Politics & Government

Onondaga County voters in traditionally republican legislative districts may have received a knock on the door from democratic candidates trying to challenge the status quo. It’s part of a concerted effort by the democratic party to change the balance of power on the legislature called Flip the Leg. WAER News takes a deep dive into why democrats are mounting such a strong challenge, and some of the history behind county governance.

The state ethics panel voted Tuesday to open an independent investigation of how the panel approved a $5 million book deal for former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The deal has been the subject of a probe by the state’s attorney general as well as federal investigators.

The last-minute agenda items would appear to fast track the redistricting process ahead of the results of the upcoming election. Democrats questioned the timing and ethics of the party-line vote.

The leader of the state’s Democratic Party is personally endorsing Governor Kathy Hochul for election in the June 2022 Democratic Primary and the general election, next November. And he’s asking other potential candidates who have expressed in interest in challenging Hochul to hold off for now, saying multiple candidates competing in a primary could be chaotic and harmful to the party’s chance of winning next year.

A congressman in Central New York defends his position to support the $1 trillion infrastructure legislation and attributes the Democrat's partisanship as reason for their disapproval of the bill.

Governor Kathy Hochul says the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for hospital workers has not caused any major crises in the first three days of the requirement. But she says there are still staffing shortages and ongoing court action that create uncertainty.

Former Utica-area congressmember Sherwood Boehlert has died after a long illness. He was one week shy of his 85th birthday. Boehlert served parts of Central New York and the Mohawk Valley for nearly 25 years from 1983 to 2007 when he retired.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the immediate release of 191 state prison inmates Friday. Under terms of a new parole reform law signed by Hochul, they are no longer required to be incarcerated for committing technical parole violations.

Governor Kathy Hochul says she does not believe health care workers in New York should be able to cite a religious exemption to avoid getting the COVID-19 vaccine. The governor, who held a briefing on the status of the coronavirus in the state, was reacting to a court decision temporarily upholding the rights of some health care workers to refuse the vaccine on religious grounds.

A new report by the state’s Comptroller finds that despite years of government programs, 1 million New York households still have no access to the internet, and many in rural areas have limited access to inadequate services.