News Wrap for Monday, July 27, 2009 (final post 4:40 p.m.)

From the Blogs:

The Daily Politics:

-Elizabeth Benjamin reports Mayor Bloomberg is “deposed for the second — and likely last — time” in a class action suit against his company, Bloomberg LP.  Opposing lawyers find him “dismissive and disinterested.”

-Rep. Jose Serrano tries to broker “peace” between Rep. Carolyn Maloney and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

-Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand abandons her “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” amendment “settling for a hearing on the issue by the Armed Services Committee this fall.”

-Councilman Eric Gioia makes calls to union leaders who’ve endorsed Councilman Bill de Blasio “in hopes of landing their support now that (de Blasio) may be out of the (City public advocate) race.”

-National Dems leaders are “grumbling” about Gov. Paterson’s “involvement in pushing their preferred candidate (Sen. Darrel Aubertine) out of the (NY-23) race.”

-Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand skips hosting a fundraiser for Rep. Mike McMahon to vote on a Defense Authorization Bill in Washington, D.C.

PolitickerNY:

-Jimmy Vielkind reports thoroughbred breeders lobby state leaders to “expedite the bidding process for placing video-slots at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens.”

-Dan Frech, possible candidate to replace Rep. John McHugh, has “built-in” support from fellow alumni of late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.  

-According to CQ’s latest “latest predictive ratings of Congressional districts” NY-23 is a “toss up.”

-Azi Paybarah writes City pa candidate Bill de Blasio backers blast Eric Gioia for trying to “poach” his union support.

-Bill Thompson films his first campaign ad. 

-Michael Bloomberg’s campaign runs an ad in the El Diaro/La Prensa featuring an image of Sonia Sotomayor.

Room Eight:

-Mary Alice Miller asks “Are Commissioner Kelly’s officers being trained to make up laws out of whole cloth in order to generate arrest numbers?”

-Miller looks at candidates running in the 41st NYC Council race.

Alan Chartock’s Blog:

-Alan Chartock predicts Albany will be “back to the regular, insider way of doing things before you can say ‘Jack Sprat could eat no fat’.”

Capitol Confidential:

-Rick Karlin writes horse breeders complain politicians have delayed the the approval of a VLTs for so long, the state is losing parts of its historic horse racing and breeding industry to other states acting more quickly.

-Jennifer A. Dlouhy reports Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand secures a hearing to examine the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy governing homosexuals in the military.

-James M. Odato writes the state Attorney General’s office plans to pursue a grand jury case against two men caught in an alleged “man cave” in a state parking garage.

Albany Watch:

-Joseph Spector reports NY spent the most per pupil ($15,981) of any state in the nation in the 2006-07 school year.

-Gov. Paterson hosts the Democratic Governor’s Association summer conference this weekend in Saratoga.

-Cara Matthews writes David Milton Steiner is appointed by the Board of Regents to be the state’s new education commissioner.

ReformNY:

-Laura Seago takes a look at the state of ethics in New York “in light of last week’s corruption sweep in New Jersey.”

Daily Intel:

-Chris Rovzar thinks “Rep. Carolyn Maloney is experiencing some hesitation when it comes to running against (Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand) in the primary.”

-State Dem. sources question where Gov. Paterson spends his campaign money.

The Wonkster:

-David King reports Sen. Thomas Duane will hold hearings across the state “to better understand what is working well in our hospitals, and what contributes to the breakdown in our mandatory reporting system.”

-Dan Amira reports “Naked Cowboy” Robert Buck who says he’s running for NYC mayor lives in New Jersey.

Runnin’ Scared:

-Wayne Barrett shares Rev. Al Sharpton’s response to his earlier blog.

Meetings/Press Releases:

-Broome County New York Army National Guard recruiters and soldiers will hold a recruiting event at the Broome County Fair from July 28-August 2 near the Franklin Building on the Broome County Fairgrounds, Route 11, Whitney Point.

-NYS Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s Community Partnership Initiative will hold a community-wide forum for residents of New York City in Harlem at 12 p.m. on Thursday, July 30 at the Harlem Hospital, 506 Lenox Avenue, NYC.

Press Releases:

-NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets:  Gov. Paterson requests 17 NY counties be designated agricultural disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture so farmers can apply for low interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency.

-NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services: Commissioner Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo announces the transformation of the OASAS Addiction Medicine Educational Series from a traditional format to a completely paperless system, eliminating the need for the manual procedures used to score tests, administer credit, and print and mail certificates.

-Genesee Community College: Monica H. Mattioli has been named associate dean of the new Lima Campus Center that is currently under construction in Lima, New York.

-NYS Insurance Department: Acting New York Insurance Superintendent Kermitt J. Brooks has been named Chair of the Life Insurance and Annuities Committee, a key working committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

-Governor David A. Paterson: Gov. Paterson urges state and county agencies to expedite a multi-billion-dollar development project, the Lighthouse, saying it “has the potential to be one of the most important economic development initiatives we have ever seen on Long Island.”

-Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz: Sen. Diaz writes a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman reguarding a provision targeting senior citizens in Section 1233 of House Resolution 3200.

-NYS Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli: Comptroller DiNapoli meets with SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro to discuss the ban on campaign contributions by investment advisors.

-NYC Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr.: Comptroller Thompson issues a report warning the City is facing nearly unprecedented budget gaps due to the lingering recession.