Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the passage of the 2018 State Budget, which builds on the state’s fiscal discipline over the last six years while strengthening the middle class, reducing taxes, and making smart investments in New York’s future. For the seventh consecutive year, the Budget is balanced and holds spending growth to 2 percent. With the 2018 Budget, New York leads the nation by making college tuition-free ...

‍Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the passage of the FY 2018 State Budget Extender, which funds all government operations through May 31 and advances key priority infrastructure, economic development, and environmental projects across New York. The Budget Extender also secures $2.5 billion to ensure access to clean, drinkable water for all New Yorkers, protects the state’s most vulnerable ...

A solar farm in a former Rensselaer County hayfield is helping power buildings in the Albany City School District and more than two dozen private homes and apartments. About 1,200 panels in a five-acre field in Pittstown represent the first so-called “community” solar array in the Capital Region, said project builder Mark Fobare, CEO of Rensselaer-based Monolith Solar. Community solar aims at bundling together potential ...

ALBANY — Binghamton University will now join three other state colleges in conducting research on industrial hemp, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday. Both Binghamton and SUNY Sullivan were authorized this week to participate in the state’s Industrial Hemp Agricultural Pilot program, in which universities and private farms can grow and research hemp as an agricultural commodity. The program was launched ...

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the following appointments to his administration, adding to a team committed to implementing his bold agenda. “From fighting to achieve social and economic justice, to creating stronger communities in every corner of this state, our administration has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of all New Yorkers,”‍ Governor Cuomo said. “By bringing in new ideas and new talent, these additions ...

ALBANY — The New York State Department of Public Service announced today that Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has designated Gregg C. Sayre as the interim chair of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and interim chief executive officer of the Department of Public Service. Mr. Sayre fills the vacancy that will be created on March 9, 2017 when Chair Audrey Zibelman steps down to prepare for her new role as the Chief ...

The talk in Rochester is that, this time, we’re going to tackle poverty differently than we ever have before. We’re talking about doing it better. No more blue ribbon panels. No more idealistic dreams that lack the resources to succeed. No more isolated initiatives that tackle only a piece of the problem or engage all but the people most affected by it. This time we’ll be systemic, acknowledging that poverty is caused and sustained by ...

Amanda Reyes was auditioning for her umpteenth acting role in New York City recently when the casting director asked her to “be more ghetto.” It was nothing new. She had worked for several years in Los Angeles, and the acting parts for Latinas were for teenage moms, gang bangers and hustlers — never the protagonist — and more often than not, an offensive stereotype. “I go through this almost every audition,” Ms. Reyes, 27, said ...

Rick Ostroff, Co-Chair of the Upstate New York Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk recently presented CBS 6 News with a sponsorship award in recognition of the outstanding support the station provided for the 2016 Light the Night Walk. As the official media sponsor for the 2016 Light the Night Walk, CBS 6 raised critical awareness for this important event which supports the lifesaving work ...