News stories tagged with "obama"

(03/07/12) Republican Mitt Romney barely squeaked out a win over Rick Santorum in the Ohio primary yesterday. But a new poll shows Romney would handily beat Santorum in New York by 15 points. The Siena College Poll also shows that Newt Gingrich trails Romney in New York by 25 points. more

(02/06/12) The top Roman Catholic official in the North Country is blasting the Obama administration for requiring churches to provide health insurance to employees that includes services such as contraception and sterilization. more

(01/25/12) New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will lead a new mortgage crisis investigation unit, announced by President Obama in his state of the union last night.

The special unit will investigate wrongdoing by banks related to real estate lending, and how that contributed to the financial collapse and the mortgage crisis. more

(09/19/11) Advocacy groups say it's now likely that New York State will miss another deadline to get federal funding to implement the new health care law, as the State Senate expresses some grave doubts about implementing parts of a program that's identified with President Obama at this time. Karen DeWitt has more: more

(08/25/11) Schools are getting ready to open for the year. And this fall most have some new obligations. New York was awarded nearly $700 million from the federal government as part of President Obama's Race to the Top education program. Now districts are gearing up to put the new mandates into practice.

Stephen Todd is assistant superintendent of the St. Lawrence and Lewis BOCES, which serves 18 school districts in Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. He says there are three major pieces to Race to the Top.

First, changing the core curriculum in math and English classes. "Instead of trying to teach a mile wide and an inch deep, let's teach what's essential and teach it really, really well. Instead of trying to read everything under the sun, let's make sure what we are reading, we are reading carefully and closely and deeply."

Second, says Todd: data analysis. In the past, he says, schools kept statistics about students and classrooms, but the analysis came only after the school year was over.

Todd says that's about to change: "Instead of doing an autopsy, let's do a physical. Part way through the year, we'll look at the patient. The individual student, the collective group, whether it be classroom or building. Let's see what's working, what's not working. Let's make mid course corrections, that allow us if there are problems to fix those and save the patient. So we're not doing an autopsy later, we're treating the patient as it goes along."

The third major piece of race to the top has to do with keeping closer track of teacher performance. Julie Grant visited the Canton Central Schools to find out what's changing with evaluations, and she found that both teachers and administrators are concerned about the cost in time and money. more

(08/17/11) President Barack Obama's poll numbers continue to falter in New York, according to a Siena College survey released Tuesday. In Albany, Karen DeWitt has the details: more

(06/23/11) Last night, President Obama unveiled a plan to withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of the summer, and another 20,000 soldiers by the end of next summer. That accounts for the troop surge Obama began two years ago.

Obama's first stop to sell his new Afghanistan strategy is this afternoon at Fort Drum near Watertown. The President will meet with soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division and with families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Fort Drum's been involved in Iraq and Afghanistan since the beginning. And as David Sommerstein reports, soldiers don't see their roles changing much yet. more

(07/29/10) Vice President Joe Biden says Fort Drum's 2nd Brigade deserves "a hero's welcome" for its work training security forces in Iraq. Biden made a personal visit to the Army base near Watertown yesterday. He said it's the "dawn of a new era in Iraq" as the U.S. prepares to draw down 95,000 troops from the country. The security situation improved so much that Iraqi military and police took control more quickly than expected. That allowed the 2nd brigade to return home three months early. David Sommerstein was at Fort Drum for the vice president's visit and has our story. more

(07/07/10) Since 2006, Democrats have captured all three House seats that represent the North Country.

Those seats had been safe Republican strongholds, and their loss helped push New York's GOP to the brink.

But this year, Republicans are pushing back hard, hoping to capitalize on public dissatisfaction with the sour economy and growing Federal deficits.

Bill Owens from Plattsburgh, Scott Murphy from Glens Falls and Mike Arcuri from Utica all face stiff, well-funded challenges.

In the coming weeks, we'll air a series of stories looking at all the candidates and at the issues that will shape the November election.

This morning, Brian Mann reports on Bill Owens. As part of his bid for a second term, Owens has embraced President Barack Obama's Federal stimulus plan.

(03/17/10) The Washington Post says North Country congressman Scott Murphy is one of the five lawmakers in the country receiving the most pressure on this week's landmark healthcare vote. The Democrat from Glens Falls met one-one-one with President Barack Obama to talk about the bill. The liberal group MoveOn.org is running ads in his district, urging the Glens Falls Democrat to vote Yes. The conservative US Chamber of Commerce is also buying TV spots, urging Murphy to vote no. Health care expected to be a central issue in this year's election in the 20th district. Murphy spoke yesterday with Brian Mann about the landmark decision and explained why he's still on the fence, despite months of debate.