Week in Review 12/26-12/30

Tuesday 12/27
With Jeanine Pirro bowing out of the US Senate race against Sen. Hillary Clinton, the last standing Republican candidate who has crossed New York State and picked up countless Conservative Party endorsements is profiled in the New York Sun.

Former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer talks his record where he cut the surcharge on state income tax and the city's real estate transfer tax by two-thirds. He kept properties taxes from increasing above an annual average of 4% and as Senator, he'd vote to make the Bush tax cuts perminent.

On immigration, he would focus on stopping the flow of illegal immigrants first, then work with his collegues on developing a comprehensive plan to deal with those who have already entered America.

Spencer is pro-life and would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned so the issue returns to the states. He wouldn't impose abortion penalties for women or doctors, but instead, would try to divert funds to counseling programs aimed at adoption. Mr. Spencer is a product of adoption and believes it should return to society as a primary option.

Spencer, a former veteran from the Vietnam War, supports President Bush's War on Terror and has a few choice opinions for Sen. John Kerry, which are expressed in the NY Sun interview.

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Senators Schumer and Clinton are asking the Pentagon to spend $123 million of its wartime budget for New York projects that the Dept of Defense didn't ask for. Sen. John McCain lashed out at the earmarks in a speech on the Senate floor.

"During a war, in a measure designed to give our fighting men and women the funds they need, the Congress has given in to its worst pork barrel instincts," Sen. McCain said.

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The two leading candidates for Speaker of the City Council are Bill De Blasio of Brooklyn, and Christine Quinn of Manhattan.

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January 1, 2006 will see the New York State minimum wage rise to $6.75 from $6 an hour. In another change, state income tax for those earning between $150,000 to $500,000 will drop to 6.85% from 7.25%. Also, those earning over $500,000 will see their taxes decling to 6.85% from 7.7%.

Wednesday 12/28
The health department said it plans to spend nearly $1.4 million equipping hospitals with radiation detection devices that might become essential if terrorists detonated a dirty bomb. The equipment, largely paid for by federal grants, could help medical centers diagnose the thousands of people who likely would flood hospitals after such a blast.

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Four Iraqi children with life-threatening heart defects left a Bronx hospital after successfully undergoing open heart surgery. The children's families had sought help through US military forces stationed in Iraq.

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Charlie King, a Rockalnd County attorney and former candidate for Lt Governor, could surprise democrats as the leading candidate for State Attorney General. While the media focuses on the races of Andrew Cuomo and Mark Green and now with Jeanine Pirro in the AG race, Mr. King has quietly toured the state and continues to attract more an more support from the Democratic Party.

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New York City will likely report the lowest rate of homicides in more than four decades. According to police data, the city's total crime rate declined in nearly every category.

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Thursday 12/29
Mayor Bloomberg signs legislation that could be a boost for broadband Internet access in the city. The legislation, which passed through the Council, will create a "broadband advisory committee" to look at how the city can use its resources to expand broadband technology, particularly in neighborhoods that only have dial-up Internet access now. The creation of an advisory committee has support from Interent providers such as Earthlink, which testified in favor of the legislation. But the idea of expanding braodband may face opposition from telecommunication companies in the city.

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A Queens motel frequented by underage prostitutes has been shut down and an employee arrested, capping a months-long investigation. Officials padlocked the Executive Motor Inn on North Conduit Ave near JFK airport. The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Queens district attorney's office , the New York Police Dept, the Dept of Buildings and Dept of Finance. The cooperative effort has led to 12 other arrests throughout 2005.

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Fiddling Governor, George Pataki, is trying to recruit Health Commissioner Antonia Novello to run against Senator Clinton. Ms. Novello has a terrible record as health commissioner. She has presided over a vast expansion in state health care spending, a giant giveaway to the healthcare workers union accompanied by millions of dollars in Medicaid billing fraud and abuse.

Friday 12/30
Buoyed by low interest rates and a decline in crime, NYC is in the midst of a historic construction boom on par only with the real esate rush that defined the early 1960s and the late 1920s, eras that gave birth to iconic city structures such as the MetLife building and the Chrysler Building.

The executive director of the city's Planning Commission, Richard Barth noted that the city has gained more than 160,000 residents since 2000, bringin its total to more than 8.2 million, a record high. He also cited low interest rates, a healthy economy, improving quality of life, and a decreasing crime rate as factors contributing to the building boom.

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The city's 8,900 firefighters overwhelmingly approved a new 50-month contract with teh city, their union announced - although agreement will expire at the end of July 2006 because they had worked without a deal for more than three years. The new agreement provides a 17.5% pay increase retroactive to 2002, when the last deal expired for the Uniformed Firefighters Association.

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