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This Hour: Latest New York news, sports, business and entertainment

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GUN LAW-RALLY

Protesters at capitol call to repeal NY gun law

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A few hundred people have gathered at New York's state capitol building in Albany to press for repeal of the state's tough new gun laws.

The coalition of conservative groups says it was set to deliver 400,000 postcards to members of the Assembly calling to roll back the NYSAFE act.

The law, enacted a month after the Newtown, Ct., school massacre, limits the number of rounds in a magazine, bans the sale of assault-style weapons and calls for stricter background checks.

The group of protesters is encouraging people to register to vote, join a political party and get active in political campaigns. They say the goal is to change the law from within the system.

PEDESTRIAN KILLED

Northern NY woman dies after being hit by vehicle

CHAMPLAIN, N.Y. (AP) - State police say a 27-year-old woman has died after she was hit by a car while jogging along a rural northern New York road.

Troopers say the accident occurred around 8:45 p.m. Monday when the driver attempted to go around four runners but hit 1 of them as they jogged with the flow of traffic on the shoulder of a road in the town of Champlain, on the Canadian border 160 miles north of Albany.

Police identify the victim as Ashley Poissant of Champlain. She was taken to the hospital in Plattsburgh, then transferred to Fletcher Allen Health Care Center in Burlington, Vt., where she died early Tuesday.

Troopers say the driver was an 85-year-old man from the neighboring town of Mooers.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

TRAIN COLLISION-MORNING COMMUTE

Another slow commute following train collision

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut commuters faced another morning of longer-than-normal delays on the highways leading to New York, as workers finished up repairs on the Metro-North railroad following last week's train collision near Bridgeport.

Metro-North was again running busses between Bridgeport and Stamford to get passengers around the section of track affected by the accident. Spokesman Aaron Donovan says the commute on the railroad was running smoothly, with no problems or delays reported with either the busses or trains Tuesday morning.

Both Metro-North and Amtrak plan to resume normal schedules on Wednesday. Crews have worked around the clock since Saturday, rebuilding the track damaged when two trains collided, leaving more than 70 people injured.

HOMELAND SECURITY GRANTS

Schumer: Over $240 million in security money to NY

NEW YORK (AP) - More than $240 million in security grant money is coming to New York, an increase of almost $34 million from the previous fiscal year, Sen. Charles Schumer said Tuesday.

The Department of Homeland Security is directing $174.2 million from Urban Area Security Initiative funds to be used in the New York City metropolitan area, the New York Democrat said. That's up almost $23 million from the last fiscal year.

Schumer said another $66.7 million is coming to New York state from the State Homeland Security Program to be allocated by state government. That's up $11.1 million from fiscal year 2012.

Homeland Security was expected to make an official announcement Tuesday morning.

Schumer said the increases reflect the reality that New York is a top target.

"New York is the nation's top terrorist target and is now being treated as such by the federal government," he said. "These significant increases in counter-terrorism funding over last year's allocations means that city and state law enforcement can continue to do the superior job they do keeping us safe."

KERRY KENNEDY

Decision due on dismissal of Kennedy case in NY

ARMONK, N.Y. (AP) - A town judge in New York is deciding whether the drugged-driving case against Kerry Kennedy should go to trial.

The North Castle judge is expected to rule Tuesday on Kennedy's motion to dismiss the charge.

Kennedy is the daughter of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the ex-wife of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. She was arrested in July after her Lexus swerved into a tractor-trailer near her home north of New York City.

Police said she failed sobriety tests.

A small amount of a sleeping drug was found in Kennedy's blood. She said she believes she accidentally took a sleeping pill that morning instead of thyroid medication.

The defense says fairness demands a dismissal. But prosecutors say dropping the charge would feed the perception that famous people are treated differently.

CAROLINE KENNEDY-JUROR

Caroline Kennedy's jury acquits NYC drug dealer

NEW YORK (AP) - The New York jury on which Caroline Kennedy served has acquitted a man of dealing crack cocaine.

Kennedy was juror No. 7 at the trial of Harlem resident Nelson Chatman.

It took the Manhattan state Supreme Court jury about one hour to find Chatman not guilty.

The only surviving child of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Kennedy is a lawyer and author. She was selected to sit on the jury last week.

Chatman's lawyer had argued there wasn't enough evidence to tie his client to the alleged crime.

FORT DRUM-COMMANDER

Ft. Drum commander tells NY lawmakers about post

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The commander of New York's largest military complex tells state lawmakers that they shouldn't take the post for granted with Pentagon budget cuts looming.

Maj. Gen. Stephen Townsend was in the state Senate on Monday for 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum Day. He was joined by other division leaders and soldiers from the Army post in northern New York.

The Watertown Daily Times reports that Townsend told senators that Fort Drum's soldiers are still active overseas and likely would continue to be so through next year, despite the continuing draw down of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

With the Army expected to reduce the number of brigades, Townsend asked legislators for their continued support of Fort Drum.

Fort Drum is home to 19,000 soldiers plus about 20,000 family members.

HEROIN BUST

$2M in drugs seized from NYC house

NEW YORK (AP) - Authorities have arrested three alleged drug dealers and seized more than $2 million worth of drugs from a Queens house.

Investigators said Monday they found three pounds of heroin and nine pounds of methamphetamine inside the East 96th Street house in the Corona section.

PREGNANT TEEN SHOT

Pregnant teenager shot, wounded in Rochester

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say a pregnant teenager has been wounded by gunfire in the same Rochester neighborhood where a young woman was fatally shot during a graduation party last week.

Police tell local media outlets that officers found the 17-year-old conscious in a yard after suffering a gunshot wound to her upper body around 3:30 p.m. Monday. She was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital. Her condition isn't known.

The shooting occurred a few blocks from where 20-year-old Kierra Mae Jones was shot and killed while attending a graduation party last Tuesday. Two other people were wounded.

Police say they're looking into whether the two shootings are related. No arrests have been reported in either shooting.

MISSING FISHERMEN

Father, son missing after fishing on NY lake

BROADALBIN, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say they're searching an upstate New York lake for a father and son who went fishing last weekend and didn't return.

The Fulton County Sheriff's Office tells local media outlets that 51-year-old Mark Richards and 24-year-old Brent Richards, both of Broadalbin, went fishing in a small boat on the Great Sacandaga Lake Saturday morning. A relative reported them missing when they didn't return.

Deputies say items from their boat were found near the shore in Broadalbin, on the southern edge of the Adirondack Park 35 miles northwest of Albany.

Police searched the lake on Sunday and Monday but didn't find the men or their boat. They plan to resume the search Tuesday morning.

NEWLYWEDS LIVING APART

Disabled NY newlyweds offered apartment

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) - A newlywed mentally disabled couple forced to live in separate New York group homes may soon be able to move in together.

According to court papers, Paul Forziano and Hava Samuels have been offered an apartment in a group home for the mentally disabled in Riverhead, on Long Island.

Forziano's mother, Roseann Forziano, told Newsday that "seeing the apartment was a thrill for them."

The apartment is attached to a group home housing eight others with similar disabilities.

If all goes well, they could move in by July 1. They were married in April and currently live three miles apart.

They weren't allowed to share a bedroom by the state-sanctioned nonprofits that run the group homes. They challenged that practice in a federal civil rights lawsuit.

The nonprofits weren't immediately available for comment.

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