Turner nominates two boro groups for EPA award
Posted by Howard Koplowitz in Congress, District 9, U.S. House on February 9, 2012 | No Comments
U.S. Rep. Bob Turner (R-Middle Village) nominated two borough civic groups — CURES and the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers — last Thursday for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2012 Environmental Quality Award. The yearly awards are given out in commemoration of Earth Day and honor people or groups that benefit public health and the environment. The [...]
British journalist cheers Lancman’s NY libel law
Posted by Howard Koplowitz in Assembly, District 25 on February 9, 2012 | No Comments
A state law co-authored by state Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) protecting journalists who report on terrorism from libel lawsuits in other countries that has since become federal law is now gaining traction across the pond. Back in 2008, Lancman and state Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) gained approval for the bill, which blocks so-called [...]
New lines lambasted for state office seats
Posted by Howard Koplowitz in District 11, District 12, District 13, District 16, Governor, State Senate on February 9, 2012 | No Comments
Civic groups, residents and community-based associations from across the borough lashed out Tuesday at the task force that proposed new district lines for state offices during a public hearing on the body’s plan at Borough Hall. When the lines for state Senate and state Assembly seats were unveiled last week, the drawn districts were widely [...]
No teacher layoffs in Bloomy’s budget
Posted by Howard Koplowitz in City Council, City Offices, District 30, Mayor on February 9, 2012 | No Comments
Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled last Thursday his $68.7 billion budget — a spending plan that has no tax increases or calls for teachers and uniformed city workers to lose their jobs. Bloomberg said “deficit closing actions” the city has undertaken in the last five years led to $6 billion in savings that was used to [...]
New lines mean Qns senate shift
Posted by Howard Koplowitz in Congress, District 10, District 14, District 15, District 6, District 9, Governor, State Senate, U.S. House on February 2, 2012 | No Comments
State Sens. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica) and Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) may need to sign up for dance lessons if newly proposed district maps are approved because they will be doing the shuffle. “It looks like a switcheroo,” Huntley said in a telephone interview Monday, comparing how the new lines give her [...]
Qns. residents slam Albany’s plan
Posted by Howard Koplowitz in Assembly, District 10, District 11, District 12, District 13, District 14, District 15, District 16, District 24, Governor, State Senate on February 2, 2012 | 1 Comment
No matter how you slice it, the redistricting plan drawn up by a state task force last week was widely panned in Queens by critics who said the proposal breaks up communities and gerrymanders the lines. Every 10 years, districts for state Senate, state Assembly and congressional lines are redrawn to reflect population changes recorded [...]
