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NY LEGISLATURE

AP Source: Cuomo, leaders agree on 4 casinos

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A senior Cuomo administration official says Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders struck a late night deal to authorize four upstate casinos and to allow votes on 10 separate women's rights bills including an abortion proposal that appeared to have been blocked in the Senate.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal was scheduled to be announced on Wednesday.

Legislative officials immediately disputed some elements of the agreement.

Michael Whyland, spokesman for the Assembly's Democratic majority, says the chamber still plans to vote and approve all 10 items as a single bill.

Senate Republicans refused to pass the abortion proposal they considered an expansion of abortion. A Senate Republican official late last night said there was no commitment to bring the abortion bill to the floor.

DOUBLE FATAL WRECK

Cops ID NY driver in double fatal crash last Sat.

VIENNA, N.Y. (AP) - State police say they've been able to verify which of 2 men was driving a car that crashed and caught fire last weekend in central New York, killing both men and injuring a third.

Troopers say their investigation revealed that 21-year-old Angelo Gonzalez was driving the car when it ran off a road at high speed, hit a tree and rolled over early last Saturday morning in the Oneida County town of Vienna, about 25 miles east of Syracuse. The car then caught fire.

Police initially believed 20-year-old Tyler Laplante was driving the car. He also died in the accident.

A second passenger was able to get out of the car as it began to burn. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Troopers say alcohol consumption may have contributed to the crash.

RIVER-KAYAKER DROWNS

Kayaker drowns during outing on upstate NY river

DELHI, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say a 21-year-old man has died after being swept away when his kayak capsized on an upstate New York river.

The Delaware County Sheriff's Office tells the Daily Star of Oneonta that Donald Shamus of Delhi was kayaking with another person Wednesday afternoon in his hometown when his craft overturned on the West Branch of the Delaware River.

The other person was unable to rescue Shamus and summoned help. Local and state emergency responders launched a search and found Shamus around 1:15 p.m. near the confluence of the West Branch and the Little Delaware River.

Officials say he was taken to O'Connor Hospital in Delhi, where he was later declared dead from an apparent drowning.

Deputies say Shamus wasn't wearing a lifejacket.

LAKE DROWNING

Upstate NY man dies after being pulled from lake

MILFORD, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say a sudden worsening of the weather led to the accidental drowning of a 56-year-old man on an upstate New York lake.

The Otsego County Sheriff's Office says Grant Housworth of Milford was in a 17-foot aluminum canoe on Goodyear Lake with another person Monday afternoon when the weather changed suddenly. Deputies say a thunderstorm with high winds caused the lake to become turbulent and overturned the canoe.

Police say Housworth's companion was able to grab onto the canoe but Housworth was swept away and went under. The other person swam to shore while witnesses on shore called 911.

Rescue crews pulled Housworth from the water. He was taken to Albany Medical Center, where officials say he died Tuesday afternoon.

POLICE CHASE-SHOOTING

2 men in upstate NY chase, shooting still sought

GENEVA, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say a man taken into custody in New York City isn't 1 of the two men who eluded police after a chase and shooting in upstate New York.

Lt. Eric Heieck (hyke) of the Geneva Police Department says Wednesday that local media outlets erroneously reported that 25-year-old Jonathan Rivera of Geneva was in the custody of the New York Police Department.

Heieck says local police who traveled to the city determined the man in custody isn't the same one sought after Sunday afternoon's incident in Ontario County. Heieck says the two men have the same name and date of birth.

Police say Rivera and a second suspect, 22-year-old Andres Escalera of Geneva, remain at large.

Two other Geneva men were captured Sunday. Police say one was wounded after pointing a gun at officers.

MMA-ULTIMATE FIGHTING-NEW YORK

NY Assembly not voting on legalizing MMA

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Efforts to legalize professional mixed martial arts in New York have foundered again with the state Assembly's Democratic leaders refusing to allow a vote on the measure.

The bill, passed by the Senate earlier this year, had 63 sponsors in the 150-member Assembly. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he's not opposed.

Michael Whyland, spokesman for the Assembly Democratic Conference, says there was not enough support within the conference.

New York remains the last state to prohibit the sport after Connecticut approved similar legislation.

Backers, saying they remain undeterred, argue that it's already widely seen on television in New York and practiced in gyms around the state, including unregulated amateur competitions.

The bill would legalize and regulate it.

Opponents say it promotes and glamourizes violence.

ERIE CANAL-CLOSURE

More NY canal sections reopen after recent rains

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - More sections of New York state's canal system shut down by high water from recent heavy rains have reopened, but a stretch of the Erie Canal in the Mohawk Valley remains closed.

The state Canal Corp. says all of the Erie Canal reopened as of 8 a.m. Wednesday, except for the stretch from Lock E-8 in Scotia to Lock E-15 in Fort Plain. Parts of the Oswego and Cayuga-Seneca canals that were still Tuesday reopened around the same time.

Closed portions of the Champlain Canal were reopened Tuesday.

TRAFFIC STOP-GUNS

Thruway traffic stop lands NJ man in Albany jail

COEYMANS, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say a New Jersey man stopped by troopers for driving more than 100 mph on the New York State Thruway had illegal firearms and ammunition magazines in his vehicle along with some marijuana.

State police say a trooper pulled over 50-year-old Gerard Hagan of Mahwah, N.J., after clocking him driving more than 100 mph Sunday morning on Interstate 87 in the town of Coeymans (KWEE'-minz), just south of Albany.

Troopers say he had a Walther P22 handgun with a fully loaded 10-round magazine, a Glock Model 19 handgun with a fully loaded 14-round magazine and an unloaded Bushmaster assault rifle. Police say he also had about 30 grams of pot.

He's being held without bail in the Albany County Jail. It couldn't be determined if he had a lawyer.

CONGRESSMAN-HOME SALE

NY GOPer buying home of US rep. he called chicken

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A Republican county official who once called a central New York congressman a "chicken" for skipping a televised debate is buying the Democratic lawmaker's suburban Syracuse home.

The Post-Standard of Syracuse reports the winning purchase offer for Congressman Dan Maffei's (mah-FAYZ') home in DeWitt came from Joan O'Donnell Dadey, wife of Onondaga County Republican Committee Chairman Tom Dadey.

Maffei's spokesman says she used only her maiden name and the congressman didn't know she was Dadey's wife.

Tom Dadey campaigned to help Republican Ann Marie Buerkle defeat the incumbent Maffei in the 2010 election.

Before their 2012 rematch, Tom Dadey held a news conference that included a person dressed in a chicken suit holding a sign that said Maffei was "too chicken to debate." Maffei participated in other debates.

MARINE-BOMB DOG

Ex-Marine to be reunited with bomb dog in RI

SCITUATE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island state police will hold a ceremony this week that will reunite a retired Marine from western New York who was injured in an explosion in Afghanistan with the bomb-detecting dog he used to command.

State police say former Lance Corporal Bradley O'Keefe hasn't seen Earl the black Labrador since 2010, when they were injured in the explosion. O'Keefe underwent several surgeries and returned home to the Rochester, New York, area, while his sister tried to find Earl.

Earl ended up with Rhode Island state police, who obtained the dog after a military downsizing. State police told WPRI-TV that they're now using Earl as a bomb-detection dog and he helped them look for explosives in Boston after the marathon bombings.

Police say O'Keefe and Earl will be reunited Friday at state police headquarters in Scituate.