OLCOTT, N.Y. (AP & WXXI News)  New York officials have declared a state of emergency for the counties along Lake Ontario as water levels continue to rise. 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday directed state agencies to assist local governments and residents in responding to potential flooding in the coming days and weeks. Rising lake waters caused extensive damage in 2017, and work crews are fortifying flood-prone areas with barriers to avoid a repeat. 

(WXXI News & AP) Ed Cox, the longtime chairman of the New York state Republican Party, will step down to raise money for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign. Trump's campaign announced the move Monday.  

Erie County Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy is now poised to take over as New York GOP chairman when Cox steps down in July. 

Langworthy had launched a bid to replace Cox, who some Republicans blamed for the party's recent election losses. 

Senator Chuck Schumer says that the U.S. Senate has voted to confirm three new members of the International Joint Commission. That is the joint U.S.- Canadian regulating body that can have some impact on Lake Ontario levels.

Schumer, a New York Democrat and the Senate Minority Leader, says that the Senate has confirmed former Republican Assembly member Jane Corwin, who will be the U.S. chairwoman of the IJC, as well as nominees Robert Sisson and Lance Yohe.

Advocates for a bill that would allow terminally ill New Yorkers to end their own lives say the legislation has its best chance yet for passage in the Democratic-controlled state Legislature.

The bill would permit physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of pills to patients who are diagnosed with a terminal illness and who ask for the drugs. 

After ten months as Keuka College’s interim president, Amy Storey will be taking on the role permanently.

That announcement was made this week by  the college's Board of Trustees Chair Alan Ziegler.

Storey is the 20th person – and third woman – to lead the 129-year-old private, liberal arts college. She was named interim president on July 1, 2018, following the retirement of Jorge Díaz-Herrera.

The College instituted a national search that drew more than 100 applicants.

color:#2C2C2C">NEW YORK (AP)  The Woodstock 50 festival is back on after a judge said an ex-investor can't singlehandedly cancel the anniversary extravaganza.

“As the weather gets nicer, more people are going outside, going into the woods, going hiking, getting exposure to ticks,” Allan said. “Definitely getting more common.”

Two bills that challenge President Donald Trump and his policies are advancing in the New York State Assembly.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Democrats in his house are ready to act on a measure to amend New York’s double jeopardy laws. It would give state prosecutors the right to pursue cases against potential crimes committed in New York, even if the person is pardoned by the president.  

“There’s enough support to pass double jeopardy,” Heastie told reporters Tuesday. “It will be on the agenda next week.”

A new proposed federal law aims to stop robocalls cold.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer is a co-signer of the bipartisan proposal known as the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence, or TRACED, Act. He said the legislation would empower the federal government to fine robocallers $10,000 per call.

Opponents of bills to decriminalize prostitution in New York say it will only strengthen the worldwide sex trafficking industry and increase incidents of abuse in New York. Anti-sex trafficking groups and their allies spoke out at the state Capitol. 

Attorney Dorchen Leidholdt has represented hundreds of women who were abused by domestic violence and sex trafficking. She is co-chair of the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition.