The state today expanded its consumer alert regarding potentially tainted ground beef.
  Ag and Markets Commissioner Commissioner Patrick Hooker and Health Commissioner Richard Daines today warned consumers that the previous alert, issued on Tuesday, has been expanded for Topps 100% Ground Beef Hamburgers due to possible contamination with e-coli bacteria.
   The latest product added to the Topps recall includes Topps 100% Pure Ground Beef Hamburgers, 20 Quarter Pounders with the product code SELL BY JUN 21 08 EST 9748.
    Like the others involved in this recall, the ground beef patties were all manufactured by Topps Meat Company in Elizabeth, New Jersey.   They were distributed to grocery stores throughout the state.
   The contamination was discovered after consumers became ill after eating hamburgers.  To date, there are 7 confirmed cases of e-coli in the state and 25 nationwide, in association with this recall. 
  A full list of all products recalled is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news-events/recall_040_2007_release/index.asp

Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, head of the state Senate Investigations Committee, said Friday that the committee “will be demanding” information from the Executive branch in regards to Troopergate.

If the documents don’t come, subpoenas will follow, he said.
“Several of the witnesses that have appeared at the committee’s hearings have not been cooperative or forthcoming with information and some have even refused to attend, hindering our efforts to develop effective legislation to address issues contained in the Attorney General’s report of July 23rd,” Senator Winner said.

“As a result, we are going to demand documents, emails, and all relevant information from the Executive branch to enable the committee to move forward in the most effective way.””

Winner also delayed the next committee hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, as the committee awaits the documents and information.

The Senate is eager to get its hands on private e-mails and other documents that could show Spitzer and/or his aides were plotting to create travel documents that show Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno was illegally using state aircraft for political purposes.

A report in July from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo found that Spitzer’s top aides crafted documents with the help of State Police to damage Bruno, yet no criminal wrongdoing was found.

Last week Albany County District Attorney David Soares released his investigation of the case and also found no criminal wrongdoing, but didn’t issue subpoenas in his probe.

The Senate will hold a public hearing Oct. 17 on two of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s nominees for State University of New York trustees. They are Carl Hayden, an Elmira lawyer and former chancellor for the state Board of Regents, and H. Carl McCall, former state comptroller and one-time gubernatorial candidate.

The hearing was supposed to be held this week but it was postponed. McCall and Hayden are two of three nominations the governor made for SUNY. The university system can’t begin its search for a new chancellor until Hayden is confirmed because Spitzer wants him to chair the Board of Trustees and lead the search.

The Senate is holding a one-day session Oct. 22 and is expected to take up the two confirmations and other issues.

Republicans are stepping up their assault on Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to let New Yorkers obtain driver licenses without regard to immigration status.

The Assembly Republicans vowed this morning to sue Spitzer if his plan takes effect, while Senate Republicans say they will submit legislation that would prohibit illegal aliens from getting driver’s licenses.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also expressed concern about the plan. Yet Spitzer fired back during a visit to Rochester on Thursday that Bloomberg is “wrong at every level—dead wrong, factually wrong, legally wrong, morally wrong, ethically wrong.”

Spitzer’s plan calls for allowing illegal immigrants to use foreign passports as proof of identity, instead of other documents that show legal immigration.

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, accused Spitzer of putting “politics above public safety,” saying Spitzer is trying to court votes from immigrants.

The Senate just announced that driver’s licenses is one of the topics it will take up when lawmakers return for a session day next month. Reacting to a week-old policy change announced by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, senators will act on legislation to prohibit the state from issuing licenses to illegal immigrants. The governor said Social Security numbers no longer would be required to obtain licenses. That identification requirement was put in place after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“The Senate passed a bill earlier this year that would have prevented illegal aliens from obtaining drivers licenses and we will act on a new bill when we return for a special session next month to stop the Governor’s plan,” said Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, Rensselaer County, adding that the Assembly did not take up the legislation.  “We need theAssembly to join us.  We need the Speaker (Democrat Sheldon Silver) to bring the Assembly back into session, pass our bill, and deliver a strong message to the governor that the people of this state oppose his plan and it must be stopped.”

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco, R-Schenectady, held a news conference with county clerks from around the state today to voice their opposition to Spitzer’s decision.

“The tragic events of September 11, 2001, of which New York was at the epicenter, taught us that we must be vigilant in order to keep our State and country safe.  The
simple precaution of requiring a Social Security number to prove one’s legal status in this country is a common-sense way of helping to prevent terrorists from obtaining one of the most routinely accepted forms of identification used in this country,” said Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie.

Meanwhile, immigrants’ rights groups are standing behind the governor. “Instead of sticking their heads in the sand, the county clerks and other critics of the governor’s rational response to reality ought to be looking for ways to bring immigrants, whether legal or otherwise, out of the shadows and into the mainstream where those immigrants will not fear reporting a crime, sending their kids to school or seeking medical help in a public hospital,” said attorney Brian O’Dwyer, chairman of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center (Irish) and Asociacion Tepeyac (Mexican).

Republicans and county clerks from around the state are gathering in Albany this morning to protest Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s reversal of a policy that required a Social Security number as a condition of getting a driver’s license. Opponents think allowing illegal immigrants to get licenses will endanger homeland security. The governor has defended his policy change.

Alexander “Sandy” Treadwell is running his own campaign instead of managing others’ races as he seeks the GOP nomination to run against freshman U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat.

New York education, energy and environmental officials are pushing “green” schools as a way to save money and the environment in the long run.

The state Department of Health released a study yesterday showing that a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants has lowered heart attack rates and health-care costs.

The Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee held a hearing yesterday on the governor’s proposal to have the New York Racing Association continue to run the state’s racing franchise. The Legislature will vote to keep NYRA, whose contract expires at the end of the year, or choose from among three other bidders.

State Sen. John Sabini, D-Queens, was charged with driving while intoxicated early Thursday.

The 79-year-old mayor of Webster, Monroe County, abruptly resigned yesterday without providing an explanation.

A Westchester County legislator has persuaded the New York State Association of Counties to investigate whether the state is losing film business to states with more generous incentives.

Companies that produce electricity in New York are fearful of re-regulation by the state.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and about 20 of his lawyers were in Rochester yesterday to learn about the community and offer aid. Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards also was there. She spoke about her experiences as a breast cancer patient.

A number of county clerks around the state are loathe to implement the policy change on driver’s licenses that Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced last week. Under the new regulations, drivers no longer will be required to have a Social Security number to obtain a license, meaning illegal immigrants will once again be able to get them. Opposition stems from concerns that, in a post-9/11 world, the government could be putting driver’s licenses in the hands of possible terrorists. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has weighed in against the policy.

Controversy continues over a delay by the Senate in confirming a number of Spitzer’s nominees to sit on state panels and serve in paid positions.

Retired Atlanta Falcons star Tim Green, a lawyer who has worked as a TV commentator and is a children’s author, may run against Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse. The Democratic governor is encouraging Green, who could help Democrats take control of the Senate from Democrats next year.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., doesn’t want people who signed up for the federal “Do Not Call” list, which began in 2003, to get dropped off the list after five years. Under current law, they will be take off the lists without being notified.

There are plenty of Web hijinks underway in the contentious race for Rockland County sheriff.

More Grannis bons mots. He referred to Gavin Donohue, the head of the power group, as “the William Henry Harrison of DEC commissioners.’’

Donohue held the job Grannis now has for 17 days in 2001. Harrison was the nation’s shortest serving president, dying on April 4, 1841, 31 days after he was sworn in.

Grannis also talked to the group about the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a plan to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions in the Northeast, commonly referred to by its acronym, RGGI,, pronounced “Reggie.’’ He then pointed out that a similar program beyond the Rocky Mountains could be called “Wedgie.’’ (Western Gas – oh, you get it.)

Pete Grannis isn’t exactly on the same page about environmental issues as power-plant operators. He acknowledged that at the start of a speech to the Independent Power Producers in Saratoga Springs earlier this week. “There are some people who think that the DEC commissioner speaking to power prooducers is like Tiki Barber doing the toast at Tom Coughlin’s retirement party,’’ he said, referring to the former New York Giants football star who has been critical of Coughlin, the coach, “or Johnny Damon addressing the Boston Chamber of Commerce’ ’- a reference to the former Red Sox star who signed with the Yankees last year.

Not true, he said, since both sides want clean, reliable, safe energy for the state.

The press releases and statements from Republicans opposing Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s announcement Friday that the state would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses continue to flow in. The latest is from Republican State Committee Chairman Joseph Mondello.

“New Yorkers know too well the importance of maintaining the integrity and security of our identification documents. The September 11th hijackers were able to board planes because they all had driver’s licenses or state issued identification,” Mondello said in a statement. “In the wake of this security gap, New York tightened regulations in order to help keep people safe. Yet, with one move, Governor Spitzer wants to move us backward.”

The policy shift means that applicants  no longer have to show a Social Security number to obtain a driver’s license. Undocumented immigrants previously were able to get licenses, but the administrative policy was changed after 9/11 to make it impossible for them to obtain one. The governor and advocates for immigrants’ rights hailed the reversal and said it would allow the state to better track illegal immigrants, rather than have them go underground, and increase public safety.

Other press releases and news conferences from opponents have come in from Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie; Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, R-Tivoli, Dutchess County; Assemblyman Peter Lopez, R-Schoharie; and Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco, R-Schenectady.

Mondello criticized Spitzer for not consulting with state lawmakers before changing New York’s policy on driver’s licenses. Tedisco said he wants the Assembly to vote on the issue. In a story today, the New York Daily News quoted a spokesman for U.S. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff who said state-issued licenses are a “known vulnerability.”