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Economic councils strut stuff to compete for state cash

Today in your Trail Mix:

Public presentations as the regional councils vie for state development dollars.

Bear taxidermy as an economic indicator in flooded regions.

Pro-drilling lobbyists outspend environmentalists dramatically in NYS.

Plus, the heartbreaking tale of a plant closure.

Politics

The state's regional economic development councils will gradually make their case over the next three days for a piece of $200 million in development cash. 

Today be on the look-out for the Finger Lakes council at 3:30 p.m. Tomorrow the Southern Tier is up at 9 a.m., the Capital Region goes at 10:30, Central New York presents at noon, and the Mid Hudson region gets their chance at 4 p.m.  Western New York, the North Country, and Mohawk Valley are up on Wednesday. 

Watch live video of the presentations below or at this link.

The governor wants to tackle New York's budget problems "holistically" - which means fixing the economy, as well as the budget. One part of that: repairing New York's infrastructure (Jon Campbell, Gannett).

Meanwhile "Cuomonomics" are coming under the gun from a union leader, who says that municipalities "are hurting" from the governor's tax cap (Jon Campbell, Politics on the Hudson).

Flooding

A lack of business in bear taxidermy is a sign that Adirondack communities are still recovering from flooding this summer (Rick Karlin, Times Union).

Downtown Binghamton apartment dwellers are still being prevented from returning home after flooding, because electric and heating aren't yet restored (Nancy Dooling, Press & Sun-Bulletin).

Flooded upstate communities are pulling in another $10 million for road repair, according to the state's senators (AP).

Higher education and training

SUNY chancellor Nancy Zimpher will also be the new head of the New York Academy of Sciences board (Cara Matthews, Vote Up!).

Glens Falls Hospital is seeking federal funds to study building a health information technology training center (Maury Thompson, Post-Star).

College degrees mean less and less these days, especially as the right and left debate "the new rules" (Adam Davidson, New York Times).

A Buffalo home weatherization firm is NYSERDA's "contractor of the year" for its energy efficiency work and training programs (David Robinson, Buffalo News).

Gas drilling

Pro-gas lobbyists have spent $3.2 million since the beginning of last year, making their case for fracking in New York. Environmental groups meanwhile, have spent about $800,000 (Thomas Kaplan, New York Times).

Shale drilling is prompting industry to return to forgotten parts of the Rust Belt, like Youngstown, Ohio (Thomas J. Sheeran, AP).

Artists are weighing in on the debate about hydrofracking with their work (Annette Meade, Her Rochester).

"Preserved farms" aren't protected from shale drilling in Pennsylvania (Jennifer Reeger, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).

Business

Marnie Eisenstadt at the Post-Standard has the heartbreaking story of how 289 workers at the Birds Eye processing plant in Fulton are losing their jobs.

A place that gives lonesome entrepreneurs an office of their own is this week's "Company Town" from WXXI (Zack Seward, Innovation Trail).

Shoppers turned out in Buffalo to support local businesses on "Small Business Saturday" (Michelle Kearns, Buffalo News).

The rail road bridge at Letchworth State Park could be up for demolition by the rail company that owns it, as a safety measure (Mark Sommer, Buffalo News).

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