Dave Lucas

Battle lines have been drawn: districts have been redrawn. Several of today's most-watched races are taking place in the Hudson Valley. WAMC's Dave Lucas reports.

In Congress, Republicans Chris Gibson and Nan Hayworth are running for second terms in newly re-drawn districts against fiercely competitive Democratic challengers.

Hayworth is up against former Clinton White House aide Sean Patrick Maloney, in the battle for the new 18th Congressional District, which includes Orange and Putnam counties along with portions of Dutchess and Westchester.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is now investigating more than 500 reports of price gouging from Superstorm Sandy. WAMC’s Dave Lucas has more…

The AG says more than 300 of those complaints came in over the weekend and Monday as the pace of recovery and repair work continued to pick up.

Most of the reports are over the cost of gasoline. But they've also involved the sale of other essentials, including a $10 box of matches and $7 loaf of bread.

Schneiderman is investigating reports from New York City, the Hudson Valley and on Long Island.

Consolidated Edison says power has been restored to more than 80 percent of its customers who were blacked out in the storm. More from WAMC’s Dave Lucas.

The utility still had 156,800 customers without power at midday Monday. That included about 68,000 homes and businesses in suburban Westchester County.

Con Edison said it expects to resolve "the vast majority" of the Sandy-related outages by next weekend.

But efforts to get the rest back on line could be hampered by more wet, windy weather expected to hit the coast Wednesday.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, County Election Boards in the Lower Hudson Valley say they are ready for tomorrow's election... WAMC's Dave Lucas reports
 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders are creating a $100 million fund to help people hit hardest by superstorm Sandy rebuild their homes and lives. Cuomo says the fund will be replenished as necessary. WAMC's Dave Lucas has more...

Friday's announcement comes even though the state faces a $1 billion deficit.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos have agreed to approve the spending.

In some southern New York communities likely to get shale gas wells if Gov. Andrew Cuomo lifts a moratorium on drilling, "fracking" is a key issue in Tuesday's election. Both opponents and supporters are working to get out the vote and candidates up and down the ballot are talking about it. More from WAMC's Dave Lucas.

Local races are viewed as crucial, since dozens of town boards around the state have voted this year to ban or put a moratorium on gas drilling while other elected bodies passed resolutions making it clear they won't oppose gas drilling.

Advocates and activists are sounding the alarm over pollution in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy:
Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports water quality is of great concern.
 

The monumental effort to restore power and rail service to counties north of New York City continues, but as we hear in this report from Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas, communities are struggling with a variety of other challenges... Most of the electricity is back on, the MTA and CSX have crews working on railroad services, but there's still a lot of debris that needs clean-up and still a lot of problems with landline and cellular telephone service.

Sen. Charles Schumer says the U.S. Coast Guard is reopening New York and New Jersey ports to restore gasoline and fuel to the areas hit hardest by Superstorm Sandy. WAMC's Dave Lucas reports.