Today in your Trail Mix:
Snapping up rebates for new appliances.
Watchdogging how IDAs spend your tax dollars.
Kodak retirees' day in court.
Plus, the sustainable, comfy cow.
Energy
New Yorkers love a bargain: A third of the cash earmarked to help residents replace inefficient appliances was gone within hours, when the incentive program kicked off yesterday morning (Tim O'Brien, Times Union).
Federal nuclear regulators will be at Ginna nuclear power plant outside of Rochester tonight to take questions about the facility's performance - yesterday they were at Nine Mile Point outside Syracuse (Democrat and Chronicle).
Oil spills "kill jobs" - making pipelines like the Keystone XL economically risky, according to a new Cornell study (Alyssa Battistoni, Salon).
Politics
In our first of two watchdog reports about industrial development agencies (IDAs), WSKG's Matt Richmond looks the toll Broome County pays in oversight over its IDA, in exchange for the flexibility to cut deals with businesses.
Governor Cuomo's methods for getting bills passed have proved effective - but they also garner criticism about lack of transparency [VIDEO] (Matt Ryan, WMHT/New York NOW).
Meanwhile, New York got a "D" on a report card that looks at the risk of corruption across the states (All Over Albany). You want a basis for comparison? New Jersey got a B+.
One of the state's top unions says it won't endorse any candidates or contribute to campaigns in retaliation for the passage of state retirement reform that it opposed (Karen DeWitt, New York State Public Radio).
The speaker of the Assembly says his push to up the minimum wage in New York won't get caught in budget negotiations (Jon Campbell, Vote Up!).
Jobs and the economy
Kodak retirees have their fingers crossed that a judge will deny or delay the bankrupt photo firm's request to cut health benefits for 16,000 former workers today (Zack Seward, WXXI/Innovation Trail).
The 107th Air Lift Wing is in "wait and see" mode at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, as the federal government threatens cuts at the base (Chris Caya and Eileen Buckley, WBFO).
Amherst is moving forward - quickly - with a housing and retail combo development near the University at Buffalo (Sandra Tan, Buffalo News).
Need to brush up on economics? Planet Money has a set of posters submitted by readers that graphically demonstrate concepts like "scarcity" and "opportunity cost."
Transportation
Albany's airport is in talks with airlines about increasing service to the region (Eric Anderson, Times Union).
Are you crazy for not having a car in a Rust Belt city? (Christine Borne Nickras, Rust Wire).
Agriculture
A Syracuse company turns your trash into comfy bedding for cows across upstate (Debra J. Groom, Post-Standard).
A mushroom gatherer in Rochester is reluctant to call what she does a business - she wants to create a "community" around food and fungi (Zack Seward, WXXI/Rochester).
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