“We asked questions that no one else was asking,” Common Ground Health CEO Wade Norwood said of a report his organization released Monday.

“Folks were honest with us in a way we did not expect,” he said.

The results of the survey provide the strongest evidence yet of a link between poverty and poor health outcomes in the Finger Lakes, Norwood said.

New York is facing a looming budget deficit because of rising costs and spending on health care in the state’s Medicaid program. It’s increasingly likely that the state will resort to what critics say is a fiscal “gimmick” to keep the rest of this year's and next year’s spending plans in balance.

A Geneva company, RealEats America is the $1 million winner of the Grow-NY business competition.

It was the first year for the Grow-NY food and agriculture effort which focuses on enhancing food, beverage and agriculture related industries. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the effort will help create a lasting economic impact on New York’s agribusiness.

Some members of a commission that’s creating the rules for a public campaign finance system for state elected offices are concerned that the plans being developed would be too favorable to incumbent politicians.

Members of the Fair Elections Coalition, a public campaign finance advocacy group, briefly disrupted the meeting to express their displeasure with the commission’s actions. 

“Big money out,” they shouted as the commissioner watched.

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center published new guidance Friday for doctors looking to diagnose lung injuries caused by vaping.

The article, published in the journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine, examined a series of patients who came to URMC with “respiratory failure of unknown origin” and a “history of e-cigarette or vape use.”

They found that x-rays of all the patients’ lungs showed signs of pneumonia and inflammation, but no evidence of infection. Ruling out infection as the cause of the respiratory failure allows doctors to move toward a diagnosis of a vaping injury, the researchers found.

A new state law that takes effect in January will give people accused of crimes more tools to mount a defense in court. But the state’s District Attorneys say changes to what’s known as the discovery laws will be costly and hard to implement.

Under current law, defendants don’t have a right to see a prosecutor’s evidence against them until the trail begins. This includes police reports, recordings, or results of DNA tests - evidence that, in some cases, defendants may not see for months or even years.

The National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong Museum inducted some longtime favorites during a ceremony Thursday.

The class of 2019 includes the collectible card game Magic the Gathering, Matchbox cars, and the coloring book.

Christopher Bensch, vice president for collections for the Strong, said the newest honorees were chosen from a group of finalists that included My Little Pony, Jenga, Nerf Blaster, Masters of the Universe, Care Bears, Fisher-Price Corn Popper, the top, the game Risk, and the smartphone.

Seneca Falls will be getting a big economic boost from New York state.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that the town will get $10 million in funding as part of the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul delivered the news Wednesday at the new home of the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

“It is gifted with a history that others can only dream of; what happened here, an epicenter of social movements that literally propelled our nation into a far better place,” Hochul told those gathered in Seneca Falls.