Regional Briefs – August 29, 2019

Feds Clear Way For 124-Mile Gas Pipeline Over NY Objections

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Federal regulators have cleared the way for a 124-mile natural gas pipeline to move forward despite New York’s denial of a water quality permit that had blocked the project.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled Wednesday that the state Department of Environmental Conservation missed a one-year deadline when it rejected the permit in 2016.

The 30-inch-wide pipeline would run from Pennsylvania’s shale gas fields to eastern New York. Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Williams Partners appealed to federal courts after New York rejected a water quality permit over concerns for 250 streams. It appealed to FERC after losing court challenges.

NY Proposes 3-Year Timeline For Solitary Confinement Changes

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state officials have proposed a three-year timeline to phase in new rules to curtail the amount of time prisoners can stay in solitary confinement.

The proposed rule changes show that officials plan to cap solitary confinement time to 30 days by 2022. New York’s prisons agency says the changes will come with a $69 million cost in fiscal year 2020.

Leading Democrats announced a plan in June to restrict use of solitary confinement. That plan included the 30-day cap and prohibitions on putting pregnant women and adolescents into isolation.

Woman Falls Asleep In Her Parked Car, Woke To Find It Missing

HAMILTON, N.J. (AP) — Police in New Jersey say a possible carjacker apparently removed a sleeping 80-year-old woman from her parked car before stealing the vehicle and leaving her in the driveway.

Hamilton police say the woman told them she’d fallen asleep in her parked car in a driveway around 9 p.m. Wednesday, but woke to find the vehicle missing at around 4 a.m. on Thursday.

Police say the woman didn’t remember what happened and had a bruise and abrasion on her face.

Authorities found the empty vehicle Thursday afternoon in Trenton.