the State address, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the formation of an anti-poverty task force in Rochester, which has the highest child poverty rate in the state. The initiative just got started, and its efforts are being closely watched by other areas in the state like Syracuse that also have high poverty rates.

Fred Daniel serves food in the dining center of Asbury Methodist Church. He says being a member of that community helps him deal with being homeless.

It was the charter schools’ turn to rally at the state Capitol Wednesday in support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to allow 100 more charter schools in New York.

New York’s new Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will be the point person in the Cuomo administration when it comes to economic development upstate.

"Upstate continues to be one of the highest priorities of Governor Cuomo's administration. And when he selected me as an upstater, as someone who'd been educated here in Syracuse, I know this area, I represented seven upstate counties in Congress," Hochul said.

In addition to attending his father’s funeral, Gov. Andrew Cuomo will also be preparing for a State of the State address over the next several days.

The governor had scheduled to deliver the annual speech on Jan. 7, the day the legislature returns to session, as is traditional. But the governor and legislative leaders agreed to postpone the State of the State to Jan. 21 because of the extenuating circumstances of former Gov. Mario Cuomo's death.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo spent his inauguration day in New York City and Buffalo, where he spoke about fixing the criminal justice system and welcomed Western New York native and the new Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul into his administration.

Cuomo, at the recently finished World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, gave his address in the midst of strife over the police killing of Eric Garner, an unarmed citizen in State Island who was selling illegal cigarettes, and the murder of two police officers.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is forgoing the traditional inaugural swearing-in ceremony at the state’s capitol, in favor of smaller events today in New York City and Buffalo, where he will give his inaugural speech.

Cuomo did hold an open house at the governor’s mansion in Albany on New Year’s Eve, where he chatted with members of the public who were drawn by a lottery to attend. He says he wanted to shake things up a bit by holding inaugural events in other places.

New York state Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy gave what was likely his last public address at an awards ceremony for the Regional Economic Development Councils, where he was praised by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others.  

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his democratic running mate, former Rep. Kathy Hochul, and other women’s rights advocates spoke to a cheering crowd of union members and local elected officials as part of an upstate bus tour to promote a 10-point women’s rights plan.

Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Act failed in the state Senate, when neither party could muster enough votes for an abortion rights provision. Now Cuomo and Hochul are making it a campaign issue.