The Cayuga tribe has a tentative deal with Seneca and Cayuga county governments to end a land-claim lawsuit and get casino rights—probably in the Catskill Mountains.

The rhetoric between Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno keeps getting harsher.

Meanwhile, opponents of the proposed expanded bottle-deposit bill are helping Bruno with a fundraiser.

State [...]

The Cayuga Indian Nation would end its land-claim lawsuit and accept a much small tract of land in the Finger Lakes in exchange for rights to build a casino—probably in the Catskill Mountain region—under a tentative deal announced Wednesday.

The tribe would give up its claim to 64,000 acres in Seneca and Cayuga counties and instead [...]

Quinnipiac University is out with a new poll this morning on NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Take your pick of what’s the most intriguing finding:

a) at 74 percent approval, the mayor is near an all-time high popularity in the minds of city residents. b) if he were to run for governor, [...]

One week after the big Hillary rally in Albany, Republicans tried to do the same for Rudy Giuliani—they say the party needs a centrist.

The state added more names to the police memorial, while politicians debated the death penalty for cop killers.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has drafted a new soldier in the battle to revive the [...]

Motorcyclists from around the state converge at the Capitol today for their annual protest of the mandatory helmet law. Despite the annual event, the bikers’ cause has never gained much traction in the state Legislature.

In an unrelated note, two weeks ago hundreds of bikers jammed downtown Rochester to protest the acquittal of a former [...]

A downstate federal judge has denied a request by war protesters to be allowed to enter West Point next Saturday when Vice President Dick Cheney gives a graduation address. Accounts here and here.

A former court clerk in Syracuse alleged she was ousted because she refused to participate in a conspiracy to discredit a judicial [...]

Stop the presses: NY Republicans are trying to boost Rudy Giuliani.

A look at how public meetings in Albany don’t go so well.

State environmental and parks officials took to the road to promote an expanded bottle-deposit bill.

Former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato got a fat contract to lobby for a local off-track betting entity.

The clock is [...]

Hear for yourself just how well the meeting between state leaders went yesterday.

The backbiting started just two minutes into Wednesday’s public meeting of Gov. Eliot Spitzer and legislative leaders. They bickered over the agenda, the microphone and the point of the whole affair.

Here, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno gets into it with Spitzer over whether [...]

Out in Western N.Y., the Seneca Nation announced it has voted to charge New York state $1 per vehicle for each one that passes through its Cattaraugus territory on the state thruway.

The tribe said it won’t harass motorists but will bill the state beginning Friday. It said it would erect signs notifying drivers they are [...]

The state will attempt to stream, live over the Internet, today’s 1 p.m. meeting of Gov. Spitzer, Lt. Gov. David Paterson and the four legislative leaders. Interested? Go to http://pointers.audiovideoweb.com/asxfiles-live/ca25winlive2138.asx.