The Buffalo News from Buffalo, New York • 10

RIMAL The Buffalo NewsTuesday March 2 2004 Page A 10 a A 11 State budget reforms stall once again mail: tpreciousbuffiiewscom INTEREST RATE INTEREST RATE AroundTheState APR irstNira )nority "Limited time offer Rates subject to change without notice Member DIC wwwfnfgcom lOUh rtusiw LENDER 'Interest rate 125 higher for all monthly mortgages and any bi weekly mortgage without a irst Niagara Bank checking account 'Interest rate 1 25 higher for all monthly! mortgages and any bi weekly mortgage without a irst Niagara Bank checking account Whether you're looking to refinance your home or buy a new home at irst Niagara Bank find the mortgage you need at the rates you want And when you have a irst Niagara Bank checking account you'll enjoy our great Relationship Mortgage Rates If you don't have a irst Niagara checking account just stop by your nearest irst Niagara banking center to open one on the spot So don't wait another day to take advantage of these great rates Call 1 800 421 0004 or stop by your nearest irst Niagara banking center today Make refinancing your top priority ALBANY The City of Ith aca on Monday took action to make it easier for gay people to marry Meanwhile State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said that it is too soon for him to weigh in on whether fledgling steps to ward same sex marriage are le gal In an effort intended to set the stage for lawsuits against the state Ithaca officials said they will send marriage license appli cations for same sex couples to the state Health Department in Albany the agency responsible for marriage licensing proce dures The city expects the health agency to deny the requests a move that would prompt rights violation lawsuits by same sex couples trying to set up law said Martin A Luster Ith city attorney who said the traditionally liberal city would side with gay couples in suing the state The move by Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson comes after Village of New Paltz Mayor Ja son West on riday presided over marriage vows for 25 gay couples However no marriage licenses were issued Luster called the New Paltz weddings symbolic serving emotional purpose but not a le gal Paltz move the process forward It bring anyone closer to the day when same sex marriages will be recog nized and I think our approach Luster said' State Health Department offi cials were dismissive of the Itha ca attempt The agency recently distributed a warning to city town and village clerks against is suing licenses for same sex mar riages fully expect the clerks to abide by the laws and the guid ance said Wil Earlier today lawyer suggested that the broker would have turned against Stewart if he were actually guilty of the accusations against him Bacanovic would be on the government if he were guilty lawyer Richard Strassberg told the jury in his closing argument because the real target has been Stewart all along here because not a Strassberg said so his life is on the line here ladies and gentlemen before Strassberg who began his closing argument on Monday was suggesting that if guilty Bacanovic would have made a deal to cooperate with the gov ernment just as former assistant Douglas aneuil did Jurors may begin deliberating on Wednesday aneuil a former Merrill Lynch Co assistant claims that Bacanovic ordered him to tell Stewart that ImClone Systems CEO Sam Waksal was sell ing his ImClone shares then took an order from the homcmaking maven to sell hers Bacanovic and Stewart arc accused of lying about why they sold her ImClone stock Strassberg attacked credibility for more than two hours Monday saying his deal with the government to avoid prosecution gave him incredible motive to behind closed doors in the Capitol As in previous election years the sides have sounded committed to adopting a budget on time This year however the rhetoric appears more gen uine Even Democrats who control the Assembly usually blamed for using the deadline as a bar gaining chip with Gov George Pataki a Repub lican and the Republican controlled Senate have said they see some tactical and political ad vantages in a timely budget want to end that Assemblyman Her man arrell Manhattan chairman of the As Ways and Means Committee said of the late budgets So far the two houses have agreed on a couple of points: moving the start of the fiscal year to May 1 from April 1 to obtain more current informa tion on tax revenues that rush in around April 15 and making public the budget requests of state agencies 10 YEAR BI WEEKLY RELATIONSHIP MORTGAGE RATES Associated Press Sarah Simpkins left and Brenda Marston apply for a marriage license as Ithaca aims to draw the state into court on issue 1 5 YEAR BI WEEKLY RELATIONSHIP MORTGAGE RATES NEW YORK The government has wrongly accused Martha Stewart of participating in a laugh able of her lawyer said today in closing arguments at her federal trial Lawyer Robert Morvillo tried to turn to his ad vantage a key part of the case that Stewart and broker Peter Bacanovic told inconsis tent stories about a supposed plan to sell her Im Clone Systems shares when the price fell to $60 could have done what Peter Bacanovic1 and Martha Stewart are alleged to have done and done it in a dumber he said Stewart and Bacanovic gave investigators differ ent times for when they agreed on the $60 selling price Stewart placed the conversation in October or November 2001 Bacanovic in late December The sale happened on Dec 27 2001 a day before the stock plunged after the government announced it would not review an ImClone cancer drug you have here is the conspirators forget ting to tell each other the crucial element of the conspiracy when did it take Morvillo said The rates shown which are accurate as of 22604 are available only for loans applied for on or after 22604 The rates shown are available only li loan payments are deducted from a irst Niagara Bank checking account opened before the loan is applied for Loans are available on L4 family owner occupied homes and single family second homes and in amounts up to $333700 Loans are subject to an acceptable appraisal and first Niagara Bank's underwriting standards The APRs shown are examples for a loan of $100000 with no points and no private mortgage insurance The bi weekly principal and interest payment for the loan would be $51519 with a 1 0 yeir term and $38570 with a 15 yearterm Higher APRs will apply to loans under $40000 and may apply to loans with a loan to value ratio greater than 70 popular commuter and tourist at traction Soldier in Afghanistan unaware on Time cover HARRISON (AP) The man whose picture is on the cov er of the current issue of Time magazine has no idea that his face is gracing newsstands all over the country his parents say Marine Cpl Patrick Grave nese 24 has been on duty in Af ghanistan since October A pho tograph of him in full combat gear patrolling the mountains near Pakistan is being used to il lustrate article on ghanistan The Other War: In side the US Campaign to Pacify the and Snare Osama bin parents Patrick and Lynda of Harrison said he told them he was interviewed by Time but knew nothing about the cover photo on the March 8 is sue are his father said cover of Time is reserved for presidents generals even Jesus fiancee Laura Damiano 24 said he hears on the cover of Time going to be Grave ncse has been homesick she said and will really cheer him ALBANY Nineteen years have passed since the last time the state adopted a budget on time and Monday lawmakers talked some more as the clock continued ticking toward the April 1 start of the next fiscal year In the first conference committee called to iron out differences between the Assembly and State Senate on reforming the budget process lawmak ers made little progress on changing the annual wrangling that some say has made the ap proach to budgeting the least enviable Hie 40 minute session featured no discussion or debate and panel members decided only to meet again this afternoon Most read from printed scripts that merely laid out the positions the two houses had staked out over the past month if not several years In past years such conference committees have settled few of the outstanding issues leaving such debate for Roosevelt Island Tram discards subway tokens NEW YORK The New York City subway token of ficially became history Monday as the tram between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan switched to Metrocards The change is part of an effort to connect the tram which soars 250 feet above the East River and offers sweeping views of the city more closely with the rest of the transit system offi cials said Tokens were phased out on buses and subway trains in April and May 2003 but the Roosevelt Island Tramway continued to use them Commuterswishing to transfer from a train or bus had to pay an additional fare when boarding the tram The switch to Metrocards will allow riders to transfer to the tram for free just as they would to a bus or a train The tram takes nearly 1 mil lion people a year from midtown Manhattan to the East River is land It opened in 1976 a year after the first residential complexes were built on the island as a tem porary transit solution meant to stand in for a subway stop A stop on the train was built in 1989 but the tram remained a marriages of city employees for work related benefits and other purposes She said gays to be able to bring their families out of the status of second class citizenship and into the full array of rights and responsibilities that are available to married cou The state Health Department has condemned as illegal the marriage ceremonies in New Paltz last week insisting that state law does not permit same sex marriages Gov George Pataki opposes such marriages Spitzer declined to say wheth er the developments in New Paltz and Ithaca are legal are not advising individu als at this moment to do anything or refrain from doing Spitzer said Monday Spitzer said his office is work ing on a document intended to serve as guidance to local govern ment officials on the subject of same sex marriage are looking at the issue liam Van Slyke a Health Depart 1 devoid of any political polls one ment spokesman way or the Spitzer said Peterson also said Ithaca He said that he has problem would fully recognize same sex same sex marriage but that They have been engaged since Day when Grave ncse mailed Damiano a photo of him holding a sign that said you marry Man accused of throwing object on subway tracks NEW YORK (AP) A 47 ycar old man was arrested after he allegedly threw a metal object onto subway tracks in Manhat tan sending five people to the hospital and causing about 1000 others to be evacuated from trains authorities said Bonergy Quelal of the Bronx was arrested at the West ourth Street station in Greenwich Vil lage at about 5:30 pm Sunday police said It was not clear what was thrown onto the tracks but it welded to the steel and caused a breaker to short circuit police said Smoke filled the station and seven trains were evacuated ive people were taken to hospitals for smoke inhalation and two others refused treatment on the scene None was seriously hurt police said Service on the A and lines was interrupted for several hours but was restored shortly after midnight Stop by any irst Niagara banking center or call 1 800 421 0004 to learn about more great rates and products his belief will not influence the advice his office is preparing Senate Majority Leader Jo seph Bruno Brunswick criticized Spitzer for not stepping in to stop same sex marriages believe the law is clear and it prohibits this because the laws of New York State to my knowl edge define a marriage as be tween a man and a Bru no said think the attorney general is for not just plain stopping Last week the Health Depart ment asked Spitzer to seek an in junction to halt the New Paltz mayor from presiding over cere monies for same sex marriages Spitzer refused insisting that it did not meet the requirement of immediate and irreparable harm that a court would demand Spitzer said Monday that the Pataki administration can seek an injunction without him Department of Health is an independent agency that has its own he said They theoretically could go into court and seek an injunction if they be lieved it was mail: tpreciousbuffnewscom Lawyer says inconsistent stones undermine case against Stewart isociated "Press Martha Stewart enters federal court with attorney John Tigue on Monday in New York City A prosecutor told jurors Stewart and her broker believed they would never be caught in their deception i APR 4518 By TOM PRECIOUS News Albany Bureau Ithaca pushes gay marriage while Spitzer stays out of issue By ERIN McCLAM Associated Press By TOM PRECIOUS News Albany Bureau fl A 'J XX I A WA'W Jfik Lx 1 gem A HR 7 'fc I fir Mr wlr BUI A I wrawrr ri Xa 1 fl Hi i 'V i 4375 4625 4726 1 1 10 YEAR BI WEEKLY RELATIONSHIP MORTGAGE RATES 15 YEAR BI WEEKLY RELATIONSHIP MORTGAGE RATES 'i".