NY's Emergency Management Personnel to Assist in Florida's Hurricane Matthew Response

New York will be dispatching emergency management personnel to help Florida recover in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. A team from the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services will begin a 14-day deployment on Sunday morning at Florida's Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee and provide command and general staff assistance. Additional personnel and resources are prepared to be dispatched as they are requested by states dealing with the hurricane.

"New Yorkers know full well the devastation Mother Nature can cause and just how difficult the aftermath can be," Governor Cuomo said. "In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, I have directed the state's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to send a team of our emergency management experts to assist Florida with their recovery. New York stands by its neighbors in their time of need and we will continue to help those impacted by this storm recover and rebuild."

New York has a long history of helping other states following natural disasters. In addition to sending similar assistance to Florida following Hurricanes Frances, Ivan, and Dennis, New York dispatched a multi-agency team of more than 300 individuals to assist Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina, as well as another 18-member team after Hurricane Gustav. Additionally, New York has sent crews of firefighters west many times to assist with containing wildfires.

Hurricane Matthew is currently a Category 3 hurricane. The storm is forecasted to weaken somewhat as it continues up Florida's east coast today. By Saturday, it is expected to be near or over the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina. 

Source: Press Office, Governor Andrew M.. Cuomo

Sanders Hosts Free Legal Help For Veterans on First Thursday of Every Month

 

New York State Senator and Marine Corps veteran James Sanders Jr. (D-Rochdale Village, Far Rockaway) hosts free legal assistance for veterans at his District Office in South Ozone Park on the first Thursday of every month. Veterans who are interested must call Senator Sanders' office at 718-523-3069  to make an appointment.

The in-house lawyer is Cindy Katz, Coordinator of the Veterans Justice Project at Queens Legal Services. She has 30 years of experience and is certified by the VA to represent veterans in service connected cases and discharge upgrades. She can also provide assistance with unemployment benefits, income tax issues, Social Security / Disability benefits, housing issues, family law, and unpaid child support.

Source: The Office of Senator James Sanders, Jr. 

President Obama on Hurricane Matthew Preparations

President Obama speaks to reporters following a meeting with FEMA Director Craig Fugate on preparations for Hurricane Matthew. “We hope for the best, but we prepare for the worst,” he says as the storm prepares to make landfall in Florida. 

Click here for video.

Source: C-SPAN

President Obama Delivers Remarks on the Paris Climate Agreement

President Obama delivers a statement following Tuesday’s European Union vote to ratify the Paris climate agreement. The carbon emissions reduction plan can now be formally presented to the United Nations. 

Click here for video.

Source: C-SPAN

Trailblazers in Black History: Isaiah Edward Robinson, Jr.

 

Isaiah Edward Robinson Jr. was the first African-American president of the New York City Board of Education. He chaired the Board's Decentralization Committee from May, 1969 to April, 1970. 

Robinson graduated from the Tuskegee Institute Flight School on November 20, 1945 and was one of the Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen (DOTA).

Additional information is available here. 

NSA Contractor Harold Martin Busted in Alleged Theft of Secret Docs

 

by Ken Dilanian, Tom Winter and Tracy Connor 

A Maryland man who worked as a contractor for the NSA has been arrested for allegedly stealing classified material that was later found in his home and car, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Navy veteran Harold Thomas Martin III, who had a top secret national security clearance, was arrested on Aug. 27 and is still in custody, according to the Justice Department. His attorneys said there is no evidence he "intended to betray his country."

Martin, 51, was employed by Booz Allen Hamilton, the same the same firm where NSA leaker Edward Snowden was a contractor when he took a huge cache of classified documents and fled the United States in 2013.

The FBI learned about the insider breach in mid-August, when a group calling itself The Shadow Brokers offered to sell NSA hacking tools and other secrets for $500 million, officials told NBC News. Martin and The Shadow Brokers had some of the same materials, according to officials. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: NBC News 

Demonstrators Burn U.S. Flag to Protest Military Exercises

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he will halt joint drills with the U.S. once ongoing exercises are finished.

Music Executive Aims to 'Silences the Shame' on Mental Health

 

by Alex Titus

Music executive Shanti Das has spent the last 25 years championing the careers of Outkast, TLC, Toni Braxton, Young Jeezy, Usher, Stevie Wonder and Prince. The renowned marketing master has held prominent positions at Columbia Records, LaFace Records and Universal Motown.

Das is now using her platform for greater good by launching the Silence the Shame campaign to fight the stigmatization of mental health issues by encouraging people to seek treatment and support.

Tackling the drastic effects of mental health disorders hits very close to home for the 45-year-old industry veteran and author. Das herself has suffered from depression since experiencing a personal tragedy at a very young age. 

"My dad committed suicide when I was seven months old and my mom had to raise three kids all by herself," Das told NBCBLK. "It was really tough on us. It's interesting because he was from India, but mom is African American, so I grew up in black culture. Traditionally, we don't talk about mental health issues or seeking counseling in the black community, it's very taboo. I saw my mom as this very sad individual, so my siblings and I had to figure out ways to cope our own. I've suffered from depression, as it relates to my dad's death and at first I couldn't figure where it was coming from." 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: NBC News  

Duane Buck Case: Supreme Court Considers Role of Race in Sentencing

 

by Pete Williams

For nearly 14 years, Duane Buck has been challenging his death sentence as based in part on racial prejudice, because of a psychologist's testimony that he was more likely to be a future danger because he is black.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared willing to give him another try. 

A majority of the justices expressed concern that Buck's own defense lawyer, not the prosecutors, introduced the racially charged testimony during his trial. 

"It would seem more prejudicial when the defendant's own lawyer brings it up. The jury would probably think, then it must be true," said Justice Elena Kagan. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: NBC News

Thousands of Americans Head Inland to Escape Hurricane Matthew

 

by Kurt Chirbas, Alex Johnson, Alexander Smith and Corky Siemaszko 

Thousands of Americans were headed for higher ground Wednesday as deadly Hurricane Matthew crawled across the Caribbean and toward the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.

In South Carolina, Gov. Nikki Haley ordered the evacuations of historic-but-low-lying Charleston and Beaufort starting at 3 p.m. But in an attempt to keep the highways from being clogged, she urged Georgetown and Horry County residents to sit tight until Thursday. 

The path of the storm:

Nassau, the Bahamas, could get a taste of Hurricane Matthew on Wednesday evening when it's hit by high winds and rain. The eye of the storm will pass near Freeport on Thursday morning.

Southeast Florida, specifically the West Palm Beach area, will likely be hit Thursday afternoon by tropical storm strength wind gusts. By Friday morning, Melbourne and/or Daytona Beach, Florida, could begin to be battered by hurricane wind gusts and rain.

Charleston, South Carolina, should start feeling the effects of the storm on Saturday morning. By the afternoon, it's expected to be off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where it is forecast to weaken as it turns eastward and moves away from the land.

Click here for the full article. 

Source: NBC News

Older New Yorkers: Medicare Open Enrollment Begins October 15

 

Albany, NY - New York State Office for the Aging acting director Greg Olsen reminds older New Yorkers that the Medicare open enrollment period runs from October 15 through December 7, 2016. Medicare health and prescription drug plans can make changes each year to costs, coverage, and what providers and pharmacies are in their networks. The open enrollment period is when all people with Medicare can change their health plans and prescription drug coverage for the following year to better meet their needs. Plan changes take effect January 1, 2017.

“People’s health and financial status can change over the course of a year. At the same time, plans can change what they will cover and also adjust the cost to the beneficiary. This is an important time of year for older adults to review their plans—what they cover and what they cost—to ensure they are getting the best deal for themselves,” said Olsen. “Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assistance Program (HIICAP) counselors at each local office for the aging can provide older New Yorkers with the information needed to make an informed choice about a plan that is a good value and meets their health care and prescription drug coverage needs.”

Several resources are available to help Medicare beneficiaries and their families review and compare current plan coverage with new plan offerings: 

Medicare.gov has comprehensive information for people interested in signing up or changing their plans. The Medicare Plan Finder tool provides a personalized comparison of plan choices.

1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) offers around-the-clock assistance for those who want to find out more about coverage options. TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048. Multilingual counseling is available.

The Medicare & You handbook includes a summary of Medicare benefits, rights, and protections; lists of available health and drug plans; and answers to frequently asked questions about Medicare.  

One-on-one counseling assistance is available from HIICAP counselors at each local office for the aging or through the HIICAP toll free line: 1-800-701-0501. 

Medicare recipients who have limited incomes and resources may qualify for extra help with Medicare prescription drug plan costs. Older adults may apply online or call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY users should call 1-800-325-0778 to find out more.) 

During this open enrollment period, NYSOFA and Medicare also remind older adults to treat their Medicare number as they do their social security number and credit card information. People with Medicare should never give their personal information to anyone arriving at their home uninvited or making unsolicited phone calls selling Medicare-related products or services. Beneficiaries who believe they are a victim of fraud or identity theft should contact Medicare (contact information above). More information is available at Stop Medicare Fraud. 

Source: New York State Office for the Aging

Future Uncertain For Brooklyn’s First Black District Attorney After Cancer Diagnosis

By Will Bredderman 

Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson announced today he will take a leave of absence to seek treatment for cancer—and his office refused to comment on whether he will seek his first re-election next year.

Thompson announced his illness this afternoon, without saying when or for how long he would give up his post. He only stated that his Chief Assistant Eric Gonzalez would take up his duties while he was gone.

“As a man of intense faith, I intend to fight and win the battle against this disease,” Thompson said in a statement for the press. “I humbly seek your sincere prayers as I confront this challenge and respectfully ask that you honor my family’s need and wish for privacy during this time.” 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: Observer - Politics (via The Empire Report)

In a World Without Cuomo, Who Would Be the Favorites for Governor?

 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the recent criminal complaint filed against one of his closest aides, Joe Percoco has not changed his thought process about running for re-electtion. But if, for some reason, Cuomo decides to bow out of the 2018 gubernatorial race, the Republican and Democratic fields would be wide open.

On the Democratic side, there is no shortage of prospective candidates - from top state elected officials (Eric Schneiderman and Tom DiNapoli) to rising stars in Congress (Kirsten Gillibrand and congressional candidate Zephyr Teachout) to the veritable sheriff of Albany (Preet Bharara). Republicans face longer odds given the Democrats’ registration edge, but still have a bench of potential candidates, such as Rob Astorino and Chris Gibson that could seize on the dysfunction in Albany under a Democratic governor.

This 2018 prognosticating could certainly be for naught, but as the last two years have shown, a lot can happen to change the electoral landscape in a short amount of time. Here are the Republican and Democratic favorites to be the next governor, as predicted by the Slant Editorial Board. 

Click here for the listing. 

Source: NY Slant (via The Empire Report) 

Ethics Panel Investigating de Blasio’s Nonprofit Is Said to Issue Broad Subpoena

 

By William K. Rashbaum 

 A state ethics panel investigating Mayor Bill de Blasio’s political nonprofit organization has served a sweeping subpoena on City Hall seeking communications among the mayor, his aides, the nonprofit, its donors and consulting firms that worked for it, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The scope of the subpoena suggests a widening of the investigation by the State Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which enforces state lobbying laws and has been focused on whether the group, the Campaign for One New York, illegally lobbied the city in 2015.

At the same time, several lawyers representing donors to the group who have been contacted by the panel said the inquiry also appeared to be focused on whether some donations from lobbyists or their clients who have business before the city actually constituted undisclosed gifts to the mayor. Any such undisclosed gifts would violate state lobbying laws.

The subpoena was served on Sept. 14, just four days after a State Supreme Court judge in Albany rejected the group’s effort to quash two earlier subpoenas from the panel. The judge ordered the nonprofit and several consulting companies that had done work for it and for Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral campaign to provide almost all of the documents sought by the panel, also known as Jcope. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The New York Times (via The Empire Report)  

Under Current Outside Income Rules, White Legislators Earn the Most

 

By Bill Mahoney 

ALBANY — Under Albany’s rules governing lawmakers’ outside income, the most significant factor determining how much an elected official earns is the color of his or her skin.

In the system of legislative salaries that's currently being debated by the state's leaders, lawmakers haven’t had a pay raise since 1998 but are allowed to earn unlimited amounts of outside income. There are significant differences in outside income among legislators of different demographic groups: White legislators earn an average of $35,273 per year from outside jobs, compared to $2,733 for African American lawmakers and $11,333 for Latinos.

When all sorts of household income are included, white lawmakers and their spouses brought in an average of $274,007 in 2015, double the $139,270 earned by their African-American colleagues and the $133,998 brought in by their Latino counterparts. And the differences are even sharper when totals are adjusted for the cost of living in members’ districts, according to a POLITICO New York analysis of data maintained by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, the state comptroller’s office, the Empire Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Click here for the full article.

Source: Politico (via The Empire Report)

Russia Launches Huge Nuclear War Training Exercise That 'Involves 40 Million People'

By Matt Payton 

The Russian government has launched a nationwide civil defence training exercise to ensure the country is properly prepared in the event of a nuclear, chemical and biological attack from the West.

Amid growing international tensions, particulary over Russia's conduct in Syria, the Defence Ministry-run Zvezda TV network announced last week: "Schizophrenics from America are sharpening nuclear weapons for Moscow." 

Lasting three days, the exercise bing run by the Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM) will involve 200,000 emergency personnel and the co-operation of 40 million civilians. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Independent

The 2016 Vice Presidential Debate

Around 1M People Could Evacuate South Carolina Coast After Order

Vice Presidential Candidate Profiles

 

C-SPAN presents a look at the lives and careers of 2016 vice presidential nominees Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Governor Mike Pence (R-IN). The two men meet for their only debate in the 2016 campaign at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. 

Click here for video.

Cybersecurity and Voting Machine Security

Professor J. Alex Halderman, who has conducted research on voting machine security, talked about his concerns regarding the vulnerability of the nation’s voting systems. 

Click here for video.

Source: C-SPAN

Voices from the Civil Rights Movement: Stokely Carmichael

Trailblazers in Black History: Colonel Charles Young

 

Charles Young was the third African-American graduate of West Point, the first Black U.S. national park superintendent, first Black military attache, first Black man to achieve the rank of colonel, and highest-ranking Black officer in the Regular Army until his death in 1922.

Young was born in 1864 into slavery to Gabriel Young and Arminta Bruen in Mays Lick, Kentucky, a small village near Maysville. However, his father escaped from slavery early in 1865, crossing the Ohio River to Ripley, Ohio, and enlisting in the Fifth Regiment of Colored Artillery (Heavy) near the end of the American Civil War. 

His service earned Gabriel and his wife their freedom, which was guaranteed by the 13th Amendment after the war. Arminta already knew how to read and write, which suggests she may have worked as a house slave before her freedom. 

Additional information is available here. 

Source: Wikipedia

Syria: White House Warns of 'Actions' If Russia Won't Negotiate

 

by Ken Dilanian and Courtney Kube 

President Obama faces an increasingly stark choice in Syria — he can order American military action or watch thousands of women and children die as the rebel stronghold of Aleppo falls.

So far, he has shown no willingness to launch a U.S. military response, but White House officials told NBC News Monday they are now considering escalating the U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war, including unspecified "actions…that would further underscore the consequences of not coming back to the negotiating table."

Until now, Obama could point to the possibility of a diplomatic solution, as Secretary of State John Kerry won Russia's agreement on a ceasefire.

But the ceasefire never happened, and the diplomatic effort has now collapsed, with the U.S. suspending talks with Russia.

And as the civilian death toll rises, Obama may come under increasing pressure to act, though there is no sign yet that a strike is imminent. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: NBC News 

Kaine, Pence Debate Challenge: Convince Skeptical Voters

 

by Leigh Ann Caldwell 

Their names aren't at the top of the ticket and they won't be the real stars on stage but Tim Kaine and Mike Pence face the same challenge in Tuesday night's vice presidential debate according to strategists from both parties -- to reinforce negative opinions of their opponents and to ease voter concerns about the top of their own tickets.

GOP nominee Donald Trump and Democratic standard-bearer Hillary Clinton are the most unpopular presidential candidates in modern history, opinions among voters that have only hardened after more than a year spent on the campaign trail. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: NBC News 

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Again Vows 'Significant' Election-Related Leak

 

by F. Brinley Bruton and Carlo Angerer 

BERLIN — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange once again promised the anti-secrecy organization would publish "significant" information involving the U.S. presidential race before the November election — but revealed no details Tuesday.

"We are going to need an army to defend us from the pressure that is already starting to arise," Assange said via video link in an event the campaigner said was timed to coincide with the group's 10-year anniversary. 

He said WikiLeaks aimed to publish previously unreleased material weekly for the next 10 weeks, but did not say exactly what it would be. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: NBC News  

How Americans See Race and Racial Relations is Shifting Dramatically

 

by Perry Bacon Jr. 

Americans are increasingly telling pollsters that they are worried about "race relations" in the United States. These surveys are taken as a sign of a deepening racial divide. But that interpretation may be wrong.

Hillary Clinton visited Charlotte on Sunday, less than two weeks after the shooting of a black man by an officer there led to intense protests and some riots in the city. The former secretary of state, in a speech at Little Rock A.M.E. Church, was unusually candid for a presidential candidate in speaking about racial issues.

"My worries are not the same as black grandmothers," she said, because "my grandchildren are white, because they are the grandchildren of a former president and secretary of state."

 

Clinton and Donald Trump are asked often how they will improve America's racial climate, including by NBC's Lester Holt at the first presidential debate last week. The question is a natural one, with polls showing a sharp decline in American optimism on racial reconciliation. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: NBC News

FBI Making Videos Instructing Illinois Teens How to Behave at Traffic Stops

by Safia Samee Ali 

The Springfield FBI office is making informational videos to show Illinois teens how to behave at traffic stops — lessons that experts say are especially relevant in the wake of occasionally violent exchanges between police and minority motorists.

The traffic video, which is funded by the FBI and in-kind contributions and shot by the Central Illinois Film Commission, will be a 20-25 minute segment on the do's and don'ts of interacting with the police when stopped.

"There is a lot of misinformation on the internet on how these stops are supposed to be," said Craig King, Chief Division Counsel for the FBI in Springfield, Illinois. "This video will dispel some urban myths about traffic stops." 

Click here for the full article.

Source: NBC News

Hurricane Matthew Slams into Haiti; Will it Hit US?

Principal Ousted After Black, Latino Students Were Allegedly Barred from Enrolling

By Lisa Colangelo and Ben Chapman

Fallout from an alleged effort to keep black and Hispanic kids out of a sought-after elementary school in the Bronx has spread as the school’s principal has been demoted, the Daily News has learned.

Andrea Feldman, former acting principal of Public School 24 in Riverdale, was removed from her position of leadership at the school for allowing a staffer for state Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz to register incoming kindergarten students in the spring, Education Department officials said.

PS 24 Assistant Principal Manny Verdi claims Dinowitz’s staffer was allowed to screen kindergarten applications to keep minority and low-income students out of the upscale neighborhood’s school. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: The New York Daily News (via The Empire Report)

Contract for NYPD Body Cameras Provokes Protest in the City Council

 

By Will Bredderman and Madina Toure 

The NYPD’s plan to purchase its first wave of police body cameras from the company VieVu has aroused the ire of leaders in the Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, who point to technical problems with the manufacturer’s products in Oakland and Cincinnati.

Brooklyn Councilman Robert Cornegy, co-chair of the BLAC, reached out to the Observer shortly after word surfaced in the Daily News that VieVu had won the bidding process for the recording devices. He alluded to an incident reported in Oakland last month, in which a police sergeant testified in a murder trial that his department’s VieVu system lost a quarter of all body cam footage during a 2014 software upgrade. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: Observer - Politics (via The Empire Report)

As City Crime Continues to Drop, Assaults on Police Increase, NYPD Says

 

By Rocco Parascandola and Ryan Sit

Assaults on police officers have sharply increased as cops devote more focus to violent offenders — though overall across the city crime continues to drop.

Rather than continue to exercise the stop-and-frisk tactic — deemed unconstitutional for its abuse and wild inefficiency — police have instead chosen to focus more time and resources to targeting violent criminals.

Possibly feeling that squeeze, goons have increasingly been lashing out at police, officials said on Monday.

"As we ... focus on drivers of violence and other crimes in New York City, as the gun arrests go up, we're seeing our assaults on police officers … up significantly," said NYPD Deputy of Operations Dermot Shea. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: The New York Daily News (via The Empire Report)

Anti-Fracking Group Accuses Cuomo of Yielding to Pipeline Lobbyists

By Scott Waldman 

ALBANY—Though the Cuomo administration has publicly portrayed itself as aggressively cracking down on a pipeline now being constructed near the Indian Point nuclear center, it has quietly softened its actions behind closed doors after a lobbying blitz, a government transparency and anti-fracking advocacy group asserts.

The Algonquin Incremental Market pipeline is being expanded from 26 inches in diameter to 42 inches in diameter and is located just a few dozen feet from the Indian Point power plant in Westchester County. After initially signing off on the pipeline, the administration decided it was too risky and in February four state agencies asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to temporarily stop construction of the Algonquin pipeline so state officials could conduct an independent investigation to determine whether it poses a safety threat. But FERC has not stopped the pipeline construction, even as citizens in the area and environmental groups have raised concerns about safety issues, and it is expected to be operational within a few weeks. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: Politico (via The Empire Report)

How to Rig A State Bid: Inside the Cor Development Scandal (Video)

By Christa Lemczak and Michelle Breidenbach 

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - When federal prosecutors arrested state officials and two Syracuse developers on corruption charges, court papers described an unsavory world of bid rigging, bribery and lying.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara laid out his argument against SUNY Polytechnic Institute President Alain Kaloyeros and Cor Development executives Steve Aiello and Joseph Gerardi – the people behind a new nanotechnology film production studio in DeWitt.

Among other things, Bharara said state officials shared details of a request for proposals with COR executives before they were released to the public. In the end, Cor was the only bidder on a contract worth millions of dollars. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: Syracuse.com (via The Empire Report)