After weeks of infighting and political grandstanding, Democratic leaders in New York said yesterday that they had reached agreement on a contentious issue holding up this year’s state budget negotiations: criminal discovery.For years district attorneys have pushed for changes in state law governing the timing and scope of what evidence prosecutors must produce, which is known as discovery, before a trial. Prosecutors argued that they lacked the staffing and resources to comply with the demands and deadlines laid out in the law, resulting in serious cases being dismissed. Benjamin Oreskes and Grace Ashford report in THE NY TIMES that the D.A.’s campaign was backed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, who spent considerable political capital pushing to loosen the rules for prosecutors — even going so far as to refuse to sign any budget that would not reduce the number of criminal cases that are dismissed on procedural grounds.On Tuesday, the NYS Legislature passed Hochul’s fifth emergency spending measure to keep the state operating until a 2025-26 budget is adopted.The "extender" measure authorized $437.7 million in spending to fund state government into tomorrow. Since the 2025-26 fiscal year began, Hochul and the Legislature have approved $6.6 billion in emergency extenders to keep programs funded and most state workers paid.Michael Gormley reports in NEWSDAY that the latest pressure to seal a deal is the need for most school districts to know state school aid figures so local school district budgets can be finalized on April 22 before district votes on the budgets are held statewide on May 20.***Another federal deadline is approaching this Sunday for New York to take down congestion pricing, but MTA officials say the program is here to stay — offering new data showing a 13% reduction in cars in Manhattan’s toll zone that they say shows the program is working. Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that after Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials blew off the Trump administration’s March 20 deadline to cease charging vehicles for driving at or below 60th Street in Manhattan, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Patrick Duffy gave the MTA a 30-day extension, with the warning that "continued noncompliance will not be taken lightly."With the matter tied up in courts, MTA officials have said they won’t take down the tolls unless ordered to do so by a judge.New data released by the MTA shows that 82,000 fewer cars a day entered Manhattan’s congestion relief zone in March as compared with the historical average for the month — a reduction of 13%. That’s more than the 8% reduction when the tolls started in January.MTA figures indicate that for the full month of March, there was a reduction of 2,544,945 cars in the toll zone below 60th Street in Manhattan as compared with the historical average.MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer said, “"Congestion pricing is working. It’s an extraordinary success ... It is a generational change. Traffic is down. Quality of life is up all across the city."***Friends of The Big Duck, a nonprofit organization, celebrates the arrival of spring with the 12th annual Easter Duck Egg Hunt at Big Duck Ranch, 1012 Flanders Road (Route 24), Flanders. The free event is this coming Saturday, April 19, 12 noon sharp, so families should arrive by 11:45 a.m. Participating children must bring their own basket to carry eggs.The grass field behind The Big Duck will be dotted with filled plastic “duck eggs” that children 2 to 9 years old can easily find. To make it a safe event, the children are grouped into three separate age groups. A prize basket is awarded to “The Good Egg” in each group who discovers the special egg. The family fun will include games and a visit from the Easter Bunny.Friends of The Big Duck is the Southampton Town-appointed...

Big Duck Easter duck egg hunt this Saturday