Today in your Trail Mix:
Anti-fracking activists targeting the state budget, a WNY senator, and a fracking ban.
Occupy Buffalo "attends" an IDA meeting.
Plus, a new look for Canadian cash.
Natural gas
Anti-fracking activists are targeting Buffalo senator Mark Grisanti in his role of chair as the Environmental Conservation Committee. They want him to clear through a bill that would ban fracking (Eileen Buckley, WBFO).
Low natural gas prices have drillers scaling back their production (David Robinson, Buffalo News).
There will be no study of the health impacts of hydrofracking in the state budget. Nor will unclaimed bottle deposits be forwarded to environmental protection. Both are losses for the environmental community (Jon Campbell, Vote Up!).
An uber-coalition of anti-fracking groups want to get citizens engaged around the issue of a statewide ban [VIDEO] (Maureen McManus, State of Politics/Capital Tonight).
Mansfield University, in northern Pennsylvania, is launching an academic program to support the drilling industry with a pipeline of trained workers (G. Jeffrey Aaron, Star-Gazette).
Government incentives
Occupy Buffalo protesters barged into an IDA meeting in Erie County yesterday, sparking off a spat with board members (David Robinson, Buffalo News).
A 30-year tax break for a Syracuse developer has gotten a reprieve - rather than voting it down, the city's Common Council tabled it (Ryan Delaney, WRVO/Innovation Trail).
A heaping batch of applications for low-cost power under the state's new jobs-for-power swap program, ReCharge New York, are awaiting approval until April (Kevin Tampone, Greater Binghamton Business Journal).
Senator Schumer was in Rochester Monday to stump for a federal credit for fuel cells, arguing that it's "dumb" to end the program "a yard short of the goal line" (Zack Seward, WXXI/Innovation Trail).
The governor is proposing to create a fund filled with profits from Niagara Falls hydropower, to help support economic development in western New York (Mike Desmond, WBFO).
Tech
Rochester's Quantam Loop Solutions is going after the same ecommerce market that PayPal and Twitter types are tackling (Zack Seward, WXXI/Innovation Trail).
Facebook wants a judge to toss out a suit by a Buffalo-area man that charges that he has an ownership stake in the site (Phil Fairbanks, Buffalo News).
Business
An Arkansas-based company held a groundbreaking in Rochester's downtown yesterday, to celebrate the relocation of 300 workers there (WXXI).
Apple farmers have set up heaters in their orchards along Lake Ontario, to prevent the recent cold temperatures from ruining their crop (John Mariani, Post-Standard).
An Albany-based company prides itself on ethical t-shirt making: Workers get a catered lunch fresh from the farm and full health insurance (Siobhan Connally, All Over Albany).
Economy
A "community report card" assessing the Rochester region's strengths and weaknesses shows a big gap between the city itself and the rest of Monroe County (Brian Sharp, Democrat and Chronicle).
Remember last week when we shared posters of economic concepts, submitted by Planet Money readers? Now the experts weigh in.
Cash
Make less than $50,000 last year? You could get help preparing your taxes (Aaron Scholder, Gannett).
Canadian cash is getting a new look, complete with more security to prevent counterfeiting and a new material to help bills last longer (Jonathan D. Epstein, Buffalo News).
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