Today in your Trail Mix:
An executive order creating a state health exchange is being delayed until at least today.
Millions of job seekers are finding there's little money left for training.
And more criticism for the state's Office for Technology.
Public dollars
Last week ended without the promised creation of a state-run health exchange. Gov. Andrew Cuomo had promised to create the exchange by executive order. Last week's deadline has passed and the order is now being delayed to some time this week (Casey Seiler, Times-Union).
Cleaning up the debris left last year by Hurricane Irene has proven to be a daunting task (Michael Hill, AP).
The White House has a tax calculator up on its website. Simply enter how much you paid in taxes this year to find out where that money went (whitehouse.gov).
There are 12.7 million people looking for jobs in the U.S., but federal money for job training programs is 18 percent less than it was in 2006 (Motoko Rich, NY Times).
A former Office for Technology (OFT) employee describes a workplace full of napping and video-watching employees (James M. Odato, Albany Times-Union). This isn't the first time the OFT has been called out (Marie Cusick, WMHT).
Fracking
Matt Damon will star in movie dealing with fracking. Casting for extras is underway in Pittsburgh. Producers are looking for "great character faces, farmer looks, senior citizens, baseball players, upscale men and women with formal wear, teens and kids" (Talia Buford, Politico).
State Sen. Mark Grisanti has introduced legislation that would prohibit fracking wastewater treatment at all public plants in New York (Charlie Specht, Buffalo News).
Matt Damon's movie is part of a rush of books and media dealing with Marcellus shale gas development (Mary Esch, AP).
The University at Buffalo is getting in on the action: it plans to open a Marcellus Shale research institute (Gannett).
New York business
Amherst-based Solar Liberty was recently name New York's largest solar installer, but it's original goal was to help the developing world (Matt Glynn, Buffalo News).
Cuomo's move to cap executive compensation at nonprofits has been drawing criticism from (surprise!) nonprofit lobbying groups (Blake Jones, Post-Star).
Xerox's shift towards business services could mean trouble for its Rochester workers (Matthew Daneman, Democrat and Chronicle).
Maybe gas prices are leveling off - for now (John Mariani, Post-Standard).
