Latest local news, weather and sports for Syracuse and Central New York

Monday, January 14, 2013  New York's Senate where Republicans hold strong sway has approved what supporters say will be the toughest gun laws in the nation.

Tuesday, December 04, 2012  Senate Republicans and the Independent Democratic Conference say they've struck a deal to take control of the Senate in an unprecedented power-sharing deal.

Monday, November 05, 2012  New Yorkers have a chance Tuesday to reshape the state Legislature as in few election cycles before.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012  New York's Senate is voting to prohibit the use of welfare debit cards for use on cigarettes, alcohol, gambling and strip clubs.

Thursday, June 14, 2012  New York Senate leader Dean Skelos says the Legislature is close to a deal on a law to require college coaches, professors and others to report sex abuse.

Friday, March 30, 2012  New York's Senate and Assembly are poised to vote on final budget bills and close the second straight budget on time.

Monday, March 12, 2012  The top Republican in the Senate and an official familiar with the Assembly's plans say lawmakers will try to shift $200 million from an incentive program back to traditional school aid when they release budget resolutions Monday.

Monday, February 27, 2012  The lengthy process to redraw election district lines in New York that will guide politics for the next decade is expected to get longer.

Saturday, June 25, 2011  Champagne corks popped, rainbow flags flapped and crowds embraced and danced in the streets of Manhattan's Greenwich Village as New York became the sixth and largest state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage.

Saturday, June 25, 2011  Same-sex marriage is now legal in New York after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that was narrowly passed by state lawmakers Friday, handing activists a breakthrough victory in the state where the American gay rights movement was born.

Thursday, June 16, 2011  The New York State Senate voted to eliminate a controversial program that stores images of the marks new handguns make on bullets.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011  Legislation to create a statewide registry to track violent felons takes another step toward becoming State Law.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011  The Senate on Monday approved the first step in amending the state constitution to require independent redistricting to reform New York's notorious gerrymandering but not without another fight in the chamber over its most heated issue.

Monday, March 07, 2011  The Democratic minority in the state Senate plans to try Monday to force the Republican majority to hold a public airing of a bill that aims to reform New York's notorious redistricting process and that is now bottled up in a GOP-controlled committee.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011  Four Democrats who split from their party's conference in New York's Senate have been denied assignments to committees that shape legislation and divvy up aid and pork-barrel grants to lawmakers' districts.