The web page went live today.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The city of Syracuse today launched a web page to inform motorists about delays and detours during the summer construction season. The web page will host maps and graphics showing where work is being done and suggesting alternate routes.

The page went live this morning and will be updated weekly. Here are the road projects currently listed there:

• 690 Westbound Ramp to West Street: This NYSDOT project detours vehicles to the Geddes Street exit. Proceed south on Geddes Street and proceed east to West Street via West Genesee Street or Erie Blvd. West.

• Erie Boulevard West Bridge over Onondaga Creek: This City of Syracuse project beginning April 17 will have lanes reduced to one way in each direction. Although these travel lanes will be maintained, the ramp to West Street will be closed.

• Connective Corridor on Fayette Street: This City of Syracuse project will detour vehicles beginning April 16. Westbound traffic on Fayette Street will detour at South Salina Street. Proceed north to Washington Street, west to Franklin Street, south to Walton Street and continue to West Fayette Street. Eastbound traffic will be maintained throughout.

• West Genesee Street between West Fayette Street and State Fair Boulevard: This City of Syracuse streetscape project will also include a National Grid gas main relocation. This work will begin April 16. Travel lanes will be reduced to one lane in each direction.

Contact Tim Knauss at tknauss@syracuse.com or 315-470-3023 or follow on Twitter @TimKnauss.

Although license plate readers can help police solve crimes, privacy concerns have been raised over their use.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- New York will award $550,270 to police departments throughout the state to help them buy license plate readers, a controversial technology that enables agencies to photograph and track thousands of vehicles per day.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the grants to buy 27 license plate readers today as part of $976,790 the state awarded to police departments.

Syracuse.com published several stories last month about privacy concerns being raised over the use of license plate readers by law enforcement agencies.

The grants will help Camillus Police, the Madison County Sheriff's Office, Ithaca Police, Tompkins County Sheriff's Office and several smaller police departments in Tompkins County buy the equipment.

License plate readers have enabled police to solve violent crimes as well as issue tickets to motorists with suspended licenses or no insurance. But they also capture photos of license plates on cars being driven by millions of innocent citizens, whose whereabouts are then recorded in databases that police agencies may maintain for years. That's why New Hampshire lawmakers banned license plate readers, and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and the American Civil Liberties Union have concerns about privacy.

In New York, there are no state laws regulating how police agencies can use records created by license plate readers or how long the records should be kept. Police departments are left to make up their own rules.

View full sizeOnondaga County Sheriff's Deputy Rob Bechtel is one of many deputies who uses an automatic license plate reader. The camera can scan 100 plates a minute and record them into a database. The device helps law enforcement agencies detect stolen plates, uninsured vehicles and other traffic violators. It can also show where hundreds of thousands of people have been. The cameras are placed on the back of the car facing forward. Stephen D. Cannerelli | scannerelli@syracuse.com 

Photos of the plates on cars driven by innocent citizens as well as suspected criminals are mostly warehoused in databases where they sit for anywhere from months to years.

More than half of the grant money for police departments that Cuomo announced today will be used to purchase license plate readers.

"The safety of New Yorkers is a top priority for the state, and these grants will help local police and sheriff departments purchase the tools they need to fight and prevent crime," Cuomo said in announcing the grants.

Also receiving money for license plate readers are police departments in Seneca Falls, Dryden, Trumansburg, Cayuga Heights, Groton, Greenburgh, Poughkeepsie, Saugerties, Colonie, Glenville, Niskayuna, Rensselaer, Bath, Cheektowaga and Lewiston, and the Yates County Sheriff's Office.

Contact Mike McAndrew at mmcandrew@syracuse.com or 315-470-3016.

High winds, snow at higher elevations could be on the way.

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Temperatures have fallen by nearly 30 degrees the past few hours as a cold front and high winds have reached Central New York.

Here's how the temperatures at Hancock International Airport plunged:

8 a.m.: 63 degrees
9 a.m.: 41
10 a.m.: 38
11 a.m.: 37
noon: 35

They'll keep falling throughout the day and night, until we hit about 21 degrees at 8 a.m. Wednesday. That could break the record for the lowest temperature on April 16, set in 1946 at 23 degrees.

Snow and high winds could be behind this cold front. Forecasters say Central New York could see 1 to 2 inches of snow, mostly at higher elevations. Wind gusts could reach 30 to 40 mph.

Roads wet from rain and snow could be slippery by the evening commute, the National Weather Service warns.

Contact Glenn Coin at gcoin@syracuse.com or 315-470-3251. Follow him on Twitter @glenncoin

Check out the results for 422 runners who completed the Good Samaritan Run.

More than 400 runners participated this past weekend in the Good Samaritan Run at Long Branch Park near Liverpool.

The top runners were:

Male: Chris Raulli , 25, North Syracuse: 14:57

Female: Julia Snyder, 36, East Syracuse: 17:47

"We want to thank everyone for participating in our event on Saturday," said Debbie Cerelli, race director. "The event was very enjoyable."

The race raised about $12,000 for Christian Health Service of Syracuse, a clinic at 3200 Burnet Ave. The clinic primarily serves people covered by the Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs, people who are uninsured and those who are underinsured.

The race was so successful that organizers plan to add a kid's fun run and a division for people with disabilities.

Note: The race was set up as a 5-kilometer run but the course was short by about 0.1 to 0.2 kilometers, race organizers said. That also caused a delay in reporting the full results here.

The results

Onondaga Nation leaders say U.S. violated human rights by taking their land.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Onondaga Nation leaders brought some historic evidence with them today when they traveled here to file a petition with an international panel accusing the United States of human rights violations for taking their land.

Onondaga Chiefs Sidney Hill and Oren Lyons publicly displayed the wampum belt commissioned by George Washington to mark the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua. The peace treaty guaranteed the Six Nations of the Iroquois "the free use and enjoyment" of their land.

It was only the second time that the 220-year-old wampum belt was removed from a vault in downtown Syracuse and taken to Washington.

More than 50 Onondaga Nation chiefs, clan mothers and supporters traveled to Washington with the wampum belt today to help illustrate their message after filing a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an independent panel that is part of the Organization of American States.

The 40-page petition from the Onondaga Nation claims the United States violated its rights by taking land and creating discriminatory laws to prevent the Onondagas from regaining control of the land.

"The United States is responsible for violations of the rights that are set forth in the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, the American Convention on Human Rights, and in other provisions of human rights law," according to the petition signed by Hill, the Onondaga Nation spiritual leader.

The petition claims that New York state illegally took 2.5 million acres of Onondaga Nation land since 1788, despite at least three treaties with the United States. The land in question includes Onondaga Lake, which is sacred to the Onondagas.

View full sizeOnondaga Nation Faithkeeper Oren Lyons shows the images on the 220-year-old wampum belt commissioned by George Washington to mark the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua between the United States and the Six Nations of the Iroquois.Mark Weiner | mweiner@syracuse.com 

Lyons, the Onondaga Nation Faithkeeper, spoke to reporters at the Friends Meeting House in Washington before the group headed over to the White House for a symbolic protest.

Lyons, wearing traditional clothing, said he wanted Americans to see the wampum belt that is normally kept in a vault at the M&T Bank (the former Onondaga Savings Bank) in downtown Syracuse.

"It's important for the people of the United States to know that the first president made a wampum belt," Lyons said. "This commemorates peace and friendship between the United States and the people of the Haudennosaunee (Iroquois)."

As Lyons spoke, other Onondaga Nation leaders sat behind him holding up signs that stated simply, "Honor the Treaties."

Onondaga Nation lawyer Joe Heath said the petition with the international commission was the next logical step for the Onondagas to take after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected its land claim in 2011.

"We never even got a day in court," Heath said of the Supreme Court, adding that he was permitted only a 10-minute oral argument in U.S. District Court. "Because there is no justice in the U.S. courts, we are taking this petition to an international forum."

He said a favorable ruling from the commission would likely recommend that the United States take action to address the Onondaga Nation's petition. But he conceded the ruling could not be directly enforced by the commission.

View full sizeOnondaga Nation lawyer Joe Heath speaks in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, April 15, 2014, about a new effort to revive the nation's rejected land claim. Seated at bottom of photo in traditional dress are Onondaga Nation Faithkeeper Oren Lyons, far right, and the nation's spiritual leader, Tadodaho Sidney Hill.Mark Weiner | mweiner@syracuse.com 

Heath said the point of the petition is more symbolic as the Onondaga Nation builds its case in the court of public opinion.

"Each step gets us closer to where the United States cannot hide anymore," Heath said. "It's time for truth, it's time for justice, and it's time for healing."

Lyons agreed, and said Onondaga Nation leaders know that the petition could take years to resolve.

"As we all know, there is no enforcement in the court of public opinion," Lyons said. "But regardless of how things transpire, we will never quit. They are going to have to deal with us."

The Onondaga Nation encouraged its supporters to take photos of the wampum belt and send them via Twitter to President Barack Obama with the message: "In 2014 the #OnondagaNation still seeks the justice promised by George Washington in 1790. @Barack Obama."

Contact Mark Weiner at mweiner@syracuse.com or 571-970-3751. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWeinerDC

Today is the deadline to register certain semi-automatic guns now defined as "assault weapons" with the New York State Police.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Any repeal of the NY Safe Act in this session is "highly unlikely," says one supporter of a small, but vocal, effort to erase the state's latest version of gun control laws.

"It's tough," said Assemblyman Bill Magee, D-Nelson. "It's going to be extremely difficult. It's probably highly unlikely."

Today is the deadline for gun owners to register semi-automatic guns that were legal before Jan. 15, 2013, the day Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the new definition of an assault weapon into law.

Cuomo, a Democrat and a gun owner, championed the new laws as a way to limit high-capacity guns in the state without forcing anyone to turn in previously legal firearms. To that end, the law created a registry for the newly banned guns, a grandfather clause that allows people to keep legal guns owned before Jan. 15, 2013, as long as the owners register each firearm with the New York State Police.

It was unclear how many of New York's gun owners were complying with today's deadline. The Safe Act exempts officials from disclosing information about the registry. To date, state police have declined to release aggregate numbers that could show compliance rates throughout the state.

That's another part of the law that needs revisiting, Magee said today. Assemblyman Will Barclay, R-Pulaski, agreed.

"I think it would be legitimate to get the numbers," Barclay said. "Any general stats on how many people register would be interesting. Then you could see how the law is working."

Those who fail to register face a misdemeanor charge.

Statewide, the majority of registered voters support the stricter gun laws, multiple polls have found.

But that hasn't dissuaded many gun owners, who feel the laws erode their Second Amendment rights. Many critics also argue the laws where rushed through the New York State Legislature, with no public hearings or debate.

A small group of state lawmakers, including Magee and Barclay, are on their side. Sen. Kathy Marchione, R-Halfmoon, and Assemblyman David DiPietro, R-East Aurora, have introduced a bill to repeal the act. It has just 22 sponsors in the Assembly and 10 in the Senate and is unlikely to go anywhere, Magee and others acknowledged today.

Sen. James Seward, R-Milford, supports the repeal effort. But he described it as a "steep, uphill climb." Seward said he knew of just one or two senators who voted for the original act in January 2013 who had changed their minds. The act passed the Senate 43-18.

"For the most part, there's not support for the repeal legislation," he said.

Other Central New York sponsors include Assemblymen Gary Finch, R-Springport and Bob Oaks, R-Macedon; and Sen. Joe Griffo, R-Rome.

The Safe Act does much more than redefine and ban an "assault weapon." It stiffens penalties for crimes committed with a firearm, requires background checks on private gun sales, bans large-capacity magazines and elevates the homicide of a first responder to a first-degree murder charge. It's now a felony to possess a gun on school property.

But controversial parts of the law have festered with some gun owners, and they've won a couple of victories. One, a federal judge in Western New York ruled the laws' seven-bullet maximum limit as arbitrary, negating that part of the law in part of the state.

Two, many elected sheriffs have said they would not enforce
parts of the law. Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh said he would refer tips
about illegal possessions of assault weapons to the state police.

The union representing state troopers also has criticized the laws.

Still, getting a repeal through the Democratically-controlled Assembly, and even co-GOP led Senate, would be a stretch, Barclay said. "I don't think the votes are there in the Senate either," he said. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't hold rallies and show your disdain or disagreement for the laws. That might make people think twice about something else."

Barclay and Seward also said they thought that any real chance of changing the laws would happen in the courts.

Some of the critics say the solution is to get-out-the-vote against Cuomo, who is expected to run for re-election this year.

"Change governors," said Mike Mastrogiovanni, the chair of the Central New York area chapter of the Shooters Committee on Political Education. And, he says, "to keep pressure on the assemblymen and senators and let them know our dissatisfaction with their performance."

Contact Teri Weaver at tweaver@syracuse.com, 315-470-2274 or on Twitter at @TeriKWeaver.

CNY Corporate Games will feature company teams competing in dodgeball, softball, beach volleyball, basketball, kickball, swimming and tennis.

Syracuse, N.Y. — The YMCA of Greater Syracuse has launched a program in which corporate teams will engage in weekend sports competitions.

CNY Corporate Games will feature corporate teams competing on weekends this summer in dodgeball, softball, beach volleyball, basketball, kickball, swimming and tennis. Teams will receive practice time at YMCA branches and consultations with YMCA coaches.

Employees can also participate in the YMCA's Weight Loss and Wellness Challenge, which includes eight weeks of wellness coaching. All participating employees also get eight weeks of full YMCA family access.

Companies participating in the competition will pay be fees of $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000, depending on how many events they wish to participate in. The YMCA said the program will help employers build team spirit, boost staff retention and lower healthcare costs.

Chris Iven, communications director for the YMCA, said the organization plans to hold the competitions every summer.

To register or for more information about the program, go to YCNY.org or call YMCA corporate wellness coordinator Erika Adigun at (315) 474-6851, ext. 314.

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148

School board members say too many parents show up to school wearing saggy pants and pajamas.

A school district in Florida is considering implementing a dress code for parents who pick up and drop off their children at school.Broward County school board member Rosalind Osgood said too many parents show up at school wearing clothing that isn't allowed under the student dress code (PDF).

"We have dads showing up in sagging pants," she told The Sun Sentinel. "It's hard for me to tell a child not to show up for school with hair curlers, pajamas or short shorts if they see parents wearing them. Parents need to lead by example."

Osgood understands that such a code would be a challenge to enforce, but hopes that school principals will address the matter at an upcoming parent's night. She also wants to have a forum with parents about it in September.

A column by writer "Mama Sass" in The Miami Herald challenged the idea's merit:

"As a parent, my morning responsibility is to get my child to school on time. If I do that, does it really matter if I'm wearing a tennis outfit or the little black dress left over from the night before? ... Schools have dress codes for students because they spend the entire day there. My fuzzy bunny slippers will not interfere with their learning. Are my jammie pants lowering your test scores?"

An article in The Stir questions if such a rule would have the desired effect:

"I'm not quite sure how much of a difference it would make if mothers and fathers were, in fact, forbidden from dressing like teenagers when they showed up at school. Like kids, the parents would then revert to their old behavior when they weren't on school grounds."

Do you think schools should have dress codes for parents? Vote in the poll and leave a comment below.

The coldest April 16 was in 1946.

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Morning rains have changed over to light snow today, and there may be some ice or slush during the evening commute.

"Some roads will get slushy and areas of black ice may form as the temperature drops into the 20s," said meteorologist Drew Montreuil of Finger Lakes Weather. "Not a huge deal, but worth slowing down for."

Temperatures will fall below 32 by 8 p.m., and into the lower 20s tonight, the National Weather Service said.

Wednesday morning might set a new record low temperature for April 16. The forecast is for 21 degrees at 7 a.m., and the record is 23 degrees, set in 1946.

Temperatures plunged this morning as a cold front moved in. Wednesday morning temperature will be about 40 degrees colder than today, when it was 63 degrees at 8 a.m.

Central New York got about a half inch of rain today. The weather service had issued a flood watch for much of the region, but said it will likely let that expire at 10 p.m.

Contact Glenn Coin at gcoin@syracuse.com or 315-470-3251. Follow him on Twitter @glenncoin

Byrne Dairy is proposing to build the largest store ever in its chain of convenience stores.

Syracuse-based Byrne Dairy is expanding its chain of stores in Central New York with a proposed new store in LaFayette - the largest one it has ever built.

The LaFayette store, which is awaiting the necessary permits, is planned along Route 20 in LaFayette, just west of the McDonald's restaurant on the hill.

The grocery/convenience store would be 7,030 square feet and include a gas station. Most Byrne stores are typically under 4,000 square feet..

"There is no grocery store in LaFayette,'' said Mark Byrne, company president, "and while this won't replace a grocery store, it will carry a lot more grocery items than our average convenience store. That means breads, cereals, canned goods, a deli, Byrne products, freezer items and more."

The gas station will have 10 fuel pumps - eight for gasoline and two for diesel fuel.

The store would be open 24 hours a day, and would employ 12 to 15 people, Byrne said.

LaFayette town officials are enthused about the plan, and residents have expressed support for the proposal. Byrne officials are still awaiting approval for a second entrance onto Route 20 from state Department of Transportation officials. The store would share a driveway with McDonald's, Byrne said.

Byrne said he won't know when construction will start until all the approvals have been secured.

"The town really wants it and a lot of people are excited about it,'' he said.
"People who live in LaFayette have to drive a long way for groceries, and that's why we are making this our largest store ever."

The company's first convenience store opened in Central Square in 1954. The company now operates 54 stores in New York. Its latest opened in Camden in September. The chain has stores from Utica to Rochester to Watertown.

The company has been renovating and replacing many of its existing stores, building bigger ones noted for their white siding, green roofs and country-store look.

The chain recently closed aone of its older store in DeWitt because it was outdated.

The state ranked fifth in the nation for adjusted gross income, data show.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - New York state residents reported an average adjusted gross income of $68,843 in their 2012 tax returns, the highest in the past 20 years, according to new Internal Revenue Service data analyzed by researchers at Syracuse University.

New York ranked fifth in the nation for average adjusted gross income, trailing Connecticut ($83,596), the District of Columbia ($76,487), Massachusetts ($74,252) and New Jersey ($73,157), according to SU's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC.

New Yorkers eclipsed their previous record for adjusted gross income of $62,489 for the 2009 tax filing year, according to the data.

The state's overall average received a big boost from New York County and Manhattan, whose residents led all of the nation's counties with an average adjusted gross income of $159,410. The average for the United States is $57,210.

Residents of Central New York counties had adjusted gross incomes closer to the national average. Onondaga County topped the region with an average of $55,081, ranking 14th among the state's 62 counties. (The record for Onondaga County is $56,417 for the 2009 tax filing year.)

Madison County residents reported an average adjusted gross income of $50,752. In the rest of region, Oneida County residents had an average adjusted gross income of $46,100, Cayuga County $46,084, Oswego County $45,021 and Cortland County $43,095.

TRAC also found that math errors discovered by the IRS dropped to their lowest recorded level: About 2.4 million errors were detected in 1.7 percent of returns filed last year.

Contact Mark Weiner at mweiner@syracuse.com or 571-970-3751. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWeinerDC

New York's overall business tax climate ranking rose two spots to 48th in the Tax Foundation's index.

The Tax Foundation has raised its ranking of New York after the state adopted major reforms to its corporate income tax system and estate tax.

In a special report issued Tuesday, the Washington, D.C.-based think tank said New York's overall business tax climate ranking would have improved two spots to 48th, beating out New Jersey and California, if the tax system changes incorporated into the new state budget had been in effect when it drew up its 2014 rankings.

View full sizeGov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a news conference and budget bill signing ceremony at the state Capitol April 1. The Tax Foundation has raised its ranking of New York's business tax climate because of tax reforms included in the newly adopted budget. Mike Groll | AP 

New York had an overall ranking of 50, making it dead last, when the Tax Foundation performed its analysis of state tax laws as of July 1, 2013.

The think tank's ranking of New York's corporate tax system, specifically, improved much more than its overall ranking. New York's corporate tax system had been ranked 25th best out of the 50 states. If the changes enacted recently by the state were in full effect for the most recent version of the index, New York's corporate tax system would have instead ranked fourth best, behind only three states with no corporate income tax (Nevada, South Dakota and Wyoming), the foundation said.

The foundation said New York is still "not a low-tax state." But it said the recent changes are "an impressive first step toward tackling this problem by broadening bases, lowering rates, reducing burdens and eliminating needless complexity."

"While some of the targeted credits and programs deserve criticism, the broad-based changes to the corporate tax are impressive and will greatly reduce complexities and burdens in New York's corporate tax structure," the foundation said.

Among the changes New York has adopted:

• The state's four different tax bases for calculating corporate tax will be reduced to three as of fiscal year 2015 and further reduced to two over time.

• The corporate net income tax rate was reduced from 7.1 percent to 6.5 percent, the lowest level since 1968.

&bull: The estate tax is recoupled over time to the higher federal threshold, exempting many small businesses from hefty taxes upon the death of their owners.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo hailed the new rankings by the Tax Foundation.

"This year's budget builds on positive reforms included in our three prior budgets, which have greatly improved the business and tax climate in the state and changed the trajectory of New York's economic standing," he said in a statement.

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148

The All Things Oz Museum is trying to raise money to open at its new home in time for Oz-Stravaganza! in June.

The All Things Oz Museum in Chittenango lost its lease and now has to move into its new quarters abruptly, leaving it in a financial crunch, officials say.

Museum officials are scrambling to raise enough money to get work completed on the new building at 219 Genesee St. in Chittenango, next door to its former museum location. They need about $20,000 in order to get the building ready for Oz-Stravaganza 2014 set for June 6 to 8.

"Time is of the essence, and we are facing a major crunch with money to get it ready,'' said Colleen Zimmer, a festival organizer. "We will somehow do it because we made a promise to be open, but we need help."

Zimmer said musuem officials were informed in mid-March they had to vacate their space by March 31. Their new home - a building at 219 Genesee St. donated to them - needs renovations. Although they planned to move there eventually, they didn't plan to make the move before the June event.

"We had to put all our stuff in storage,'' Zimmer said. "We have had a lot of in-kind donations like a furnace, bathroom and plumbing, but we really need insulation, new windows and more display cases for the items we have."

Anyone who wants to donate can mail a check to to All Things Oz, P. O Box 456, Chittenango, NY 13037.

To make its point, the bureau uses the story of Glenn Shriver, a Michigan college graduate who went job hunting in China and got caught up in espionage.

The FBI is warning college students studying abroad to beware of being recruited as spies. And it is reinforcing the point with a video re-enactment of a true-life case of a college graduate who was asked by Chinese agents to infiltrate the CIA and is now serving time in prison.

Glenn Duffie Shriver speaks during an FBI interview at a federal prison in Elkton, Ohio, where he is serving four years on an espionage charge.FBI | YouTube screen capture 

The 28-minute video,"Game of Pawns," tells the story of Glenn Duffie Shriver, a Michigan man who traveled to Shanghai, China, after graduating from Grand Valley State University. Shriver was arrested in 2010 for trying to provide national defense information to the People's Republic of China.

According to the Washington Post, while in Shanghai, Shriver answered an ad seeking someone with an Asian studies background to write an essay on U.S./Chinese relations. He was paid $120 for the work.

From that point he was introduced to Chinese intelligence officers who suggested he try to join the CIA. He received $70,000 for his efforts, but during the hiring process U.S. intelligence officials learned of his links to the Chinese.

Shriver had never done anything criminal, his mother, Karen Chavez, told Mlive.com following his arrest in 2010.

"He's a good kid. He loves the United States," she said. "We thought he was applying for a job to help and use his skills for the United States. He hasn't had any contact back with China for at least five years, maybe six."

Shriver pleaded guilty to espionage charges in 2012 and was sentenced to four years in prison.

The FBI says foreign agents try to build similar relationships with American students abroad. Offers of internships and small jobs can develop into relationships in which the contacts ask for sensitive information in return for a reward, WWMT reported.

More than 280,000 American college students study outside the United States each year, KFOR-TV says. That makes for a lot of potential targets.

"Anytime anyone goes abroad, there are risks," Adrienne Martin of UC Davis International Programs told WWMT. "I don't know if we should be worried about it but definitely aware and I think that is why the FBI has brought it to our attention and we definitely will look at it."

The FBI offered these tips to help students protect themselves while outside the country:

• Be skeptical of "money-for-nothing" offers, opportunities that seem too good to be true, and free favors, especially those involving government processes such as obtaining visas, residence permits, and work papers.


• Minimize personal information you reveal about yourself, especially through social media.


• Minimize your contact with people who have questionable government affiliations or who you think might be engaged in criminal activity.


• Properly report any money or compensation received while abroad on tax forms and other financial disclosure documents.

An annual job survey by CareerCast ranked mathematician with the best job prospects in 2014. Lumberjack ranked as the worst.

Want to get the best rated job in the nation for 2014? You'd better bone up on your math.

The job title Mathematician came in first in the best jobs to get in 2014 based on a ranking by CareerCast, a job search service. Indeed, math plays a big role in four of the top 10 jobs in the annual survey that looks at 200 jobs.

Mathematicians are in high demand in the current data-driven society by private companies and government agencies alike, according to CareerCast. The number of mathematics jobs is expected to grow by 23 percent by 2022. The median annual pay in 2013 was $101,360 for mathematicians.

Since 1988, CareeCast has looked at income, outlook, environmental factors, stress and physical demands to rank U.S. jobs. Earlier this year it ranked the country's most stressful jobs.

Rounding out the top 10 best jobs and their mid-level incomes are:

• 2. Tenured university professor, $68,970


• 3. Statistician, $75,560


• 4. Actuary, $93,680


• 5. Audiologist, $69,720.


• 6. Dental hygienist, $70,210


• 7. Software engineer, $93,350


• 8. Occupational therapist, $75,400


• 9. Speech pathologist, $69,870

The ranking also lists some jobs with poor prospects. Lumberjack ranks as being the worst job to have in 2014. The number of lumberjacks is expected to drop by 9 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Next to the last on the list is newspaper reporter, where the industry is expected to lose 13 percent of its positions.

Both jobs are in industries that are in the midst of change. Logging is becoming more mechanized, while newspapers are moving to more digital operations.

Here are the jobs with the worst prospects for 2014 and their mid-level incomes.

• 200. Lumberjack, $24,340
• 199. Newspaper reporter, $37,090
• 198. Enlisted military personnel, $28,840
• 197. Taxi driver, $22,820
• 196. Broadcaster, $55,380,
• 195. Head cook, $42,480
• 194. Flight attendant, $37,240
• 193. Garbage collector, $22,970
• 192. Firefighter, $45,250
• 191. Corrections officer, $38,970

Each year CareerCast looks at the list for relevance to the job market. Some job titles, such as bricklayer, typist/word processor and stationary engineer automobile assembler, were booted off the list because they are no longer relevant.

Contact Charley Hannagan by phone or text at 315-470-2161, by email at channagan@syracuse.com, on Facebook at Neighbors West or on Twitter @charleypost.

The district plans to cut one teaching position due to declining enrollment.

Marcellus, NY -- The Marcellus School Board has adopted a proposed $31.6 million budget for 2014-15 that increases spending 3.94 percent from the current budget of $30.4 million.

The proposal calls for a 2.37 percent increase in the property tax levy. The district has estimated that taxes would increase $38.40 on a home valued at $100,000 home, assuming the homeowner has a basic STAR exemption. The state tax cap limit for the district is 2.37 percent.

The district proposes to use $983,336 in reserve funds, or about a fifth of its fund balance, to fill the gap between projected revenues and expenses in 2014-15

A public hearing on the budget will be held at 7 p.m. on May 12 and voters will vote on the budget on May 20. Voters will also be asked to approve spending $376,247 to replace four school buses. The district is eligible to receive 76.1 percent of the cost of the vehicles in aid reimbursement from the state.

The proposal cuts one a full time career technical education teaching position due to declining enrollment.

It adds a full-time, district-wide computer technician position and a part- time teacher in limited English proficiency.

At the K.C. Heffernan Elementary School the proposal adds a full- time math support teacher and a part-time psychologist.

The proposed budget would add a part-time media specialist, restore a part-time librarian to full time, and add a part-time math support teacher at the Driver Middle School.

Marcellus High School would gain a part-time art teacher and a part-time Spanish teacher.

The district also increased spending for fine art supplies and academic intervention materials district wide; science kits and engineering curriculum at the middle school; academic support software at the elementary school; and BOCES student support services.

Contact Charley Hannagan by phone or text at 315-470-2161, by email at channagan@syracuse.com, on Facebook at Neighbors West and on Twitter @charleypost.

Onondaga Central Schools was able to keep taxes flat last year due to a general upswing in the economy in the district, officials said.

Onondaga, NY --The Onondaga Central School Board has proposed a $20.5 million budget for 2014-15 that would add three teaching positions and increase taxes for the first time in two years.

The proposed budget is 1.64 percent higher that the current budget of $20.2 million. The district will need to raise the tax levy 1.75 percent to fund the budget. That means taxes would increase $34.38 for a home in the district valued at $100,000 with a basic STAR exemption.

This will be the first tax increase in two years for the district.

The district had planned to raise taxes by 1.25 percent to fund the 2013-14 budget. But, Onondaga was able to keep property taxes flat due to a general upswing in the economy that naturally increased the taxable value of property in the district by 1 percent, said Superintendent Rob Price. The board then decided to offset the remaining 0.25 percent tax increase, or $63,000, needed to fill the budget gap by taking it from the reserve, he said.

The 2014-15 proposed budget adds a teacher to reduce class sizes at the second grade, two special education positions at the junior-senior high school, and maintains positions in maintenance and music.

Voters will also be asked to approve spending $293,947 to buy three buses.

The public hearing on the budget will be at 6 p.m. on May 13. The budget goes to a vote on May 20.

Contact Charley Hannagan by phone or text at 315-470-2161, by email at channagan@syracuse.com, on Facebook at Neighbors West or on Twitter @charleypost.

The College Board said all the information about the redesigned test, which is due out in 2016, is in draft form and subject to change.

WASHINGTON -- Anxious students -- not to mention their parents -- can get a heads-up for how the redesigned SAT might look in two years.

Sample questions for the new version of the college-entrance test were released on Wednesday by the College Board, which announced last month that the new test will include real-world applications and require more analysis. Students will also be asked to cite evidence to show their understanding of texts.

Another sample question asks test takers to calculate what it would cost an American traveling in India to convert dollars to rupees. Another question requires students to use the findings of a political survey to answer questions.

The College Board said all the information about the redesigned test, which is due out in 2016, is in draft form and subject to change.

"It is our goal that every student who takes the test will be well informed and will know exactly what to expect on the day of the test," College Board President David Coleman and Cynthia Schmeiser, the College Board's chief of assessment, said in a letter posted online.

Every test will include a passage from the U.S. founding documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, or conversations they've inspired, the College Board has said. The essay section, which is becoming optional, will require students to read a passage and explain how the author constructed an argument.

Other changes to the SAT include making a computer-based version of the test an option, getting rid of the penalty for wrong answers, limiting the use of a calculator to select sections and returning to a 1,600-point scale. The College Board said obscure vocabulary words would be replaced with those more likely to be used in classrooms or on the job, and the math section will concentrate on areas that "matter most for college and career readiness and success."

The SAT was once the predominant college admissions exam, but it has been overtaken in popularity by the ACT.

The ACT, which already offers an optional essay, announced last year that it would begin making computer-based testing available. It said Monday that about 4,000 high school students had taken a digital version of the ACT two days earlier as part of a pilot.

According to AccuWeather, the record low for Wednesday is 28 degrees, set in 2004. We might just beat that today.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- There won't be as much snow, but we'll have a shot a setting a new record for the low temperature Wednesday in Central New York.

Wednesday's temperature is expected to bottom out around 26 degrees. If that happens, we could have a record on our hands. According to AccuWeather, the record low for Wednesday is 28 degrees, set in 2004.

Expect scattered snow showers Wednesday morning across Central New York.

(View live radar map of New York state here.)

A high pressure system will bring us the cool air that will create the frigid temperature. But the air will also be dry, hopefully ruling out any significant snow. Look for northwest winds up to about 10 mph.

After Wednesday, the temperature will tick up. It won't be 80 degrees, but the temperature will get up into the high 50s and even low 60s through the end of the week .

Your forecast

• Wednesday: Sunny with scattered snow showers possible in the morning. Northwest winds up to 10 mph. Highs in the high 30s. Lows in the low 20s.
  
• Thursday: Sunny with southeast winds up to 15 mph. Highs in the high 50s. Lows near 30.
  
• Friday: Sunny. Cloudy in the evening with a slight chance of rain and snow showers. Highs near 60. Lows in the high 30s.
  
• Saturday: Cloudy with a 50/50 chance of rain and snow showers during the day and evening. Highs in the upper 50s. Lows in the mid 30s.
  
• Sunday: Partly sunny during the day. Cloudy in the evening. Highs in the mid 50s. Lows in the high 30s.

You can also follow us on Facebook or visit http://www.syracuse.com/weather/ for more on the weather.

To send in weather info, or especially photos: Use the Twitter or Instagram hashtag: #cnyweather Also, please let us know where the images are located.

One rescued passenger said he believed that many people had been trapped inside the ferry when it sank.

SEOUL, South Korea -- More than 100 people were still unaccounted Wednesday several hours after a ferry carrying 476, most of them high school students, sank in cold waters off South Korea's southern coast, killing at least two and injuring 14, officials said.

There were fears of a big jump in the number of deaths, as dozens of boats, helicopters and divers scrambled to rescue passengers who had been on the ferry traveling to the southern island of Jeju. One rescued passenger said he believed that many people had been trapped inside the ferry when it sank.

The ferry sent a distress call at about 9 a.m. local time Wednesday after it began leaning to one side, according to the Ministry of Security and Public Administration. The government said about 95 percent of the ferry, whose passengers included 325 high school students on a school trip to the popular tourist island, was submerged.

Two coast guard officers said that a 27-year-old woman named Park Ji-yeong and another unidentified person had died. Both spoke on condition of anonymity citing department rules. The government said five hours after the distress call that 368 of the 476 passengers had been rescued, but officials gave no further details, including what caused the ferry to sink or the conditions of the other passengers.

Photos showed wet students wrapped in blankets as emergency workers tended to them.

One student, Lim Hyung-min, told broadcaster YTN from a gym on a nearby island that he jumped into the ocean wearing a life jacket with other students and then swam to a nearby rescue boat.

"As the ferry was shaking and tilting, we all tripped and bumped into each another," Lim said, adding that some people were bleeding. Once he jumped, the ocean "was so cold. ... I was hurrying, thinking that I wanted to live."

The water temperature in the area was about 12 degrees Celsius, cold enough to cause signs of hypothermia after about 90 minutes or 2 hours, according to an emergency official who spoke on condition of anonymity citing department rules.

Local media ran photos showing the partially submerged ferry tilting dramatically as helicopters flew overhead and rescue vessels and a small boat covered with an orange tarp over it floated nearby.

Passenger Kim Seong-mok, speaking from a nearby island after his rescue, told YTN that he was "certain" that many people were trapped inside the ship as water quickly filled up inside and the severe tilt of the ferry kept them from reaching the exits. Some people yelled at those who couldn't get out, urging them to break windows.

Kim said that after having breakfast he felt the ferry tilt and then heard it crash into something. He said the ferry operator made an announcement asking that passengers wait and not move from their places. Kim said he didn't hear any announcement telling passengers to escape.

The students are from a high school in Ansan city near Seoul and were on their way to Jeju island for a four-day trip, according to a relief team set up by Gyeonggi Province, which governs the city. The ferry left Incheon port, just west of Seoul, on Tuesday evening, according to the state-run Busan Regional Maritime Affairs & Port Administration.

At the high school, students were sent home and parents gathered for news about the ferry.

Park Ji-hee, a first-year student, said she saw about a dozen parents crying at the school entrance and many cars and taxies gathered at the gate as she left in the morning.

She said some students in her classroom began to cry as they saw the news on their handsets. Teachers tried to soothe them, saying that the students on the ferry would be fine.

A total of 16 helicopters, 34 rescue vessels and navy divers were sent to the area, Lee Gyeong-og, a vice minister for South Korea's Public Administration and Security Ministry, told a televised news conference. He said 14 had been injured so far, including one described as serious, and taken to hospitals.

Later Wednesday, 21 navy and 11 coast guard divers began searching the near-sunken ship for survivors, according to emergency officials.