Monday, 17 September 2012
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Report: 3 NJ state police commanders reassigned
Eyewitness NewsTRENTON, N.J. (WABC) -- Three state police commanders have been reassigned as officials continue to probe allegations that a caravan of luxury sports cars received an unauthorized, high-speed police escort down the Garden State Parkway, according to a published report.
Maj. Robert Catullo, the commander of the troop overseeing northern New Jersey, was among those reassigned late Friday, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported Sunday (http://bit.ly/IkIyAC), citing three unidentified people with knowledge of the moves. Also moved were Catullo's deputy commander, Capt. Michael Cerisano, and a region commander, Capt. Warren Moore.
It wasn't clear what role, if any, the transferred troopers might have played in the escorts or where they will now be stationed.
State Police Lt. Stephen Jones said 10 commanders were transferred overall Friday in "a re-alignment aimed at the Operations Branch." Jones said the transfers came in light of recent ongoing internal investigations, but did not say how many of the transfers related to the high-speed escorts. He also declined to identify the troopers involved.Two troopers were suspended without pay last Monday after news reports recounted witnesses who said they saw the caravan of a few dozen high-performance luxury cars speeding down the Garden State Parkway at 100 mph on March 30, escorted by two state police cars. A station commander also was reportedly reassigned Monday.
The 54-year-old Catullo, a 30-year veteran of the force, must retire by year's end because he will reach the state police's mandatory retirement age. The 53-year-old Cerisano has been a trooper for about 27 years while Moore, 51, has been a trooper for about 24 years.
Catullo is one of 16 majors in Fuentes' command staff, according to the state police website. The majors are overseen by four lieutenant colonels who report directly to Fuentes.
Catullo led Totowa-based Troop B, which covers 2,807 square miles and about 5 million people in northern Jersey. The job of commander there is one of the most powerful and coveted jobs within the state police and includes overseeing the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
The troop is also responsible for working closely with the U.S. Secret Service to escort and protect dignitaries, including presidents, cabinet members and military generals, according to the agency's website. _
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new jersey, state trooper, new jersey news
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Thursday, 5 January 2012
NY Gov. Cuomo sets state on course for 2nd year
By MICHAEL GORMLEYALBANY, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday outlined what he hopes are the next steps to reviving New York state and moving out of his famous father's shadow. He set an aggressive, if less dramatic, agenda for his second year after a first year widely praised as both fiscally conservative and progressive in breaking years of political gridlock to legalize gay marriage. It includes plans for the world's largest convention center in New York City and a $1 billion jobs initiative for the long distressed city of Buffalo.
"One year ago, we were divided as a state," he said. "Upstate and downstate, millionaires and the middle class, gay and straight, Democrats and Republicans.
"Our state had a fiscal deficit," he said, but the "more pronounced problem was a trust deficit, a performance deficit, and an integrity deficit ... our people had problems, and our government did not have the capacity or the credibility to help."Back then, he said, New York faced historic deficits, partisan gridlock and an unprecedented string of corruption convictions and scandals. Less than a month after his 54th birthday, Cuomo's second State of the State speech comes as he enjoys the same record-high approval ratings that rushed him into office in 2010.
"2011 will go down in the history books as an extraordinary success," Cuomo said to cheers. "We restored New York's reputation as the progressive capital of the nation."
As with his father, Gov. Mario Cuomo, Andrew Cuomo's every major speech is parsed nationwide by those handicapping future presidential runs.
"He was absolutely presidential," said Hank Sheinkopf, a national political adviser who worked in the Clinton White House, where Cuomo served as housing secretary. "Few governors in the country have plotted such an aggressive course ... It was a perfect speech because it was populist, progressive, patriotic, pomp and just plain guts."
The speech titled "Building a New New York with You" includes plans for a $4 billion convention center and hotel complex at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens to be built by a private developer; a new commission to force "an overhaul" of public education, including teacher evaluations; a jobs program including a massive road and bridge effort; $1 billion in incentives to lure jobs to Buffalo; and voluntary public financing of political campaigns.
"Let's build the largest convention center in the nation, period," Cuomo said. "We'll go from No. 12 to No. 1 because that's where we deserve to be, the No. 1 state in the nation."
Political scientist Doug Muzzio of Baruch College said the speech had a "lot of well-deserved self-shoulder patting," but was light on specifics on how to tackle his new goals.
"If he succeeds with even half of his `ambitious agenda,' his second semester will be a remarkable success," Muzzio said.
Legislative leaders supported Cuomo, a traditional reaction for the State of the State address while the cameras are on, even in this election year. But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said one of his top priorities will be to raise the minimum wage, stuck at $7.25 an hour for years. Advocates including the Hunger Action Network and members of Occupy Albany favor a raise to at least $10 an hour, which could rile Cuomo's biggest campaign donors in business.
Republican Senate leader Dean Skelos called Cuomo his friend, and noted their successful relationship last year is because many of the Democrat's goals were long-time goals of Republicans.
"Let's make this session even more productive than the last one," Skelos said.
Cuomo didn't mention two of the most controversial issues facing the Legislature: Independent redrawing of election districts that could threaten the Republicans' slim majority in the Senate, and the regulation of "hydrofracking" for natural gas upstate that concerns the Assembly Democrats and environmental groups. Both, however, were part of his written talking points; they briefly mentioned that he still supports independent redistricting and is awaiting thorough review of the gas drilling technology, which uses water laced with chemicals and sand to break through rock formations and extract the gas.
"I'm not surprised, because they are political hot potatoes," said Assembly Republican leader Brian Kolb.
Cuomo's first whirlwind year as governor included landmark legislation, including the legalization of gay marriage, a cap on the growth in property taxes, and a millionaire tax that includes a modest but rare cut in taxes for the middle class. He also made a rare cut in state spending and addressed a $10 billion deficit in a timely budget in the spring, while working closely with the Senate's Republican majority.
For 2012, Cuomo said he will not raise taxes or fees, the same pledge he made in the 2010 campaign and through 11 months of his administration, only to relent in the face of a rising deficit and pressure from Assembly Democrats.
The no-taxes, no-fees pledge was part of Cuomo's overriding economic theme of "jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs." It mirrored in many ways the fiscally conservative, can-do message that Republican George Pataki used in his upset win in 1994 over Mario Cuomo, a party icon at the time who was mired for most of his tenure in a bad economy that fatigued New Yorkers and dimmed their view of the state's future.
"The best is yet to be," Andrew Cuomo exhorted Wednesday. "They ain't seen nothing yet; 2012 is the year we are going to make the Empire State the Empire State again and we are going to make the dreams of this a reality."
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AP Writer Michael Virtanen contributed to this report from Albany.
new york state politics, andrew cuomo, politics & elections
Friday, 9 December 2011
State police: Va. Tech gunman acted alone
By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSONBLACKSBURG, Va. -- Investigators believe the gunman who killed a Virginia Tech policeman acted alone and that he changed clothes after fleeing the scene, then killed himself with his handgun when another officer spotted him, state police said Friday. Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said investigators have not found anything connecting the gunman and the slain officer, Deriek W. Crouse, who was shot in his car on a campus parking lot after pulling over a driver for a traffic stop. The motive remains a mystery, she said.
"That's very much the fundamental part of the investigation right now," Geller said at a news conference.The gunman was not a student at Virginia Tech, the scene of the deadliest gun rampage in modern U.S. history in 2007. Geller said investigators were confidant they know the gunman's identity but she declined to say anything more about his name, age or hometown until the medical examiner confirms his identity and next of kin are notified.
The campus shooting prompted officials to lock down the university for hours Thursday while police and SWAT teams searched the school.Authorities have in-car video from officer Deriek W. Crouse's cruiser that shows a male suspect with a handgun at the officer's car at the time of the shooting.
Crouse was killed after pulling a driver over in a school parking lot. Police said the gunman was not involved in the traffic stop. Instead, he approached, shot the officer and then fled on foot before apparently killing himself in another.
The events unfolded on the same day Virginia Tech officials were in Washington, fighting a federal government fine over their handling of the 2007 massacre where 33 people were killed. The shooting brought back painful memories. About 150 students gathered silently for a candlelight vigil on a field facing the stone plaza memorial for the 2007 victims. An official vigil is planned for Friday night.
Crouse was an Army veteran and married father of five children and stepchildren who joined the campus police force in October 2007. He previously worked at a jail and for the Montgomery County sheriff's department.
Crouse was one of about 50 officers on the campus force, which also has 20 full- and part-time security guards. Crouse received an award in 2008 for his commitment to the department's drunken driving efforts. He was trained as a crisis intervention officer and as a general, firearms and defensive tactics instructor.
The university also said its counseling center would be open all day Friday for students.
"A lot of people, especially toward the beginning, were scared," said Jared Brumfield, a 19-year-old freshman from Culpeper, Va., who was locked in the Squires Student Center.
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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Kimberly Hefling and Ben Nuckols in Washington; Michael Felberbaum, Larry O'Dell, Steve Szkotak, Bob Lewis and Dena Potter in Richmond, Va.; and Brock Vergakis in Norfolk, Va., contributed to this report
shooting, u.s. & world news
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
NJ Supreme Court orders state to give schools more
By GEOFF MULVIHILLTRENTON -- The New Jersey Supreme Court has rebuked Gov. Chris Christie and ordered the state to increase spending on poor schools by an estimated $500 million.
But in its split ruling, the court stopped short of the scenario Christie frequently and publicly said he feared: An order to hike spending on all schools to the tune of $1.7 billion.
The $500 million is about the same amount the state treasurer says the state has in a windfall due to higher than expected tax revenues.
Two of the court's seven justices recused themselves for the case. The court voted 3-2 in favor of the decision, with Justice Edwin Stern, who was temporarily assigned to the court, casting the deciding vote.The ruling Tuesday was the 21st decision in the decades-long court battle known as Abbott v. Burke, the legal part of New Jersey's definitive political conundrum.
Over more than two decades, the state's Supreme Court has ordered the state to pay more to subsidize 31 school districts in low-income communities to satisfy the requirement in the state constitution that New Jersey provide children with a "thorough and efficient education."
In many respects, the state's public schools are regarded as among the best in the nation, with top graduation rates and high scores on the SAT and other standardized tests that are given across the country. But the schools in the state's cities, which include places that rank among the nation's poorest, have lagged behind.
The court orders have led to free preschools for 3- and 4-year-olds in the cities, new and improved school buildings and extra literacy tutors, among other items. And now, most of the so-called "Abbott districts" have among the highest-spending districts, on a per-pupil basis, in the state.
While the gap in test scores has narrowed between the city schools and others at lower grades, it is still wide.
(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)Get more Education News »
new jersey, chris christie, education news
Friday, 20 May 2011
New York State Income Tax Audit Q & A
If you move in or out of New York state in conjunction with the sale of a business or a contract to end employment, you should consult with a tax attorney. These issues are beyond the scope of this Q&A.
Common New York income tax audit Q&A for salaried employees:
Why is New York state auditing me?
New York state guards its income tax base by conducting audits that can find either residency or New York source income. Residents of New York are liable for tax on their worldwide income. Non-residents are liable for tax on their New York source income. Typical targets for audit are executives and other high income earners that travel to New York state and file non-resident returns, or fail to file any return.
How could I be found resident of New York?
Two ways.
First you may be domiciled in New York state and spend at least 30 days in the state during the year. Domicile is a legal concept that refers roughly to where you're from. You can change your domicile, but only if you move somewhere that is not temporary.
Second, you may be a statutory resident of New York. You are a statutory resident if you maintain a home in New York (including an apartment you rent) and spend more than 183 days in the state. With narrow exceptions, any portion of a day spent in the state (even a minute) counts as a whole day. Travel days in or out of New York always count as New York days.
If I'm not domiciled in New York and not a statutory resident, can New York state still tax me?
Yes. New York can and will tax you on your New York source income. If you earn salary or wages, your New York source income is the portion of your earnings from days spent in New York state.
How will the state prove I was in New York?
They won't. The examiners will rely on you to prove you weren't in New York. Each day you can't prove that you spent the entire day outside of New York will count as a day in New York.
How do I prove I wasn't in New York?
If you do any work in New York state but are not a resident, you need to maintain 1) a contemporaneous calendar that records your location on every day of the year, 2) travel records, including tickets and itineraries that establish the times you entered and exited the state. The calendar you rely on needs to be maintained in the regular course of your trade or business. If you assemble it in preparation for an examination, it's too late- the examiners will not have to accept it, and probably won't accept it.
Can I avoid New York source income by working at home outside of New York?
Probably not. If your employer is based in New York, working at home, even if it is outside New York state, will still count as New York income unless your employer requires you to work at home on that day. For more about New York state's position on the source of income when you work from a home office, see TSB-M-065(5)I. Do not confuse the "convenience of the employer" test discussed there with the source rules discussed above that apply when you are not working in your home.
Ronny Buni is an experienced tax and business attorney. His offices offer tax planning and business structuring, representation in government audits, and complete solutions for tax payers with unpaid liabilities. He is also an author of numerous articles related to tax. You can find more of his articles and advices on his website http://www.bunilaw.com.