Today in your Trail Mix:
The U.S. attorney general is fighting back against a fracking lawsuit brought by New York's attorney general.
How the FAA shutdown is affecting Syracuse.
The lieutenant governor wants to avoid "awkward moments" at the initial regional council meetings.
Energy
The U.S. Attorney General is asking a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit brought by New York's attorney general, calling for the feds to look at the effect of fracking on the Delaware River basin (Jon Campbell, Gannett).
It turns out that the EPA has found an instance of drinking water contaminated by fracking. It happened 25 years ago, but it directly disputes industry claims to the contrary (Susan Phillips, StateImpactPA).
NYSEG is pushing a new transmission line out to a factory that makes Greek yogurt in the Southern Tier (My-Ly Nguyen, Press & Sun-Bulletin).
Transportation
High speed rail money could be at risk in the House (Eric Anderson, Times Union).
Projects at Syracuse's airport are being affected by the FAA shutdown, according to the city's aviation commissioner. Here's video of her remarks on Capital Tonight (Maureen McManus, State of Politics/Capital Tonight).
Regional councils
After protesting that the meeting wouldn't be public, members of a Syracuse neighborhood group were prevented from attending the central New York regional economic council meeting (Charles McChesney, Post-Standard).
Those meetings will eventually be public according to lieutenant governor Robert Duffy, who's chairing the initiative (Tom Tobin, Democrat and Chronicle).
But Duffy wanted to kick the process off privately, so that there wouldn't be any "awkward moments" (Daniel Robison, Innovation Trail).
Western New York has already done some of its homework, and is well-positioned to put together its regional strategy, according to the head of Buffalo Niagara Enterprise (David Robinson, Buffalo News).
The meeting in western New York "exceeded" the expectations of Chautauqua's county executive, according to Capital Tonight (Maureen McManus, State of Politics/Capital Tonight).
Business
Ticket sales for an expo for gay and lesbian weddings aren't stacking up to expectations (Leah Buletti, Times Union).
At the Democrat and Chronicle Caurie Putnam has the inspiring story of a Vietnamese immigrant who's built a successful beauty salon.
Mott's apple concentrate at the plant in Wayne County does not have arsenic in it, after concerns were raised by a consumer testing group (Diana Louise Carter, Democrat and Chronicle).
The governor is investigating executive compensation at nonprofits that get state funding (Karen Dewitt, New York State Public Radio).
A developer is looking to build single family homes in downtown Syracuse (Maureen Nolan, Post-Standard).
Higher education
The Rochester Institute of Technology is kicking off a masters in sustainabile architecture in the fall. Tim Louis Macaluso at City Newspaper has an interview with the program's chair.
The head of SUNY Canton has a reprieve - the ultimatum that he resign or be fired has been extended by a year, allowing him to remain president for the next school year and them become an advisor to the SUNY chancellor (Gabrielle Hovendon, Watertown Daily Times).
Economic indicators
Consumer confidence dipped in July in New York, thanks to the debt crisis (Adam Rombel, Greater Binghamton Business Journal).
The unemployment rate can't be helping with confidence. Jess Jiang at Planet Money has a map that shows how the states stack up against each other.
The Times Union wants to know what you think about New York's declining population.
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