STATEWIDE

N.Y.’S DEMOCRATIC SLANT IS TILTING EVEN FURTHER

New York Republicans have lost two congressional seats in the past two elections, both in squeaky-tight races that could, with a tiny push, have gone the other way.

But some political experts maintain that those outcomes are further proof of a changing political landscape, where the heavily Democratic state is becoming even more so. On Election Day 2004, there were 3,209,082 registered Republicans, compared to 5,534,574 Democrats. While the New York GOP has historically been able to compete and win from a lower starting point, the climb is getting steeper.

Over the past four years, Democratic statewide enrollment is up by more than 290,000 while Republicans climbed by fewer than 40,000 people.

Almost half of the Democratic increase came in New York City, but smaller gains were made in many of New York’s 62 counties.

– Associated Press

ALBANY

GOVERNOR, LEGISLATURE TAKE ON CHILD OBESITY PROBLEM

Children who weigh too much – and the stagnant lifestyles that cause them to pack on the pounds – are the subject of new initiatives from Governor Pataki and the state Legislature. A state assemblyman, Felix Ortiz, wants the state to enhance the Childhood Obesity Prevention Program, calling excessive weight among young people both a present and a future danger to New Yorkers.

“We are facing a growing epidemic which not only kills today, but may overwhelm our state’s health and financial resources in coming years,” said Mr. Ortiz, a Brooklyn Democrat.

Mr. Pataki has announced a new campaign, “Active-8 Kids,” to promote better nutrition and more active lifestyles among youngsters. The former Olympic swimmer Janet Evans and Philadelphia Flyers goalie Robert Esche have agreed to lend their names to that campaign.

“Kids who get active in sports before the age of 8 have a high probability of being slim and lean when they get older,” said Mr. Esche, a Utica native. “I feel it makes you a better person, more excited about life, and more excited about waking up every day.”

According to the state WIC Association, which provides nutritional support for low-income mothers and children, nearly a third of the children age 2-5 participating in the program are overweight or at risk of being overweight. New York City’s health department recently found 43% of elementary school students in the city are overweight, half of them obese. Researchers found Hispanic and black children were more prone to being overweight than white or Asian kids.

– Associated Press

CITYWIDE

GIULIANI’S EX-WIFE WRITES BOOK ON FINDING LOST LOVES

Whatever happened to that ex-love you can’t forget? Donna Hanover, the ex-wife of the former mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, recommends reconnecting with an old flame. She did, and married him. Then she wrote a book about it. The book, “My Boyfriend’s Back: True Stories of Rediscovering Love With a Long-Lost Sweetheart,” is due in bookstores today, in time for Valentine’s Day. In it, Ms. Hanover talks about finding her lost love, Edwin Oster, when he called her before a Stanford University reunion, some 30 years after they split up. The couple was married in August 2003.

She and Mr. Oster, a 54-year-old attorney, have two homes: in Newport Beach, Calif., and New York City, where Ms. Hanover is raising her children with Mr. Giuliani.

“People loved hearing our story,” Ms. Hanover said in a news release promoting the book. “People often responded with their own stories of a cousin or friend who had reconnected with a long-ago sweetheart and fallen in love.”

Ms. Hanover, 54, the host of the nationally syndicated television program, Famous Homes & Hideaways, was divorced from Mr. Giuliani after 18 years of marriage in July 2002, following an ugly public breakup.

The book includes the stories of 50 other couples, including the actress Carol Channing, who at age 80 recently married her high school sweetheart Harry Kullijian, and Suzanne Pleshette and Tom Poston, both veterans of “The Bob Newhart Show.”

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

TWO SHOT DEAD AT HARLEM APARTMENT

A 56-year-old woman and 60-year-old man were both fatally wounded from gunshots to the head in an apparent double homicide last night in Washington Heights, police said. A third person, who police said was 20 years old, was also wounded in the gunfire and rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital with a shoulder injury. Details of the scene were unclear late last night, police said, because the 20-year-old would not cooperate with police detectives looking to interview him about shootings.

The shots were first heard about 9:30 p.m., residents at 550 W. 158th St. said. Police taped off the crime scene on the second floor.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE INVESTIGATE ASSAULT POSSIBLY MOTIVATED BY BIAS

A man was assaulted Sunday evening outside a Harlem pizzeria in what police have classified as a possible bias incident. After eating at Wimpie’s Restaurant at 1822 Amsterdam Ave., two men were approached outside the eatery by a third man who yelled anti-gay slurs and threatened the pair with a heavy-bottomed glass, a worker at the restaurant said. Police said that Jose Liriano, 18, then struck one of the men with the glass as he continued his tirade.

Police arrested Mr. Liriano, who was still at the restaurant when they arrived, and later charged him with second-degree assault and second-degree harassment, said police officials.

Though the victim sustained only minor injuries, police said that an investigation into bias charges would continue.

– Special to the Sun

UPSTATE

ARCTIC COLD SWEEPS THROUGH WESTERN N.Y.

ROCHESTER – Arctic cold knifed through New York, and heavy snow blanketed the state’s western half yesterday, restoring a familiar feel to a winter season that had been strikingly mild.

Upstate New York “has had a great winter so far – now we’re getting the real deal!” James Lattimore said cheerfully as he cleared a half-foot of snow off the pavement in front of his brother’s apartment in Rochester’s Corn Hill section.

Mr. Lattimore, 61, had reason to be buoyant: He lives in “strawberry country” near Tampa, Fla., and was filling up his vacation with an invigorating bit of exercise. But he sympathized with couriers, construction crews, and emergency workers exposed to the elements year-round. The mercury dipped below zero early yesterday, and brisk winds made it feel as cold as minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit in western New York and minus 45 degrees in the Adirondacks in northern New York.

“We’re in a pattern now where we are beginning to tap that cold air from the Arctic,” said Buffalo’s chief meteorologist, Tom Niziol. “We had record warmth in the upper 60s just a week ago and now we’ve changed back to more seasonable winter temperatures,” Mr. Niziol said. “To some people this is quite a shock, but much of our hardy upstate population is used to this. They knew it would come eventually.”

– Associated Press