Representatives from Syracuse University, including Chancellor Nancy Cantor, Home HeadQuarters and the Near Westside Initiative, among others, huddled under a tent in the rain this afternoon for a symbolic groundbreaking at 601 Tully St. That’s a formerly trouble-ridden rental property across from Blodgett School. It is being transformed into a coffee shop and a “multipurpose community art, writing, horticulture...

Jim Commentucci / The Post-Standard File photo. Back in May, 5/13/2010 Syracuse University students were still working with their teacher, Marion Wilson, on the design for 601 Tully St. Here John Cardone (left) and Lindsey Leonard discuss options inside the house.

Representatives from Syracuse University, including Chancellor Nancy Cantor, Home HeadQuarters and the Near Westside Initiative, among others, huddled under a tent in the rain this afternoon for a symbolic groundbreaking at 601 Tully St.

That’s a formerly trouble-ridden rental property across from Blodgett School. It is being transformed into a coffee shop and a “multipurpose community art, writing, horticulture and entrepreneurship storefront.” The effort is a project of artist Marion Wilson and the class she teaches at SU called “Social Sculpture: 601 Tully.” Café Kubal, located in Eastwood, will open another shop at 601 Tully as part of the project.

Contact Maureen Nolan at 470-2185 or mnolan@syracuse.com.

Auburn, NY -- The theft of a wallet captured by a security camera in an Auburn store has led Auburn police to ask the public’s help in tracking down a thief. A 69-year-old Auburn resident dropped her wallet Friday in the Walgreens, 150 Grant Ave., as she was walking out the door, police said. A man picked up the...

Suspect caught on tape taking a Walgreens' customer's wallet.

Auburn, NY -- The theft of a wallet captured by a security camera in an Auburn store has led Auburn police to ask the public’s help in tracking down a thief.

A 69-year-old Auburn resident dropped her wallet Friday in the Walgreens, 150 Grant Ave., as she was walking out the door, police said. A man picked up the wallet and looked like he was going to follow the owner to return it, police said.

Instead, the man walked away from the rightful owner and made no attempt to return it, police said.

The wallet was described as having a floral design and a snap. It contained her license, credit and ATM cards and cash.

The suspect was described as a black man wearing dark pants, a dark blue or black jacket and white and black sneakers.

Anyone with any information that may identify the suspect is asked to call police at 253-3231 or call Detective Christopher McLoughlin at 255-4706.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A new poll released today shows Democrat Andrew Cuomo is leading Republican Carl Paladino among likely voters as the race for New York governor enters its final month. The Siena College poll shows Cuomo was favored by 56 percent of those polled, while Paladino received 32 percent support. In New York City, Cuomo led 70 percent...

The Associated PressDemocratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo responds to questions during a news conference after receiving the endorsement of the Staten Island Borough President on Friday.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A new poll released today shows Democrat Andrew Cuomo is leading Republican Carl Paladino among likely voters as the race for New York governor enters its final month.

The Siena College poll shows Cuomo was favored by 56 percent of those polled, while Paladino received 32 percent support. In New York City, Cuomo led 70 percent to 17 percent, and he has a 54 percent to 35 percent lead in the city’s suburbs. Cuomo also leads 45 percent to 43 percent upstate, where voters are considered most motivated and turnout is expected to be heavy.

The poll released Tuesday is the first since Paladino got into in a shouting match with a New York Post reporter. A video of that encounter got attention nationwide. The reporter was repeatedly pushing Paladino to provide proof of his suggestion that Cuomo had affairs when he was married, a claim Paladino later said he couldn’t prove.

Paladino accused the Post of taking pictures of his 10-year-old daughter through the window of her home and following her, leaving the child distraught and crying for days. Col Allan, the editor of the Post, said the allegations were untrue.

Sixty-one percent of voters agreed that Paladino is, in the words of one of the poll’s questions, a “loose cannon, who doesn’t have the temperament to be governor.”

Siena’s Steven Greenberg said that with “four weeks until voters go to the polls, Cuomo remains in a very strong position to be elected New York’s next governor.”

Siena questioned 636 likely voters Sunday and Monday. The poll has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.

NY Gubernatorial Race Siena College Poll 10/5/2010

Cicero, NY - Cicero Town Supervisor Judy Boyke recently proposed a tentative 2011 budget of $10,783,188. That is up about $510,000, or 4.96 percent. The tentative budget includes three parts, a $3,040,997 town-wide general fund, a $2,666,930 part-town fund and a $5,075,261 part-town highway fund. These figures do not include special districts, such as trash, drainage, water, sewer and...

View full sizeGloria Wright / The Post-StandardCicero Town Supervisor Judy Boyke has presented her first budget since taking office in January. The tentative budget includes higher taxes.

Cicero, NY - Cicero Town Supervisor Judy Boyke recently proposed a tentative 2011 budget of $10,783,188. That is up about $510,000, or 4.96 percent.

The tentative budget includes three parts, a $3,040,997 town-wide general fund, a $2,666,930 part-town fund and a $5,075,261 part-town highway fund. These figures do not include special districts, such as trash, drainage, water, sewer and fire protection, Town Comptroller Shirlie Stuart said.

The general fund, which affects all town property owners, has a tax rate of $12.95 per $1,000 of assessed property value, Stuart said. The part-town fund has a tax rate of $18.14 per $1,000 and the highway fund has a tax rate of $42.89 per $1,000, she said.

That means the owner of a $100,000 home outside the village of North Syracuse currently assessed at $4,900 would see their town property taxes increase from $300.83 to $362.52. That’s a $61.69 increase, or 20.5 percent more than this year, Stuart said.

The owner of a $100,000 home inside the village of North Syracuse currently assessed at $4,900 would see their town property taxes increase from $33.18 to $63.43. That’s a difference of $30.28, or a 91.2 percent increase.

“Revenues were inflated last year and the past administrators took a lot of money from the fund balance so now we have less money to balance the budget,” Stuart said. “And taxes did not increase for the last four years so now we’re looking at less money in the savings account and less revenues coming in. There was no long-range planning. So what do you do now? You have to raise taxes.”

Cicero’s current budget used $444,000 from the fund balance, Stuart said. The tentative 2011 budget, which was presented to the board Sept. 22, recommends using $386,000 from the fund balance, she said.

View full sizeMike Greenlar / The Post-StandardTwo budget workshops, which are open to the public, are set to begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday and Oct. 20 at Cicero Town Hall, 8236 S. Main St., Cicero.

The adopted 2010 budget anticipated $3.7 million in revenues, but Stuart said the town will fall short of that revenue goal. For example, the town appropriated $800,000 for mortgage tax revenue, but the town expects to fall $200,000 short, she said.

Expenses — including salaries, health insurance and retirement costs — also are on the rise.

The town has budgeted $878,000 for its roughly 75 full-time employees’ health insurance costs — including $256,460.52 for 15 employees in a Teamsters union — next year. About 25 part-time town employees do not receive health benefits.

A four-year Teamsters union contract, approved Dec. 14 -- under former Town Supervisor Chet Dudzinski's administration -- requires the town to give town hall employees in the union a 3.5 percent increase in 2010, a 4 percent increase next year, a 4.5 percent increase in 2012 and a 4 percent increase in 2013, Stuart said. According to the contract, the town must pay 100 percent of the Teamsters members’ medical, dental and other employee benefits.

The town also is under contract with two other unions, whose members contribute up to 12 percent of their health benefits, Stuart said.

Boyke defeated Dudzinski, a three-term incumbent supervisor, last November and took office in January. This is her first budget.

The town board has scheduled budget workshops for 4 p.m. Wednesday and Oct. 20 at Cicero Town Hall, 8236 Brewerton Road (also known as South Main Street and U.S. Route 11), Cicero.

Syacuse, NY -- On Wednesday Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney will introduce what may be the county's slowest mammal, a baby sloth. Mahoney is set to unveil the baby Hoffman's two-toed sloth at a 10 a.m. press conference near the lion exhibit at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park, according to a press release. While sloths may be slow,...

Syacuse, NY -- On Wednesday Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney will introduce what may be the county's slowest mammal, a baby sloth.

Mahoney is set to unveil the baby Hoffman's two-toed sloth at a 10 a.m. press conference near the lion exhibit at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park, according to a press release.

While sloths may be slow, the release called on the press to be timely. "Please arrive by 9:45 a.m. to set-up," the release says. "For the well-being of the animal, we cannot wait for late arrivals."

A resident asked if the windows could be kept for historical reasons.

View full sizeGary Walts / The Post-StandardTom Bullard, head of the Scriba Water Department, displays stained glass windows that were being sold on an auction website. The windows are from a church that the town bought and turned into a community center.

Oswego, NY -- Eleven stained glass windows that used to greet the Baptist faithful have received a reprieve from being auctioned online.

Windows from the old Baptist Church of Scriba Corners were on the auction block since Sept. 20 on the Auctions International website. The auction was supposed to end at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

But Tuesday morning, Scriba Town Supervisor Kenneth Burdick received a visit from Jon Van Wert, a Scriba resident interested in historic preservation.

Van Wert asked if the windows could be removed from the auction site and kept for historical reasons. He said he was surprised to see them on the site because he and many other people in town thought they were sold years ago.

"I’m all in favor of keeping those stained glass windows in the town of Scriba," Burdick said. "We want to keep them in the town for historical purposes."

The windows, measuring 30 inches wide by 97 inches high, are not ornate like a Tiffany window. Most have floral designs and some have names of church members at the bottom.

Town of Scriba water department chief Tom Bullard decided to put them up for auction, because the windows had been sitting, dust covered, in the town pole barn for years. He said someone told him he should try an online auction site.

"Years ago, about 20 years, a church in town here moved to another building," Bullard said. "They sold the building to the town and we use it now for our community center."

View full sizeGary Walts / The Post-StandardDetail from a stained glass window that the town of Scriba was selling on an auction website. The town canceled the auction after a resident asked if they could be preserved as a historic artifact.

The stained glass windows were beautiful, Bullard said, but not very energy efficient. So new ones were put in and the stained glass ones moved to the pole barn. "There were 15 in all, and we offered all of them to the Baptist church," he said. "They took four."

Scriba historian Charles D. Young said there were two Baptist churches in town back in the 1800s — the North Scriba Baptist Church and the Baptist Church of Scriba Corners.

When the two churches merged and built a new church on Route 104 about 20 years ago, the Scriba Corners building was sold to the town.

The auction site received 45 bids on the stained glass windows. Bidding began at $10 and the final bid was $4,154. There were 11 different bidders, including the Auburn Auction Gallery.

Contact Debra J. Groom at dgroom@syracuse.com, 470-3254 or 251-5586.

Also, Race to the Top funds concern Central New York school districts, and restaurant openings, closing are in the news.

View full sizeGyoergy Varga / MTI, via APAn aerial view of the red mud covering streets and neighborhood of Kolontar, 167 kms southwest of Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday. The Monday rupture of a red sludge reservoir at an alumina plant in nearby Ajka sent more than one million cubic meters of poisonous chemical sludge to inundate several villages. The flood of toxic mud killed killed at least four people and injured more than one hundred, with some people still missing.

From The New York Times:

The Hungarian government declared a state of emergency in several towns in the southwest of the country on Tuesday, a day after a sludge reservoir at an aluminum production plant burst its banks. At least four people were killed and more than 120 were injured, government officials said.

“People here speak of a mini tsunami,” said Gyorgy Bakos, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Directorate, who was close to the scene of the accident.

In addition to the dead, five people are missing, and a total of 7,000 residents were affected by the spill. About 60 people were being treated in hospitals, according to the National Directorate General for Disaster Management.

» Read the story: Toxic Sludge Floods Several Hungarian Towns [The New York Times]
» Hungary Toxic Spill Kills Four, State of Emergency Declared [Business Week]
» Hungary Prime Minister: sludge spill may be due to human error [Reuters]
» Toxic Red Sludge Spill From Hungarian Aluminum Plant 'An Ecological Disaster' [NPR]
» Hungary government suspends production at MAL Zrt-agency [Reuters]

In other news:

» Race to the Top allocations announced for school districts statewide [WSYR-TV Channel 9]

» Policy changes on Race to the Top funds worry Northern New York schools [Watertown Daily Times]

» Popular local restaurant, Colorado Mining Co. in Salina, in foreclosure [CNYcentral.com]

» Report finds one-third of Binghamton property is tax exempt [pressconnects.com]

» Work begins on damaged Chittenango church [centralny.ynn.com]

» Downtown Syracuse welcomes new restaurants [WSYR-TV Channel 9]

View full sizeBela Szandelszky / APA Hungarian soldier wears chemical protection gear as he walks through a street flooded by toxic mud in the town of Devecser, Hungary, on Tuesday. Seven towns near near the Ajkai Timfoldgyar alumina plant in the town of Ajka, 100 miles southwest of Budapest, were flooded when a red sludge reservoir ruptured.

Syracuse, NY -- A partnership of Say Yes to Education and the Seattle based Cascade Consulting Group will handle the search for a new Syracuse school superintendent, the school board decided late this afternoon. Say Yes to Education is a nonprofit national foundation that is working with the district and Syracuse University to improve the city's schools.The district will pay...

Syracuse, NY -- A partnership of Say Yes to Education and the Seattle based Cascade Consulting Group will handle the search for a new Syracuse school superintendent, the school board decided late this afternoon.

Say Yes to Education is a nonprofit national foundation that is working with the district and Syracuse University to improve the city's schools.The district will pay Cascade $30,000 to do the job and Say Yes will cover any other expenses associated with the search, according to school board President Richard Strong.

Say Yes and Cascade will seek out candidates for the superintendent's job and bring their names to the school board, which does the hiring.

The board advertised for proposals from firms that wanted the job and received two, Strong has said. They were from the Say Yes-Cascade partnership and the Illinois based head-hunting firm of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates. That firm offered to do the job for $22,500 plus expenses, which last time around pushed the cost to about $50,000, Strong said.

Hazard conducted the last three superintendent searches for the district. One reason the board went with Say Yes and Cascade was to have “fresh eyes” on the job, Strong said. Also, Say Yes has a better knowledge of the district’s needs than the other candidate, and Say Yes – Cascade proposed a more thorough and detailed vetting process for candidates, he said.

The next step for the board is to set a timetable for the search process, Strong said. Superintendent Daniel Lowengard’s contract expires at the end of June.

Contact Maureen Nolan at 470-2185 or mnolan@syracuse.com.

» Read a previous story about Say Yes's interest in the superintendent's search.

Oswego, NY -- Oswego County residents will see their county taxes go down slightly if the county legislature approves the county budget proposed for 2011. The legislature must approve a spending plan by Dec. 20. Standing committees will review parts of the budget particular to the departments they oversee during October and November. The committees may make recommendations for changes...

Oswego, NY -- Oswego County residents will see their county taxes go down slightly if the county legislature approves the county budget proposed for 2011.

The legislature must approve a spending plan by Dec. 20. Standing committees will review parts of the budget particular to the departments they oversee during October and November. The committees may make recommendations for changes to the Finance and Personnel Committee for its Dec. 7 meeting.

A public hearing on the budget is Dec. 16.

County Administrator Philip Church presented his proposed budget Tuesday to Finance and Personnel. No one asked questions about the proposed spending plan.

The committee wants the time to review the proposal thoroughly before asking questions, said its chairman, Arthur Ospelt, R-Pennellville.

Church said this was the toughest budget year since he became administrator in 2007. The state has thrust more mandates on the county without money to pay for the mandates and has eliminated state funding for some programs, he said.

For example, state aid was cut for the public nursing program — $268,000 the county will have to pick up. There are more mandates for running the jail, which will cost the county an additional $496,000, Church said.

But he said his goal was to keep taxes at no increase and his proposed plan "will be the seventh year that the tax rate in Oswego County is not increased and the second consecutive year the rate has decreased."

The $189,363,300 budget plan for 2011 is about $4 million higher than the 2010 budget. The tax rate is $7.07 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, down from $7.16 per $1,000 in 2010.

For a house assessed at full value for $80,000, that is a savings of $7.20 for the year.

Some areas of savings include decreases in workers’ compensation and education and transportation costs for children with special needs, savings of about $953,000 by delaying hiring of personnel, and reduced foster care costs. Meanwhile, the full value of Oswego County property increased by $45 million.

The proposed budget includes 3 percent raises for all legislature members. They gave up their raises last year. 

Contact Debra J. Groom at dgroom@syracuse.com, 470-3254 or 251-5586.

Albany, NY -- School districts around Central New York will receive more than $8 million in state Race-to-the-Top grants. The grants, announced last week in Albany, come from $700 million the state received in August, part of a federal $3.4 billion round of grants. New York City will receive more than $256 million of the grants, the state Department of...

Albany, NY -- School districts around Central New York will receive more than $8 million in state Race-to-the-Top grants.

The grants, announced last week in Albany, come from $700 million the state received in August, part of a federal $3.4 billion round of grants.

New York City will receive more than $256 million of the grants, the state Department of Education said.

In Central New York, the Syracuse City School District leads the list with a grant of $3.9 million.

Here’s how much area school districts will receive, according to the state department of education:

Altmar-Parish-Williamstown: $83,697
Auburn: $362,353
Baldwinsville: $139,085
Brookfield: $26,598
Canastota: $72,226
Cato-Meridian: $66,953
Cazenovia: $31,219
Central Square: $175,751
Chittenango: $69,166
DeRuyter: $29,436
East Syracuse-Minoa: $124,978
Fabius-Pompey: $24,463
Fayetteville-Manlius: $29,676
Fulton: $244,532
Georgetown-South Otselic: $26,562
Hamilton: $44,794
Hannibal: $127,463
Jamesville-DeWitt: $62,955
Jordan-Elbridge: $58,138
LaFayette: $25,235
Liverpool: $270,634
Lyncourt: $28,205
Madison: $26,666
Marcellus: $37,417
Mexico: $125,695
Moravia: $50,353
Morrisville-Eaton: $57,030
North Syracuse: $323,406
Oneida: $137,529
Onondaga: $34,453
Oswego: $317,580
Phoenix $109,720
Port Byron: $59,788
Pulaski: $68,229
Red Creek: $72,634
Sandy Creek: $69,236
Sherburne-Earlville: $82,444
Skaneateles: $35,113
Solvay: $93,986
Southern Cayuga: $30,101
Stockbridge Valley: $25,521
Syracuse$3,913,301
Tully: $36,937
Union Springs: $37,763
Vernon-Verona-Sherrill: $80,023
Weedsport: $33,267
West Genesee:$110,315
Westhill: $35,064

The Race to the Top initiative is part of the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama early last year.

New York is one of nine states that qualified for the round of grants. The others include Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island. The District of Columbia was also chosen.

Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.

ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis man who federal agents say helped smuggle nearly 29 million cigarettes from Missouri to Illinois to profit from differences in their sales taxes on smokes has been indicted on more felony counts. A federal grand jury has charged Ghalib Shahjamaluddin, 43, with two counts of knowingly possessing, shipping, transporting and distributing contraband cigarettes, as...

ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis man who federal agents say helped smuggle nearly 29 million cigarettes from Missouri to Illinois to profit from differences in their sales taxes on smokes has been indicted on more felony counts.

A federal grand jury has charged Ghalib Shahjamaluddin, 43, with two counts of knowingly possessing, shipping, transporting and distributing contraband cigarettes, as well as two felonies claiming he knowingly trafficked the black-market smokes without keeping government-required records.

The indictment replaces a federal complaint filed last month that accused the cigarette wholesaler with a smuggling-related conspiracy count.

Authorities claim Shahjamaluddin paid an undercover investigator $4.3 million for 144,000 cartons of contraband cigarettes from Missouri — home to the nation’s lowest cigarette tax — and sold them in neighboring Illinois, where the per-pack state tax is six times higher. Shahjamaluddin often sold the smokes around Chicago for the going price — and made a hefty profit by pocketing the difference, investigators say.

Shahjamaluddin’s profits were poured back into his smuggling operation when he wasn’t sending tens of thousands of dollars to India, according to an affidavit by Lissa Jordan, a Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent, filed with last month’s criminal complaint.

Shahjamaluddin, the only person charged in the scheme so far, remains jailed without bond at the request of the U.S. government, which considers him a flight risk if freed and a threat to obstruct prosecution or injure or intimidate potential witnesses or jurors. A message left Tuesday with Burton Shostak, one of Shahjamaluddin’s attorneys, was not immediately returned.

Jordan, in her affidavit, described Missouri as rife for such trafficking due to the state’s 17-cents-a-pack tax rate for cigarettes. Illinois’ tax is 81 cents more. Court papers don’t specify how much Shahjamaluddin supposedly profited, though the government’s efforts to quell big-money trafficking have been long-standing.

In January, the AP reported that during the previous three years undercover ATF agents in Virginia funneled more than 250 million cigarettes onto the nation’s streets through black market sales targeting smugglers. The stings had yielded about five dozen federal arrests.

The Department of Justice, the ATF’s parent agency, has estimated that federal, state and local governments lose out on $5 billion annually in tax revenue from cigarettes sold through illegitimate channels.

Cigarettes are deemed contraband if the packs don’t bear state tax stamps in the jurisdiction where they are sold. Shahjamaluddin, who according to court documents owns Cheap & Cheap in St. Louis County, often accepted cigarettes from an undercover agent that he knew had fake Missouri tax stamps, Jordan wrote.

Shahjamaluddin was indicted last week on the same day a Chicago man admitted in federal court in East St. Louis, Ill., that police caught him with $1,550 in bogus $50 bills. Katrell Irvin acknowledged in court the counterfeit bills were to buy large amounts of cigarettes in Missouri that he intended to take back to Chicago.

CONCORD, N.H. — An advocacy group led by former New York Gov. George Pataki has begun running television ads in New Hampshire and New York attacking Democratic supporters of the new health care reform law. Pataki, a Republican who left office in 2006, said last month that Revere America would target about a dozen Democrats around the country. The first...

CONCORD, N.H. — An advocacy group led by former New York Gov. George Pataki has begun running television ads in New Hampshire and New York attacking Democratic supporters of the new health care reform law.

Pataki, a Republican who left office in 2006, said last month that Revere America would target about a dozen Democrats around the country. The first three are Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, who is being challenged by Republican Frank Guinta (GIHN’-tah) as she seeks a third term in New Hampshire’s 1st District, Ann McLane Kuster, who faces Republican Charlie Bass in the race for New Hampshire’s open 2nd District seat, and New York Rep. John Hall, a two-term incumbent running against Republican Nan Hayworth in the 19th District north of New York City.

The television ads claim the health care law Shea-Porter and Hall voted for and Kuster supports will raise costs and take away an individual’s right to choose his or her doctor. The group said it spent about $1 million on the New Hampshire ads and $350,000 in New York.

Kuster’s spokesman, Neil Sroka, countered that as a former six-term congressman, Bass helped create problems in the nation’s health care system. “So it is no surprise that the out-of-state special interests who have been profiting off of this broken system are trying to send him back to Washington to prevent any real change,” Sroka said. “We can certainly improve the health care reform that was passed last year, but going back to the politicians and policies that got us to where we are today is a recipe for disaster.”

“This is a classic example of an extreme outside organization trying to mislead New Hampshire voters,” said Shea-Porter’s spokeswoman, Jamie Radice. “Just like Frank Guinta’s campaign, they hide where the money comes from and distort the facts.”

She was referring to questions that have dogged Guinta about his personal finances after he amended a disclosure form to list a previously unreported bank account holding between $250,000 and $500,000. Guinta updated the form after lending his campaign $245,000, raising questions about where the money came from. He has said it was a simple mistake.

ALBANY, N.Y. — A Democratic legislator and a Republican prosecutor vying to become New York’s next attorney general have muscled up their campaigns with more money and big-name endorsements ahead of a debate set for Friday. Republican Daniel Donovan, the Staten Island district attorney, has a $1,000-a-head fundraiser scheduled for Oct. 25 in Manhattan, with New York City Mayor Michael...

ALBANY, N.Y. — A Democratic legislator and a Republican prosecutor vying to become New York’s next attorney general have muscled up their campaigns with more money and big-name endorsements ahead of a debate set for Friday.

Republican Daniel Donovan, the Staten Island district attorney, has a $1,000-a-head fundraiser scheduled for Oct. 25 in Manhattan, with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former mayors Rudy Giuliani and Ed Koch and former Gov. George Pataki expected, campaign spokeswoman Virginia Lam said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, State Sen. Eric Schneiderman has New York’s most popular Democrat, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, and the well-respected former Attorney General Robert Abrams in his corner.

Those endorsements and a load of cash have both campaigns primed for the debate to be carried live online Friday and broadcast on television Sunday.

Schneiderman, 55, reported raising more than $312,000 in the past week, with $1 million on hand for campaigning.

Donations included $50,000 from the Colorado-based Democratic Attorneys General Association and $25,000 from a Pennsylvania-based law firm known for class-action shareholder suits, Barroway Topaz Kessler Meltzer & Check.

Donovan, 53, reported raising more than $414,000 since his last required report in mid-July. “We will be very competitive through the end of the campaign,” Lam said.

Donovan, who’s running on both the Republican and Conservative Party lines, reported $444,000 on hand and receiving $10,000 from former Republican Sen. Alfonse D’Amato. Other donations included $30,000 from New York real estate mogul Peter Kalikow and $25,000 from Florida-based Yankee Global Enterprises, which owns the New York baseball team.

Donovan’s financial disclosure reports show he has retained Giuliani’s law firm for legal services, paying $13,500 in August and a $5,000 retainer in July. Lam said that’s for attorney Larry Levy, his campaign counsel. On Monday, Donovan was endorsed by Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy.

The attorney general’s office, with more than 600 lawyers, defends the state in lawsuits, protects consumers, files civil suits, monitors charities and sometimes conducts investigations and prosecutions.

Schneiderman campaign spokesman James Freedland noted that Schneiderman has raised more than $5 million so far and, after winning a five-way primary, still has resources to win a general election.

Donovan noted that Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, who endorsed Schneiderman after losing to him in the primary, later withdrew her endorsement because it conflicted with the ethics code for district attorneys that says they will not endorse candidates.

Donovan, who has cited that rule in declining to endorse Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, is a career prosecutor who promises to target corruption in Albany and root out abuse if he’s elected.

Schneiderman, a state legislator for 12 years who gave up his private law practice, has promised to target corruption and take further steps to protect investors from Wall Street wrongdoing.

They are scheduled to debate for an hour starting 2 p.m. Friday at the WABC studio in New York City. It can be watched live at 7online.com and will be broadcast Sunday at 11 a.m. on Channel 7 in New York City, which may be seen elsewhere on satellite and cable networks, according to station political producer Seung Suh.

Cicero Town Supervisor Judy Boyke has proposed a tentative 2011 budget of $10,783,188, which is up about $510,000 or 4.96 percent from last year's budget. It didn't take long for syracuse.com users to start commenting, noting that higher taxes is what is driving business and employees to move out of state. One syracuse.com user, Cicero2112, couched her criticism in...

View full sizeMike Greenlar / The Post-StandardTwo budget workshops, which are open to the public, are set to begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday and Oct. 20 at Cicero Town Hall, 8236 S. Main St., Cicero.

Cicero Town Supervisor Judy Boyke has proposed a tentative 2011 budget of $10,783,188, which is up about $510,000 or 4.96 percent from last year's budget.

It didn't take long for syracuse.com users to start commenting, noting that higher taxes is what is driving business and employees to move out of state. One syracuse.com user, Cicero2112, couched her criticism in numbers:

"$256,460 for health insurance on 15 people. Lets do a little math..... $256,460/15 = $17,097 per person. $17,097/52 = $328.79 per week. $328.79/40 = $8.22 per hour. I would be willing to bet there are more benefits than health insurance. Maybe the town could reduce the number of employees, cut benefits, cut non essential department spending, and reduce taxes. It seems that maybe a consultant, lawyer, or accountant should negotiate on behalf of the town."

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Syracuse, NY -- At Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Syracuse Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Senate candidate Joe DioGuardi said he wasn’t riding his daughter’s coattails. Just the same, as he introduced himself to lunchtime patrons, blank stares melted when he invoked the name of Kara DioGuardi — a former “American Idol” judge. “Now you know how to pronounce my name,” he said, again...

Syracuse, NY -- At Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Syracuse Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Senate candidate Joe DioGuardi said he wasn’t riding his daughter’s coattails. Just the same, as he introduced himself to lunchtime patrons, blank stares melted when he invoked the name of Kara DioGuardi — a former “American Idol” judge.

“Now you know how to pronounce my name,” he said, again and again.

DioGuardi, the Republican and Conservative candidate, stopped earlier at Rural/Metro Medical Services in Syracuse.

Incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand made a campaign stop in Syracuse Tuesday at SRCTec in Cicero.

Both candidates made their pitches at separate Post-Standard editorial board meetings.

DioGuardi, a former congressman (1985-1989) from Westchester County, made his case as a dedicated public servant. He touted his role saving Albanians from slaughter in the Serbian war, said he had made 30 trips there as a private citizen, and referred to himself as “in part, the father of Kosovo.”

A certified public accountant, he said he would take “a sharp pencil to Washington” to “keep spending on a short leash.” He decried the multitrillion-dollar national deficit, which he said is leading the nation toward disaster.

Pressed on how he would reduce the deficit, he said it would not be through higher taxes. “Let’s be inventive,” he said. “Let’s come up with something inventive that we can produce here.”

He called for scaling back and “redefining” federal government — for example, getting the federal government out of educational funding. He said he would not cut or privatize Social Security or Medicare.

Like DioGuardi, it is Gillibrand’s first time running for the Senate seat. She was appointed to the Senate by Gov. David Paterson when Hillary Rodham Clinton was appointed secretary of state. Gillibrand was twice elected to the U.S. House, serving from 2007-2009.

Gillibrand noted that while in Congress, she bucked the majority of her party by voting against the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which helped financial institutions, because the law did not restrict issuing dividends, executive bonuses or lending requirements.

Recently, she voted for the comprehensive health care overhaul and a $30 billion small-business lending bill. She pushed unsuccessfully to end the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy barring those who are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual from military service, and said she expects the bill could pass in December.

Gillibrand has a clear financial advantage. As of Tuesday, she raised $11.2 million and had $4.5 million in the bank. DioGuardi raised $1.5 million with $946,000 left.

Contact Dave Tobin at dtobin@syracuse.com or 470-3277.

Indicates ramp or road restrictionsIndicates ramp or road closures Onondaga County Interstate 81: View I-81Roadmap in a larger map Click map markers for details on the following construction news: • Northbound onramp from Almond/Harrison streets closed. All times until Saturday, Oct. 16. Detours: To northbound I-81: Follow Almond Street to Erie Boulevard East. Turn left and follow to State Street....

Indicates ramp or road restrictions

Indicates ramp or road closures

Onondaga County

Interstate 81:

View I-81Roadmap in a larger map

Click map markers for details on the following construction news:

• Northbound onramp from Almond/Harrison streets closed.

All times until Saturday, Oct. 16.

Detours:

To northbound I-81: Follow Almond Street to Erie Boulevard East. Turn left and follow to State Street. Turn right on State Street and go to Willow Street. Turn left on Willow Street to Pearl Street. Follow to I-81 ramp.

To westbound I-690: Follow Almond Street to Erie Boulevard East (Route 5). Turn left and follow signs for Route 5 through downtown (Erie Boulevard does not go through). At Franklin Street, turn left and follow to Erie Boulevard West. Follow to West Street Arterial north and follow signs for westbound I-690.

To eastbound I-690: Follow Almond Street to Erie Boulevard East. Turn left and follow to McBride Street. Turn right on McBride and follow to eastbound I-690.

• Reduced to one lane northbound from Adams Street to I-690.

Until Saturday, Oct. 16.

• Reduced to one lane southbound from Adams Street to Castle Street.

Until Saturday, Oct. 16.

• Southbound closed to all traffic at Adams/Harrison streets.

7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 2. Detour: Exit at Harrison Street, follow road under bridge (Almond Street) to I-81 south entrance ramp.

• Reduced to two lanes in each direction over Oneida Lake outlet.

Until Nov. 30. For bridge repairs.

Interstate 690:

View I-690Roadmap in a larger map

Click map markers for details on the following construction news:

• Westbound reduced to one lane at Catherine Street in Syracuse.

9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 6.

• Eastbound ramp to I-81 south closed.

All times until Oct. 22. Detour: Take West Street exit, follow to Shonnard Street. Turn left on Shonnard Street to Adams Street, follow to I-81 south.

• Westbound onramp from Farrell Road/Route 48 closed.

All times until Oct. 15. Detour: Take State Fair Boulevard to Jones Road. Follow to entrance ramp to I-690.

West Street bridge reconstruction:

View ErieBoulevardbridge in a larger map

Click map markers for details on the following construction news:

• Erie Boulevard bridge over West Street closed.

Until Nov. 15. For bridge reconstruction. Detour: Going westbound, take West Genesee Street (Route 5) to Geddes Street, turn left and follow to Erie Boulevard. Going eastbound, turn left of Plum Street and follow to West Genesee Street (Route 5) and follow to Franklin Street.

• Northbound West Street offramp to westbound Erie Boulevard closed.

Until Nov. 15. For bridge reconstruction.

West:

View OnondagaWestRoadmap in a larger map

Click map markers for details on the following construction news:

• Benson Road in Skaneateles closed between Lacy Road and Route 38A.

All times from Wednesday, Sept. 8 to Friday, Oct. 22. For culvert replacement. Detour: Going southbound, turn left on Lacy Road to Route 359. Turn right and follow to Route 38A. Turn right again and follow Route 38A back to Benson Road. Reverse the route for northbound traffic.

Cayuga County

View CayugaCountyRoadmap in a larger map

Click map markers for details on the following construction news:

• Route 90 reduced to single lane for both directions.

Until Oct. 16. For bridge replacement.

Other traffic links:

• Check out area real-time traffic cameras.

• Compare the lowest CNY gas prices online.

• Route 298 closed through Cicero Swamp due to flooding

North Syracuse, NY - A state appeals court has upheld the village of North Syracuse’s decision to fire a former codes officer accused of sexual harassment. Phil Drury was fired last September following a Civil Service disciplinary hearing. Drury initiated legal action challenging his termination as the village codes enforcement officer and fire marshal. In a ruling Friday, the...

View full sizeFile photo by John Berry / The Post-Standard (2004)Former North Syracuse Codes Enforcement Officer Phil Drury poses in his office shortly after he was hired in 2004. The village fired Drury last year.

North Syracuse, NY - A state appeals court has upheld the village of North Syracuse’s decision to fire a former codes officer accused of sexual harassment.

Phil Drury was fired last September following a Civil Service disciplinary hearing.

Drury initiated legal action challenging his termination as the village codes enforcement officer and fire marshal.

In a ruling Friday, the state Supreme Court Appellate Division in Rochester decided the village’s action was supported by “substantial evidence.”

“We further conclude that, under the circumstances of this case, the penalty of termination of employment does not constitute an abuse of discretion as a matter of law,” the court wrote.

Drury said Tuesday that he hadn’t seen the appellate court’s decision. His lawyer, D. Jeffrey Gosch, could not be reached for comment.

Drury, who began working for the village in 2004, was suspended without pay in December 2008 following the allegations of sexual harassment.

Three women who accused Drury of sexual harassment were not village employees.

“The village board deems that the conduct alleged to have occurred and as set forth in the charges and specifications is improper, inappropriate and unbecoming of an officer in Mr. Drury’s position as codes enforcement officer and fire marshal,” according to a resolution issued by the board in early 2009.

Drury has said the charges are false.

After the Civil Service hearing, a hearing officer recommended that Drury be dismissed. The board agreed with the decision and fired Drury on Sept. 10, 2009.

Catie O’Toole can be reached at cotoole@syracuse.com or 470-2134.

Seniors enrolled in New York’s popular EPIC prescription program, including more than 15,000 in Central New York, will have to jump through extra hoops to get their drugs covered under changes that took effect Oct. 1. EPIC — short for Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage Program — is no longer automatically covering a drug when an EPIC member’s Medicare Part...

David Lassman/The Post-Standard, file photo, 2000 Wegmans pharmacy technician Leanne Maracle (left) gives a prescription to customer Patine Ryu, of Fayetteville, at the DeWitt grocery store. At the end of the counter is another pharmacy technician, Loretta Miller. New rules will require senior citizens, pharmacists and doctors to jump through more hoops to fill prescriptions rejected by Medicare Part D plans.

Seniors enrolled in New York’s popular EPIC prescription program, including more than 15,000 in Central New York, will have to jump through extra hoops to get their drugs covered under changes that took effect Oct. 1.

EPIC — short for Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage Program — is no longer automatically covering a drug when an EPIC member’s Medicare Part D prescription plan denies coverage. EPIC will only cover the prescription if the EPIC member and his or her doctor appeal the Part D plan’s denial.

The change, approved by state lawmakers, is designed to save the state money. There are more than 320,000 state residents enrolled in EPIC.

“We don’t like the Legislature and the governor tinkering with EPIC,” said Bill Ferris, a state lobbyist with AARP. “But we are satisfied that with these changes, under no circumstances should an EPIC enrollee leave the pharmacy counter without their drugs.”

Since 2007 the state has required most seniors with EPIC to join a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. Under the arrangement, Part D provided the primary coverage and EPIC paid for prescriptions when Part D denied coverage.

Here’s how it works under the new procedure:

If a Part D plan denies coverage, the pharmacist must call the doctor to ask if an alternate drug covered by the Part D plan can be prescribed. If there is no alternative, the doctor must contact EPIC to tell the program he or she will help the member appeal.

The doctor will then get authorization for a temporary 90-day supply. If the doctor cannot be reached, the pharmacist can call EPIC and get approval for a three-day emergency supply.

If the appeal is successful, the Part D plan will pay first and EPIC and the member will pay the remaining cost. If the appeal is unsuccessful, EPIC will cover the drug as the primary payer.

If the appeal takes more than 90 days, the EPIC enrollee will get another 90-day supply. “At no time during the appeals process will the senior be without the drug,” Ferris said.

Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center, a national consumer group, said his organization has not heard any consumer complaints about the change yet. “We will monitor it to see that it does not lead to a lack of access to drug coverage over the long term,” Baker said.

EPIC will continue to cover drugs categorically excluded from Part D coverage, such as benzodiazepines and barbiturates. It also will continue to provide coverage for members during the Part D coverage gap known as the “doughnut hole.”

The changes in EPIC make it more important than ever for seniors to be careful when choosing a Part D plan, Baker said. The enrollment period begins Nov. 15. People need to make sure the plans they choose cover the drugs they take and don’t impose restrictions that could trigger a denial, he said.

James T. Mulder can be reached at 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com.

Noah Felice also has a record, although his misdemeanor convictions do not prevent him from running for office.

View full sizeMike Greenlar / The Post StandardWhen Noah Felice registered to vote in Oswego County, he gave 1744 State Route 49 in Constantia as his address. But at that address is a red barn structure with at least two businesses, including a dog groomer and tanning salon.

Constantia, NY -- Noah Felice is running for town judge in Oswego County. His criminal record appears to be the least of his worries.

Felice, a private investigator who says he was once rescued by aliens, lives in the town of Manlius. He’s on the ballot for town judge in Constantia, 20 miles away in Oswego County.

He got on the ballot in August by listing his address as 1744 state Route 49, Constantia. That address houses an excavating company, a dog-grooming business and a tanning salon. But no home or apartment.

And the people who work at that address say they’ve never seen Felice there.

Last month, he contacted Richard Wicks about renting an apartment in Constantia, Wicks said. Felice told him he wanted to pay half the rent because he wasn’t planning on living there, Wicks said.

Wicks wouldn’t go for that, but he asked Felice if he wanted to rent a desk for $100 at the commercial building at 1744 Route 49, said Wicks, who owns the excavating company and manages the building.

Felice told him he did, but he never signed a lease, Wicks said. And even if Felice had, the office space is not a home, Wicks said.

Conondaga County Sheriff's DepartmentNoah Felice in December 2009

Felice, 59, used that address to register to vote as a Democrat in Oswego County on Sept. 21, according to his voter registration card. He signed an affidavit saying the information on the card was true and that if it was not, he would be guilty of a felony that carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

“He’s never been in here, and I’ve never talked to him,” said Deona Presseau, owner of Dee’s Pet Grooming in the one-story building on Route 49.

“He just wanted to have an address,” said Wicks, who spoke with Felice two or three times on the phone and met him once at one of Wicks’ apartments. “That’s when I got suspicious.”

Wicks asked Felice if he needed someone to answer the phone for him at the office, Wicks said. “He told me, point blank, ‘Rick, I don’t even want a key to the building,’ ” Wicks said.

Felice is registered to vote in both Oswego and Onondaga counties, according to the boards of election in each county. He voted in the Democratic primary in Onondaga County Sept. 14, according to Elections Commissioner Helen Kiggins. That was three weeks after a Constantia town caucus nominated Felice to run for the judge’s seat in Oswego County.

His voting in an Onondaga County primary after getting certified to run for office in Oswego County could be grounds for disqualifying Felice from the race, Kiggins said.

A reporter dropped in Sunday afternoon at Felice’s Manlius home, at 5421 Springview Drive. Felice was there but closed the door on the reporter after saying he was dropping out of the race and would not be on the ballot.

Felice said he has to pull out because he has surgery scheduled on his leg. However, his last chance to decline the nomination was Sept. 24, said Dick Atkins, the Oswego County elections commissioner. “He’s on the ballot, and he’s not going to get off,” Atkins said.

In a phone interview Sunday, Felice wouldn’t say who nominated him at the Aug. 25 Democratic town caucus in Constantia. “I know a lot of people,” he said. “A lot of people, contrary to the bad stuff, know I’m a good person and trust my experience.”

He said he would call the Oswego Board of Elections on Monday to make sure he was off the ballot. Felice did not call the board, Atkins said.

Felice said he had moved to Oswego County, but was now in the process of moving back to Manlius. He would not be more specific about the Oswego County residence. The people who nominated him were aware of his criminal record, he said.

Michael Kunzwiler, the Oswego County Democratic Party chairman, said Felice approached party officials a couple months ago about running for the judge’s seat, and they told him to go through the town caucus process. He also put in his name for the Democratic endorsement for sheriff in June and lost, Kunzwiler said.

Kunzwiler said he was unaware that Felice had been endorsed in Constantia. Kunzwiler also said that he didn’t know about Felice’s criminal record or that he was registered to vote in two counties.

Felice’s criminal record would seem to be an obstacle, Kunzwiler said. “If you’re running for judge, I don’t think you’d want anything on your record,” he said.

Felice’s criminal record doesn’t prohibit him from running for office because his convictions are misdemeanors, Onondaga County Elections Commissioner Ed Ryan said. Felons cannot run.

Felice, who has a state license as an armed security guard, was convicted in Onondaga County in March of a misdemeanor charge of offering a false instrument for filing. Felice admitted in a guilty plea that he lied when he amended his pistol permit in 2008 that he did not have a criminal record. Prosecutors said he has many criminal convictions.

He was also convicted of a misdemeanor in Pike County, Pa., in August for falsely swearing that he had no criminal record when he applied for a private detective’s license, according to the county clerk’s office.

He has convictions for sexual battery, grand theft and obstructing a police officer in California, according to a sheriff’s detective’s affidavit in the Pike County case. The convictions were in separate incidents — sexual battery in Los Angeles in 1992, grand theft in Orange County and the obstructing charge in Orange County, the report said. He also had a conviction in New York state, the report said.

Felice was featured on History Channel two years ago in a show about UFOs. He said he was flying a plane over the Pacific Ocean in 1980 when a beam of liquid light shot out of the water and forced his plane to crash, killing his cousin. Felice said in the broadcast that aliens saved his life. The Federal Aviation Administration blamed Felice for the crash, saying he diverted his attention from the plane.

Felice is running against two Republican incumbents, Mark Simpson and Stephen Pelon, for the seat that pays $8,400 a year. Pelon was unaware that any Democrat was running. Simpson said he’d heard about Felice recently. Simpson found stories about Felice that ran in The Post-Standard.

“I sent an e-mail to the chair of the Republican Party: ‘I’m not sure about this character,’ ” Simpson said.

Contact John O’Brien at jobrien@syracuse.com or 470-2187.

Also: Supreme Court to decide on free speech rights at funerals.

David Guttenfelder / The Associated PressTwo Afghan army soldiers, who were wounded in an IED explosion, are carried into a U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter to be evacuated to Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan's Kandahar province on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010. Air Force pararescuemen and helicopter pilots from the 46th and 26th Expeditionary Rescue Squadrons are supporting ongoing military operations in southern Afghanistan.

From The Washington Post:

Taliban representatives and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, according to Afghan and Arab sources.

The talks follow inconclusive meetings, hosted by Saudi Arabia, that ended more than a year ago. While emphasizing the preliminary nature of the current discussions, the sources said that for the first time they believe that Taliban representatives are fully authorized to speak for the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban organization based in Pakistan, and its leader, Mohammad Omar.

"They are very, very serious about finding a way out," one source close to the talks said of the Taliban.

» 2 Japanese, American share chemistry Nobel [The Associated Press]

» It will take one year to clean toxic spill in Hungary [BBC News]

» Supreme Court weighs extent of free speech rights at funerals [CNN]