Around the State

Apr 07, 08:31 PM

Current Headlines: JFK airport shooting linked to drug dispute

NEW YORK (AP) -- A passenger in a car en route to John F. Kennedy International Airport was shot and killed by a man sitting in the back seat in what police believe was a drug-related dispute early Friday.

The gunman, wearing dress trousers with a shirt and tie, then forced the driver -- believed to be the victim's girlfriend -- to an airport terminal where he was seen catching a taxi or livery car.

Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said the couple was giving a friend a ride to JFK to catch a flight to Los Angeles.

The unidentified gunman shot Scott Richards, 34, of Queens, at about 5:30 a.m. on a section of the Van Wyck Expressway that is within the airport, police said. The gunman then told the woman to drive him to Terminal 7, where he hailed the paid ride, Coleman said.

The woman then drove to a house on 123rd Avenue in the nearby Jamaica neighborhood, where someone called police.

The victim was pronounced dead shortly before 6 a.m., Coleman said.

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Law offers tax relief for damage from floods

ALBANY (AP) -- A law that could provide tax relief to property owners who sustained significant damage from floods last summer has been signed by Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer, his office said Friday.

In June and July of 2006, severe flooding hit many areas of the state, including Central New York, the Southern Tier and the Mohawk Valley. A federal disaster was declared for 20 counties. The State Emergency Management Office estimated more than 8,600 homes were destroyed or were significantly damaged in the 20 hardest hit counties.

The Flood Assessment Relief Act of 2007 will permit those 20 counties to allow owners of damaged property to seek reductions in their assessed property value and get a break on their taxes.

Spitzer signed the law despite finding numerous shortcomings in it, including problems with retroactively assessing the value of flood damaged property.

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Don Imus apologizes for Rutgers remarks

NEW YORK (AP) -- Radio host Don Imus apologized Friday for calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy headed" and using a derogatory description of the players on his nationally syndicated program.

The National Association of Black Journalists demanded his immediate firing after the man known as "Imus in the Morning" put his foot deep in his mouth Wednesday. Imus questioned the players' looks, describing them as tattooed "rough girls." The team has eight black members.

Near the start of Friday's show, Imus said he wanted to "apologize for an insensitive and ill-conceived remark we made the other morning referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team."

NABJ President Bryan Monroe asked Thursday if Imus had "lost his mind" and called for the veteran radio host's dismissal.

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