New York State Government

Salmon are some of the best fresh water gamefish in the world. If you have ever had a 25-pound Chinook Salmon ripping line from your reel, you would know why they boast that reputation.

When a college shutters its doors, the impact is felt well beyond the students, faculty, staff and alumni. Small surrounding towns and villages are often devastated, as the life blood of their local economy shuts its doors. Throughout the United States small liberal arts colleges are struggling to stay alive. One upstate New York village is trying to get ahead of a potential problem from their college closing.

Why is there a giant cement re-enforced duck located on the east end of Long Island? Well, for one reason, less than 60 years ago the southeast extension of New York State was one of the top Peking Duck producers in the world.

The news is sad when a teacher is caught being involved in a crime. When the teacher involves their students, then police find illegal weapons at the teacher's house, the situation has taking a disturbing turn. That troubling turn-of-events took place at an upstate New York middle school.

The stories begin to become more frequent but no less disturbing. Five weeks ago, a six year old in Virginia intentionally shot his first grade teacher. Tuesday, a kindergartener in upstate New York, was found with a mini arsenal in their backpack.

Cheating options for students have reached a new level of sophistication. With artificial intelligence apps, like ChatGPT, students have well over a billion possible "human sounding responses" to questions at their fingertips. So, where do these A.I. apps leave our education system?

Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled her proposed 2024 New York State budget on Wednesday. It was the governor's second executive state budget proposal but first as the elected-governor. More than a few Democrats have taken issue with items within governor's budget. New Yorkers need Kathy Hochul to stand strong against her own party in order to avoid a recurrence of financial instability.

A 35-foot humpback whale, weighing about 32 tons, washed ashore on a New York beach on Monday. The massive mammal was discovered in the early morning hours along Lido Beach, on the southern shores of Nassau County. Along with the sadness of one of these giants of the ocean dying, is the concern that this is the 10th such beaching on Long Island in 2 months.

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo got the Start-Up NY program rolling in 2014. The program offered a decade of tax-free status to tech companies that would set up operations in New York State and create partnerships with colleges and universities in the region.

In November, Kathy Hochul became the first woman elected governor in New York State history. Hochul has weathered the storm, after taking office in the middle of Andrew Cumomo's tumultuous last term. The 57th governor of the Empire State delivered her State of the State address last week. So, what do Hochul's constituents think of the governor's job performance? A new Siena Poll has the answer.

New York State has some of the greatest varieties of fishing opportunities in the country. From world class fly fishing for trout to floating a worm off of a lake dock for crappie, the Empire State has plenty of cool places to drop-a-line! The Department of Environmental Conservation announced "Free Fishing Days" for 2023. The free days are sure to provide the awesome experience of being a New York State angler.

There are nearly 100,000 volunteer firefighters in New York State. According to the Firefighters Association of the State of New York, those volunteers provide service hours that save the citizens of the Empire State over $3.8 billion per year. It's difficult to quantify what those volunteers really saved those that they have served. Then there are the volunteer Ambulance & EMS workers, jobs so stressful their numbers are tumbling each year. In December, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski and state Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick that may be a way of keeping those volunteers.