BREAKING: A 65-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder after police say he shot at a car that had mistakenly turned into his driveway Saturday night.
20-year-old Kaylin A. Gillis, from Saratoga County, was killed.
FULL DETAILS:
What would have happened if Jon Romano had a rapid-firing AR-15 instead of a shotgun when he opened fire at Columia High School? "I think a lot of people would have been dead," the principal who stopped his rampage told
@chris_churchill
.
@chris_churchill
: Five days after being subjected to a customer's racist rant, Maurice Rucker was fired by Albany's
@HomeDepot
for failing to follow protocol:
BREAKING: New York will completely lift capacity limits on a host of businesses — including bars and restaurants, hair salons, gyms, offices, retail stores, museums, entertainment centers, theaters and others — on May 19.
BREAKING: A female aide to Gov. Cuomo alleges he aggressively groped her in a sexually charged manner after she had been summoned to the governor's mansion late last year.
BREAKING: FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn launch an investigation into the Cuomo administration's handling of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities during the pandemic.
Fox News meteorologist
@JaniceDean
and Queens Assemblyman
@rontkim
wouldn't seem to have much in common, but they have both been determined critics of Andrew Cuomo's nursing home deceptions.
The owners of Stewart’s Shops, big donors to U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, have decided to pause all political contributors after pressure from individuals calling and threatening on social media to boycott the chain over their support for the congresswoman.
Gov. Cuomo has recently asked staff members if anyone would like to keep his dog, Captain, who has remained behind at the Executive Mansion.
The governor's office says the arrangement was only "temporary."
Gov. Cuomo has in the past regularly called for the resignations of elected officials even though the charges against them were still merely allegations.
The woman who accused Gov. Cuomo of groping her at the Executive Mansion said she would be willing to take a polygraph lie-detector examination, and that she would also like the governor to submit to one as well.
A man who arrived at the crash scene Sunday said the group was traveling south to a wedding reception when the limo sped through an intersection and slammed into an embankment
@shugheswrites
High-level members of the state Department of Health were directed by Gov. Cuomo and the state health commissioner to conduct prioritized COVID testing on the governor's relatives as well as influential people with ties to the administration, sources say.
#Election2020
: In the North Country, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik soundly defeated challenger Democrat Tedra Cobb. She will win her fourth term in Congress.
From the
@timesunion
Editorial Board: "First Gov. Andrew Cuomo hid the truth about deaths of nursing home residents from the public. Then his administration lied about why. Then, pretending to come clean, it lied about why it lied."
"We may never know exactly how much the “American Crisis” contributed to the governor’s attempt to hide the number of nursing home deaths in New York, but the timing suggests that the book and the cover-up are interlaced,"
@chris_churchill
writes.
According to a Times Union review of Albany police data from July 9, 2019, to July 9, 2020, 97 percent of the time, those arrested or ticketed for marijuana-related offenses were Black.
NEW: Governor Cuomo on Sunday called for the U.S. to ban or restrict travel from the U.K due to a new strain of coronavirus that appears 70 percent more transmissible.
"Cuomo is not the victim here, no matter how much he may wish it so. He's not a hero resigning because he cares so deeply about what's best for New York," writes
@chris_churchill
.
From the
@TimesUnion
Editorial Board: "We do not expect Mr. Cuomo to resign from office; he is clearly beyond shame. The state Assembly needs to formally vote to proceed with impeachment."
EDITORIAL: The Times Union Editorial Board has endorsed Gov. Kathy Hochul.
"In her first year since assuming the job, the Democratic incumbent has proven herself to be a capable governor. Her Republican opponent's record and agenda are troubling."
The Catholic bishops of New York sold a lucrative insurance business they controlled and stored the proceeds in a foundation they also administer, keeping billions out of the reach of survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
“Enough stonewalling on nursing home deaths,” senators
@JamesTedisco
and
@Sueserino4ny
said in joint news releases. They said Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and state health Commissioner Howard Zucker "need to show us the numbers."
As Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has decried a lack of federal funding for vaccine distribution, New York has not drawn from $14 million in federal aid they have already been allotted.
Democrats may lose seats in Congress if the Biden administration doesn’t cancel student loan debt, Brendan Rooks with the
@DebtCrisisOrg
said, and the fallout could extend to the 2024 presidential election.
#NEW
: The Justice Department has requested COVID-19 data from four states, including New York, that the agency said had issued orders "which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents."
"Where did Stefanik and the others want this to go?" columnist Chris Churchill writes. "Have they thought about the consequences of turning aside the votes of millions of Americans, as the challenge they mounted Wednesday sought to do?"
According to emails obtained by the Times Union, Gov. Cuomo’s lucrative book deal is not the only instance where the governor’s office mixed private activities and government staff.
BREAKING: New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin has resigned, just hours after surrendering to federal authorities on charges in an alleged quid pro quo scheme.
County leaders across New York say they are going to urge
@NYGovCuomo
to activate the mass-vaccination plans that have been in preparation for years but were set aside in favor of a regional approach run by hospitals.
Two former aides to Gov. Cuomo have harshly criticized the governor in recent weeks, alleging that the work environment in the governor’s office is “beyond toxic.”
The former news director for North Country Public Radio was caught using her station email account to help campaign for Democratic candidates.
@RepStefanik
is credited with exposing the misuse.
The Republican Accountability Project, an anti-Trump group, is paying for two billboards in the district of U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, telling her to resign.
.
@chris_churchill
: Andrew Cuomo still refuses to tell us how many nursing home residents in New York died from COVID-19, but the governor may not be able to stall for much longer.
BREAKING: A Niskayuna man charged with participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has been arrested again – for allegedly calling the mother of a federal probation officer.
"Gov. Kathy Hochul promised an independent look into New York's pandemic response, including the impact on nursing homes," columnist
@chris_churchill
writes.
"Where's the progress?"
In April, the Times Union spoke with a female aide on the staff of Gov. Andrew Cuomo who described alleged groping and escalating 'sexually aggressive' behavior by the governor.
Monday morning, Brittany Commisso speaks publicly for the first time.
"
@RepStefanik
's rhetoric since Election Day has been recklessly irresponsible, and Harvard has no obligation to tolerate a politician who cynically abetted a disinformation campaign that resulted, ultimately, in a mob’s attack on the Capitol."
"[Rep. Elise] Stefanik is due for a refresher course in ethics, if not a reprimand from the House Committee on Ethics. And maybe a bill for all the taxpayer time and resources she’s misusing," the Times Union Editorial Board writes.
The law firm retained to conduct an impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has declined to interview state troopers who worked on the detail that protects the governor and may have information about the administration's culture and practices.
CHURCHILL: Is Kathy Hochul's administration just inept? Or do we have a real and serious scandal on our hands?
Those questions, among others, come to mind in light of the governor's shockingly bad deal with major campaign donor Digital Gadgets.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer finished up his annual tour of every county in New York in Saratoga Springs, calling the tour "one of the most impactful of his career"
Black renters are three times more likely to be evicted than their white counterparts, according to a new report from the Pratt Center for Community Development.
#BREAKING
: Keith Raniere, the co-founder of the NXIVM corporation, a secretive Colonie-based organization that an expert has called an "extreme cult," has been arrested by the FBI, sources say. READ MORE:
"In truth, anybody who was surprised by the report's damning conclusions hasn't been paying attention,"
@chris_churchill
writes. "The abusive bully uncovered by the AG investigation — that's simply who Cuomo has always been."
In New York, it's now illegal to threaten to report someone to ICE.
The bill, signed into law last week by Gov. Kathy Hochul, classifies such threats as extortion or coercion.
How many residents of New York nursing homes died from COVID-19? "It's a simple enough question, really, and one journalists, lawmakers and others have been asking for months,"
@chris_churchill
says.
"While it was wrong, certainly, to ignore nursing homes concerned about the order, it was inexcusable for Cuomo to subsequently hide the full number of nursing home deaths,"
@chris_churchill
writes.
The Lincoln Project, a Republican-led anti-Trump group, is out with a new attack ad called “What Happened, Elise?” targeting Rep. Elise Stefanik, the Schuylerville Republican.
A directive issued by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration did cause COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, a newly issued report by the Long-Term Care Task Force of the New York State Bar Association concluded.
From the
@timesunion
editorial board: "Just over a week ago, we called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign... Mr. Cuomo’s response? He refuses to accept the reality that he is, by the day, an increasingly isolated governor."
For the first time in over 100 years, the
@WKCDogShow
will not be held in NYC. The dogs are headed north to the Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown this June.
From the North Country to New York City, the margin of victory won by Democrats narrowed in each county and grew in Republican-won counties, revealing the extent of expanded Republican favor.
25 years ago, Capital Region native
@MariaBrink
stepped up to a microphone and a rock audience for the first time. Now, the lead singer of In This Moment (
@OfficialITM
) is Grammy-nominated.
Brittany Commisso first sat down with the Times Union in April for an in-depth conversation describing alleged groping by Gov. Cuomo.
Read that story ahead of tomorrow morning's interview:
CBS THIS MORNING EXCLUSIVE: The aide who accused NY Gov. Cuomo of groping her speaks publicly for the first time: "What he did to me was a crime," Brittany Commisso tells
@CBSThisMorning
&
@timesunion
. "He broke the law." Watch Monday at 7a, only on CBS.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik and other prominent Republicans have made statements that critics say align with "replacement theory." The congresswoman denies it.
Days after Lindsey Boylan became the first woman to accuse Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, people tied to the governor started circulating an open letter that they hoped former staff members would sign. (via
@nytimes
)
MORE: The woman's allegations, first reported Tuesday by the Times Union, are the most egregious claims Gov. Cuomo has faced as multiple women have come forward to accuse him of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior.
"So, hmm, how do we know Stefanik's victory was legitimate?"
@chris_churchill
asks. "It absolutely was, of course, just as Joe Biden's victory was. But when one legitimate election is called into question, they all become suspect."
Rep. Elise Stefanik
@RepStefanik
on Friday condemned the decision by
#Albany
Mayor Kathy Sheehan to take down a statue of Major General Philip Schuyler located in front of city hall.
"...The book was significantly written, edited and promoted by state employees working on taxpayer time,"
@chris_churchill
writes. "We paid for much of the work, and Cuomo reaped the profit. Sweet deal, no?"
On Tuesday, a 14-year-old Shenendehowa gymnast had her dreams come true.
She was chosen to represent New York at the 2022 Special Olympics in Disney World.
Attorney General
@TishJames
' office is suing the Rensselaer County Board of Elections, accusing the board and its two commissioners of failing to provide voters with equitable access to public voting sites.
BREAKING: The FBI arrested Rensselaer County's Republican Board of Elections commissioner as he left for work Tuesday morning, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
About 4,900 part-time and full-time Stewart's Shops employees got a hefty "thank you" this week — bonuses that in some cases are equal to a week's worth of pay.
Trump had called the lawsuit filed by Texas against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin “the big one” that would end with the Supreme Court undoing Biden’s Electoral College majority and allowing Trump to serve four more years in the White House.
"Team Cuomo says Letitia James is considering a run for governor," Churchill writes. "Don't fall for this. The claims are only the Cuomo administration's ongoing attempt to discredit the investigation into sexual harassment claims against the governor..."