Guilderland residents line streets to honor Lt. Col. Todd Clark

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013, 6:21pm

GUILDERLAND--The mourners who lined the streets today to commemorate Lt. Col. Todd Clark included people who very well could have been him.

"(I'm here) Just to honor him as a combat veteran to another, it's sad," said Vietnam Vet Al Moshier from Altamont who lost his second cousin, Timothy Moshier of Delmar, to the Iraq War.

Friends of the Clark family in Guilderland.

"(His life was important) To Guilderland, the neighborhood, the family. We all need to be here to represent and show support," explains Donna Diana.

And strangers, young and old, whose freedoms Lt. Col. Clark was fighting to keep.

"We just have to respect," said Pat Scoons, through tears.

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NY maple syrup rebounds 59 percent after slow 2012

Submitted by WNYT Staff

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013, 1:59pm

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York's maple syrup production surged this year, thanks to better weather for the sweet crop.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says production was up 59 percent, from 360,000 to 574,000 gallons.

Sap flow was held down in 2012 because of the relatively warm weather in late winter and early spring. Federal experts say the colder early spring slowed budding on the trees and extended the season.

They say only Vermont produced more syrup than New York.

A total of 3.25 million gallons was produced nationally, up 70 percent from 2012.

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Body of slain soldier returns home

Submitted by WNYT Staff

Monday, June 17th, 2013, 9:48pm

Lt. Col. Todd Clark was one of three people killed on June 8 in an attack by an Afghan soldier they were training. - File / WNYT

COLONIE -- Clutching tissues and wiping tears from glistening cheeks, mourners filed into Christian Brothers Academy on Monday to pay their respects to a fallen soldier.

Lt. Col. Todd Clark, a 1990 graduate of the school, was killed in action in Afghanistan on June 8. The Albany native had served in the U.S. Army for more than 17 years, including three tours of duty in Iraq and two in Afghanistan.

"We've been friends since we were the youngest, brand new lieutenants when we first started out," Lt. Col. Mike Jason told NewsChannel 13. "I can remember Todd's first day in the Army because he came in shortly after I did, and we went on our first deployment together."

The flight carrying Clark's body home from Dover Air Force Base in Dover, De. landed at Albany International Airport at about 10:00 a.m. A military forces honor guard then escorted the flag-draped casket to a hearse.

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Man arrested, charged with felony unlicensed operation

Submitted by WNYT Staff

Sunday, June 16th, 2013, 2:37pm

A Brooklyn man is facing felony charges of aggravated unlicensed operation. Police say they discovered during a traffic stop in Guilderland that he had 26 active suspensions.

Troopers stopped 53 year old Edwin Mejias between exits 23 and 24 of the Thruway just before 10:30pm for violating the "Move Over Law". After stopping Mejias, the trooper says a DMV check found he had 26 active suspensions from 14 different dates.

According to officials, Mejias's 4-year-old granddaughter was a passenger in the vehicle and was not in a safety seat.

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Cuomo proposes a back-up plan to expand gaming

Submitted by WNYT Staff

Sunday, June 16th, 2013, 10:19am

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirms he is proposing a back-up plan to expand gambling even if voters turn down his casino gambling referendum this Fall.

Cuomo spokeswoman Melissa DeRosa says the governor proposes video slot machine centers if his proposal for four Las Vegas-type casinos is defeated. He says he wants to make sure there is an option to produce revenue for local governments and schools if casinos are rejected.

A copy of Cuomo's casino bill obtained Saturday by The Associated Press includes a provision that would authorize video slot machine centers in New York City's outer boroughs and as many as three or four places upstate. The bill provides for the video slot casinos with up to 5,000 machines at each center

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Future of Hoffman's Playland

Submitted by WNYT Staff

Sunday, June 16th, 2013, 9:50am

Visitors enjoying Hoffman's Playland in Latham, on Saturday. -

LATHAM - To keep the carousel turning, and the scrambler scrambling, and the scenic train ride on track, Dave Hoffman and his wife are working 14 hour days at the family fun park in Latham that his grandfather opened 61 years ago.

After working there his entire life, Dave is ready to jump off the carousel. He says, "we are going to retire at some point."

After word got out that the Hoffman's were planning their retirement, rumors began to circulate that the ride was over at the legendary fun park, that developers would almost certainly scoop up the valuable real estate, and essentially pave the play land paradise.

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Auditors say NYS mistakenly paid unemployment to deceased people

Submitted by WNYT Staff

Sunday, June 16th, 2013, 8:12am

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York auditors say the state mistakenly authorized nearly $3 million in unemployment payments for people who were dead, employed, out of the country, not authorized to work in the U.S. or had exceeded their benefits.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says $1.9 million was prevented from actually being paid, while the state Labor Department should pursue recovery of $1.1 million.

Labor officials say they have increased fraud-fighting measures by funding five positions in the comptroller's office to ensure overpayments are quickly identified and recouped, the very staff who identified the overpayments in this report.

That $3 million is less than 1 percent of $7.1 billion paid out to 1.13 million people in 2012.

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