Key figure in NY Senate coup given back chairmanship he lost after being charged with assault

ALBANY, N.Y. — A Democratic New York state senator who was stripped of a committee chairmanship after he was charged with assaulting his girlfriend has been quietly reappointed to the job.

Judge gives hedge swindler 2 extra years for skipping out on prison

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Hedge-fund swindler Samuel Israel III will spend an extra two years in prison for trying to skip out on serving his 20-year sentence for fraud.

Kodak agrees to settle lawsuit claiming discrimination against black employees

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP— Eastman Kodak Co. has agreed to pay $21.4 million to settle legal action brought by black workers who claim the photography products maker paid and promoted them less than their white co-workers.

20-foot basking shark washes onto beach and dies on New York’s Long Island

BABYLON, N.Y. — A 20-foot-long basking shark that washed ashore on a beach on New York’s Long Island appears to have died from some kind of illness.

Police: Wife not a suspect in convention president’s NY hotel killing, weapon was blunt object

RYE BROOK, N.Y. — Police investigating the killing of a convention organizer at a suburban New York hotel say they’ve ruled out his wife as a suspect.

Fontainebleau founder’s son found killed at NY hotel during convention he organized

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A Florida tourism official says a man found killed in his New York hotel room was the son of the founder of Miami Beach’s famous Fontainebleau (FONT’-in-bloo) Hotel.

NY counties plan appeal of court ruling allowing Cayugas to again sell untaxed cigarettes

AUBURN, N.Y. — Local officials said they will file a notice of appeal following a court decision that allows the Cayuga Indian Nation to resume selling untaxed cigarettes at two tribal stores in central New York.

Police: Fla. convention organizer found dead at NY hotel in apparent homicide

RYE BROOK, N.Y. — A Florida convention organizer was found killed in his room at an upscale hotel in suburban New York where he had organized a meeting, police said Monday.

NY to pursue killing of transgender woman as hate crime; few NY cases ever win convictions

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — It was no secret to friends and family that Lateisha Green was born a boy. She had been living mostly as a female since age 16.

Engineering marvel opened Great Lakes trade, observes 50th anniversary far from spotlight

MASSENA, N.Y. — Working 90 feet above the ground, pouring buckets of concrete that would harden into a 195-foot-high dam the length of 11 football fields, a teenage Frank Wicks knew even then he wasn’t on just another job.

NY Senate gets to work after resolving Republicans’ threat to delay bills with hours of debate

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s Senate stalemate ended Thursday as it started 31 days ago, with a freshman Democrat convulsing the 62-seat house by switching sides and getting a powerful leadership post in the majority.

NY Senate gets to work but runs into roadblock with bills being marked for hours of debate

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s Senate stalemate ended Thursday as it started 31 days ago, with a freshman Democrat convulsing the 62-seat house by switching sides and getting a powerful leadership post in the majority.

Renegade Democrat flips support back to party in struggle for control of NY Senate

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s Senate standoff ended Thursday as it started 31 days ago, with a freshman Democrat shifting the balance of power in the 62-seat chamber by switching sides and getting a powerful leadership post in the majority.

NY governor names Democratic fixer as lieutenant governor to end state Senate standoff

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. David Paterson shocked Albany and risked a constitutional fight Wednesday by picking a crisis manager with Democratic credentials dating to the 1960s to fill the vacant lieutenant governor’s post and end a monthlong state Senate standoff.

Frederick Douglass heritage center lacks staff to officially open in Rochester, NY

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Passers-by frequently peer into the window at the new center honoring former slave, famed orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. And if they knock on the door, they can get a quick tour guided by the Rev. Errol Hunt and his son Gerry.

Frederick Douglass heritage center lacks staff, awaits official opening in Rochester, NY

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A long-awaited effort to build a cultural center honoring Frederick Douglass is in limbo as it nears completion in Rochester, N.Y., where the anti-slavery crusader spent his most influential years.

Dad, son face about $20K in fines after officials remove about 42 tons of trash from property

MASTIC BEACH, N.Y. — A father and son are facing almost $20,000 in fees and fines after New York authorities said they removed about 42 tons of trash from their property. Brookhaven Town officials said they took away tires, car parts, hoses and other trash — about 85,000 pounds in all — piled up on a residential lot in Mastic Beach on eastern Long Island.

Summer happenings in the Adirondacks

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — A redesigned Web site for New York’s Adirondacks region offers aerial videos of the region, with a bird’s-eye view of everything from main streets to mountain tops.

Gridlocked NY Senate adjourns after 3-minute session, still no deal in power struggle

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s gridlocked Senate has adjourned again after meeting in another extraordinary session called by Gov. David Paterson.

Bus with prison visitors tips over on NY highway, killing woman trapped underneath, hurting 9

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. — A bus transporting visitors to upstate prisons rolled onto its side and plowed into a rock ledge on a highway in the Adirondack mountains early Sunday, killing a woman pinned underneath and hurting nine other people, authorities said.

Bruins executive Charlie Jacobs wins I Love NY Horse Show’s Hermes Grandprix

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Boston Bruins executive Charlie Jacobs has won the Hermes Grandprix at the I Love New York Horse Show and his brother Lou took second.

Mohawks v. Canada: Standoff over arming guards brings NY bridge closure, loss of business

ST. REGIS MOHAWK NATION, N.Y. — Melinda Walk needs her Canadian customers back — so much so that she’s willing to give them full value for their currency at her convenience store-gas station just over the U.S.-Canadian border, even at a loss of 12 cents on the dollar.

Bus tips over in NY on Adirondack Northway, killing woman trapped underneath, hurting 9

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. — A bus rolled onto its side and plowed into a rock ledge early Sunday on a highway in the Adirondacks in northeastern New York, killing a woman pinned underneath and hurting nine others, authorities said.

Sixty-five-year-old NY man dies after boat capsizes during Long Island regatta

WEST ISLIP, N.Y. — Police say a New York man has died after his boat capsized during a regatta on Long Island’s Great South Bay.

Ryan Briscoe wins second straight pole at Watkins Glen International

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Ryan Briscoe has won the pole for the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International.

Saving NY’s Valley Forge: Revolutionary War patriots’ graves besieged by development

FISHKILL, N.Y. — Ed Spaeth was researching his family tree when he discovered an 18th-century ancestor likely was buried in the woods just down the hill from his Hudson Valley home.

Feds raid 2 Buffalo-area homes owned by Ohio businessman; properties purchased for $6.3M

HAMBURG, N.Y. — FBI agents raided a pair of multimillion-dollar homes owned by a young Cleveland businessman’s financial company, hauling away computers, documents, furniture, cars and other belongings.

NY mom now charged with endangerment for allegedly targeting girl with phony Craigslist ad

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — Prosecutors have added a child endangerment charge against a Long Island, N.Y., mother accused of posting a suggestive Craigslist ad to target a 9-year-old girl.

DC Metro train operator: Driver who died in other train saved lives by hitting brakes

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The rookie operator of a Washington, D.C., Metro train saved lives by applying an emergency brake moments before a collision with another train killed her and eight passengers, the other train’s operator said at her funeral Wednesday.

Operator of stopped DC Metro train tells mourners that driver in other train ’saved lives’

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The injured driver of a Washington, D.C., Metro train that was hit in a deadly crash is telling mourners in New York that the other train’s operator was a hero.