ALBANY

COURT UPHOLDS STAY ON EDUCATION FUNDING, SPEEDS CASE

The state Appellate Division yesterday upheld Governor Pataki’s stay of a multibillion-dollar education funding lawsuit while it’s appealed, but agreed to speed the case along by more than seven months.

The mixed decision by the mid-level appeals panel means the lawsuit won by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity won’t blow apart the 2005-06 state budget adopted March 31. The CFE executive director, Michael Rebell, said any court-ordered payment by the state will likely now be part of the 2006-07 state budget.

CFE sought to have the case heard by the Appellate Division by the end of June – a year earlier than normal. That would have allowed for a decision and the likely appeal to the Court of Appeals to be concluded before the end of the current fiscal year.

But that’s unlikely now because the Appellate Division will hear the full case in October and could take months to render a decision that would almost certainly be appealed by the losing party to the state’s highest court.

“CFE will continue to do everything possible to press the governor and Legislature to do the right thing this spring and not allow hundreds of thousands of children to lose another year of their constitutional right” to a sound education, Mr. Rebell said.

– Associated Press

MANHATTAN

POLICE SEEK IDENTITY OF DEAD WOMAN FOUND IN CENTRAL PARK

Police are seeking to identify a woman believed to have committed suicide in a patch of flowers in Central Park on Monday afternoon.

The woman, believed to be in her 30s, was discovered lying about 100 feet from the western edge of the park near 107th Street. A kitchen knife, with a stainless steel blade approximately 1 foot in length, was also discovered lodged in her chest.

The woman was 5 feet and 4 inches tall, and was found wearing a pink satin baseball cap, a dark pink jacket, brown corduroy paints and black combat-style boots. She was also wearing a gold-colored necklace with a dice pendant and had a tattoo of a black panther on her upper left arm. Police have released a sketch of the woman.

Anyone with information about the woman can call the NYPD tip line at 800-577-TIPS or the Central Park Precinct detective squad at 212-570-4837.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CITYWIDE

VALLONE SR. ENDORSES MILLER IN MAYORAL RACE

The former speaker of the City Council, Peter Vallone Sr., announced yesterday that he would endorse the current speaker, Gifford Miller, in his bid for mayor. Mr. Vallone’s endorsement, which was announced yesterday in his home district in Astoria, Queens, does not come as a surprise. Mr. Miller endorsed Mr. Vallone when he ran, and lost, in the 2001 Democratic mayoral primary.

At that time, Mr. Vallone was expecting endorsements from some of the council members he worked with during his tenure, but they never came through. Mr. Vallone, who was speaker from 1986 to 2001, has a distinguished reputation and does bring outer-borough support to Mr. Miller, who is from the Upper East Side. Yesterday, the Queens Democrat praised Mr. Miller for fighting to preserve funding for school construction and for battling to preserve services – including the Vallone Scholarship for honors students – in the budget.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

EDUCATION SECRETARY NAMES THREE PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS

The U.S. Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, named three New York City high school students presidential scholars yesterday.

Nationally, only 141 high school seniors received the prestigious award for their high scores on the SAT or ACT standardized tests, as well as for their leadership skills, character, and civic contributions. The students will be recognized in June in Washington, D.C.

One of New York City’s winners was Jessica Qualls, who attends Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Queens. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said, “I congratulate Jessica for earning this prestigious honor, which takes a tremendous amount of hard work. I also commend the teachers and staff at Cardozo High School, especially Douglas Potter, for supporting Jessica’s achievement.”

Mr. Potter, Jessica’s most influential teacher, will have the opportunity to join her in Washington in June. New York City’s other presidential scholars include David Jiang of Forest Hills and Lauren Zletz of Manhattan, who both attend Hunter College High School in Manhattan.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

RADIO HOST LAUNCHES CABLE TELEVISION CALL-IN SHOW

The host of one of WNYC’s popular morning radio shows, Brian Lehrer, is venturing into television. Mr. Lehrer will launch an hour-long, call-in program tonight at 7 p.m. on non-commercial City University Television – CUNY TV, channel 75. Tonight’s debut of “Brian Lehrer Live” will examine video footage of the protesters outside the Republican National Convention last summer. Nearly 2,000 of the demonstrators were initially charged with crimes and many were sent to a detention center at Pier 57 on Manhattan’s West Side. Roughly 90% of the cases were dropped, but many of the detained protesters claimed New York City’s Police Department violated their rights by holding them for too long and for keeping them in unsanitary conditions.

Next week, Mr. Lehrer will interview the architect of the World Trade Center Memorial, Daniel Libeskind, whose design for the site includes the Freedom Tower, a project that has recently hit several snags, including police concerns about security for the building.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

COUNCIL MEMBERS, UNIONS CHIDE WAL-MART FOR DISCRIMINATION

Ten City Council members including the council’s speaker, Gifford Miller, stood with labor unions yesterday to criticize Wal-Mart for discriminating against women. The group signed an 8-foot card to be sent to the company’s executives and vowed not to buy Mother’s Day gifts at the big-box store. They cited a class-action suit against the company filed by 1.5 million women who have accused Wal-Mart of sexual discrimination for paying them less than men and failing to promote them at the same rate.

Mr. Miller said female employees at Wal-Mart get paid 5% to 15% less than men for the same work, and, though they constitute 72% of workforce, they make up only 15% of Wal-Mart store managers. Council Member Leroy Comrie said the council would keep the pressure on to make Wal-Mart a union shop. Others vowed to continue the fight to keep the city Wal-Mart-free. Earlier this year, a developer dropped its plans to build a Wal-Mart in Rego Park, Queens, after council members, small business groups, and unions began to rally against the company’s labor practices. Wal-Mart officials are now in discussions about building stores on two Staten Island sites, both of which would require rezoning approvals from the City Council. Wal-Mart supporters say the company offers low prices to middle-class customers, and also provides jobs for the community.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun