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The counting of absentee ballots on Tuesday has determined winners in two high profile races here in Jefferson County. We begin in Cape Vincent, where there will be a new town supervisor at the start of 2010. The counting of the absentees has given Republican Urban Hirschey the win over Democratic incumbent Thomas Rienbeck by a final unofficial tally of 634 to 614. The supervisor's race was also seen as a referendum on the ongoing wind power debate in the town. Rienbeck was a supporter of wind turbine development, while Hirschey is a member of the Wind Power Ethics Group, which is fighting for tough regulation of wind turbines for the area. The other Jefferson County race that was decided on Tuesday was for the open seat in District 11 of the Jefferson County Legislature. Republican Bobby Ferris has defeated Democrat Paul Simmons in an unofficial tally of 947 to 912. Ferris will take over the seat from the retiring Bob Boise. The votes are still being counted in the 23rd Congressional District race. At last check, Democrat Bill Owens still leads Conservative Doug Hoffman by just under 3,000 votes.

10:11 AM

Negotiations over closing the state budget deficit could drag on for several more days in Albany. While the budget gap is over three-billion dollars, Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb says lawmakers and the Governor have dug themselves an even deeper hole by failing to address the matter quickly, because every day that passes makes it harder to come up with creative solutions. Assembly Republicans Tuesday proposed agency consolidations and other savings totalling one-point-six-billion dollars. Kolb says combining that with Governor Paterson's deficit reduction plan minus the school aid and Medicaid cuts would balance the budget.

10:10 AM

The securities industry on Wall Street is recovering from last year's meltdown faster than expected. But State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli says that shouldn't lull lawmakers into a false sense of security. DiNapoli points out that it's difficult to predict the impact of compensation limits imposed on executives of firms that took government bailout money, as well as job cuts. Twenty-percent of state revenues come from Wall Street, with taxes on executive bonuses a major source from that stream. DiNapoli says the state legislature can't rely on tax revenue from Wall Street to save the day, and adds taxpayers need to be protected from stock market volatility.

10:09 AM

A Redwood man was taken into custody following an arrest as part of a burglary investigation. Twenty seven year old Jeremiah Collins is alleged to have entered a home on State Route 3 in the Town of LeRay and stole a phone, as well as breaking into a truck at that same residence, stealing a back pack that contained a lap top computer and several DVD's. He was arrested in back of that residence Monday morning. He was also found in possession of a small amount of marijuana according to state police and is also alleged to have intentionally damaged property at the Watertown State Police Barracks.. He was charged with burglary, petit larceny and criminal mischief among other charges and ordered held in the Jefferson County Jail on $50,000 bail.

10:01 AM

Cigarettes discarded by a homeless man are being blamed for sparking a fire to part of the Black Clawson property in the City of Watertown Tuesday morning. Fire crews were called to Pearl Street at around 8:30 am with a report of a fire coming from the area. A metal container in back of the old factory was on fire and was quickly put out. Police also arrived to the scene, with this being the third fire that has struck that area in the past several weeks, but investigators say there is currently nothing to connect this fire to the previous two.

10:01 AM

The head of media giant, News Corp., offers a blunt criticism of New York's Governor. Mogul Rupert Murdoch said during a Wall Street Journal discussion that Governor Paterson's disability hurts his ability to lead New York. The News Corp. CEO made the remark when asked about the lack of civility in political discourse. Murdoch also called the leaders of the Senate and state Assembly in New York, "totally incompetent." The governor's office did not comment on Murdoch's remarks.

10:00 AM

New York is about to crack down on drunk drivers. State Assembly and Senate leaders have agreed to pass "Leandra's Law." The measure would make it a felony for anyone caught driving drunk with a child in the car. The bill is named in honor of eleven-year-old Leandra Rosado. Rosado was killed in October when the station wagon she was riding in flipped over on the Henry Hudson Parkway in upper Manhattan. Her father, Lenny Rosado, openly wept when the agreement was reached to pass the measure. The state Legislature will put the measure on the governor's desk until lawmakers tackle the state's three-point-two-billion-dollar budget gap. The measure would carry a four-year prison term for anyone suspected of driving under the influence with a passenger under 15-years-old. Anyone convicted of drunk driving under Leandra's Law would also have an interlock device installed to their vehicle to detect alcohol.

9:59 AM

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