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Enhanced drivers' licenses available (NYS)
ALBANY -- Starting Tuesday, New Yorkers will be able to purchase enhanced drivers' licenses that may also be used for land or sea travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
The new licenses come after years of wrangling over how to secure the nation's borders after the 9/11 attacks, as well as ease traffic at the crossings.
New York, in an agreement reached last year with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will become the second state, after Washington, to offer the enhanced licenses as part of the federal Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
The licenses, which will include a photo and computer chip to electronically identify the cardholder at the border, will be sold at state and county Department of Motor Vehicles offices on Tuesday.
They are available only to U.S. citizens who are New York residents.
The cost will be $80, which is $30 more than current licenses. But for people with current licenses, the cost will be prorated by how many years are left until the license expires. The enhanced licenses, as with current drivers' licenses, are valid for eight years.
In June, the federal government will require U.S. citizens entering the country to present an enhanced license, a federal passport card or a U.S. passport.
The new license cannot serve as identification for international air flights. So after June 1, U.S. travelers would need passports to fly to Jamaica, for example, but could use an enhanced drivers' license if they took a cruise out of Miami that stopped in Jamaica.
The state over time expects that at least 16 percent of New York drivers, or more than 1 million people, will replace their current drivers' licenses with enhanced ones.
The state has spent months preparing for the rollout of the new licenses. Each DMV office has been equipped with new technology that can authenticate an applicant's citizenship and residency documents.
"We're looking forward to Tuesday and hopefully this will help the public," said Tompkins County Clerk Aurora Valenti.
Some clerks expressed concern about not being able to keep up with the demand for the new licenses. Saratoga County Clerk Kathy Marchione said her office estimates it will take 15 minutes or more to complete just one application.
The state estimates the licenses will bring in about $60 million in revenue for state and local entities. Counties will receive $9 on every enhanced license sold, or nearly 30 percent of the revenue.
And the enhanced licenses are generally accepted as an improvement over the current system, in which travelers must typically show a driver's license and a birth certificate to reenter the U.S. from neighboring countries.
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This feels so creepy & Big Brother-ish ALBANY -- Starting Tuesday, New Yorkers will be able to purchase enhanced drivers' licenses that may also be used for land or sea... more -
Governor Compares State Legislators to Dracula
Gov. David Paterson said Monday some Albany lawmakers are like Count Dracula, showing pleasant faces to lull citizen advocates, only to become bloodsuckers when the sun goes down. Gov. David Paterson said Monday some Albany lawmakers are like Count Dracula, showing pleasant faces to lull citizen advocates, only t... more
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A.L.A.N.Y. Moves To Extinguish College Smoking in NY
Although the America Lung Association of New York has succeeded in stamping out cigarette smoking in college dorms, the clean air junkies aren't stopping there and are now jockeying for a 'curb to curb' ban on smokeable tobacco for every college/university state wide. As of right now, there's 14 campuses that are entirely smokefree and only 5 holdouts that still sell tobacco products: Bard College, Culinary Institute of America, Iona College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, SUNY Fredonia, and SUNY Potsdam. Although the America Lung Association of New York has succeeded in stamping out cigarette smoking in college dorms, the clean air junk... more
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The New Renaissance...a movement.
In this video documentary, filmmaker Ty Marshal explores upstate New York's burgeoning art scene. Lead by (R) Evolution Art Studio and The Gear Factory Collective, this group of young artists are making many positive changes in Central New York in new and exciting ways! See how their efforts have lead to region wide revitalization efforts, the installation of more public art and the empowerment of the community to awaken a rust-belt city to it's former glory.
Since its inception in the fall of 2007, (R) Evolution Art Studio and its ongoing activities have played an integral role in the creation of the City's first Sculpture Park, its first Public Art Ordinance and Arts Commission, as well as playing host to various arts showcases outside of the traditional norms.
Using Art as a vehicle, the members of (R) Evolution Art Studio and the Gear Factory Collective explore the evolution of self and of the community in what can only be called "The New Renaissance".
Please include your thoughts and your votes after watching this video! In this video documentary, filmmaker Ty Marshal explores upstate New York's burgeoning art scene. Lead by (R) Evolution Art Studi... more -
Amazon Sues Over New York State Law on Collection of Sales Tax
Amazon.com has filed a lawsuit challenging New York State’s new law forcing online retailers to collect sales tax on shipments to state residents...
The issue is not whether people should pay tax when they buy goods from out-of-state sellers like Amazon. For decades, the state has required them to pay sales or use tax.
The question is whether the vendors must collect that tax on behalf of the state. Generally, only those companies that have a physical presence — like an office or store — in the state where the purchase is made are required to collect the tax.
The new law is based on a novel definition of what constitutes a presence in the state: It includes any Web site based in the state that earns a referral fee for sending customers to an online retailer. Amazon has hundreds of thousands of affiliates — from big publishers to tiny blogs — that feature links to its products. The state law says that thousands of those have given an address in New York State, although the addresses have not been verified.
The law says that if even one of those affiliates is in New York State, Amazon must collect sales tax on everything sold in the state, even if it is not sold through the affiliate. This is an extension of an existing rule that companies employing independent agents or representatives to solicit business must collect taxes for the state.
Amazon’s suit challenges the constitutionality of this interpretation and seeks a declaratory judgment that it is invalid... Amazon.com has filed a lawsuit challenging New York State’s new law forcing online retailers to collect sales tax on shipments to stat... more -
Native Americans, Interfaith groups lead by example in EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth ...
(Marquette, Michigan) - The Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is in its biggest week with help from interfaith groups and American Indians in reaching the goal of one million pounds of electronics and one million pills.
The EPA issued the challenge to Great Lakes basin residents participating in over 100 projects that are collecting pharmaceuticals, electronics and household poisons. The EPA awarded grants to some of the projects.
Interfaith groups are involved in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. An EPA grant helped start the non-profit Earth Healing Initiative (EHI).
Trust between religions and interfaith environment projects are vital to protect the future of the earth, said a Lutheran bishop, who has participated in numerous Earth Day recycling projects.
"We are in an environmental crisis in many ways," said Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes of the Northern Great Lakes Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "The Great Lakes watershed is really a kind of a mother to all of us here in the upper Midwest."
The EHI involves American Indian tribes and "a coalition and partnership of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together and sharing their projects and resources to heal, protect and defend the environment," said founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) is holding a curbside pickup of electronics for members during Earth Week, April 21-24. Over 1,000 pounds of electronics have been turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1. The College of Menominee Nation hosts pharmaceutical/electronics collections on April 22.
On Friday, April 25, students at the tribal K-8 school are picking up litter and cleaning up the a reservation community. Students recently created "Garbage Monsters" out of bottles other items found in their trash, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator. Students gave presentations on other uses for the garbage.
"This interfaith earth healing effort is really a great gift that has been given to all of us," Skrenes said. “The church is called to bring people together to be part of the healing."
Examples of established interfaith organizations that are assisting the EHI include the University of Minnesota Lutheran Campus Ministry, the Duluth Arrowhead Interfaith Council, Marquette University Ministry in Milwaukee, several Catholic interfaith groups and the ELCA office of Ecumenical Formation.
The interfaith EHI is one of numerous environment and Native American projects founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan including the Earth Keepers who removed more than 370 tons of e-waste, pharmaceuticals and household hazardous waste during three Earth Day clean sweeps.
The northern Michigan Earth Keepers belong to ten faith traditions with 150 churches and temples including Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Bahá'í, Jewish, Zen Buddhist and the Quakers. The EHI is working with the same faith traditions.
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EPA:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/events.html
EPA Press Release:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/dc57b08b5acd42...
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Earth Healing Initiative:
http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org
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Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Bah'i Community)
Interfaith Resources - Special Ideas website:
http://www.interfaithresources.com
1-800-326-1197
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Duluth
University of Minnesota LCM:
http://www.d.umn.edu/lcm/index.html
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Arrowhead Interfaith Council:
http://www.arrowheadinterfaith.org/home.html
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Milwaukee
Marquette University LCM:
http://www.mulutherans.com
http://www.marquette.edu/um
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Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin:
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov
College of Menominee Nation
http://www.menominee.edu (Marquette, Michigan) - The Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is in its biggest week with help from interfaith groups and American ... more -
Don't Trust Everything Your GPS Tells You
A man followed his GPS system's directions...right onto train tracks. He managed to escape before the train barreled into his car. I wonder if he can sue the company. A man followed his GPS system's directions...right onto train tracks. He managed to escape before the train barreled into his car... more
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Big Money & Education
An investigation into collegiate student loan practices has shown widespread abuse of the system by universities and banks. What do college students think? An investigation into collegiate student loan practices has shown widespread abuse of the system by universities and banks. What do co... more
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