Same-Sex Marriage Bill Vote Delayed

(ALBANY, N.Y.) -- Gay rights activists will have to wait another day for the New York State Senate to decide on the same-sex marriage bill.

Senate Majority leader Dean Skelos ended Thursday night's session saying the legislators needed rest and that they would be back on Friday. Passing the bill has been Gov. Andrew Cuomo's top priority this year -- and with just one deciding vote needed to pass the measure, it looks like he may get his wish.

The bill passed in the assembly but the Republican-dominated Senate has yet to vote. Still being discussed are the exemptions for religious organizations that refuse to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Sweet Corn Named Official State Vegetable

(ALBANY, N.Y.) -- New York State residents can rest easy this week, as lawmakers put a contentious issue to rest: sweet corn was named the state's official vegetable.

Legislators voted on the issue Tuesday. Sweet corn is one of more successful vegetables produced by the state; it brought in $71 million in 2010, according to the New York Farm Bureau. Onion crops, by contrast, brought in a respectable but much less impressive $54.2 million.

Other vegetables that competed for the top spot include snap peas and cabbage.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Husband and Wife Arrested after New York Pharmacy Murders

(NEW YORK) -- A former soldier accused of killing four people during the prescription drug robbery of a New York pharmacy -- a shooting the county police chief called the "most heinous" crime he's ever seen -- was arrested Wednesday.

David Laffer, 33, is charged with first-degree murder for the alleged crimes. His wife, 29-year-old Melinda Brady, was also arrested but has yet to be charged.

"He did it," Brady told reporters prior to her arrest Wednesday. "He did all of this."

Laffer allegedly walked into Haven Drugs in Medford a little after 10 a.m. on Sunday and shot four people execution style before making off with a backpack full of prescription painkillers.

A team of prosecutors and investigators in the New York City Office of Special Narcotics tracked down Laffer using a prescription database that showed he had filled several prescriptions for hydrocodone at the store where the shootings took place, sources told ABC News.

Police are trying to match Laffer's fingerprints against any prints at the crime scene and a search warrant has been issued for Laffer's home.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Cuomo Reaches Five Year Deal with Union

(ALBANY, N.Y.) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday that he had reached a five-year labor agreement with the state's largest public employee union.

The agreement with the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) would save the state $3.8 billion in healthcare and benefit costs as well as freezing base wages for three years.

In a statement, Gov. Cuomo said if the deal is adopted by all the bargaining representatives, layoffs would be avoided much needed savings would be injected into the state's economy.

CSEA represents over 66,000 state workers.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Report: New York Homeowners Borrow More Than Other States

(ALBANY, N.Y.) -- New York State homeowners who borrow money borrow more than homeowners in any other state, this according to The Wall Street Journal.

While just six percent of New York homeowners are behind in their mortgage, the Journal reports that those borrowers are in significant debt.

Borrowers owe $129,000 more than their homes are worth, which is nearly double the national average of $65,000, according to the report.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio