national news

Gamers play the slot machines at the Empire City Casino in Yonkers, New YorkBy Francesca Trianni NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo struck a deal with state lawmakers to license new resort-style casinos, in an effort to help revive a stagnant economy in upstate New York, the governor said on Wednesday. The agreement would amend the state constitution to legalize public, non Native American casino gambling with an initial four Las-Vegas style casinos in the Hudson Valley, the Binghamton area and the Albany region. Until now, New York has allowed table gambling only on Native American tribal land or slot machine gambling at horse racing tracks. ...


2013-06-19 15:01:56 -0500
By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - Indictments against 35 former public educators charged in a sweeping standardized test cheating case in Atlanta appeared to be on shaky ground Wednesday after a judge said he would likely rule they were coerced into talking to investigators. Fulton County Judge Jerry Baxter indicated his position on Tuesday at a hearing, where defense attorneys argued that the teachers and administrators were threatened with losing their jobs if they did not cooperate with the state probe. ...
2013-06-19 15:12:16 -0500

A bowl of free New York City condoms are seen in a lobby at the AIDS Service Center of New York City (ASC/NYC) lower Manhattan headquartersBy Stephanie Simon (Reuters) - Students at all Boston public high schools may soon be able to obtain free condoms at the front office - as long as they sit through a few minutes of counseling about safe sex - under a policy due to be voted on Wednesday by the school board. Condoms are already available in 19 high schools with on-site health centers. The policy, up for a vote by the Boston School Committee, would expand distribution to all 32 high schools in the system. Parents would have the right to exempt their children. Several U.S. ...


2013-06-19 14:52:05 -0500
NEW YORK — Staten Island resident Donna Lokhammer can add another chore to her list: sorting through her garbage for organic waste like potato peels, coffee grounds and chicken bones, and gathering these scraps in a bin to be put on the curb every Saturday morning. “I’m not so crazy about the size of the [...]
2013-06-19 14:29:37 -0500