Reservation Cigarettes Stay Taxless; Obama as Britney, Kerry and Malcolm X

A State Supreme Court judge dismissed a lawsuit from an upstate assemblyman that would have mandated the collection of taxes on cigarettes sold at Indian reservations. [Buffalo News]

Bill de Blasio is demanding more inspections of asbestos removal at the Public Place site. [Gowanus Lounge] 

"You can make Obama into Britney Spears, or John Kerry, or Malcolm X. I'm not sure you can make him into all three at the same time," writes James Poniewozik. [Tuned In]

John McCain's response to Barack Obama's response to his ad "sounds like a statement that was planned before Obama said anything." [Spin Cycle]

Eve Fairbanks sees Leni Riefenstahl’s influence on the McCain campaign’s anti-Obama imagery.[The Stump]

Joe Robach and Serf Maltese top Robert Harding's list of state senators likely to be unseated. [The Albany Project]

A columnist mourns the result of suburb-focused regional planning in the Rochester area. [Rochester City Newspaper]