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NEW YORK — The lawyer for a former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged an appeals court Wednesday to let him remain free while he appeals his conviction on corruption charges.Walter Loughlin, arguing on behalf of Joseph Percoco, told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that errors during his trial last year were the kind that will require a new trial.Percoco was convicted a year ago of accepting more than $300,000 from companies that wanted to gain [...]

U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand on Wednesday announced $764,110 in federal funding for more than a dozen Retired and Senior Volunteer Program projects in upstate New York. The grants came on the heels of Aging Advocacy Day in Albany, where representatives of the elderly demanded additional budget funding to provide in-home services for this growing population.Schumer said the funding, which comes from the Corporation for National and Community Service, will allow for [...]

MIDDLETOWN — The City of Middletown's Recreation and Parks Department will soon have a new home.The city's Common Council gave its unanimous approval to purchase a state-owned 15.4-acre property for $1 in the Town of Wallkill, off County Route 78. The campus was formerly used for the state's Start Center and is situated between California Avenue and Mount Hope Road, across from the Maple Hill Dog Park.Mayor Joe DeStefano said the city has been negotiating the [...]

WHITE PLAINS — Disbarred Orange County attorney Joseph Scali was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in prison by a federal court in the Southern District of New York.Scali, who once had an office in the Town of Wallkill, was suspended from the New York State bar in 2013 and disbarred in 2016. He was convicted a year ago of mail fraud, structuring cash transactions, making false statements to the Internal Revenue Service, obstructing the IRS, tax evasion, obstruction of [...]

ALBANY — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is making a rare out-of-state trip to Florida to attend a labor union convention.Cuomo, a Democrat, is attending the winter conference of the Building & Construction Trades Council in Hollywood, Florida. He left New York on Wednesday and is expected back home Thursday.Speaking on public radio before the trip, Cuomo noted his administration's involvement in several big construction projects, including new bridges, [...]

ALBANY — A new exhibit at the state Capitol honors more than two dozen women who have been trailblazers in New York politics, public service and journalism.The exhibit in the Governor's Reception Room on the second floor opened this week in honor of Women's History Month and runs through the end of March.Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo says it pays tribute to inspiring women past and present who worked to make New York "a more fair and just state for all. [...]

A bill co-sponsored by state Sens. Jen Metzger and James Skoufis to prohibit campaign contributions from companies seeking state contracts sailed through the Senate in a unanimous vote on Tuesday. Under the proposal, companies would be forbidden to give campaign cash to state officials with contracting authority – meaning the governor, in most cases – [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court has ordered a former top aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to report to prison next week.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan denied Joseph Percoco bail on Thursday pending appeal.Percoco, who ran Cuomo's 2015 re-election campaign, was sentenced to six years after his conviction last year on charges he accepted over $300,000 from companies seeking to influence Cuomo's administration.Cuomo, a [...]

POUGHKEEPSIE – A disbarred attorney from Kingston was charged Wednesday with accepting retainer fees and other payments for legal services he did not provide, state police said.Michael R. Varble, 48, was charged with four counts of third-degree grand larceny and three counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, both felonies.State police and the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office said that an investigation found that Varble took in excess of $28,000 [...]

SYRACUSE — A nonprofit health organization in central New York is handing out test strips at needle exchange sites so heroin users can test their drugs for fentanyl to avoid overdoses.ACR Health tells Syracuse.com it has distributed fentanyl test strips to about 150 clients at needle exchanges in Syracuse, Utica and Watertown since January.Fentanyl is a major cause of overdoses because it's far more powerful than heroin. ACR's program coordinator says most drug [...]