Government

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — State agencies have begun adding gender identity to their data collection, part of an effort Gov. Andrew Cuomo says will help the state better meet the needs of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender New Yorkers.

A new report Wednesday identifies eight agencies, including the Department of Health, collecting or updating their data systems to gather those demographics.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed bills to expand the use of traffic cameras at intersections to catch drivers running red lights.

Bills recently approved by the Legislature will continue programs in New York City, as well Suffolk and Nassau counties and Rochester through 2019. Just because Cuomo signed the bills doesn't mean local governments have to implement the programs.

Monroe County officials are announcing the start of work on a project to help cut down on the algae problems at Ontario Beach. 

The hot humid weather we're having this week makes you want to go to the beach...maybe take a swim..but that's not always possible at some of the local beaches due to problems with algae, which causes bad odors and also occasionally forces the temporary closing of the beaches for swimming.

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, speaking at the Irondequoit Outlet Bridge, says the U-S Army Corps of Engineers this week will begin dredging Irondequoit Bay.

Some 15-thousand cubic yards of sediment will be removed from the bay this week.

Slaughter says she secured 410-thousand dollars for the bay through the Disaster Relief Act after silt accumulation in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

She says she secured an additional 350-thousand dollars for the project to dredge the Bay to the federally authorized depth of 9 feet.

A poll conducted fifteen weeks before Election Day  shows incumbent New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is maintaining a wide lead over his nearest challenger.

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter along with officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Great Lakes Task Force will kick off the dredging of Irondequoit Bay on Monday.

An estimated 15,000 cubic yards of sediment will be dredged from the bay this week.

Slaughter had announced last spring that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would dredge the bay this year.  That includes $410,000 for the bay what was allocated in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy as well as an additional $350,000 to further dredge the bay to a depth of 9 feet.

Governor Cuomo maintains a sizeable lead over his GOP challenger Rob Astorino in the latest Siena Poll released on Monday. It shows Cuomo with a 60 to 23 percent advantage, among likely gubernatorial voters.

59 percent of those polled say Cuomo has made New York a better place to live, compared to 15 percent who say he’s made it worse and 21 percent who say it’s the same.

INDIAN LAKE, N.Y. (AP)  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin have raced to a tie in a friendly whitewater rafting competition highlighting the Adirondacks' recreational opportunities.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer says pet owners could save millions of dollars on prescriptions for their animals if they could buy the drugs at ordinary pharmacies.

The New York Democrat says  that he's working with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut on legislation that would require veterinarians to write prescriptions to allow owners to buy the medication at a pharmacy or online.

While some communities locally and around the country are worried about the possibility their towns or cities might suddenly play host to undocumented immigrant children, the Mayor of Rochester may be receptive to the idea.

On Sunday, City Hall issued a statement saying that last Friday, Mayor Lovely Warren was asked for a reaction to Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner’s offer to welcome immigrant children to Syracuse. Warren responded by saying that while she didn’t have many details on Miner’s proposal for Syracuse, she was open to the idea of something similar in Rochester.