790 WTNY Headlines

In the 23rd Congressional District race, the Conservative campaign of Doug Hoffman seems to be catching steam according to recent polls. The Lake Placid accountant received another boost Thursday morning from a well known Republican who has crossed party lines to endorse Hoffman. Former House Republican Leader Dick Armey stopped by in Watertown Thursday morning to announce his support of Hoffman. The former congressman from Texas says this race will be the first one that truly allows people to express their anger with President Obama and his policies in fact much of the focus of the event seemed to be criticisms of Obama and the Democratic Candidate Bill Owens. Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava was called "democrat lite" by Armey, who feels that she will drop out of the race. There's been no indication that that will happen. Hoffman commented that he feels he is a legitimate contender in the race and with grassroots help, will have a big day on election day.

12:03 PM

A St. Lawrence county man is facing charges after police accuse him of throwing chunks of firewood at passing dump trucks traveling in front of his house on County Route 44 in the Town of Madrid. Sixty one year old Douglas Cloutheir of Chase Mills allegedly threw the wood in front of the heavy trucks. One of the drivers told police that when he stopped to remove the wood, he was confronted by Cloutheir with a shotgun. Cloutheir told police he was upset with the amount of heavy truck traffic on the road, adding that many of them speed. He was charged with second degree menacing and second degree reckless endangerment and could face further charges as well.

12:02 PM

New York State today honors a soldier form Rochester who was killed in Iraq last week. The flags on all state government buildings are lowered to half staff today in honor of Army Private First Class Daniel Rivera. He was killed in a motor vehicle accident on October 18. Rivera was a member of the Third Brigade Combat team of the First Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood Texas. Governor Paterson has directed that the flags on all New York state buildings be flown at half staff in tribute to our service men and women who are killed in action or die in a combat zone.

12:02 PM

Governor Paterson remains very concerned about the state's widening budget gap. Paterson met with legislative leaders in Albany Wednesday, and continued to sound the alarm regarding New York's estimated three-billion dollar budget deficit. The Governor has recommended five-billion dollars in cuts over the next two years, including significant cuts to education and healthcare. He says the current economic situation has left him no choice but to make painful decisions. Paterson says he wants to talk with those lawmakers who are concerned about potentially controversial cuts. He also says he'd like to bring legislators back to Albany for a special session on the matter next week.

12:01 PM

Black New Yorkers favor Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for Governor over the state's first Black Governor, David Paterson. A Quinnipiac University poll shows 52% of black Democrats would vote for Andrew Cuomo if he decided to take on Governor Paterson in the 2010 race. Cuomo also does better than Governor Paterson when it comes to job approval and favorability. Meantime when it comes to matchups in the 2010 race, Cuomo tops potential Republican contender Rudy Giuliani 50 to 40% if the former New York City Mayor decides to run. However Giuliani leads Paterson in a potential matchup 54 to 32%.

12:00 PM

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