In brief: New York politician accused of bribery

NEW YORK – Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who bent state government to his will for more than 20 years as one of New York’s most powerful and canny politicians, was arrested Thursday on charges of taking nearly $4 million in payoffs and kickbacks.

The 70-year-old Democrat was taken into custody by the FBI on federal conspiracy and bribery charges that carry up to 100 years in prison and could cost him his political seat. He was released on $200,000 bail.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Silver, a lawyer by training, lined up jobs at two firms and then accepted large sums of money over more than a decade in exchange for using his “titanic” power to do political favors. The money was disguised as “referral fees,” Bharara said.

Silver did not enter a plea. “I’m confident that after a full hearing and due process I’ll be vindicated on the charges,” said Silver, who even paused on his way out of court to sign a sketch artist’s rendering of the scene.

The arrest sent shock waves through New York’s Capitol and came just a day after Silver shared the stage with Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo during his State of the State address, as Cuomo joked that he, Silver and the Senate majority leader were the “three amigos” of state government.

Barriers set, water tested at spill site

BISMARCK, N.D. – Earthen barriers have been set up across a creek, and water was being tested Thursday, around the site of a nearly 3 million-gallon leak of saltwater generated by oil drilling, the largest spill of its kind during North Dakota’s current oil rush.

The berms were built at Blacktail Creek to prevent potentially contaminated water from flowing out of the creek and into a bigger body of water that eventually leads into the Missouri River.

Pipeline operator Summit Midstream Partners LLC and state inspectors will keep testing the soil and water at the Blacktail Creek and larger Little Muddy Creek until after the ice melts this spring, said Dave Glatt, chief of the North Dakota Department of Health’s environmental health section.

Big storm expected to hit Northeast

PHILADELPHIA – The first significant winter storm of the season is expected for the Northeast’s major cities this weekend in the form of a messy mix of rain, snow and sleet along Interstate 95, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather service said Thursday it was still too early to determine the exact track of the storm, but some areas could expect up to 7 inches or more of snow.

The storm should arrive in the Philadelphia region tonight and dump 1 to 4 inches by Saturday morning, causing dangerous road conditions, said Valerie Meola, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in New Jersey.

The fast-moving storm system will travel up the eastern seaboard before moving out to sea off New England by early Sunday, the weather service said.