New York Senator Kristin Gillibrand will have more than one challenger in the democratic primary next year. Manhattan's Jonathan Tasini and Ithaca oral surgeon Scott Noren have already declared, The Star-Gazette reports. Tasini is a labor activist, and won 16 percent of the vote against Hillary Clinton in the 2006 primary. Noren says he's a Democratic version of Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and will focus on health care and campaign finance reform. Nine-term Long Island House member Carolyn Maloney is attacking Gillibrand in a way that makes everyone think she will run, and Suffolk County legislator Jon Cooper has formed an exploratory committee, and may attempt to be the first openly gay U.S. Senator....A WAMC caller today called the New York State Senate a "Confederacy of Dunces" for their continuing efforts to not do the business of the people of New York. Monday, Judge Joseph Teresi ordered all 62 senators must report into the Senate chamber, at the same time, for extraordinary session at 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to Capitol Confidential. Teresi said, some could reach the conclusion that lawmakers placed, “their own interests ahead of all other citizens of this state to the benefit of their own personal and selfish interests, that those same people may also find that conduct as rude, inconsistent and egotistical.”...The Register-Star reports that Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer, R-Hillsdale and Hudson Mayor Richard Scalera have formed the City/County Homeless/Transitional Committee to study the homeless problem in Hudson and Columbia County. Baer has chosen Director of Social Services Paul Mossman, Richard Keaveney, R-Canaan, Columbia Opportunities Executive Director Tina Sharpe, Lynn Kutrki who works on homeless issues for the Department of Social Services, and Fran Reiter, who lives part-time in Columbia County and was deputy mayor for Planning and Community Relations in New York City during the first Guiliani administration. Mayor Scalera, Alderman Wanda Pertilla, D-2nd, Supervisor Rev. Edward Cross, D-Hudson 2nd, Supervisor William Hughes, D-Hudson 4th, and the citizen member, Linda Mussmann, owner of the Time and Space Limited Warehouse, and local community activist, make up the Hudson half....The Greenville Press (no web site) reports that Cairo town officials are naming scapegoats to explain why they didn't get any of the Federal stimulus money to fix their sewers. The story features the sort of finger pointing that seems to prove that Cairo is seen by other government officials as a dysfunctional town, with board members accusing each other of incompetence and meddling. The story also mentions the several lawsuits the town is facing for various actions, as well as a Comptroller's Office audit that shows, "a roughly 90 percent error rate." The sewers in Cairo have been broken for more than eight years, so the blame, it would seem, could be spread among many current and past officials.