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The Daily Record News Brief: October 29, 2008

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), Oct 29, 2008

Environmental justice grants to be given

Fifty projects statewide received 2008 Environmental Justice Community Impact Grants, according to an announcement from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis.

Ninety-two groups from throughout the state applied for funding; 50 received grant awards totaling $1,663,258. Individual awards ranged from $14,500 to $50,000.

A wide variety of projects will be supported this year, including community gardens and green roofs, air and water quality monitoring, lead poisoning prevention, urban forestry, subsistence fishing education, environmental education for urban youth, inventories of local pollution sources, and an international climate justice conference.

In Western New York, the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences and Buffalo Riverkeeper received grants of $25,000 and $50,000, respectively. The Natural Sciences group will do extensive tree planting as well as community and youth education. The Riverkeeper group plans a series of projects involving water quality and shoreline monitoring, community and youth education, and continuation of a successful project funded by a 2006 Environmental Justice grant.

The program was launched in 2006 to help local organizations with projects that address environmental and/or public health concerns. It concentrates on communities that historically have been overburdened with environmental problems. For more information visit the DEC's Web site at www.dec.ny.gov/public/333.html.> Nixon Peabody arrives in Paris

Nixon Peabody International LLP, London, this week announced its affiliation with a group of 25 lawyers in Paris.

Led by the tax and corporate lawyer Arnaud de Senilhes, Nixon Peabody's Paris team offers services in several practice areas, including in IP/IT, private equity, finance, real estate, tax, labor and litigation. De Senilhes is listed among the French lawyers in Legal 500 and Chambers, and is the only managing partner in France to have twice received the Best Managing Partner Silver award.

"By leveraging Nixon Peabody's experience and resources, we are able to offer clients a superior level of sophisticated service in regions and markets that are vital to their businesses," de Senilhes said.

Nixon Peabody has expanded its international footprint in the past two years. The firm now has offices in the U.S., London and Shanghai. The Paris office is located at 32 rue de Monceau, 75008 Paris.

Fulton County Family Court judge removed

The New York State Court of Appeals this week upheld Judge David F. Jung's removal from the Fulton County Family Court for violations of litigants' fundamental rights in custody matters.

Jung sustained misconduct charges for entering default judgments against five litigants in 2005 and sentencing them to jail without following due process. At least three of them served several months in jail on the unlawful sentences, according to a determination by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

"While we recognize that the petitioner has well served youth in his court and through his extensive community service, part and parcel of effecting the "best interests" of a child is affording that child's parents the rights inherent in the parental bond," the Commission wrote in a decision recommending Jung's removal.

Paterson wants states in on reforms

New York State Gov. David A. Paterson on Monday urged Congressional leaders to include state representation in oversight responsibilities for the implementation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA).

Additionally, Paterson also was expected to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee today at a hearing on "Economic Recovery, Job Creation and Investment in America," at which he planned to urge the federal government to take specific actions to address the national financial crisis.

In his letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner, Paterson called for states to have representation on the five-member Congressional Oversight Panel created as part of the EESA. The panel is overseeing the implementation of the Treasury's multifaceted program, including the effectiveness of its foreclosure mitigation efforts and will issue a report by Jan. 20, 2009, that assesses the current financial regulatory system and make recommendations for improvement.