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YNN is celebrating 10 years and in honor of this milestone, Megan Cruz is at the station, showing you what it's like behind the scenes and talking to all the different people who work here.

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Albany has a proud political history of being a stepping stone to Washington. Four former governors have been president, five have been vice presidents, and more than a dozen current members of Congress started by serving the state. But lately, it seems many of New York’s political players have a better chance at the Big House than the White House. YNN’s Nick Reisman shows us how state lawmakers are working hard to trade tarnish for transparency.

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ALBANY, N.Y. -- The reputation of state government has never been very good. And over these last ten years, the scores of politicians who have gone to jail, been indicted, or resigned in disgrace is countless.

“Unfortunately, if anything the perception has worsened - that Albany isn't working for the people, that corruption is all too prevalent,” said Susan Lerner, Common Cause NY Executive Director.

The litany of bad actors is a mile long and bipartisan. There's Republican former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who is being retried on corruption charges. Democratic former Senator Carl Kruger is in jail for accepting bribes. Former Comptroller Alan Hevesi is in prison for his role in a pay-to-play pension fund scheme. And of course, there's Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in disgrace as governor in 2008 after he admitted to soliciting high-priced prostitutes. There are scores more who misused member items, found loopholes in campaign finance laws or just plain stole.

“It's generally not the crime, it's generally not the issue, but it's the cover up. It's how you deal with the issue after the fact,” said Steve Greenberg, Siena College pollster.

At one point more lawmakers were actually going to jail than losing re-election. It's something that's kept prosecutors, as well as good-government advocates, busy over these last ten years.

“Being a good-government advocate means that you’re a very indomitable optimist so we believe really strongly that the system can be improved. That elected officials can effect change, but yes, there are days that it can appear frustrating,” said Lerner.

It was 2009 that reached a boiling point. Republicans joined with two Democrats, including Bronx Senator Pedro Espada, to stage a leadership coup. Inaction ground on for a month and Governor David Paterson was helpless to stop it. Voters began to pay attention.

“When we would give voters a list of issues and say what are the most important issues, ethics was always at or near the bottom of the barrel ten years ago,” said Greenberg.

There is a debate as to whether Albany is getting better. The state has passed multiple ethics laws over the years designed to tighten disclosure requirements. But now that new law, along with newly created ethics watchdog the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, is being challenged by the Vito Lopez sexual harassment scandal. Lopez, a once feared Brooklyn lawmaker, is accused of groping and harassing female staffers, who were paid off in secret settlements. Lopez's actions, along with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's decision to keep the settlement confidential, are now under investigation.

“You will always find situations where people do things wrong. You will always find situations where people in power make mistakes,” said Governor Cuomo.

But observers say it's Governor Andrew Cuomo who has raised the ethical conduct in Albany and, by extension, made what was once dubbed the most dysfunctional state government in the country, actually work.

“They've made progress. Voters are not as displeased with both houses of the Legislature and I think that's directly related to Governor Cuomo and I think that's directly related to his making ethics an issue,” said Greenberg.

Former Governor Spitzer is acutely aware of the impact governors can have in Albany.

“The governor at the end of the day is the image and face of state government and therefore gets the good and the bad” said Spitzer.

Few stories in YNN’s 10-year history evoke the powerful memories of the Ethan Allen tragedy. That day, a group of tourists - only intending a short visit to the North Country - became forever connected to Lake George. Community leaders pause each October to remember, and seven years later they say it’s the community’s response that still stands out. Brooke Selby has the story.

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LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- "It was a beautiful, calm day in Lake George," recalled Lake George Mayor Robert Blais. "It was as nice a day in October that you would ever get, and it just became I would think the darkest day in Lake George since I’ve been mayor."

Lake George Mayor Robert Blais witnessed a lot in his 42-year tenure as mayor - but this day was drastically different.

He said, "We went up to the site on Kramer Point where you could see the folks that had perished lying on a lawn of one of the homes that fronted on the lake, and of course the rescue had already been underway."

The Ethan Allen, a small tour boat owned by the Shoreline company, made a sharp turn on the lake and capsized at 3 p.m. that afternoon. The boat had a tour group of 47 passengers - all senior citizens from out of state plus a crew member.

Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan said, "The first thing I did was say a prayer. The boat had capsized. I knew that there were elderly people on the boat."

Blais said, "These folks had come to us from the Detroit, Michigan, area by bus to enjoy all of the beauty and foliage in Lake George, had gotten on that vessel and unfortunately many of them had perished."

Seven years ago, on the second of October, now retired Sheriff Larry Cleveland answered a call he’ll never forget.

"I think that when it rolled over people were simply trapped underneath and could not get out," he said. "Most folks that passed in that incident died from drowning."

Within minutes, those nearby the lake stepped up to help alongside local law enforcement.

Cleveland said, "While we were there, we were the public image. The private people were just as accountable and just as important as we were. They rescued more people than we did actually."

Even so, more than half of the passengers aboard died, and that loss was not taken lightly in the days to come by this community.

Cleveland said, "It was the biggest outpouring of community support that I had ever seen in my entire career."

People donated use of their homes, facilities and food for the survivors and their families. In the months and years following, the standard of boating regulations was challenged.

Many speculate that it was the turn the Ethan Allen made or that it could have been a wake from another boat, but actually it was the weight of all the passengers that contributed.

Cleveland said, "If I remember right it was almost two and a half tons of weight more on the boat than should have been on it. That’s incredible...put your car on it."

Boiling down to boat stability and passenger capacity, not owner negligence.

"The grand jury did two things," Hogan said. "They issued a report which made a number of legislative recommendations. They also charged the Shoreline company for not having adequate crew."

The boat was certified for 47 passengers plus a pilot and crew member for a vessel that had the stability of no more than 14 passengers. Immediately after, Governor Pataki changed the law regarding the certification for all public vessels.

Cleveland said, "I think what is more impressive to me is what happened after, and that’s the motels and the food and the planes and the travel and getting people around and making phone calls. It was just amazing."

Today, a memorial stands at Sheppard Park to honor those who were lost.

Blais said, "It was a very difficult, but it was a time I believe that Lake George stepped up to the plate and let the people know that we could do something as good as we could to be respectful."

Making sure that Lake George will never forget one of the darkest days in their history.

Nearly 10 years later, it’s still a “Funny” story. A group of high school buddies buy a horse, board a school bus, and ride them both almost all the way to a Triple Crown finish line. Sports Director Marisa Jacques looks back at the wild ride of Funny Cide.

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YNN is marking 10 years of covering the Capital Region. On Sunday we look back to 2004, when after weeks on life support, a community said goodbye to a hero. Lieutenant John Finn's passing left a tremendous void in the Albany Police Department, but also left a legacy that still lives on today. Our Lori Chung has more.

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Mention his name those who knew him, and you will receive a flood of warm memories about John Finn: a friend, a family man, a dedicated Albany Police Officer.

"He had a job inside the main building, where he didn't have to go out and patrol the streets," said James Miller, a friend. "He chose to go back because he wanted to be out with the guys, and I remember him saying that."

It was on patrol back in December 2003 that Lt. Finn responded to a report of an armed robbery on South Pearl Street. Finn was closing in on Keshon Everett who opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol. Finn was struck three times.

Finn would remain alive for the next 51 days, until he succumbed to his injuries. The region watched as his brothers and sisters in blue retired his badge.

"It was a tough time for the department," remembered Stephen Krokoff, Albany Police Chief. "For a lot of people, that was the final blow."

Nearly a decade later, Chief Stephen Krokoff, who was a patrolman at the time, remembers a police department in flux.

"We had different leadership at the time, and not everybody agreed with the way things were done," said Krokoff.

He said Lt. Finn was among them, and had used his natural and unique affinity for analyzing crime statistics to help lay the groundwork to take Albany Police Department in a different direction.

Krokoff added, "He was not a lock 'em all up, and throw away the key type of guy. He was interested in rooting through all the data to determine what's really causing the problems we're having."

As head of the Juvenile Unit, Finn secured a federal grant to study how problem oriented policing could help with bullying in high school. A close friend and former department spokesperson, James Miller, said that kind of forward thinking was typical for Finn.

"John was analyzing crime data, which we didn't really start doing until 2006, and the state didn't do it until 2005. John was doing it back in 1998," noted Miller.

But, those seeds took rot, and today, the Albany Police Department employs several crime analysts. The very first of those analysts were even hired by Finn.

"We draw on social science evidence, we apply social science methods to help police, and other criminal justice agencies to what they do better and more effectively," explained Robert Worden, John Finn Institute for Public Safety Director.

Dr. Robert Worden established the John Finn Institute for Public Safety in 2007. The UAlbany criminal justice professor paid homage to the officer, who solicited his help with that bullying study so many years ago, which took Finn's work even further.

"We just finished very recently a gang assessment for agencies in Syracuse," said Worden. "And that has formed the basis for the development for a number of strategic initiatives there."

Nearly 10 years later, Finn's impact can even be felt outside of police circles, at local hospitals that benefit from the annual blood drives that are held in his honor.

"Over the years we've collected close to 300 units of blood for somebody that's in need to give them a second opportunity at life," said Aric Aery, Albany Hudson Valley Red Cross District Director.

Finn's name is now one of many names at the State Police Officer's Memorial to the Fallen. Each of them has their own story to tell.

"The question begs it, if he was here today, would we be talking about John in the same way? I believe we all would be. We'd all be calling him chief," said Krokoff.

Unfortunately we will never know, but we do know that an intellectually gifted man, with a passion for kids, wore a badge in New York's capital city, and the region has been made a better place because of that.