Tagged: hudson valley

Steve Barnes spent nearly 20 years in prison for rape and murder, before DNA evidence finally cleared him.

So why does he think a new bill to expand New York's DNA databank doesn't do enough to help people like him?

The bill would require people convicted of all state felonies, and all penal law misdemeanors to hand over their DNA to the state databank. Advocates of the bill say more DNA will help the police prosecute the guilty, and protect the innocent. 

But Barnes says the bill falls short when it comes to measures that would truly protect the wrongfully accused.

See a preview below, and watch the full story this weekend on New York NOW (check your local listings).

Environmental advocates were in Albany on Monday to make the case that investing in the state’s natural resources is good economic sense.

Representatives from more than 50 organizations were there to support the state’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF).

Yesterday Time Warner Cable announced plans to cut 155 jobs at an Albany call center.

The company will eliminate telemarketing positions in Albany, and relocate its sales operations to Raleigh, North Carolina.

Sealed Air, a packaging manufacturer with about 26,000 workers worldwide, is closing at least two plants in upstate New York.

The company announced Thursday it was closing its Rochester facility.

A filing with the New York State Department of Labor also shows a plant closing in the Schenectady suburb of Scotia, N.Y.

The Capital Region plant will be shuttered by May 20.

About 180 Sealed Air workers in Rochester will lose their jobs. Another 70 will be affected in Scotia. 

Four months ago, Governor Andrew Cuomo launched a new website called CitizenConnects. He hailed the site as an "electronic town hall" that would give New Yorkers, "unprecedented access to the workings of the executive branch."

So has CitizenConnects delivered? Not really.

The tagline for the site reads, "Care enough to connect to your state government."

Unfortunately, no one at the governor's press office cared enough to return several phone calls requesting details about why some information on the site is either missing or out-of-date.