Matt Richmond, WSKG

In a decision released Tuesday, the state Supreme Court in Cortland County upheld the Town of Dryden's ban on drilling.

In his decision, Supreme Court Justice Phillip R. Rumsey says New York's oil and gas law gives the state the authority to decide how, but not where, drilling can be done.

Under this construction, local governments may exercise their powers to regulate land use to determine where within their borders gas drilling may or may not take place, while DEC regulates all technical operational matters on a consistent statewide basis in locations where operations are permitted by local law.

In an audit released Wednesday, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli cited Broome County's Industrial Development Agency (BCIDA) for a conflict-of-interest.

The problem: George Akel, the IDA's chairman of the board, is also part owner of a company involved in one of the agency's big ticket projects.

The comptroller says that's a no-no.

Today in your Trail Mix:

General Motors posts its largest profit ever in 2011 - $7.6 billion.

Kodak gets out of some leases and gets approval from a bankruptcy judge to keep the lights on.

Negotiators reportedly strike a teacher evaluation deal at the 11th hour, opening the door for federal education grants.

It's not looking good for subsidies for renewable energy.

A 30 percent upfront tax credit for commercial renewable power projects known as the 1603 program expired at the end of 2011.

Another 30 percent credit for wind projects, that's a part of the long-debated payroll tax bill, is scheduled to expire at the end of 2012.

And while there are still a host of incentives offered by states and the federal government that remain unaffected, the question is inevitable:

Is the federal government preparing to cut loose the renewable power industry?

Binghamton looks to many visitors like any other post-industrial city in the Northeast: The historic buildings are in disrepair, and the rundown strip malls hide years of slow progress towards a revitalized Binghamton.

For years, the strategy for rebirth has been to perk up a storefront here, tear down a building there.

That's in evidence at the "Southside Commons," a concrete open space across the river and Route 434 from Binghamton's city center.  The space offers a raised area where bands can play in the summer, and a few tables and chairs scattered around the single lot wedged between two buildings.

It doesn't look like much, but a significant amount of work went into making it happen.

In its Energy Outlook for 2012, the Department of Energy has reduced its estimate of unproven "technically recoverable reserve" (TRR) natural gas in the Marcellus Shale from 410 trillion cubic feet to 141 trillion cubic.

For those of you playing at home, 141 trillion down from 410 trillion represents a nearly one-third  two-thirds reduction in natural gas across the whole Marcellus Shale formation.

But it's still pretty far off from the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) competing estimate, of about 84 trillion cubic feet.

A new survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found optimism among the state's manufacturers in January.

According to the monthly survey of 200 manufacturing executives (about 100 respond according to the Fed):

• General business climate improved by 5 points.
• New orders rose 8 points.
• Optimism about the six-month outlook rose 9 points.
   

Most encouraging, according to Randy Wolken, president of the Manufacturing Association of Central New York, were improvements in the number of manufacturers that expect to hire new workers.

Maurice Hinchey's office announced Wednesday that the Congressman will not seek reelection this year.

The 73-year-old Democrat represented New York's 22nd District, which includes Binghamton, Ithaca and Monticello. First elected in 1992, Hinchey is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and a member of the Banking Committee.

He consistently voted with fellow Democrats in the Republican-controlled House, one notable exception was his vote against extension of Bush-era tax cuts, which was supported by a majority of both Democrats and Republicans.

Pending well permit applications for high-volume hydraulic fracturing (2007-present):

If New York State allows hydrofracking, where would it happen?

With the help of officials from the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), we used the agency's searchable online oil and gas database to find out precisely where drilling companies have applied for hydrofracking permits.

So what does this map mean?

In last week’s State of the State address, Governor Andrew Cuomo said it’s about time New York adjusted its state constitution to legalize full-scale gambling.

“It is not a question of whether or not we should have gaming in the state,” Cuomo argued. “We don’t realize it. We don’t regulate it. We don’t capitalize on it. But we have gaming.”

There are already five tribal casinos operating in the state. In 2001, racetracks were authorized to add video gaming machines, creating “racinos.”

So it’s easy to make the argument, says SUNY New Paltz political science professor Gerald Benjamin, that allowing full casinos in some places, but not others, makes no sense.

But that doesn’t mean that amending the state constitution to allow gambling will be easy, says Benjamin.

“There’s always been a lot of controversy about the exact geographic locations in which gambling might be permitted, whether it should be run by the government or run by private enterprise under government regulation,” he says.

Basically, brace yourself for a whole lot of political maneuvering.