U.S. Senator Charles Schumer today paid a visit to the new Biotech Incubator at New York Medical College in Valhalla.

(Laura Cerna in family photograph)

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer has written a letter to the American Ambassador to Spain, Alan D. Solomont, calling on him to instruct the American Embassy in Spain to provide all necessary assistance to the family of Laura Cerna as they seek justice in her death. The 49 year old Cerna, a United States citizen from Larchmont, was brutally murdered in Spain August 30.

One day after U.S. Senator Charles Schumer called on the New York State Liquor Authority to ban caffeinated alcoholic drinks in New York, a Westchester County doctor is saying such drinks are a deadly accident waiting to happen.

Dr. William J. Higgins, an Internist with Westchester Medical Practice at Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt says the combination of the two drugs is particularly insidious.

With the Indian Point nuclear power plants as a backdrop, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced in Peekskill today that the NRC will soon be enacting security improvements at nuclear power plants from around the country. Schumer says the changes are the result of an NRC audit he requested back in March aimed at identifying areas power plants can better secure their facilities against potential terrorists and prevent them from infiltrating them.

  U.S. Senator Charles Schumer was in White Plains today promising to push for the renewal of the Federal Mass Transit Tax Break which is due to expire at the end of the year.

Speaking Monday at a news conference in Dobbs Ferry, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced legislation designed to make it tougher for pedophiles to have access to young children. Schumer says current laws restricting pedophiles' access to children do not prevent them from working with kids in jobs not funded by the government. Schumer's bill would strengthen restrictions on sex offenders to keep them away from any job or volunteer activity such as dance, music lessons, or children's coaches that have substantial interaction with young children.

Senator Schumer's legislation would amend current federal law to prevent convicted and registered sex offenders from being able to accept paid or volunteer jobs that involve direct contact with minors. Currently, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 leaves sex offender employment decisions up the individual states. Said Schumer, "When it comes to the safety of the children across New York, we cannot be too careful," adding, "It's time to prevent sex offenders from gaining access to our children once and for all."

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and and the Executive Director of the New York State Bridge Authority (NYSBA) Joseph Ruggiero announced major counterterrorism upgrades at five Hudson Valley bridges, including the Bear Mountain Bridge.

Schumer says the upgrades will be completed thanks to funding from the Department of Homeland Security. A total of $3.45 million has been allocated by the DHS  for use at the Bear Mountain Bridge, the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, the Mid-Hudson Franklin D. Roosevelt Bridge, the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge and the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. In addition, the New York State Bridge Authority will contribute an additional $1.15 million to the security upgrades.

Schumer says security upgrades at the Bear Mountain Bridge are of particular importance, noting its close proximity to the Indian Point and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.