ALBANY

PATAKI SAYS HE’LL WAIT TO DECIDE ON SEEKING RE-ELECTION

Governor Pataki said he would not make any decisions on a run for a fourth term in office just yet, but instead insisted his focus would remain on governing the state.

“What I want to do is focus on the government, on the policies of the government, and work every day to try to make the state a little bit stronger,” Mr. Pataki told Gabe Pressman on WNBC-TV’s “News Forum” yesterday. “I’m just going to try to do my best as governor and make a decision on political options down the road certainly not before the end of this session,” he said.

Last month, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced that he would run for governor in 2006, promising to reform the state government. Mr. Pataki also said that he would not make any decisions on running for Senate during the midterm elections. “I’m not ruling in or out anything,” he said. “Politics at this point is speculation … I’m not thinking about politics, I’m thinking about governing as the governor of this state and that’s what I’m going to do.”

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

PARENTS QUESTIONED, RELEASED IN BABY’S DEATH

The teenage parents of a newborn baby found dead outside a Bronx church on Friday evening were questioned and then later released by police detectives yesterday.

According to police officials, the 13-year-old mother and 15-year-old father of the baby were questioned in the child’s death after friends of the mother called detectives and said the mother had left the infant boy in the doorway of the Second Prince of Peace Baptist Church at 464 E. 183rd St.

The medical examiner’s office has yet to make a determination on the cause of death, and charges are pending awaiting a determination by the Bronx district attorney, Robert Johnson, officials said.

The infant boy was discovered around 8 p.m. on Friday in a “Happy Birthday” bag, wrapped in towels and with parts of the umbilical chord still intact.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

STATEWIDE

SIERRA CLUB PROPOSES REINSTATING ENVIRONMENTAL FEES

Environmental groups, like most other lobbyists, are usually pushing New York State to spend money. But the Sierra Club is taking another approach: It is proposing that the deficit-burdened state could secure nearly $10 million a year by simply reinstating fees for environmental permits paid by developers.

The fees were eliminated a decade ago in the first years of the Pataki administration as it sought to turn around the state’s economy and image by becoming more business friendly, said Sarah Kogel-Smucker of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. Restoring the fees now – when the state faces a revenue shortfall of between $4 billion and $6 billion – will increase state revenues and could also pay for more staff and for environmental programs. More staff could even benefit developers by speeding the permit process, Ms. Kogel-Smucker said.

– Associated Press

REGION

WORKER AT WTC SITE CHARGED WITH RECEIVING STOLEN GOODS

TRENTON N.J.- A New Jersey man who works for a contractor at the World Trade Center site has been charged with receiving stolen property. Vincent Campanello, 60, of Brick was arrested at his home Friday night after authorities recovered unspecified items taken from the WTC site, said a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Tiffany Townsend. The items were valued at more than $7,000.

Mr. Campanello works for General Research, a Teaneck-based contractor, Ms. Townsend said. The charges stem from an ongoing investigation by Port Authority police, who were assisted by Brick police.

– Associated Press