WCDO Radio News

The Federal EPA selected a remedy for the GCL Tie and Treating Superfund site in Sidney to address the remaining creosote contamination in soil and bedrock at the site. Former Area Assemblyman Pete Lopez is now the region #2 Administrator for the EPA, he told WCDO News about the next process in the 3rd phase of the clean-up:

(Pete Lopez 10-14-20)

Lopez said that the estimated cost of this remedy is $25 million, the EPA expects to address an ongoing source of groundwater contamination at the site, and help the aquifer to recover, a final action for the groundwater will be determined after this remedy is implemented. The plans can be viewed at epa.gov/superfund/gcl-tie

The State Board of Elections announced that all precincts have reported in the 102nd State Assembly race, they have declared Republican Christopher Tague as the winner, with 45.8% of the vote, over Democrat Aidan O'Connor with 44.3%, and Independent candidate Wesley Laraway with 9.7%. Tague replaces Pete Lopez, who left the seat last year following an appointment to the EPA.

Polling locations across the 102nd State Assembly District are open until 9:00 PM this evening, for the special election to replace former area assemblyman Pete Lopez, who accepted a position at the Federal EPA Last year. Candidates include Independent Wesley Laraway, Democrat Aidan O’Connor Jr. & Republican Christopher Tague.

Voters in the 102nd State Assembly District will have a special election Tuesday, to replace Pete Lopez, who accepted a position at the Federal EPA Last year. Candidates include Republican Christopher Tague, Democrat Aidan O'Connor Jr., and independent candidate Wesley Laraway. Polling places across the district will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Governor Cuomo issued a proclamation setting an April 24 special election date for 9 vacant Assembly seats and 2 vacant Senate seats. 1 of the vacancies exists locally in the State Assembly from the 102nd Assembly District caused by the resignation of Pete Lopez.

New York Farm Bureau has released its annual “Circle of Friends,” naming 172 New York State Legislators to this year’s list. The “Circle of Friends” honor is based upon each legislator’s voting record on issues of agricultural importance as well as other evidence of legislative support, including sponsorship of bills that New York Farm Bureau has either supported this year. Local “Circle of Friends” recipients for 2017 are State senator’s Fred Akshar, John Bonacic, Jim Seward & Assembly Members Cliff Crouch, Gary Finch, Pete Lopez, Donna Lupardo & Bill Magee.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the appointment of Pete Lopez to become Regional Administrator for Region 2. Lopez will oversee environmental protection efforts in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lopez has served as a member of the New York State Assembly since 2007.

It was 6 years ago this week, that the region was hit by Hurricane Irene, followed by Tropical Storm Lee, and the devastation that followed. Assemblyman Pete Lopez said that 6 years later, life is still not back to normal:

(Pete Lopez 8-29-17)

Lopez said that the work is still going on around his Assembly District, with 1 eye on the sky in case another Hurricane or Tropical Storm hits the region.

Since the 2006 & 2011 floods that devastated much of the Upstate region, Progress has been slow in order to safeguard people & property from any future catastrophic weather events. Area Assemblyman Pete Lopez comments:

(Pete Lopez 8-21-17)

Lopez said that a key issue is that, it's not a matter of "If" harsh weather hits the upstate counties again, but "when", and he is concerend that necessary measures might not be completed in time.

Free college tuition or tuition assistance, upstate expansions for Uber & Lyft ride sharing services & juvenile justice reforms are among some of this year’s top issues as lawmakers negotiate the state budget, with the deadline fast approaching, Assemblyman Pete Lopez comments:

(Lopez 3-28-17)

Lopez said that there were 3 different sets of numbers for state aid to school districts from the Governor, the assembly & the state senate, for the education portion of the budget, with is one of the largest portions of the state budget each year.

Lawmakers in Albany continue to work toward finishing up the budget by the April 1st deadline, Assemblyman Pete Lopez Comments:

(Lopez 3-9-17)

Lopez said that this week they have been reconciling the projected revenues on hand for the next year's budget, those numbers are usually different between the Budget Office, the leadership of the State Senate & The State Assembly.

State Budget hearings wrapped up Friday in Albany, as lawmakers look towards a final plan to submit to the Governor in about 6 weeks, assemblyman Pete Lopez comments:

(Lopez 2-20-17)

Lawmakers are on a break until February 28th, they will then be working on the 152.3 Billion dollar Budget proposal submitted by Governor Cuomo in January, they hope to pass the budget on time by the state of the next fiscal year, on April 1st.

State lawmakers continue to work on the Executive Budget proposal. State Assemblyman Pete Lopez said that while school aid is a huge part of the budget, the formula needs to be addressed:

(Lopez 2-8-17)

Lawmakers have until April 1st to get the budget passed for the start of the next fiscal year.

Governor Cuomo is being criticized by members of the Legislature for taking his Budget proposal on the road, instead of the traditional presentation in front of a joint session of the Legislature. Area Assemblyman Pete Lopez comments:

Lopez 1-25-17)

Cuomo had members of his cabinet deliver his State of the State & Budget presentations around the state in the last week and a half, and did some presentations himself in a few upstate locations where he announced upstate economic development projects.

Sidney village police arrested 43-year-old Carl Peterson of Sidney on a sealed indictment warrant, on charges of criminal sale of a controlled substance, for allegedly selling prescription narcotics in Sidney; he was sent to the Delaware county jail. Also arrested, on an arrest warrant sealed indictment was 35-year-old Shawn Carnicelli of Sidney for criminal sale of a controlled substance, fro allegedly selling cocaine in the village of Sidney. Carnicelli was remanded to the Delaware county jail pending future court proceedings. State police assisted Sidney police in this investigation.

Lawmakers are getting a chance to look over Governor Cuomo's executive Budget proposal, which was released earlier this week, area Assemblyman Pete Lopez comments:

(Lopez 1-20-17)

The budget increases spending by just under 2%, up to 152.3 billion dollars, the legislature will have until April 1st to get a final budget passed.

State Lawmakers will once again have to deal with an education budget next year that could make things difficult on the smallest upstate district, according to Assemblyman Pete Lopez:

(Lopez)

Lopez said that state mandates on small school district sometimes drive the cost of education up to $30,000 per student per year.

There is a chance that the state legislature gets called back a special session before the end of the year, & they may try to get a pay raise for themselves. Area Assemblyman Pete Lopez comments:

(Lopez 12-6-16)

Governor Cuomo is expected to lobby for more stringent ethics reforms in exchange for any possible deal on lawmakers pay raises. The state legislature has not had a pay raise in 17 years.

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies announced that Luis Rojas will serve as the team's manager for the 2017 season. Rojas managed the Single A Saint Lucie Mets for the previous 2 seasons, he replaces Pedro Lopez, who served for 5 years as Binghamton manager, and he has been promoted & will manage the AAA Las Vegas 51's in 2017.

A charity Auction will be held November 19th in Oneonta to benefit the Leatherstocking Council of the Boys Scouts of America. District Executive Peter Miller told WCDO News of some of the auction items up for bidding:

(Peter Miller 11-9-16)

Online bidding & a complete list of auction items can be found at Leatherstocking Council.org, the auction will take place on Saturday November 19th from 5:00 to 9:00 PM at the Morris conference Center at SUNY Oneonta.

Chenango county sheriffs deputies arrested 56-year-old Peter Constantinou of New Berlin for 3rd degree Assault & Endangering the Welfare of a Child, following an investigation by Chenango County Child Protective Services and the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office. Constantinou faces action in the Town of New Berlin Court at a later date.

The elections are over and here are the Winners for 2016: in The U.S. Senate seat for New York, Democrat Charles Schumer beats Republican Wendy Long by a better than 2 to 1 margin. In the House of Representatives: in the 19th Congressional District Race, Republican John Faso defeats Democrat Zephyr Teachout & in the 22nd Congressional district Race Republican Claudia Tenney wins over Democrat Kim Meyers & 3rd party Candidate Martin Babinec. In area State Senate races, Republican incumbents Fred Akshar, Jim Seward & John Bonacic were re-elected. In State Assembly Races, Incumbents Bill Magee Donna Lupardo & Gary Finch defeated their opponents, Cliff Crouch & Pete Lopez were re-elected, they ran unopposed. Broome county voters elected Democrat Jason Garner over incumbent Debbie Preston. John Hubbard wins for Delaware County District Attorney, he was unopposed, Peter McCann wins the election for Morris Town Judge, and Randall Mowers was elected to the Oneonta Town Board

In Local Assembly Races: in the121 Assembly district: Republican John Salka will again try to unseat incumbent Democrat Bill Magee.

122nd Assembly District, Republican Cliff Crouch is unopposed.

102nd District, Republican incumbent Pete Lopez is unopposed.

State & Federal money is being designated to get broadband service to rural areas of upstate New York. Area Assemblyman Pete Lopez said that he likens this situation to when electricity was slow to make it into rural areas 120 years ago:

(Lopez 8-26-16)

Lopez said that the state has kicked up their contribution in recent years to about 500 million dollars annually to get rural broadband to residents, up from only a 5 million dollar commitment annually in 2008.

Members of the Assembly's Minority Conference called for changes to the way the books are kept, to create more transparency, accountability and oversight in how tax dollars are spent--especially in terms of New York's Economic Development, Assemblyman Cliff Crouch responds:

(Crouch 6-7-16)

Assemblyman Pete Lopez also responded:

(Lopez 6-7-16)

The Assembly Minority Conference Legislation sets up an independent advisory committee, streamlines economic development tax credits and other programs to make it fairer for all businesses to compete for state contracts and prohibit campaign contributions from appointees to their appointing authority.

There are only about 3 weeks to go for the current session of the state Legislature, and there seems to be little talk about ethics reforms, even after the convictions & sentencing of recent leaders of both houses. Assemblyman Pete Lopez explains:

(Lopez 5-26-16)

Legitimate topics of discussion in the final weeks include economic development, Job creation & tackling the Heroin & Opioid crisis.

State Lawmakers will forward bills this session, but many are skeptical on seeing the passage of any real ethics reforms, even after several arrests & convictions of many of their own over the last 20 years. Assemblyman Pete Lopez said that penalties need to be more serious:

(Lopez 5-11-16)

Former State Senate Leader Dean Skelos is the next former lawmakers to be sentenced for corruption in a Federal court room shortly.

with the parade of top level State Leaders heading for jail, Area Assemblyman Pete Lopez said that his fellow lawmakers talk a big game about ethics reforms, but nothing has been done:

(Lopez 5-4-16)

Other top lawmakers beside Silver & Skelos that have been charged with corruption related crimes include former State Senate Leaders Joe Bruno, Pedro Espada & Hiram Monserratte, & former Governor Elito Spitzer resigned due to a prostitution scandal, and a top level aide to Governor Cuomo is being investigated.

State lawmakers are weighing in on the new state budget passed last week. Assemblyman Cliff Crouch comments:

(Cliff Crouch 4-4-16)

Assemblyman Pete Lopez said that the process for passing the budget was not transparent:

(Pete Lopez 4-4-16)

The 11th hour budget kept the spending increase to under the 2% state cap, and includes record setting amounts of state aid.

It's not looking to promising for New York State to have a budget passed by tonight's deadline. Area Assemblyman Pete Lopez said that the whole budget process has been out of the public's eye & the rank & file Lawmakers again this year:

(Lopez 3-31-16)

Area Assemblyman Cliff Crouch told WCDO news this morning that he doesn't see a budget passed by midnight:

(Cliff Crouch 3-31-16)

Crouch said that 1of the key sticking points in this year's budget negotiation is the phased in minimum wage proposal, increases in revenue expected from New York City, he expressed disappointment in the closed process, and the lack of discussion about leadership term limits after many former legislative leaders faced charges & conviction for corruption.

Members of the State Assembly are looking to create a new state program modeled on the successful CHIPS program, to repair and maintain drinking water, sewer, storm water management and gas line infrastructure, with the Safe Water infrastructure Action Program.   area assemblyman Pete Lopez comments:

(Lopez 3-28-16)

The program would provide annual funding to all municipalities in the state to allow them to identify and swap out old, deteriorating pipes, water mains and gas lines to better maintain the state’s infrastructure. Lopez said that much of the infrastructure is aging, and in some cases, dates back to the Civil War.

State lawmakers have been chosen to work on Conference Committees to negotiate the differences in the budgets from both houses of the legislature, Local Assemblyman Pete Lopez said that after former leaders Silver & Skelos were convicted of corruption, that lawmakers would tighten up ethics governing their own behaviors, but they've proposed very little:

(Lopez 3-17-16)

Former State Senate Leader Dean Skelos & Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver will be sentenced next month; the state budget is due April 1st.

New York State has yet to formulate a plan for the whole state to follow regarding disposing of electronic appliances that contain toxic chemicals. Assemblyman Pete Lopez comments:

(Lopez 2-26-16)

Currently Many counties, such as Delaware County, will accept electronics for proper disposal after establishing their own policy, but Lopez said that many counties have no such deals or plans for those recyclable electronics.

The Otsego county Chamber of Commerce will hold their February Networking Luncheon today from 11:45am to 1:30pm At the Holiday Inn of Oneonta. The keynote speaker is Aaron MacLeod, the Director of Hartwick College’s New Center for Craft Food & Beverage. Assemblyman Pete Lopez will also speak on agriculture.