Politics

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).

A fight over a small item in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal has been building for months.

At issue is $15 million in a $130 billion budget. But for two opposing factions in Buffalo, it’s symbolic of the city’s path forward.

To sprawl or not to sprawl? 

That’s the question. And today’s the last day Governor Cuomo can change his mind.

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Good morning! Today in your trail mix:

State Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli calls out the governor's budget as a power grab.

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Why did New York fine a small business owner thousands of dollars for his lack of polo t-shirts?

Former Buffalo assemblyman Sam Hoyt was in the Rochester area Friday delivering Governor Andrew Cuomo's 2012 budget address.

It was mostly a recap of Cuomo's 2011 legislative victories and a brief sketch of the governor's 2012 priorities.

But one thing was not mentioned: Cuomo's billion-dollar pledge to the state's second-largest city.

"I can assure you that Andrew Cuomo is not giving a blank check to Buffalo," Hoyt, now a senior VP at Empire State Development, said after the presentation.

"If they come up with a half-assed plan, the governor's going to reject it," said Hoyt. "There's no, 'Here's your billion dollars, spend it as you please.' If they use it as pork, or member items, the governor will say, 'Sorry, you blew it. You blew this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.' "