COLUMBIA COUNTY, N.Y. — Two men have been charged in a home burglary case in Columbia County. It happened on Sunday.

Sheriff’s deputies say they were called to investigate a burglary in process in the Town of Ghent, after the caller said they arrived home to find their house being robbed.

The two suspects ran off but officers quickly caught up with them after the home owners gave them descriptions and car details.

Police stopped 22-year-old Brandon Maisenbacher and 23-year-old Andrew Simmons in the Village of Chatham.

Both men face burglary and petit larceny charges. They were remanded to Columbia county jail without bail and will appear again in Hudson City Court on Wednesday.

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CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. — We didn’t have much of a winter and spring arrived a little early this year, which it’s no surprise that last month is in the record books as the warmest March in Albany’s history.

According to the National Weather Service, it was 10.9 degrees above the average temperature last month, with an average temperature of 45.9 degrees.

March 2012 beat out the previous record set in 1859 by 1.5 degrees.

In Glens Falls, temperatures were just a mere .3 degrees warmer than the previous record set back in 1946, but a new record nonetheless!

New York State wasn’t the only area of the country setting new records. Atlanta, Chicago and Washington also had record high temperatures in March.

The National Weather Service first started keeping track of records in 1820.

The state budget passed last week had some good news for state parks. Our Nick Reisman has the details on how much money will be going to the parks and how it’ll help.

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NEW YORK STATE — Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $15 billion New York Works Program at first glance has a broad mandate.

“We have a truly ambitious job development program, economic development program, in New York Works that is combining two things: It’s going to be creating jobs and it’s going to be rebuilding New York’s roads and bridges, which we needed to be doing anyway,” said Governor Cuomo.

A main funder of the state’s 213 parks, the Environmental Protection Fund, isn’t receiving a boost in funding. But the New York Works program, created as part of the newly minted $132.6 billion spending plan, has advocates for New York’s aging park system cheering. The proposal includes $89 million for needed infrastructure repairs and upgrades for the 213 state parks facilities.

“They have not had the money to do the kind of quality maintenance projects that they wanted to do. So they’ll really have to address it. It means they’ll have to dig into a lot of big projects,” said Erik Kulleseid, Alliance for New York State Parks Director.

But the projects are expected to be modest in scope, at least as far as the public would be concerned. The goal is to address long-term and repeating problems that have gone unaddressed for decades.

“They’re not necessarily the ones, they’re not sexy projects. It’s like power systems, sewer systems, water systems. It’s all these things that have not been maintained well enough in the last 40 years and they really need this kind of an investment,” Kulleseid said.

And that $89 million will only take on the most needed projects. The Alliance for State Parks estimates there’s a backlog of projects with designs sitting on the shelf totaling more than a billion dollars in cost.

Kulleseid said, “This is going to allow some of the ones that are most urgent to get done.”

Still, parks and the Environmental Protection Fund haven’t fared too well in recent budgets. In 2010, then-Governor David Paterson and the Legislature wrestled over $11 million in funding to keep more than 40 parks open. They reached a deal just before Memorial Day weekend.

As the number of children diagnosed with autism continues to rise, health advocates and family members do their part to raise awareness of the disorder. Our Lori Chung reports.

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CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. — “He gets this visual satisfaction from lining things like trains and cars up,” said Rochelle Sibilia.

At a glance, there’s not much to give away that three-and-a-half-year-old Max Sibilia has autism.

“We kept asking about why isn’t he speaking yet, why isn’t he speaking yet and we kept being told just hold out it will eventually happen and it wasn’t happening,” Sibilia said.

A second opinion from a different pediatrician brought an autism diagnosis. While the Sibilia family is learning to adjust to Max’s differences, the CDC says theirs is among a growing number of autism cases. A new study now showing 1 in 88 children diagnosed with some form of the disorder.

“Shocked, sad to see it,” said Janine Kruiswijk, Autism Society of the Greater Capital Region Executive Director.

Kruiswijk is the Executive Director of the Autism Society of the Greater Capital Region, one of the groups hoping to spread awareness of the condition this month.

“About 50 percent of that is due to the fact that we have better ways to diagnose,” Kruiswijk said. “We’re looking at a broader picture of autism, but there’s still an increase that we can’t explain.”

While researchers try to pin down a cause, there are resources for families like the Sibilia’s. Organizations like Wildwood Programs say support for developmental disabilities is also growing.

“There’s a lot of early intervention programs out there that provide families with information, that provide families with support at home,” said Haydee Brito, Wildwood Programs Behavior Specialist.

Sibilia credits those available programs for Max’s ongoing development, which has surpassed expectations since his diagnosis a year and a half ago.

“We’ve just seen him blossom with communication and social skills,” Sibilia said.

Showing there is hope for the rising number of families faced with autism.

RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. — Hoosick Falls Police have arrested a man who they say broke into his girlfriend’s home and assaulted her.

Edward Cook was arrested on Monday in the Town of Petersburg. He’s accused of breaking into his girlfriend’s Hoosick Falls home back on March 24th and attacking her.

Police say the victim originally told them she was assaulted by three women, but they believe she was lying because she was scared of Cook.

Cook now faces several charges, including assault and unlawful imprisonment. Cook was sent to the Rensselaer County Jail without bail.

Two courts have reviewed Christopher Porco’s case and affirmed he was guilty. Now, the nation’s highest court has denied an appeal by Porco’s defense. But the legal battle is not over yet. Our Innae Park reports.

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ALBANY, N.Y. –- On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to review Christopher Porco’s murder conviction.

Porco’s attorney, Terence Kindlon, admitted, “We thought, this is pretty good, we have a pretty good shot here,” based on another case SCOTUS was reviewing: Alexander Vasquez v. U.S.

However, on the same day that Porco’s petition was denied, the Supreme Court found Vasquez’s case not viable for review.

In 2006, Porco was found guilty of killing his father and attempting to kill his mother with an ax in their Delmar home in November 2004. Since then, the 28-year-old’s case has been reviewed by two other courts: The Second Department Appellate Division in March 2010 and by the New York State Court of Appeals in October 2011.

The constitutional concern: Whether the testimony that victim Joan Porco nodded when asked if her son Christopher attacked her should have been used. Porco’s attorney argued that the testimony was simply hearsay because Joan had no memory of it later and as a result, could not be cross-examined regarding it.

The appellate prosecutor, Christopher Horn, says he is not surprised by the court’s decision.

“This has been a very prolonged and gruesome chapter in Albany’s history and this really does bring the case to a close,” Horn said.

While the nation’s highest court does not provide reason for such denials, our legal analyst believes the outcome was clear from the beginning.

Paul DerOhannesian said, “It is less attractive to the Supreme Court to review when there’s such an overwhelming evidence of guilt.”

Horn said, “The defense may grasp at other straws in an attempt to pursue this further, but this really was the last realistic chance they had.”

Not according to Kindlon, who plans to petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the U.S. district court in the next year.

“We’re not going to stop until there are absolutely no possibilities for further action. And I’m not sure that we ever reach that point,” he said.

“That is an extremely difficult route,” surmised DerOhannesian. “Especially in the past several years because Congress has limited the areas and means by which a federal court can review a state conviction.”

That isn’t deterring Kindlon, nor his client.

“Chris will never give up,” said Kindlon.

Porco is currently serving his sentence of 46 years to life in prison.

Related Stories

10/18/2011 Christopher Porco’s court appeal is denied
9/14/2011 NY’s top court hears Porco appeal
9/22/2010 Will Christopher Porco get a new trial?
3/11/2010 Porco appeal denied
12/1/2009 Court hears Porco appeal
2/28/2009 Porco defense files appeal
12/13/2006 Porco sentenced to 50 years to life in prison
11/6/2006 Porco gives interview, denies attack on parents
8/16/2006 Christopher Porco’s life behind bars
8/11/2006 Christopher Porco found guilty
8/2/2006 Joan Porco testifies; defense downplays DNA evidence
7/26/2006 Bethlehem detective takes the stand
7/22/2006 Jurors get a look at Porco e-mails
7/20/2006 Jury sees e-mails between Christopher Porco and parents
6/15/2006 Porco trial moving to Orange County
12/4/2005 Christopher Porco released from jail
11/23/2005 Judge sets bail in Porco case
11/5/2005 Christopher Porco indicted
8/25/2005 Joan Porco telling police to leave her son alone
2/16/2005 GPS tracking devices found on son’s cars
11/18/2004 No suspects in Delmar murder
11/16/2004 Delmar murder investigation continues
11/16/2004 Homicide investigation underway in Bethlehem

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A local credit union was robbed. Pittsfield police say it happened around 4:30 p.m. on Friday at the Greylock Federal Credit Union on Elm Street.

Police say it is not clear how much money was taken or if a weapon was used. They are currently viewing all surveillance video from in and outside of the bank.

No one was hurt during the incident.

The $132.6 billion budget wrapped up early, but this year featured an expensive lobbying effort from a business group backing Governor Cuomo. Capital Tonight’s Nick Reisman explains.

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ALBANY, N.Y. — One Albany hallmark this budget cycle was alive and well: Expensive ad campaigns blanketing the airwaves. But these last two years, wealthy business interests have supplanted unions as the main driver of the budget conversation.

“Many of the top special interest groups in Albany, such as the teachers union, for example, are spending significantly less than they have in the past,” said NYPIRG researcher Bill Mahoney.

The Committee to Save New York is a wealthy coalition of business, construction and real estate groups allied with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s fiscal agenda and it’s largely taken the place of those labor-backed advocacy ads. Cuomo and the committee insist there’s no coordination, but their TV ads and the governor’s rhetoric are always in synch.

Mahoney said, “We haven’t really seen much of those this year. Pretty much the only tv the ads I’ve seen are very laudatory of the governor run by groups such as the Committee to Save New York.”

CSNY funded a $2.5 million advertising campaign backing Cuomo’s infrastructure plan and his new, cheaper pension overhaul for future public workers. Large public worker unions like CSEA and PEF estimate they spent $250,000 and $500,000 respectively since January on their campaigns opposing the pension changes.

“Look, lobbyists and lobbying groups play a role in the process. The problem is when any entity whether an organization or a corporation or a lobbyist has an outsized influence and we certainly see that in Albany. A lot of the problem has to do with the campaign finance laws which are incredibly lax,” said State Senator Daniel Squadron.

The group was formed as a counterbalance to combat the extensive labor campaigns of the past and change the perception New York has a poor business climate. Still, for some lawmakers, the ads for and against are just background noise.

“All these ads and TV ads and thousands of dollars spent on TV ads we’re used to that. The public’s used to that. We take it with a grain of salt,” said Assemblyman James Tedisco.

CSNY also spent big last year: The Joint Commission On Public Ethics reported recently that the group spent $12 million on lobbying the state, far outpacing other groups. Cuomo, on Friday, shrugged off the group’s activities.

“They were involved last year also, right? That wouldn’t haven’t been a difference from this year to last year,” Cuomo said

Last year, facing a $10 billion deficit, Cuomo railed against special interests groups stymied past attempts at gubernatorial driven reform.

“When you pull back the current in Albany, you find a government that is working more for the people than for the special interests,” Cuomo said in February 2011.

This time around, the governor wasn’t as critical of special interests.

“I don’t know if it’s any more or less than the past. Nothing really struck my attention,” Cuomo said.

School districts statewide are getting a better idea of what they’ll be getting from the state as school runs are released. As Capital Tonight’s Nick Reisman reports, many districts are struggling to stay within the new two percent tax cap this year.

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NEW YORK STATE — The details of this year’s education bill were fleshed out at the Capitol on Thursday with the release of the school runs, a breakdown of how much money each district receives.

“There’s money for all portions of the state. There was a strong emphasis on high-need rural districts,” said Senate Education Committee Chairman John Flanagan.

The usual Albany debate over how much to spend on education and where was different. After a tax code overhaul in December financed a four percent boost in education aid, Governor Andrew Cuomo turned to using some of the money for changing how teachers are evaluated.

“I believe we have to inject performance into the education system, by and large. That’s why teacher evaluations are important. That’s why having an agreement with SED on a statewide teacher evaluation was important. That’s why the four percent linked to the evaluations on the local level is important,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Cuomo had initially proposed to set aside $250 million for competitive grants. He later called that merely a placeholder figure and in the end he got half that : $125 million for competitive aid, including $50 million in grants that went unused this fiscal year. Overall spending is rising by $805 million.

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Tom Libous said, “The school aid formula is a mess. It’s an abomination. Very few people can explain it or understand it. What was important to me was to get money to the schools, particularly the poorer schools, the rural upstate schools. Money that they can use directly, money that didn’t have strings attached and we were able to do that.”

Lawmakers like Senate Education Chairman John Flanagan say getting more direct aid was key to helping school districts that continue to struggle in a sluggish economy.

“I think our general thrust was before you spend any more, significantly more money on capital grants or those type of grants let’s see how they work out and especially now when we’re still in a tough economy and the school districts are still in a tough position we thought it was better to redirect money back directly into the districts,” Flanagan said.

The education spending bill is due to be voted on Friday, one of the final budget measures before Saturday’s deadline. New York typically spends the most on education and health care, making up about half of the $132.6 billion spending plan.

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NEW YORK STATE — If you’re planning on going shopping this weekend, you may want to know about a sales tax break coming our way.

The state tax department says starting April 1, the four percent state sales tax on clothing and footwear costing less than $110 will be dropped.

Last year, the threshold was $55.

Most local governments in our area, however, will still collect local sales tax.

Shoppers can enjoy the tax break for a year.