Among the statewide races, the contest for state comptroller often gets little attention from voters. But there’s still lots of interest in the post itself — incumbent Tom DiNapoli faces three challengers.

DiNapoli has twice won election to the post, but he was first appointed to the position by the state Legislature in 2007, after the previous comptroller, Alan Hevesi, pleaded guilty to corruption charges.

Newlands, who was brought on board in 2015 as an executive vice president, indicates that the announcement this week that he will take over as CEO of Constellation Brands next March was all part of the succession plan.

Current CEO Rob Sands will then assume the role of executive chair.

Newlands says he’s known the Sands family and been familiar with the operation for more than 20 years, since he used to do consulting for them.

And while Newlands home is in the Chicago area, he is well acquainted with the Finger Lakes, having grown up near Corning.

“I know the upstate new York area pretty well because I spent my entire growing up days an hour-plus outside of Rochester, so I know the area pretty well as well, and we certainly expect, especially given the founding foundation right there literally on the lake, that Victor is going to continue to be the headquarters of the company.”

WXXI has produced a new documentary that unites master fabricator Jesse James with one of his heroes, the great metal sculptor Albert Paley. The two men collaborated on pieces of art, and the documentary, "Dialogue in Metal," unveils the results.

We talk to both James and Paley, and we discuss how this remarkable program came together with WXXI's own Todd McCammon and Tom Dooley.

The film debuts on WXXI-TV on November 5 at 9 p.m., and will be screened at The Little Theatre on October 26 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Both James and Paley will participate in post-screening Q&As that evening. 

This hour, we hear from Jeremy Cooney. He’s a lawyer and he’s running for State Senate in the 56th District as a Democrat. We talk to Cooney about his platform, his priorities for the district, and more.

His opponent, Senator Joe Robach, did not respond to invitations to join this discussion.

This hour, we hear from Jen Lunsford. She's a lawyer and a mother, and she's running for State Senate in the 55th District as a Democrat. We talk to Lunsford about her platform, her priorities for the district, and more.

Her opponent, Senator Rich Funke, declined to come on the program before the election.

Reporter Claudio Sanchez, who appears regularly on NPR programs like Morning Edition and All Things Considered, is taking part in the 150th anniversary kickoff at Wells College in Aurora, in Cayuga County on Thursday.

He’ll be part of a discussion on a wide range of topics, including the future of higher education in America.