CITYWIDE

STATE APPROVES $1.6 BILLION IN BONDS FOR THREE WTC TOWERS

A state agency yesterday approved using $1.6 billion in tax-exempt bonds to build three office towers at the World Trade Center site. The Empire State Development Corporation approved use of the Liberty Bonds for towers that are under developer Larry Silverstein’s control. Mr. Silverstein retained control of those towers after his lease was renegotiated earlier this year. The city intends to issue an additional $920.9 million in Liberty Bonds under its control to build the three towers next month.

– Associated Press

CITY ATTEMPTS TO WOO DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR NATIONAL CONVENTION

A 10-member delegation from the Democratic National Committee is in town this week as city officials try to woo the party’s national convention to New York in 2008. Mayor Bloomberg hosted a dinner reception at Gracie Mansion last night, and officials will show off the city’s hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues, including Madison Square Garden, where the convention would be held. The Republicans held their nominating convention at the Garden in 2004, and the city is vying for the chance to host them again in 2008. New York is up against Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Denver for the Democratic convention and is competing with Minneapolis, Cleveland, and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., for the GOP event.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MAYOR WON’T SAY IF CITY PLANS TO BID ON KING’S DOCUMENTS

Mayor Bloomberg was “mum” yesterday on whether New York City is planning to bid on a batch of documents that belonged to Martin Luther King Jr. and is being auctioned by Sotheby’s. At a joint press conference in downtown Atlanta with that city’s mayor, Shirley Franklin, the two coyly evaded questions about whether they were planning to make separate offers. After Ms. Franklin said Atlanta was interested in the material, but that “we know New York is exploring the possibility, we think they are,” and that she would remain silent, Mr. Bloomberg said the same. “I thought the mayor said it very well; mum’s the word,” Mr. Bloomberg said with a grin. Mr. Bloomberg was in Atlanta delivering a speech at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

ARTISTS GO GOLD, PLATINUM WITH RINGTONES

Rapper Rick Ross’s ringtone is now a blingtone. Mr. Ross received a plaque bearing a golden cell phone yesterday when music industry officials honored 128 songs as the first batch of gold and platinum ringtones. Just like vinyl, tapes, and CDs, the sounds of ringing cell phones will now translate into awards for sales of 500,000, 1 million, and beyond. “The ring tones are just another gateway to connecting with the kids and the fans,” Mr. Ross, whose award sported a shiny cell phone rather than the usual gold album, said. He was joined in the ring(tone) of honor by big-name acts like the Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce, 50 Cent, Kanye West, and others.

– Associated Press

IN THE COURTS

COURT UPHOLDS JUDGMENT AGAINST CITY FOR POLLUTING TROUT STREAM

ALBANY – A federal appeals court has upheld New York City’s penalty for violating the Clean Water Act by adding silt to an upstate trout stream that carries part of the downstate water supply. In the suit first filed by sportsmen and environmentalists six years ago, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday sent the case back to the trial judge to recalculate the $5.75 million civil penalty he ordered. Attorneys said the payment to the U.S. treasury may be trimmed by about $500,000 after a correction in the way it was calculated.

– Associated Press

JUDGE ALLOWS FALLS BAR OWNERS TO GET THEIR PROPERTY

A judge has decided owners of the Falls, the now-shuttered Manhattan bar where slain graduate student Imette St. Guillen was last seen alive, may enter the building to retrieve their property. A state Supreme Court justice, Jane Solomon, who issued the order that closed the Falls last week, yesterday gave the owners permission to enter and remove possessions from the bar despite the objections of the city’s lawyer, Allen Schwartz.

– Associated Press

STATEWIDE

PATAKI ENLISTS HELP OF IOWA CONSERVATIVES

DES MOINES, Iowa – Governor Pataki has assembled a team of Iowa conservatives who will help him assist local Republicans in this year’s midterm elections and lay the foundation for the presidential caucuses in 2008. “The experience and leadership they bring to the table will help our PAC achieve its mission of electing Republican candidates in Iowa,” the Republican governor said, whose decision not to seek a fourth term has stoked speculation about a White House bid.

– Associated Press

REPORT: CHILDREN HURT IN SCHOOL FOR DISABLED

ALBANY – A state report on conditions at a school for the disabled documented “skin shocks” – sometimes administered while students bathed – for offenses as minor as nagging, swearing, and sloppy appearance. “Various injuries to students have been reported” at the Judge Rotenberg Center, according to the report released yesterday by the New York Education Department.” Absolutely not true,” the center’s attorney, Michael Flammia, said. He said the state ignored its own November report that stated the center did an excellent job. That opinion changed after one New York parent complained and sued, Mr. Flammia said. In the spring New York’s Education Department sent another team, but Mr. Flammia said the evaluators were biased against shock treatment and failed to conduct a fair or thorough review. The school in Canton, Mass., receives $50 million a year from Albany to care for and educate about 150 youths because there is no space available in New York for the intensive treatment.

– Associated Press

SCHUMER PUSHES SAFER MILITARY INVESTING

WASHINGTON – A Senate committee approved a bill yesterday aimed at protecting members of the military from misleading sales pitches for costly insurance or investment plans. The bill approved by the Senate committee is geared to help protect the financial interests of men and women in uniform. Lawmakers are increasingly concerned about financial companies that target military families with high-pressure sales tactics and charge excessive fees. The bill, pushed by Senators Schumer and Clinton, as well as Michael Enzi, a Republican of Wyoming, and Chuck Hagel, a Republican of Nebraska, requires clear disclosures on the sales of securities and insurance on military bases.

– Associated Press

ALBANY

SENATE DEMOCRATS CLAIM HMO PROFITS DOUBLING

Senate Democrats yesterday said profits by health maintenance organizations have nearly doubled in five years while doctors and hospitals received less reimbursement and more New Yorkers were priced out of the market. The claims were disputed by the industry. The Senate Democrats called for a return to requiring the state’s pre-approval of rate increases.

– Associated Press

PIRRO SAYS CUOMO UNQUALIFIED TO BE ATTORNEY GENERAL

The Democratic Party’s designee for state attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, is unqualified for the job because he is a non-practicing attorney, the Republican candidate, and Westchester district attorney, Jeanine Pirro, said. Outside Mr. Cuomo’s campaign office, Mrs. Pirro pointed to a copy of Mr. Cuomo’s ethics filing where he identified himself as a non-practicing attorney. After receiving the Uniformed Fire Officers Association endorsement, Mr. Cuomo said, “Ms. Pirro is a candidate herself now, so she is not a practicing attorney.” Mr. Cuomo was an assistant district attorney for the Manhattan district attorney, Robert Morgenthau, and later a federal housing secretary under President Bush.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

POLICE ARREST 32 ALLEGED GANG MEMBERS

Police arrested 32 teenage members of a Coney Island street gang Tuesday afternoon, police said yesterday. The arrests were made after the Police Department’s Gang Division was given a tip that members of the gang Dominicans Don’t Play would be convening to engage in criminal behavior Tuesday afternoon. Police apprehended 32 individuals at 2:45 p.m. on the Coney Island boardwalk near Surf Avenue and West 19th Street, police said. Twelve individuals were charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 17 were charged with unlawful assembly, and three were charged with disorderly conduct, police said.

– Special to the Sun

INVESTIGATORS: ACS SUPERVISER STOLE FUNDS

A supervisor at the city’s Administration for Children’s Services and an accomplice have been arrested on charges stemming from the alleged theft of ACS foster care checks, the city’s Department of Investigation reported yesterday. Investigators said Evelyn McCoy, 62, a city employee since 1970, created and processed false foster case checks totaling $66,597.98, and mailed them to an accomplice in North Carolina. That individual, Marvin Dunlap, 72, identified as a retired director of admissions for John C. Smith University by investigators, had no relationship with the three children on whose behalf the checks were sent. Ms. McCoy was charged with mail fraud and theft from a federally funded program, and Mr. Dunlap was charged with mail fraud, investigators said. Ms. McCoy was suspended from her job at ACS.

– Special to the Sun