Murphy votes to block Congressional pay raise

Congressman Scott Murphy, who represents New York's 20th Congressional District, voted in favor of a bipartisan bill today that stops the automatic pay raise of members of Congress.

In a press release, Murphy said his vote represents common sense.

"Instead of giving ourselves pay raises during these tough economic times, Congress should be focusing on creating jobs and helping the economy get back on its feet."

Race and Politics: see the video below

At yesterday's meeting of the state Senate Finance Committee Mark O'Luck -- an African American businessman -- was in attendence to take questions from senators about his pending nomination to the state Power Authority.

Republican Senator John DeFrancisco took huge exception with a 2009 blog post bearing O'Luck's name that suggests the dolling out of state contracts are bias towards businesses owned by well-connected whites.

After about 15 minutes of peppering O'Luck with questions more about policy than personal stances, DeFrancisco suggests that many whites are also not well connected and that O'Luck -- a friend of Governor David Paterson's -- is an example of blacks "making it" in New York State.

CSEA President calls Paterson's furlough plan 'nuts'

So Governor David Paterson released his furlough plan for state employees today.

Here are some of the details:

"Under the Governor's proposal, state agency commissioners will be given the discretion to schedule their employees' one furlough day per week, beginning the week of May 10. Employees will not come to work on their furlough day and will not be paid for their furlough day. Employees would not be allowed to charge their accruals to offset this salary reduction and agencies would not be able to use overtime to make up for loss of productivity."

A foot of snow... then 70 degrees and sunny?

I love the poster that shows a typical day in the Adirondacks.

It starts in the morning with snow, then shows mid-morning, mid-afternoon as hail and rain, and then ends in the afternoon with brilliant sunshine.

The caption reads: "Welcome to the Adirondacks. Don't like the weather? Just wait 15 minutes."

Police: Use off-street parking during storm

With a winter weather advisory in effect for the Adirondacks, the Saranac Lake Village Police Department is encouraging residents to utilize off-street parking.

Chief Bruce Nason said the request was made in order to facilitate snow removal efforts by area highway departments.

The municipal lot off Dorsey Street had been closed for cleaning, but is currently open. Nason said motorists should feel free to park their vehicles there.

Village removes utility vehicles from parking lot

The village of Saranac Lake has taken action to remove several vehicles from a municipal lot.

According to officials, village police removed three large utility vehicles from the village’s parking lot at the intersection of Broadway and Bloomingdale Avenue.

The owners of the vehicles were fined $9,300 for accumulated parking violations.

Politics and pancakes

Republican Rick Lazio stopped in Saranac Lake Thursday morning to meet with constituents and discuss the upcoming gubernatorial elections.

The former Long Island Congressman munched on pancakes at the Blue Moon Café while addressing the problems he says are forcing New Yorkers to leave the state they love.

"People say they’re embarrassed to be from New York – I’m not embarrassed to say I’m from New York," Lazio said. "I’m proud to be a New Yorker; I love this state. This state has got great people, it’s got the hardest working people in America, it really does. I often say this: I think we’ve got the most entrepreneurial, hardest working, most dedicated, the greatest, most candid and toughest people in America, and the worst state government in the country."

Lazio’s platform focuses on addressing what he views as the state’s two biggest problems – its economic situation and corruption in Albany.