BY MARINA VILLENEUVE The Associated Press ALBANY (AP) — New York’s highest court on Wednesday rejected new congressional maps that had widely been seen as favoring Democrats, largely agreeing with Republican voters who argued the district boundaries were unconstitutionally gerrymandered. The decision may delay New York's primary elections by as much as two months and is likely a hammer-blow to Democrats' national redistricting hopes, which leaned heavily on their ability to gerrymander New York state to maximize the number of seats they could win in the U.S. House of Representatives. The state's Court of Appeals said the Democratic-led Legislature lacked the…

NEW YORK (AP) — New York state's mask mandate that requires face coverings in all indoor public places unless the businesses or venues require COVID-19 vaccinations will be extended until at least Feb. 10, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday."We'll have a temporary extension of our business mask or vaccine policy," Hochul said at a news briefing on Long Island. The Democratic governor said the mandate, first announced Dec. 10, has been "a critical tool" in driving COVID-19 numbers down.Coronavirus infections spiked in New York around Christmas, thanks to the emergence of the highly infectious omicron variant, but have declined in…