This is a victory for environmentalists who wanted to stop the fracking regulations from taking effect. The commission wanted unanimous support and Delaware’s announcement guaranteed a close vote. If New York and Delaware continue to hold out this will be postponed indefinitely.

Embattled Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, speaking in an interview with the BBC, casually mentioned that she was on a conference call with leaders of 18 US cities shortly before a wave of raids broke up Occupy Wall Street encampments across the country.

Occupy Wall Street has planned a march tomorrow from Zuccotti Park to the US Court House Building at Foley Square, specifically in protest of the looming foreclosure fraud settlement between state and federal regulators and big banks. The goal of the march is to “expose the looming cash-for-immunity deal,” where banks are poised to get a broad release from prosecution in exchange for a pittance sum for troubled borrowers, a loan modification promise on which the banks historically have not followed through.

An unusually dynamic and lively Manhattan Community Board 1 Meeting took place blocks away from Liberty Park yesterday. The Quality of Life/Financial District Committee met to deliberate over Occupy Wall Street and hear remarks from residents. The board members, which have been in support of Occupy Wall Street, have been receiving an increasing amount of complaints about the occupation.

Hearing about the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, I could not resist going down to Liberty Square one day to check it out. Much to my surprise (or perhaps not!), what I saw and the people I spoke with bore little resemblance to what has been portrayed in the media.

Your job is to be the town clerk. When two people present themselves to be obtain a marriage license, your job is to insure that they meet the requirements of the state of New York before you issue it to them. Is one of them too young? Your reply is simple: “No license for you. Come back when you’re older.” Is one of them presently married to someone else? Again, your answer is clear: “Sorry, but it’s one license at a time per customer. Come back when the old one is void.” Is one of them drunk? “Sorry, but we can’t serve you if you’ve had too much to drink. Come back when you’re sober.”

The sense of helplessness, knowing I had a lot of family in NYC was overpowering. So much so that I actually picked up the phone and started punching in the Brooklyn phone number of my mom. I needed to speak to her.

It’s never “happily ever after” for a superstar who cares about his work and respects his audience as much as Tony Bennett does. David Evanier has peeled the onion to reveal the sometimes-charming, often-raffish world of New York showbiz, and the competitive treadmill of recording for Columbia Records, people who always gravitate toward the quick buck rather than the distinguished catalog. That Tony has succeeded, and has had the best period of his career while in his 70s and 80s, is both a miracle and a great story, which David tells wonderfully.

The Markets and the Financial Media were stunned by the August Jobs report, which said there were no net jobs created in August. Whatever gains there have been in certain sectors of private industry, every parent in the country with school-age kids can tell you how a sizable chunk of those gains were erased.

Cuts to school budgets.

Serious business leaders know that poor schools today means less qualified workers tomorrow. Local chambers of commerce get it, but if you expect the US Chamber of Commerce to come out in favor of more actual spending for school districts . . . well, I’ve got an abandoned school building to sell you.

Eric Schneiderman keeps picking up support in his quest to hold a real investigation on the criminal failures in mortgage securitization and servicing. He has the support of a number of newspaper editorial boards, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which devoted its Sunday editorial to an out-of-state Attorney General: