Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in Albany with no public schedule.

There’s a special election today in the 31st Council District in Queens to fill the vacant seat of state Sen. James Sanders.

President Obama is scheduled to speak at 10:45 a.m. in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where he will again push Congress to avoid the automatic spending cuts due to take effect next month.

At 10 a.m., NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio calls for the Obama administration to put New York City at the center of a new pre-K initiative, New Settlement School, 1501 Jerome Ave., Bronx.

At 11 a.m., Sen. Tony Avella rallies to keep a beloved pet pig “Petey” from getting evicted by NYC officials. Little Bay Park entrance, 212th Street and Bell Boulevard, Queens.

NYSCOPBA President Donn Rowe joins Sen. Terry Gipson, Assemblyman Frank Skartados, Beacon Mayor Randy Casale and other officials in a press conference opposing Cuomo’s proposed closure of Beacon Correctional Facility. 11 a.m., the Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main St., Beacon.

At 11:30 a.m., Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr. presents his fourth annual “State of the Borough” address; auditorium, James Monroe Educational Campus, 1300 Boynton Ave., Bronx.

AG Eric Schneiderman is in Buffalo. He’ll appear with advocates and homeowners to detail the results of the first three months of his Homeowner Protection Program, 1 p.m., Main Place Tower, Suite 300A, 350 Main St.

At 7 p.m., Finance Services Superintendent Ben Lawsky will deliver versions of Cuomo’s State of the State and budget addresses at a meeting of Staten Island’s Community Board 2, Sea View Hospital, Lou Caravone Community Service Building, 460 Brielle Ave.

At 6:30 p.m., Community Voices Heard hosts public meeting in Poughkeepsie with federal and state elected officials to discuss issues important to low-income residents of the Hudson Valley. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, Sen. Gipson and others are expected to attend. Family Partnership Center, Auditorium, 29 North Hamilton St.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone will deliver his “State of the County” address tonight. It will focus on cutting crime and maximizing federal Sandy aid.

Headlines…

Laura Nahmias on the governor’s Socratic method of speaking: “During his two years in office, Mr. Cuomo has developed a habit of answering reporters’ queries by asking his own questions. He sometimes engages in a lengthy back-and-forth, asking four or five questions and replying in a single response.”

NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s campaign team is struggling to figure out how to promote the late Ed Koch’s support of her mayoral run, which he never formally announced before his death.

Former Bronx BP Adolfo Carrion thinks he can move the “silent majority” – the 71 percent of New Yorkers who didn’t vote in the last mayoral election – to over come the odds and win the race.

Sen. Malcolm Smith of Queens — another potential mayoral candidate — spent more than $100,000 in campaign funds last year on lodging, airfare, meals, car payments and other travel – and entertainment-related expenses.

Educators 4 Excellence plans to flood network and cable TV stations in the city with a 30-second ad calling on Albany to impose an evaluation system as soon as possible in the face of an impasse between Mayor Bloomberg and the UFT.

The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to announce today whether it will hear the case that could determine whether the Oneida Indian Nation’s historic 300,000-acre reservation still has legal standing.

Freshman Sen. Kathy Marchione is donating her $60,000-a-year pension to charity.

WNY leaders hope an announcement today calls for removal of the iconic Robert Moses State Parkway, which cuts off Niagara Falls from its waterfront.

New York already has a medical marijuana law, but it has been idle since the 1980s.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is poised to hit the lecture circuit, and is expected to fetch six figures per speech.

The House overwhelmingly approved legislation to allow the use of federal money to rebuild churches and synagogues damaged by Sandy, despite concern that such aid could violate the doctrine of separation of church and state.

New York City spent more than $20 million reimbursing parents for travel during the monthlong bus strike, according to schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.

The NY Post says Bloomberg is entitled to brag about the end of the NYC school bus drivers strike.

Newsday endorsed Schneiderman’s proposal to require disclosure for so-called “dark money.”

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner insists she has no plans to resign from her job as co-chair of the NY State Democratic Party.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., a Buffalo native, will travel to Jamestown in May to speak at the Robert H. Jackson Center on May 17.

A Pennsylvania health company has received a $1 million grant to study possible health impacts of natural gas drilling on the Marcellus shale.

Less than a year before Americans will be required to have insurance under “Obamacare”, many of its backers are growing increasingly anxious that premiums could jump, driven up by the legislation itself.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says the Federal Railroad Administration should provide a $1.5 million loan to the Port of Oswego to complete the work and continue the port’s recent growth.

Pro-life advocates want to see the details of the abortion rights bill Cuomo says he’s working on.

The Holley Fire Department’s “Squirrel Slam” fundraiser drew about 30 animal rights protesters and a heavy police presence following heated criticism of the once obscure event.

The Journal News is skeptical of Entergy’s claims that it could evacuate the area around Indian Point quickly and safely in the event of a nuclear disaster.

Since 2006, NYC’s Human Resources Administration has spent $15.6 million on audits to recover a scant $11 million in waste, according to state Medicaid Inspector General James Cox.

The DCCC brought in $6.1 million in January and ended the month with $4.6 million in the bank – that’s nearly $1.7 million larger than the NRCC’s January haul.

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