Ross P. Andrews will be sworn in this afternoon at City Hall.

Ross Andrews, candidate for Syracuse City Court judge.Douglass Dowty | ddowty@syracuse.com 

Syracuse, NY -- Syracuse's ninth City Court judge will be sworn in this afternoon.

Ross P. Andrews ran unopposed in November after winning a Democratic primary against Jim Romeo, 2,177 to 1,472.

"Serving as a City Court Judge will be the greatest honor of my life," Andrews said in a statement. "I'm proud to be entering public service and working on behalf of the people of the city I call home."

The ninth judge position was created to alleviate overcrowding among the other judges. City Court handles more than 65,000 cases a year, from landlord-tenant disputes to traffic tickets to murder arraignments. The job pays $145,000 a year for 10 years.

Ross has focused his legal career so far on labor and employment law as a partner at Satter & Andrews LLP. He's a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and the State University of New York at Albany. He lives on the city's East Side with his wife, a city school teacher, and their two sons.

His oath today will be administered by Rosemary Pooler, a federal judge of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Andrews once served on staff for Pooler's congressional campaign in the 1980s. Also speaking at the ceremony will be Rev. Phil Turner of the Bethany Baptist Church, Mayor Stephanie Miner, and Councilor-at-Large Pamela J. Hunter.

The 4:30 p.m. ceremony will be held at City Hall.

The growing skill of hackers has driven a shift in strategy for companies, which see they cannot be stopped and have switched to trying to limit losses.

BEIJING (AP) -- Faced with rising cybercrime like the attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, companies worldwide are under pressure to tighten security but are hampered by cost and, for some, reluctance to believe they are in danger.

The Sony attack, which U.S. officials blamed on North Korea, was unusual because it included threats of violence if the Hollywood studio released its movie "The Interview," a comedy that depicts the assassination of the North's leader. But it is just the highest-profile case in a growing flood of data breaches that have risen in sophistication over the past five years.

The growing skill of hackers has driven a shift in strategy for companies, which see they cannot be stopped and have switched to trying to limit losses, said Kwon Seok-chul, president of Cuvepia Inc., a security firm in Seoul. He said his company has received a growing number of requests from financial institutions and other businesses alarmed by reports of break-ins including last month's Sony attack.

"There is no way to block hacking," said Kwon. "They are consulting with us for new types of defense measures."

U.S. officials have told reporters they believe North Korea was connected to the Sony attack, though the evidence is only circumstantial. The threats of violence prompted Sony to cancel the release of "The Interview." The North Korean government earlier denied involvement but called the attack a "righteous deed."

Other governments also have been implicated in commercial hacking. In May, U.S. authorities charged five officers from the Chinese military's cyber warfare unit with hacking into American companies to steal trade secrets.

During last year's Christmas shopping season, U.S. department store chain Target Corp. disclosed it suffered a breach that exposed details of as many as 40 million credit and debit card accounts.

This month, a virus was discovered in Japan that steals credit card data from retail checkout systems. Police said more than 30 companies, government agencies and organizations have been targeted since 2009.

Too many companies, though, assume they are too small to be targeted, said Chester Wisniewski of Sophos, a London-based security firm.

"It is generally ignored," said Wisnewski. "When it does happen, most people you talk to say, I'm not Target, or, I'm not Sony."

Companies in developing countries face additional disadvantages.

In China, widespread use of unauthorized copies of software downloaded from websites run by pirates allows to insert malicious code to gain access to company networks, according to Wisniewski. In countries such as India, Thailand or Pakistan, even security-conscious companies may not be able to afford the most advanced software tools.

"Out of desperation, people get software wherever they can find it, but often that puts them in harm's way," said Wisniewski.

Chinese companies also face official pressure to stop using foreign information technology, which communist leaders see as a potential national security threat. In 2010, banks and other major companies were ordered to use domestic technology whenever possible in an apparent effort to support growth of China's fledgling security industry.

Beijing this year said it would review all imported security products for potential security flaws following revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that U.S. technology companies cooperated with widespread government spying. In August, the Chinese government said it would no longer buy foreign anti-virus systems.

China is regarded as the biggest global source of computer hacking. Experts say that in addition to Chinese hackers, those from other countries can easily take control of a computer network in China and use it to launch an attack because many lack adequate security.

The Chinese government has rejected accusations it is involved in hacking, though it has given no indication it investigates complaints of attacks launched from its territory.

"China is a victim of hacking," a foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said Thursday. "We do not support cybercrimes anywhere on our soil."

Asked whether the government was investigating reports North Korean hackers launched the Sony attack from within China, the foreign ministry press office said Friday it had nothing to add to Qin's statement.

The studio's parent, Sony Corp., launched an overhaul of its own security in 2011 after hackers broke into its PlayStation Network gaming system and stole data of 77 million users.

The Japanese government has spent heavily on improving its information security systems and has formed teams to study possible threats to power supplies and other infrastructure.

But the country still tends to react instead of preventing attacks, according Ryusuke Masuoka, a security expert.

"Japan needs what we might term a 'forum for thinking the unthinkable,' not only to react, but also to anticipate threats," said Masuoka in a recent paper for the government-affiliated Center for International Public Policy Studies in Tokyo.

The uproar over Sony might help technicians persuade reluctant executives to spend more on security, said Wisniewski. He said many companies pay more attention to securing laptop computers and other portable technology, while failing to protect equipment in their offices.

"A lot of these guys already know it's a problem," he said. "Now you've got a poster child. You can take Sony to management and say: Here's what can happen if we don't act."

Gilberto Rodriguez pleaded guilty today to assaulting the victim, not killing him.

Charles Pitts, 17, was fatally stabbed outside a party. (Courtesy of GoFundMe.com)Provided photo 

Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse teenager who falsely confessed to killing a Corcoran High School student outside a party last year will spend no worse than 5 years in prison for assault.

Gilberto Rodriguez initially took responsibility for killing Charles Pitts Jr. in an Oct. 27, 2013 stabbing outside the Clinton Plaza Apartments, on the edge of downtown. His videotaped confession led to a quick arrest. He was 16 at the time.

But witnesses came forward pointing to another culprit, Jose Calderon, then 19. Both were indicted on manslaughter charges in Pitts' death.

Rodriguez pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this year, but with a promise that his charge would be reduced if he cooperated against Calderon. While Rodriguez may have only punched the victim in the head during the attack, he bore legal responsibility for the homicide with Calderon.

Calderon has since pleaded guilty to the death, but took no responsibility under a so-called Alford plea. That means he maintained his innocence but admitted there was enough evidence to find him guilty. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Today, prosecutor Joseph Coolican indicated that Rodriguez had lived up to his end of the bargain. Rodriguez withdrew his manslaughter plea and admitted assaulting Pitts.

State Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti promised Rodriguez no worse than 5 years in prison.

Rodriguez's lawyer, Michael Vavonese, asked the judge to consider youthful offender status. Brunetti said he was obligated under law to consider whether Rodriguez qualified.

Sentencing is set for Jan.5.

Coolican has talked about the difficulties of prosecuting this case. The witnesses who pointed to Calderon were 16- and 17-year-olds who were reluctant to testify. And Rodriguez's false confession could have been used to undermine the case against Calderon at trial.

Level 257 will feature a bar, lounge and fire pits as well as games and bowling.

A new Pac Man-themed restaurant is set to open in 2015, giving Americans the chance to finally get past the game's 256th level, figuratively anyway.

Level 257 is a new 40,000 square foot restaurant set to open in the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, a Chicago suburb, in January, The Chicago Tribune reported. The restaurant is named for the game's infamous killscreen, which appears as garbled text in the 256th level preventing players from advancing further.

The restaurant is being developed by Namco Entertainment, the video game supplier affiliated with the company that originally developed Pac Man. According to GameSpot, the 180-seat restaurant will be a high end venue with bars, lounges and fire pits.

It will also feature 16 "retro" bowling lanes, pinball machines and a number of arcade and board games. There will also be a Pac-Man gift shop.

While Level 257 is aimed at offering patrons a "fun dining" experience, David Bishop, Namco's executive vice president of strategic project development, said "the facility is built for adults," according to NBC Chicago. "With no disrespect to other entertainment concepts like Dave & Buster's or Gameworks, Level 257 is expected to be seen as a restaurant first," he added.

"Level 257 seeks to explore Pac-Man's impact upon our society and pop culture, reminding us all of the importance of play in our lives, while facilitating our desire to relive those times when beating the next level was the most important thing in our world," reads a line from the restaurant's description on tumblr. "All while indulging that which we love now--great food and drink with our friends and family."

Pac-Man will celebrate its 35-year anniversary in May at the new location, Namco told the Tribune.

Here's an artist rendering of the restaurant from Level 257's Facebook page:

What video game do you think would make a good theme restaurant? Leave a comment below.

New York's minimum wage goes up to $8.75 on New Year's Eve.

More than 1 million workers in New York will get raises this New Year's Eve. That's when New York's minimum wage increases from $8 an hour to $8.75.

There are roughly 1.4 million workers in New York who make minimum wage. The increase does not impact the wage for tipped workers, whose minimum is set at $5 an hour.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo put together a wage board to review the minimum wage for tipped workers this year. The board has been hearing testimony from tipped workers and employers around the state. A decision is expected in February.

New York joins 20 other states -- Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia -- in raising the minimum wage.

Last year, Congress considered a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10. It didn't have enough support to pass.

Contact Marnie Eisenstadt anytime: email | twitter | 315-470-2246.

The drugs were made illegal in 2012 and saw a rapid decline, but may be making a comeback.

Bath salts are making a comeback, according to the Upstate New York Poison Center in Syracuse.

The Utica Observer-Dispatch reports the poison center has seen an increase in calls related to "bath salts" and other synthetic drugs.

Administrative Director Michele Caliva told the newspaper 31 calls this year have been about bath salts. Another seven calls, all since August, have been about other drugs like "molly," which is a form of MDMA (ecstasy).

"It's nowhere near what we saw in 2012 and 2013, but it's still a spike," Caliva told the Observer-Dispatch.

The poison center, which covers 54 counties in Upstate New York, told The Post-Standard in 2012 that there were 165 cases in just the first six months of that year, up from 118 in 2011 and zero in 2010.

Bath salts exploded in popularity in a short amount of time, and multiple stories -- from a "cannibal" attack in Miami to a naked woman in Munnsville, N.Y., who died after being Tasered -- related to the substance made national headlines. "Bath salts" describes any synthetic drug sold in crystals to give users a euphoric high, and is also known by slang terms like "plant fertilizer" and "glass cleaner."

The DEA considered Syracuse "ground zero" for the craze, first spotted in Central New York in 2010. The Salt City was one of the first distribution bases in the U.S. for a Chinese chemist who altered the chemical structures of drugs that looked like cocaine or ecstasy, but technically wasn't illegal at the time because of the molecular changes.

Sales and possession of bath salts and other synthetic drugs wasn't made illegal in New York state until August 2012.

Caliva told the Oberver-Dispatch that bath salts are still around, but the chemicals in bath salts have changed to produce milder reactions than previous versions that caused extreme reactions.

But while bath salts may be on a slight rise from last year, a national survey of teens found high school students are using synthetic drugs less. The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future study, which tracks trends in substance abuse among students in 8th, 10th and 12th grades, found less than 1 percent used bath salts in 2014.

T-Mobile must pay refunds to customers who were charged for premium text messaging services they never authorized.

T-Mobile will pay $90 million in a multi-state settlement of allegations it placed unauthorized third-party charges for premium text messaging services on consumers' bills, a practice known as "cramming."

Under a settlement announced Friday, T-Mobile must provide full refunds to consumers who paid unauthorized third-party text messaging service charges after Jan. 1, 2010. The refunds can be in the form of a payment or as forgiveness of a debt.

The refunds must amount to no less than $67.5 million. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said nearly 700,000 New Yorkers are eligible for a refund.

In addition, New York will receive $515,674 out of a total of $18 million that T-Mobile must pay individual states as part of the settlement. T-Mobile also must pay $4.5 million to the U.S. Treasury on behalf of the Federal Communications Commission.

T-Mobile also agreed to only bill for third-party charges that have been authorized by consumers, improve how third-party charges appear on consumers' mobile phone bills, better enable customers to block the placement of third-party charges on their bills, and make it easier for consumers who are crammed to get relief.

Schneiderman said a common cramming charge was a $9.99-per-month premium text messaging subscription service, also known as PSMS, for horoscopes, trivia, sports scores or other information that consumers often never requested.

"Today's settlement makes it clear that nobody is above the law, including large multinational corporations, and will provide relief to consumers across New York state," he said in a statement. "When customers are billed for services they did not request, it picks the pockets of hard-working New Yorkers."

T-Mobile is the second mobile telephone provider to settle cramming allegations. In October, AT&T agreed to pay $105 million in a similar multi-state settlement.

T-Mobile and AT&T were among the four major mobile carriers — in addition to Verizon and Sprint — that announced in the fall of 2013 they would cease billing customers for commercial premium text messaging subscription services.

How consumers can submit a claim:

Current and former T-Mobile customers can submit claims for refunds of unauthorized third-party charges that they paid by visiting http://www.t-mobilerefund.com.

Also on the website, consumers can request a free account summary that details the PSMS purchases on their accounts.

How to get more information:

Consumers with questions about the settlement can call the refund administrator at (855) 382-6403, email T-MobileRefund@gcginc.com, or write to Premium Text Message Refund Program, P.O. Box 35126, Seattle, WA 98124-5126.

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

The Siena poll asked voters where they stand on some of the state's biggest issues.

A Siena College poll released Friday asked registered voters in New York about some of the most important issues in the state right now.

New Yorkers gave their opinions on everything from the grand jury decision in the Eric Garner chokehold death to who should be the next president of the United States. Here's a breakdown of the results:

Grand jury chokehold death decision

Fifty-five percent of N.Y. voters think the white police officer who put a chokehold on Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, should have been criminally charged in his death. Thirty percent think the jury made the right decision. The results are divided on racial and partisan lines.

Sixty-eight percent of Democrats say there should have been charges, but just 30 percent of Republicans agree. While 80 percent of black voters think there should have been charges, that number drops to 56 percent for Hispanic voters, and just 48 percent for white voters.

Legislative pay raise

"An issue that unifies New York voters is a legislative pay raise. It's opposed by strong majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents, downstaters and upstaters—upstaters really hate the idea—blacks and whites, young and old," said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg.

Sixty-three percent of those polled opposed a pay increase for state lawmakers while 28 percent supported it. Opposition was highest among poll respondents from Upstate N.Y. Legislators currently are paid $79,500 annually.

SAFE Act

Statewide, 58 percent of voters support the SAFE Act while 33 percent are opposed. That's down slightly from the 62-32 percent split recorded in March. The SAFE Act is supported by 69 percent of Democrats, 57 percent of independents, 67 percent of NYC voters and 61 percent from the downstate suburbs. Upstate voters are evenly divided between supporters and opponents, and conservatives and Republicans show the highest opposition to the law.

Dream Act

Democrats, NYC voters, younger voters and people of color show strong support for the Dream Act while Republicans, upstate residents, whites, downstate suburbanites and older voters oppose it. Statewide, 44 percent of voters support the act while 48 percent oppose it.

Fracking

This poll was conducted ahead of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's ban on fracking. Thirty-eight percent of voters oppose fracking and 35 percent support it. Democrats, NYC residents and upstate residents show less support than Republicans and residents in suburban areas.

Approval of Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Gov. Cuomo enjoys a 58-37 percent favorability rating, which is up slightly from the 54-43 percent rating from likely voters in October. Fifty-two percent say he's made NY a better place to live in the last four years vs. 14 percent who say it's worse. Only 24 percent of voters say they're optimistic about the next four years, 17 percent are pessimistic, and 58 percent fall somewhere in the middle.

2016 presidential primaries

Registered Democrats support:

• Hillary Clinton - 58 percent
• Elizabeth Warren - 11 percent
• Joe Biden - 8 percent
• Andrew Cuomo - 5 percent
• Other - 4 percent
• Undecided - 14 percent

Registered Republicans support:

• Chris Christie - 25 percent
• Mitt Romney - 18 percent
• Jeb Bush - 14 percent
• Rand Paul - 7 percent
• Paul Ryan - 5 percent
• Marco Rubio - 4 percent
• Ted Cruz - 2 percent
• Other - 6 percent
• Undecided - 19 percent

The Siena poll surveyed 639 registered voters. from December 11 to 16. Questions were conducted over the phone.

» Full poll results (PDF)

The Red Cross provided a list of fire safety tips to heed.

Firefighters from the town of Williamstown responded to a blaze at a multi-family home around 10:20 p.m. Thursday near County Route 17, an Oswego County 911 dispatcher said.

The fire was caused by an electrical malfunction and engulfed the home. Firefighters for seven departments put out the blaze, the dispatcher said.

An American Red Cross official said three families -- six adults and four children -- were provided with food, clothing and lodging following the fire.

The Thursday night fire was the third in three days in Central New York that ousted people from their homes.

A fire on Wednesday in Syracuse on Hixon Avenue left six adults and two children without a home, and a Cayuga County fire Tuesday on Victory Road in the Village of Red Creek displaced six adults, said Matt Michael, communications specialist for Central New York's American Red Cross.

He said the number of fires around the holiday season increases because people are using their heaters and fireplaces more. When that's combined with people doing more cooking for the holidays, lighting candles and hanging decorative lights, the chances for fires increase.

"It's common sense stuff, but people are busy and rushing around," he said.

The American Red Cross released a list of fire safety tips including the following:

1. Ensure flammable objects are kept at least three feet away from hot surfaces, such as space heaters and stovetops. Stoves, fireplaces and space heaters should be turned off when nobody is home.
2. Ensure a working smoke detector is installed on every level of a home. Smoke alarms should be tested every month to ensure they are working. Alarms should be replaced every 10 years.
3. Create a family escape plan that includes multiple exits and a meet-up location outside the home. Ensure children know the details of the plan and what to do during a fire, such as crawling under smoke and not opening doors with hot nobs.

Michael said Central New York's Red Cross provides an average of $800 to a family of four affected by a house fire. Donations can be made to the Disaster Relief Fund by calling 1-800-REDCROSS, visiting redcross.org/cny, or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to charge a $10 donation to a cell phone bill.

People who want to donate items such as clothes or food directly to a family impacted by the recent fires can contact the American Red Cross at 315-234-2220. Michael said the organization can give a donor's contact information to the families in need.

Residents can drop off their Christmas trees for free at the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency's Amboy and Jamesville compost sites.

Syracuse, N.Y. — It's not quite Christmas yet, but the folks at Onondaga County's trash agency are already thinking about what's to happen with all those Christmas trees in people's homes.

The agency — known formally as the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency, or OCRRA — is urging residents to recycle their trees into mulch.

Most communities in Onondaga County, including the city of Syracuse, have pick-up or drop-off programs for Christmas trees. Residents should check with their local municipality for specific information about their program, the agency said.

Residents can also drop off their Christmas trees to OCRRA's Amboy and Jamesville compost sites during select hours from Dec. 29 to Jan. 10. There is no charge to drop off a tree. Just be sure to remove all decorations, lights, tinsel and tree stands, the agency said.

In the spring, the trees will be ground into mulch that OCRRA compost site users may haul away for landscaping use.

OCRRA's Amboy compost site is at 6296 Airport Road in Camillus. Its Jamesville compost site is at 4370 Route 91 in Jamesville.

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

The study analyzed 80 randomly selected recommendations from 'The Dr. Oz Show' and 'The Doctors.'

Millions of Americans turn to Dr. Mehmet Oz for televised medical advice, but new research suggests that might not be such a good idea.

A new study from researchers at the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia showed that less than half of the claims made on "The Dr. Oz Show" were corroborated by science, Quartz reported.

In the study, published in the British Medical Journal, researchers randomly selected 40 episodes of Dr. Oz's show and analyzed 80 randomly selected recommendations given by Oz in those episodes.

They found that 46 just percent of his claims were supported by scientific evidence. Meanwhile, 36 percent of the claims were found to have no supporting evidence and 15 percent were actually contradicted by scientific evidence.

Oz is a real doctor and an expert of cardiothoracic surgery. He went to Harvard and received a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. On the show, his advice, typically concerns dietary recommendations. He reaches millions of people, some of whom actually follow his suggestions, according to Quartz.

This is not the first time this year Oz has faced criticism for false advertising. In June, he was grilled at a Senate hearing on weight loss scams.

"I don't get why you need to say this stuff because you know it's not true," said Senator Clair McCaskill (D-Mo.) during the hearing. She accused him of taking advantage of vulnerable viewers and called it a "recipe for disaster."

The study the British Medical Journal applied the same methods to the show "The Doctors," which had slightly more favorable results, The Oregonian reported. It found that 63 percent of that show's recommendations had a basis in science, while 26 percent had no supporting evidence and 14 percent had been directly contradicted.

The study concluded that "recommendations made on medical talk shows often lack adequate information on specific benefits or the magnitude of the effects of these benefits." Researchers cautioned viewers to be "skeptical about recommendations made on medical talk shows."

What do you think of this study? Have you ever followed advice from a medical talk show? Leave a comment below.

Here is a roll call of notable local, national and international figures who died in 2014.

They each turned a moment of violence into a call to action. For James Brady, that moment was when he was shot and wounded by a would-be presidential assassin. For Chung Eun-yong, it was the killings of his two children during a Korean War massacre.

Brady took up a personal campaign for increased gun control after surviving a head wound when a man tried unsuccessfully to kill President Ronald Reagan, for whom Brady was press secretary. Chung began a years-long quest for justice, which eventually prompted the U.S. Army to acknowledge having killed civilian refugees at No Gun Ri.

Brady and Chung, who died within days of each other in August, are among the notables who left the world in 2014.

Others include political figures who catalyzed war and peace and scientists who changed our lives -- the inventor of Corningware, for instance. And we lost beloved entertainers, some remembered for bringing audiences decades of smiles and tears and others who left the stage long before their time.

Among the political figures who died in 2014 was Ariel Sharon a hard-charging Israeli general and prime minister whose efforts to reshape the Middle East caused some to call him a war hero and others a war criminal. Another was Marion Barry, the former Washington, D.C., mayor whose accomplishments were often overshadowed by his arrest for drug use.

British politician Tony Benn, former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Polish leader Wojciech Jaruzelski and former Georgia president Eduard Shevardnadze also died this year.

Among scientists and innovators was Rostislav Belyakov, the chief designer of the Russian MiG fighter jets, Nobel Prize winner Martin Perl who discovered a subatomic particle and S. Donald Stookey, the Corningware inventor.

A feeling of untimeliness defined several of the deaths in the entertainment arena in 2014.

The suicide of actor and comedian Robin Williams touched off a national conversation about depression. The overdose deaths of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, model Peaches Geldof and heavy metal frontman Dave Brockie were grim reminders of the scourge of drug use.

Other artists and entertainers included: actors Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney, Suchitra Sen, Harold Ramis, Lauren Bacall, Ken Takakura and Eli Wallach; musicians Pete Seeger, Sabah, Tommy Ramone, Lorin Maazel, Gustavo Cerati and Big Bank Hank; filmmakers Mike Nichols and Run Run Shaw; radio host Casey Kasem; comedian Joan Rivers; and writers Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka.

Here is a roll call of some of the people who died in 2014. Italicized entries have ties to Central New York. (Cause of death cited for younger people, if available.)

JANUARY:

Juanita Moore, 99. Groundbreaking actress and an Academy Award nominee for her role as Lana Turner's black friend in the classic weeper "Imitation of Life." Jan. 1.

Saul Zaentz, 92. Music producer whose second career as a filmmaker brought him best-picture Academy Awards for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," ''Amadeus" and "The English Patient." Jan. 3.

Eusebio da Silva Ferreira, 71. Soccer player who was born into poverty in Africa and became one of the world's top scorers during the 1960s. Jan. 5.

Run Run Shaw, 107. Pioneering Hong Kong movie producer whose studio popularized the kung fu genre that influenced Quentin Tarantino and other Hollywood directors. Jan. 7.

Thomas V. Jones, 93. He was CEO of Northrop Corp. -- now known as Northrop Grumman Corp. -- for 30 years and took it to the top ranks of aerospace companies while weathering a series of scandals. Jan. 7. Pulmonary fibrosis.

Amiri Baraka, 79. Militant man of letters and tireless agitator whose blues-based, fist-shaking poems, plays and criticism made him a groundbreaking force in American culture. Jan. 9.

Franklin McCain, 73. He helped spark a movement of nonviolent sit-in protests across the South by occupying a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in 1960. Jan. 9.

Ariel Sharon, 85. Israeli general and prime minister who was admired and hated for his battlefield exploits and ambitions to reshape the Middle East. Jan. 11.

Russell Johnson, 89. Actor who played "The Professor," the fix-it man who kept his fellow castaways on TV's "Gilligan's Island" supplied with gadgets. Jan. 16.

Hiroo Onoda, 91. Last Japanese imperial soldier to emerge from hiding in a jungle in the Philippines and surrender, 29 years after the end of World War II. Jan. 16.

Suchitra Sen, 82. Legendary Indian actress known for her memorable roles in both Bengali-language and Hindi Bollywood films. Jan. 17.

George Wortley, 87. Formerly of Fayetteville, he represented the Syracuse area in Congress for eight years in the 1980s. Jan. 21.

Jim McGraw, 70. A longtime Syracuse criminal defense lawyer who represented former Syracuse Mayor Lee Alexander on criminal charges in the 1980s. Jan. 24.

Jose Emilio Pacheco, 74. He was widely regarded as one of Mexico's foremost poets and short story writers. Jan. 26.

Pete Seeger, 94. Banjo-picking troubadour who sang for migrant workers, college students and star-struck presidents in a career that introduced generations of Americans to their folk music heritage. Jan. 27.

FEBRUARY:

Maximilian Schell, 83. Austrian-born actor and a fugitive from Adolf Hitler who became a Hollywood favorite and won an Oscar for his role as a defense attorney in "Judgment at Nuremberg." Feb. 1.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46. He won a best actor Oscar in 2006 for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in "Capote" and created a gallery of other vivid characters, many of them slovenly and slightly dissipated comic figures. Feb. 2. Apparent heroin overdose.

William "Bunny Rugs" Clarke, 65. Husky-voiced lead singer of internationally popular reggae band Third World. Feb. 2. Leukemia.

Joan Mondale, 83. She burnished a reputation as "Joan of Art" for her passionate advocacy for the arts while her husband, Walter, was vice president and a U.S. ambassador. Feb. 3.

Ralph Kiner, 91. He slugged his way to the baseball Hall of Fame and then enjoyed a half-century career as a popular broadcaster. Feb. 6.

Els Borst, 81. Former Dutch health minister who drafted the nation's landmark 2002 law permitting euthanasia. Feb. 10.

Shirley Temple, 85. Dimpled, curly-haired child star who sang, danced, sobbed and grinned her way into the hearts of Depression-era moviegoers. Feb. 10.

Arvella Schuller, 84. She helped her pastor husband found the Crystal Cathedral megachurch in Southern California and "Hour of Power" televangelism program seen by millions around the globe. Feb. 11.

Sid Caesar, 91. Prodigiously talented pioneer of TV comedy who paired with Imogene Coca in sketches that became classics and who inspired a generation of famous writers. Feb. 12.

Ralph Waite, 85. He played the kind-and-steady patriarch of a tight-knit rural Southern family on the TV series "The Waltons." Feb. 13.

Mavis Gallant, 91. Montreal-born writer who carved out an international reputation as a master short-story author while living in Paris for decades. Feb. 18.

Maria von Trapp, 99. Last surviving member and second-eldest daughter of the musical family whose escape from Nazi-occupied Austria was the basis for "The Sound of Music." Feb. 18.

Walter D. Ehlers, 92. During the D-Day invasion, he accomplished awe-inspiring acts of bravery, earning a Medal of Honor for knocking out two German machine-gun nests and saving countless Allied soldiers' lives. Feb. 20.

Stewart Hancock, 91. A judge on the state Court of Appeals for eight years who had also served as a state Supreme Court and appellate judge. Feb. 11.

Alice Herz-Sommer, 110. Believed to be the oldest Holocaust survivor. Feb. 23.

Harold Ramis, 69. Comedy actor, director and writer best known for his roles in movies such as "Ghostbusters" and "Stripes." Feb. 24.

Henry Casso, 82. Longtime civil rights leader in New Mexico who worked his way out of an orphanage to become a noted educational scholar and a founder of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Feb. 25.

Huber Matos Benitez, 95. He helped lead the Cuban Revolution as one of Fidel Castro's key lieutenants before his efforts to resign from the burgeoning communist government landed him in prison for 20 years. Feb. 27.

Rostislav Belyakov, 94. Chief designer of the Russian MiG fighter jets. Feb. 28.

MARCH:

Justin Kaplan, 88. Cultural historian with a taste for troublemaking who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Mark Twain and spiced the popular canon as general editor of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. March 2.

Sherwin Nuland, 83. Medical ethicist who opposed assisted suicide and wrote an award-winning book about death called "How We Die." March 3.

Sheila MacRae, 92. Veteran stage, film and TV performer best known for playing Alice Kramden in the 1960s re-creation of "The Honeymooners." March 6.

William Clay Ford, 88. Owner of the Detroit Lions and last surviving grandchild of automotive pioneer Henry Ford. March 9.

Mohammad Qasim Fahim, 57. Afghanistan's vice president and a leading commander in the alliance that fought the Taliban who was later accused with other warlords of targeting civilian areas during the country's civil war. March 9.

Melba Hernandez, 92. She helped Fidel Castro launch his revolutionary battle with a failed 1953 attack on a military barracks and was later named a "heroine of the Cuban Revolution." March 9.

Joe McGinniss, 71. Adventurous, news-making author and reporter who skewered the marketing of Richard Nixon in "The Selling of the President 1968" and tracked his personal journey from sympathizer to scourge of convicted killer Jeffrey MacDonald in "Fatal Vision." March 10.

Tony Benn, 88. Committed British socialist who irritated and fascinated Britons through a political career spanning more than five decades and who renounced his aristocratic title rather than leave the House of Commons. March 14.

Mitch Leigh, 86. Advertising jingle writer with an entrepreneurial side whose debut attempt at writing music for a Broadway show became the instant hit "Man of La Mancha" and earned him a Tony Award. March 16.

L'Wren Scott, believed to be 49. She left her small-town Utah home as a teenager to become a model in Paris, then a top Hollywood stylist and finally a high-end fashion designer best known as the longtime girlfriend of Mick Jagger. March 17. Apparent suicide.

Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, 103. Arts and fashion patron and political benefactor who funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to former presidential candidate John Edwards that was used to hide his mistress. March 17.

Robert S. Strauss, 95. Dealmaker, political powerbroker and former Democratic Party chairman whose counsel also was prized by Republicans. March 19.

Fred Phelps Sr., 84. Fiery founder of a small Kansas church who led hate-filled protests that blamed almost everything, including the deaths of U.S. soldiers, on America's tolerance for gay people. March 19.

Ignatius Zakka Iwas, 80. Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, he was the leader of one of world's oldest Christian sects. March 21.

Adolfo Suarez, 81. Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after decades of right-wing rule under Gen. Francisco Franco. March 23.

Dave Brockie, 50. Better known as "Oderus Urungus," he fronted the alien-costumed heavy metal band GWAR during graphic and fake-blood-soaked stage shows. March 23. Accidental heroin overdose.

Jeremiah Denton, 89. Former Alabama senator who survived 71/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and alerted the U.S. military to conditions there when he blinked the word "torture" in Morse code during a television interview. March 28.

APRIL:

Anja Niedringhaus, 48. Courageous, Pulitzer prize-winning Associated Press photographer who covered everything from sports to war. April 4. Shot to death in Afghanistan.

Otis McDonald, 80. Lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that prompted the U.S. Supreme Court decision that forced Chicago to abandon its 28-year ban on handguns. April 4.

Peter Matthiessen, 86. Rich man's son who spurned a life of leisure and embarked on extraordinary quests while producing such acclaimed books as "The Snow Leopard" and "At Play in the Fields of the Lord." April 5.

Mickey Rooney, 93. Pint-size actor and all-around talent whose more than 80-year career spanned silent comedies, Shakespeare, Judy Garland musicals, Andy Hardy stardom, television and the Broadway theater. April 6.

Peaches Geldof, 25. Model and media personality who was a daughter of Irish singer Bob Geldof and member of a talented, troubled family who grew up in the glare of Britain's tabloid press. April 7. Heroin overdose.

Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson, 87. Former Trinidad and Tobago prime minister who was held hostage for days and shot during a bloody 1990 coup attempt. April 9.

Phyllis Frelich, 70. Tony Award-winning deaf actress who starred in the Broadway version of "Children of a Lesser God." April 10.

Kevin Sharp, 43. Country music singer who recorded multiple chart-topping songs and survived cancer. April 19. Complications from stomach surgeries and digestive issues.

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, 76. Boxer whose wrongful murder conviction became an international symbol of racial injustice. April 20.

Win Tin, 85. Journalist who became Myanmar's longest-serving political prisoner after challenging military rule by co-founding the National League for Democracy. April 21.

Conrado Marrero, 102. Diminutive Cuban right-hander who pitched for the Washington Senators in the 1950s and in 2011 became the oldest living former Major League Baseball player. April 23.

Herbert Hyman, 82. He founded The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in the 1960s and saw the coffee chain grow to hundreds of stores around the world. April 28.

Bob Hoskins, 71. British actor whose varied career ranged from noir drama "Mona Lisa" to animated fantasy "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." April 29.

Al Feldstein, 88. His 28 years at the helm of Mad magazine transformed the satirical publication into a pop culture institution. April 29.

Walter R. Walsh, 106. He captured gangsters as an FBI agent in the 1930s and went on to train Marine Corps snipers and become the longest-lived Olympian. April 29.

MAY:

Sharon Smith, 67. The Vatican had deemed Smith the second documented miracle recipient from Saint Marianne Cope. May 3.

Jenna Hinman, 26. Fort Drum mom who died from a rare cancer months after giving birth to twin daughters. Her story garnered global attention. May 5.

Billy Frank Jr., 83. Tribal fisherman who led the "fish wars" that restored fishing rights and helped preserve a way of life for American Indians in the Northwest. May 5.

Cornelius Gurlitt, 81. Reclusive German collector whose long-secret hoard of well over 1,000 artworks triggered an international uproar over the fate of art looted by the Nazis. May 6.

Jeb Stuart Magruder, 79. Watergate conspirator-turned-minister who claimed in later years to have heard President Richard Nixon order the infamous break-in. May 11.

H.R. Giger, 74. Swiss artist who designed the creature in Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic "Alien." May 12.

Jerry Vale, 83. Beloved crooner known for his high-tenor voice and romantic songs in the 1950s and early '60s. May 18.

Don Meyer, 69. One of the winningest coaches in college basketball who came back from a near-fatal car accident and liver cancer before closing out his career. May 18.

Gordon Willis, 82. One of Hollywood's most celebrated and influential cinematographers, nicknamed "The Prince of Darkness" for his subtle but indelible touch on such releases as "The Godfather," ''Annie Hall" and "All the President's Men." May 18.

Jack Brabham, 88. Three-time Formula One champion who famously pushed his car to the finish line to claim his first season title. May 19.

Sante Kimes, 79. She and her son made up a notorious grifter team convicted of the murders of a wealthy widow in New York and a businessman in Los Angeles. May 19.

Ruth Ziolkowski, 87. She carried on her late husband's dream of honoring Native Americans by carving the massive likeness of warrior Crazy Horse into the Black Hills in South Dakota. May 21.

Ricky Grigg, 77. Former top-ranked big-wave surfer and oceanographer whose work confirmed one of Charles Darwin's theories about the origin of tropical islands. May 21.

Jaime Lusinchi, 89. Former Venezuelan president who struggled to tame an economic crisis sparked by plunging oil prices in the late 1980s and then saw his reputation tarnished by allegations of corruption after leaving office. May 21.

Wojciech Jaruzelski, 90. Communist leader who imposed harsh military rule on Poland in 1981 in an attempt to crush the pro-democracy Solidarity movement but later allowed reforms that ended up dismantling the regime. May 25.

Bunny Yeager, 85. Model turned pin-up photographer who helped jump-start the career of then-unknown Bettie Page. May 25.

Manuel Uribe, 48. Mexican man once listed as the world's heaviest human at 1,230 pounds (560 kilograms). May 26.

Maya Angelou, 86. Author and poet who rose from poverty, segregation and violence to become a force on stage, screen and the printed page. May 28.

Lewis Katz, 72. He built his fortune in New York parking lots, billboards and cable TV, and went on to buy the NBA's New Jersey Nets, NHL's New Jersey Devils and The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 31. Plane crash.

Martha Hyer, 89. Oscar-nominated actress who starred alongside the likes of Frank Sinatra and Humphrey Bogart, and later gained notoriety for her extravagant lifestyle. May 31.

JUNE:

Ann B. Davis, 88. Emmy-winning actress who became America's best-known housekeeper as the devoted Alice Nelson of TV's "Brady Bunch." June 1.

Alexander Shulgin, 88. Respected chemist famed for dusting off a decades-old recipe for the psychedelic drug ecstasy. June 2.

Chester Nez, 93. Last of the original group of Navajo Code Talkers who stumped the Japanese during World War II. June 4.

Karen DeCrow, 76. From Jamesville, a nationally recognized lawyer, author and leader of the women's movement. June 6.

Eric Hill, 86. His effort to entertain his son with a simple drawing of a mischievous dog named Spot blossomed into a series of children's books that have sold more than 60 million copies. June 6.

Bob Welch, 57. 1990 AL Cy Young Award winner with the Oakland Athletics and the last major leaguer to win at least 25 games in a season. June 9.

Ruby Dee, 91. Acclaimed actress and civil rights activist whose versatile career spanned stage, radio television and film. June 11.

Chuck Noll, 82. Hall of Fame coach who won a record four Super Bowl titles with the Pittsburgh Steelers. June 13.

Casey Kasem, 82. Radio broadcaster with a cheerful manner and gentle voice who became the king of the top 40 countdown with a syndicated show that ran for decades. June 15.

Daniel Keyes, 86. Author whose novel "Flowers for Algernon" became a classroom staple that explored the treatment of the mentally disabled and the ethics of manipulating human intelligence. June 15.

Tony Gwynn, 54. Hall of Famer whose sweet left-handed swing made him one of San Diego's best-loved athletes and earned him the nickname "Mr. Padre." June 16. Cancer.

Stanley Marsh 3, 76. Texas businessman, artist and eccentric (he used 3 rather than the conventional III after his name) whose partially buried row of Cadillacs became a roadside tourist attraction. June 17.

Stephanie Kwolek, 90. Pioneering female chemist at DuPont who invented the exceedingly tough fibers widely used in Kevlar body armor. June 18.

Avraham Shalom, 86. Former director of Israel's Shin Bet security service who led the agency through some of its greatest achievements before resigning in disgrace. June 19.

Steve Rossi, 82. Half of the comedy duo Allen & Rossi, which became a favorite on TV variety shows. June 22.

Eli Wallach, 98. Raspy-voiced character actor who starred in dozens of movies and Broadway plays and earned film immortality as a quick-on-the-draw bandit in the classic Western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." June 24.

Howard H. Baker Jr., 88. Moderate Republican ex-senator who, during the 1973 Watergate hearings, sought to learn Richard Nixon's role by asking what the president knew and when he knew it. June 26.

Meshach Taylor, 67. He played a lovable ex-convict surrounded by Southern belles on the sitcom "Designing Women" and appeared in numerous other TV and film roles. June 28.

Philip Lutzenkirchen, 23. Former Auburn tight end and a fan favorite who played on the 2010 national championship team. June 29. Car crash.

JULY:

Stephen Gaskin, 79. Counterculture visionary who led a caravan of hippies from California to establish one of the longest lasting U.S. communes in rural Middle Tennessee and later sought the Green Party nomination for president. July 1.

David Greenglass, 92. He served 10 years in prison for his role in the most explosive atomic spying case of the Cold War and gave testimony that sent his brother-in-law and sister, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, to the electric chair. July 1.

Louis Zamperini, 97. Olympic distance runner who, during World War II, survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific after his bomber crashed, then endured two years in Japanese prison camps and hero of the book and movie "Unbroken." July 2.

Richard Mellon Scaife, 82. Billionaire Mellon banking heir who published the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and funded libertarian and conservative political causes. July 4.

Rev. Gerald Robinson, 76. Roman Catholic priest convicted of killing a nun inside a chapel in 1980. July 4.

Metropolitan Volodymyr, 78. Head of Ukraine's Orthodox Church who was credited with stabilizing the church. July 5.

Eduard Shevardnadze, 86. Groundbreaking Soviet foreign minister and later the president of an independent Georgia. July 7.

John Seigenthaler, 86. He edited The Tennessean newspaper, helped shape USA Today and worked for civil rights during the Kennedy administration. July 11.

Tommy Ramone, 65. Co-founder of the seminal punk band the Ramones and last surviving member of the original group. July 11.

Ken Gray, 89. He represented southern Illinois in Congress and earned the nickname the "Prince of Pork" for bringing $7 billion in projects to his district. July 12.

Lorin Maazel, 84. World-renowned conductor whose career included seven years at the helm of the New York Philharmonic. July 12.

Alice Coachman Davis, 90. First black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. July 14.

Elaine Stritch, 89. Brash theater performer whose gravelly, gin-laced voice and impeccable comic timing made her a Broadway legend. July 17.

James Garner, 86. Actor whose whimsical style in the 1950s TV Western "Maverick" led to a career in TV and films such as "The Rockford Files" and his Oscar-nominated "Murphy's Romance." July 19.

Dan Borislow, 52. Inventor of magicJack and a pioneer in developing phone calls over the Internet. July 21.

Paul Schell, 76. Former Seattle mayor who led the city during the World Trade Organization protests in 1999. July 27.

Theodore "Dutch" VanKirk, 93. Last surviving member of the crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, hastening the end of World War II and forcing the world into the atomic age. July 28.

Robert Drew, 90. Pioneer of the modern documentary who in "Primary" and other films mastered the intimate style known as cinema verite and schooled a generation of influential directors. July 30.

Dick Smith, 92. Oscar-winning "Godfather of Makeup" who amused, fascinated and terrified moviegoers by devising unforgettable transformations for Marlon Brando in "The Godfather" and Linda Blair in "The Exorcist," among many others. July 30.

AUGUST:

Chung Eun-yong, 91. Ex-policeman whose half-century quest for justice for his two slain children led the U.S. Army in 2001 to acknowledge the Korean War refugee massacre at No Gun Ri. Aug. 1.

James Brady, 73. Affable, witty press secretary who survived a devastating head wound in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, then undertook a personal crusade for gun control. Aug. 4.

Jesse Steinfeld, 87. Doctor who became the first surgeon general ever forced out of office by the president after he campaigned hard against the dangers of smoking during the Richard Nixon era. Aug. 5.

Marilyn Burns, 65. Actress perhaps best known as the heroine in the 1974 horror classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Aug. 5.

Menahem Golan, 85. Israeli filmmaker who built an empire on the back of brawny men beating others senseless across a host of 1980s action films. Aug. 8.

Kevin Ward Jr., 20. Sprint car driver from Port Leyden, NY who was struck and killed by NASCAR driver Tony Stewart during a race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park. Aug. 9.

Robin Williams, 63. Academy Award winner and comic supernova whose explosions of pop culture riffs and impressions dazzled audiences for decades. Aug. 11. Apparent suicide.

Lauren Bacall, 89. Slinky, sultry-voiced actress who created on-screen magic with Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not" and "The Big Sleep" and off-screen magic in one of Hollywood's most storied marriages. Aug. 12.

Simone Camilli, 35. Associated Press video journalist. Aug. 13. Killed in the Gaza Strip when leftover ordnance exploded.

Jay Adams, 53. Colorful rebel who helped transform skateboarding from a simple street pastime into one of the world's most spectacular sports. Aug. 14. Heart attack.

James Jeffords, 80. Former Vermont senator, who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent. Aug. 18.

Don Pardo, 96. TV and radio announcer whose booming baritone became as much a part of the cultural landscape as the shows he touted, including "Saturday Night Live." Aug. 18.

Dinu Patriciu, 64. Politician from Romania's early post-communist years whose later career as an oil tycoon was marred by legal troubles. Aug. 19.

B.K.S. Iyengar, 95. Indian yoga guru who helped popularize yoga around the world and wrote 14 books on the subject. Aug. 20.

Robert Hansen, 75. Convicted Alaska serial killer who gained the nickname of "the Butcher Baker" for abducting women in the wilderness during the state's oil pipeline construction boom in the 1970s. Aug. 21.

Gerald One Feather, 76. Legendary Oglala Sioux leader, former tribal president and tireless advocate for educational opportunities. Aug. 21.

Philippine de Rothschild, 80. Energetic, self-certain grande dame of Bordeaux wine who halted an acting career to run vineyards owned by the family dynasty. Aug. 22.

Richard Attenborough, 90. Actor and Oscar-winning director whose film career on both sides of the camera spanned 60 years. Aug. 24.

William Greaves, 87. Emmy-winning co-host and executive producer of a groundbreaking television news program and a prolific filmmaker whose subjects ranged from Muhammad Ali to the Harlem Renaissance to the black middle class. Aug. 25.

John A. Walker Jr., 77. Former American sailor convicted during the Cold War of leading a family spy ring for the Soviet Union. Aug. 28.

SEPTEMBER:

Andrew Madoff, 48. Bernard Madoff's last surviving son, he turned his father in and insisted he had been duped into believing history's most notorious Ponzi king was an honest financier. Sept. 3. Cancer.

Joan Rivers, 81. Raucous, acid-tongued comedian who crashed the male-dominated realm of late-night talk shows and turned Hollywood red carpets into danger zones for badly dressed celebrities. Sept. 4. Fatal complication during a medical procedure.

Gustavo Cerati, 55. Argentine rock star who was the former lead singer of the band Soda Stereo, among the most popular groups in the Spanish-speaking world in the 1980s and '90s. Sept. 4.

S. Truett Cathy, 93. Billionaire founder of the privately held Chick-fil-A restaurant chain. Sept. 8.

Emilio Botin, 79. Spanish banking magnate who built the country's Banco Santander into a global financial giant and was widely seen as the nation's most influential business leader. Sept. 9.

Bob Suter, 57. Member of the "Miracle On Ice" team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1980 and the father of Minnesota Wild star Ryan Suter. Sept. 9.

Richard Kiel, 74. Towering actor best known for portraying steel-toothed villain Jaws in a pair of James Bond films. Sept. 10.

Rev. Ian Paisley, 88. Protestant firebrand who devoted his life to thwarting compromise with Catholics in Northern Ireland only to become a peacemaker in his twilight years. Sept. 12.

Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., 73. Son of congressional royalty who evolved into a top-tier lobbyist and prolific Democratic fundraiser and embodied what it meant to have Washington clout. Sept. 15.

Will Radcliff, 74. He built a multimillion-dollar global business from flavored, icy Slush Puppie drinks. Sept. 18.

Polly Bergen, 84. Emmy-winning actress and singer who in a long career played the terrorized wife in the original "Cape Fear" and the first woman president in "Kisses for My President." Sept. 20.

Mike Harari, 87. Israeli secret service agent who played a major role in planning Mossad's revenge attacks against Palestinian militants implicated in the 1972 Munich massacre of the country's Olympics team. Sept. 21.

Deborah Mitford, 94. Dowager duchess of Devonshire and the last of the witty, unconventional Mitford sisters. Sept. 24.

Lily McBeth, 80. Teacher whose battles with school boards in conservative areas of New Jersey made her a reluctant symbol of the transgender rights movement. Sept. 24.

James Traficant, 73. Colorful Ohio politician whose conviction for taking bribes and kickbacks made him only the second person to be expelled from Congress since the Civil War. Sept. 27.

Floyd "Creeky" Creekmore, 98. Former Montana rancher who held the record as the world's oldest performing clown. Sept. 27.

Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock, 88. First female pilot to fly solo around the world. Sept. 30.

Martin Perl, 87. Nobel Prize-winning physicist from Stanford University who discovered a subatomic particle known as the tau lepton. Sept. 30.

OCTOBER:

Comer Cottrell, 82. Black hair-care entrepreneur who made millions with a cheap kit that brought the glossy celebrity Jheri curl into the homes of average African Americans. Oct. 3.

Jean-Claude Duvalier, 63. He presided over what was widely acknowledged as a corrupt, brutal regime as the self-proclaimed "president for life" of Haiti until an uprising sent him into a 25-year exile. Oct. 4. Heart attack.

Marian Seldes, 86. Tony Award-winning star of "A Delicate Balance" who was a teacher of Kevin Kline and Robin Williams, a muse to playwright Edward Albee and a Guinness Book of World Records holder for most consecutive performances. Oct. 6.

Jan Hooks, 57. Former "Saturday Night Live" cast member. Oct. 9.

Dr. Richard Aubry, 81. A doctor who championed efforts to lower Central New York's high infant mortality rate and specialized in high-risk pregnancies. Aubry was killed in a car crash in DeWitt. Oct. 11.

Tim Hauser, 72. Founder and singer of the Grammy-winning vocal troupe The Manhattan Transfer. Oct. 16.

Oscar de la Renta, 82. Worldly gentleman designer who shaped the wardrobe of socialites, first ladies and Hollywood stars for more than four decades. Oct. 20.

Gough Whitlam, 98. Flamboyant Australian prime minister and controversial social reformer whose grip on power was cut short by a bitter constitutional crisis. Oct. 21.

Ben Bradlee, 93. Hard-charging editor who guided The Washington Post through its Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Watergate scandal and invigorated its newsroom for more than two decades. Oct. 21.

Joan Quigley, 87. Astrologer who helped determine President Ronald Reagan's schedule. Oct. 21.

John "Bull" Bramlett, 73. Former professional football and baseball player who was nicknamed the "Meanest Man in Football." Oct. 23.

Jack Broughton, 89. Decorated Air Force fighter pilot who flew more than 200 missions in Korea and Vietnam and later became an outspoken critic of the White House and military leaders. Oct. 24.

Marcia Strassman, 66. She played Gabe Kaplan's wife, Julie, on the 1970s sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter." Oct. 24.

Jack Bruce, 71. British musician best known as the bass player and vocalist of the power blues trio Cream. Oct. 25.

Michael Sata, 77. Longtime opposition leader who was finally elected president of Zambia in 2011. Oct. 28.

Harold Gary Morse, 77. He transformed his father's cluster of a few hundred mobile homes in central Florida into the gigantic retirement utopia The Villages. Oct. 29.

Thomas Menino, 71. Boston's longest-serving mayor whose mumbling and occasional bumbling belied his political ingenuity and endeared him to a city whose skyline he helped reshape. Oct. 30.

NOVEMBER:

Tom Sneddon, 73. Former district attorney who sought twice to try Michael Jackson on child molestation charges. Nov. 1.

Veljko Kadijevic, 88. Former Yugoslav general who was accused of war crimes in Croatia and who fled to Russia to avoid testifying at a U.N. tribunal. Nov. 2.

Tom Magliozzi, 77. He was one half of the brother duo who hosted National Public Radio's "Car Talk," where they bantered with callers and commiserated over their car problems. Nov. 3.

S. Donald Stookey, 99. He was the scientist who forever changed cooking with the invention of CorningWare, a versatile glass found in millions of American kitchens. Nov. 4.

Raymond Almiran Montgomery, 78. Author of the popular children's book series "Choose Your Own Adventure." Nov. 9.

Tomas Young, 34. Wounded Iraq War veteran who was an outspoken critic of the conflict and the subject of the 2007 documentary "Body of War." Nov. 10.

Ken Takakura, 83. Craggy-faced star known for playing outlaws and stoic heroes in scores of Japanese films. Nov. 10.

Big Bank Hank, 57. Member of the pioneering hip-hop group the Sugarhill Gang responsible for one of the most popular rap songs of all time, "Rapper's Delight." Nov. 11.

Marge Roukema, 85. New Jersey Republican who spent more than two decades in Congress sparring regularly with ideologues within her party. Nov. 12.

Jane Byrne, 81. She capitalized on Chicago's slow reaction to a snowstorm to score one of the biggest election upsets in the city's history and become its first and only female mayor. Nov. 14.

John T. Downey, 84. Former CIA agent who survived more than 20 years in Chinese prisons during the Cold War before becoming a Connecticut judge. Nov. 17.

Mike Nichols, 83. Director of matchless versatility who brought fierce wit, caustic social commentary and wicked absurdity to such film, TV and stage hits as "The Graduate," ''Angels in America" and "Monty Python's Spamalot." Nov. 19.

Maria del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, 88. The Duchess of Alba, she was one of Spain's wealthiest and most colorful aristocrats and recognized as the world's most titled noble. Nov. 19.

Marion Barry, 78. Former District of Columbia mayor whose four terms were overshadowed by his 1990 arrest after being caught on videotape smoking crack cocaine. Nov. 23.

Sabah, 87. Lebanese singer and actress who was an icon of Arab music. Nov. 26.

Roberto Gomez Bolanos, 85. Iconic Mexican comedian who wrote and played the boy television character "El Chavo del Ocho" that defined a generation for millions of Latin American children. Nov. 28.

Anthony Marshall, 90. His aristocratic life as philanthropist Brooke Astor's only child unraveled as he was convicted of raiding her fortune. Nov. 30.

DECEMBER:

Dennis Walaker, 73. As mayor of Fargo, North Dakota, he was known for leading the state's largest city through several successful fights against the Red River. Dec. 2.

Herman Badillo, 85. Bronx politician who became the first person born in Puerto Rico to become a U.S. congressman. Dec. 3.

Queen Fabiola, 86. She was inseparable from her husband, the late King Baudouin, and popular across much of Belgium. Dec. 5.

Ernest Brace, 83. Civilian captured during the Vietnam War while flying supplies for the CIA who later tapped code through a wall to fellow prisoner John McCain. Dec. 5.

Ralph Baer, 92. Video game pioneer who created both the precursor to "Pong" and the electronic memory game Simon and led the team that developed the first home video game console. Dec. 6.

Larry J. Cano, 90. Founder of the El Torito restaurant chain who helped popularize guacamole, fajitas and margaritas with the U.S. masses. Dec. 10.

Norman Bridwell, 86. Illustrator whose story about a girl and her puppy marked the birth of the supersized franchise Clifford the Big Red Dog. Dec. 12.

David Garth, 84. Political adviser who spearheaded creation of the modern political TV commercial and helped elect governors, senators and mayors. Dec. 15.

The child was uninjured in the accident.

STOCKBRIDGE, N.Y. -- With a 5-year-old dangling between school bus doors, a driver traveled nine-tenths of a mile to the next stop in Madison County, officials said in a news release.

Authorities provided the following account:

A child who mistakenly did not get off at a bus stop was talking to the driver as a 5-year-old boy was exiting the bus.

Snider accidentally closed the doors on the backpack of the boy and drove to the next stop with the child suspended in the air outside the bus.

From her home, the 5-year-old's grandmother saw the boy get stuck. She got in her vehicle and called 911 while trying to stop the bus.

Snider realized what happened at the next stop. The boy was given to his grandmother who declined assistance from medical technicians and deputies at the scene.

The child was also evaluated at his home by the school nurse, while the boy's father was present, officials said.

The child's family asked that no charges be filed against the driver.

Snider immediately gave school officials his resignation and voluntarily submitted to chemical screening at a medical facility.

After reviewing the onboard video recording of the event and analyzing witness statements, officials decided that Snider will not face any charges.

Indictments released Dec. 18.

Syracuse, NY -- The following people were indicted by Onondaga County grand juries:

Toby Cullen, 36, of 144 Steuben St., Apt. 1, Syracuse, charged with failure to register or verify address for the Sex Offender Registry. Based on April 28 to June 17, 2014 incident in Syracuse.

Jarvis Richardson, 34, of 1529 S. State St., Syracuse, charged with second-degree assault. Based on June 4, 2014 incident in Syracuse.

Derek Williams, 25, of 403 W. Beard Ave., Syracuse, charged with attempted first-degree robbery. Based on Oct. 24, 2010 incident in Syracuse.

See previous Onondaga County indictments

Peter Carmen, president of the school's board of trustees, said in a statement that Manlius Pebble Hill had "experienced economic contraction" like other schools in the area.

The exterior of one of the buildings at Manlius Pebble Hill School. The school's trustees announced measures Friday to put the institution on sounder economic footing. Angela Madonia/File Photo 

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Manlius Pebble Hill School, Central New York's oldest independent college preparatory school, Friday announced plans that will likely mean cutting staff and raising tuition.

The school's trustees said the school faces economic pressures and an unsustainable economic model.

In addition to staff cuts and increasing tuition, MPH announced it will reduce student financial aid and conduct a fundraising campaign.

Staff cuts will be determined by how many students enroll in January. Tuition will go up about 7 percent, though the exact increase has not been finalized.

School staff were informed of the changes Friday afternoon. Parents were also notified of the changes.

Peter Carmen, president of the school's board of trustees, said that Manlius Pebble Hill had "experienced economic contraction" like other schools.

"These realities have created growing financial pressures for the entire community," Carmen said. "At MPH, they have resulted in unsustainable enrollments, which have led to budget deficits that must be addressed quickly and decisively."

Under the school's "The Way Forward" plan, it will change its economic model in several ways, the school announced.

Beginning in the 2015-16 school year, the school will cut financial aid and scholarships. The school said the cuts will likely reduce enrollment, reversing an "explosive, but unfunded growth" from the 1990s.

More than 420 students from prekindergarten to 12th-grade currently attend the school, with about half receiving some need-based financial aid or merit scholarships. Enrollment peaked at more than 500 students a few years ago before the school began admitting fewer students.

Carmen said the school was committed to maintaining financial aid and diversity, but that the school could no longer afford to subsidize tuition for as many students. The school hopes to continue aid for about a third of students in the future.

The school will implement a tuition increase it said more closely reflects the cost of providing a Manlius Pebble Hill education and one that is comparable to similar "independent schools of Manlius Pebble Hill's caliber."

Tuition and fees without aid or scholarships currently runs from $16,000 to $21,000 a year depending on grade level. Trustees tentatively expect the cost to increase to $19,000 to $22,000, Carmen said.

The school said it will also likely cut staff based on the expectation that enrollment will decrease, though exact cuts, if they are needed, won't be known until enrollment is finalized next year. The school currently employees about 110 full-time and part-time staff, including about 60 teachers.

Last year, the school cut 12 positions, including two teachers.

Manlius Pebble Hill is launching a $3 million fundraising campaign to pay for necessary one-time expenses related to the school's transition, including unemployment and support for staff who will be laid off. Money will also be used to pay down debt the school has incurred in the past.

The school has already raised about a third of the needed money for the transition in just three weeks by privately seeking donations from trustees, alumni and parents, Scott Wiggins, Manlius Pebble Hill's head of school, said. Now the school will be publicly asking for donations.

The changes to put the school on the right financial footing will not affect the school's academic standards and student-centered philosophy, Carmen said. They were made after careful consideration of all alternatives, he said.

"The transition is going to be painful at times, but the cure is going to result in a very healthy, robust Manlius Pebble Hill."

The school will remain at its 26-acre campus in the town of DeWitt.

Tuition assistance will still be offered based on need and availability. Manlius Pebble Hill said it would continue to have class sizes of about 15-18 students.

"Most importantly," Carmen said, "the community will retain one of its most important educational assets--the option for a Lower, Middle and Upper school independent education."

At a meeting of the school's staff Friday, Carmen said the staff was more concerned about the school and its students than themselves.

"We were both so inspired by how much that focus was on the continuing strenthg of the school," Carmen said. "It was really a testament to the teachers and administrators."

Manlius Pebble Hill dates to the founding in 1869 of The Manlius School, a top military academy. It merged with Pebble Hill School in 1970 and emphasizes quality faculty, small classes and hands-on learning as well as independent study, the arts, athletics and community service.

Contact Ken Sturtz anytime: 315-766-7833 | Email | Twitter | Facebook | Google+

Kenneth V. Coon Jr., 59, of Cato, faces up to 30 years in prison.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The co-owner of a small, failed airport in Oswego County has admitted he and others used $3 million in federal grants to commit bank fraud.

Kenneth V. Coon Jr., 59 of Cato, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He admitted that he and others defrauded a bank out of more than $300,000 between 2004 and 2009.

In 2004, Coon and his partners in Syracuse Suburban Airport LLC bought a 93-acre reliever airport site in Hastings for $350,0000. The company received $2.9 million in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration to develop the airstrip, called a reliever airport because it could relieve air traffic at larger airports. The airstrip was never completed.

Coon admitted that in April 2005, he and his co-conspirators obtained a $650,000 line of credit from First Niagara Bank that was only supposed to be used for airport expenses that were reimbursable through the FAA grants.

In December 2005, Coon and the others submitted an invoice to First Niagara to release $125,000 in loan proceeds to buy airport equipment, according to court papers. Instead, they invested the money in a Texas real estate project, court papers said.

In 2006, Coon and others opened an investment brokerage account in the name of Gildner Road Associates, a corporation that they owned, his plea agreement said.

Two months later, they submitted an invoice to First Niagara for the release of $97,604 to buy airport equipment. Instead of using it for that purpose, Coon and others transferred $96,000 from the Syracuse Suburban account to the Gildner Road investment account without telling First Niagara, the plea agreement said.

In June 2006, Coon and his co-conspirators transferred $106,000 from the investment account to the airport checking account. Two days later they transferred $95,700 from the airport checking account to the Upstate New York Bean Company, in Marcellus.

Coon owned the bean company, court papers said.

One of the co-conspirators, David Pizio, 58, of Jamesville pleaded guilty to the same charges in July. He has not yet been sentenced.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ransom Reynolds would not say whether anyone else will likely be charged.

Coon faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine when U.S. District Judge David Hurd sentences him April 17.

Contact John O'Brien at jobrien@syracuse.com or 315-470-2187.

Patients with chronic hepatitis C have a new option for treating the liver-damaging virus, with the approval of a combination treatment developed by AbbVie.

TRENTON, N.J. -- Patients with chronic hepatitis C have a new option for treating the liver-damaging virus, with the approval of a combination treatment developed by AbbVie.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the sale of a packaged treatment called Viekira Pak made by AbbVie Inc. of North Chicago, Illinois.

It includes a combination pill, which contains the antiviral drugs ombitasvir, paritaprevir and ritonavir, along with a tablet of dasabuvir. All the ingredients are new except for ritonavir, which works to increase blood levels of paritaprevir.

It's among several new pill-only hepatitis C treatments that are big improvements over earlier treatments that are less effective, require injections and cause flu-like side effects.

About 3.2 million Americans are infected with hepatitis C, which generally doesn't cause noticeable symptoms until the liver is damaged.

Without proper treatment, up to 30 percent of those people will eventually develop cirrhosis, an advanced liver disease in which excessive alcohol, fat and other substances kill off liver cells, causing scarring of the liver tissue. The virus can cause liver failure and liver cancer, resulting in the need for a liver transplant.

For decades, patients had no options but older treatments centered on injections of interferon, a synthetic version of an immune system protein that caused many of the nasty side effects. Those treatments could last a year or more, were so unpleasant that many patients dropped out and still barely cured one-half of patients.

Much more effective treatments with easier side effects have hit the market in the last several years, including three others approved by the FDA since November 2013. Those are Johnson & Johnson's Olysio and two from Gilead Sciences: Sovaldi and Harvoni.

The latter two have drawn considerable criticism from patients and doctors for their exorbitant price -- Sovaldi costs about $1,000 per pill or $84,000 for a course of treatment -- though their maker points out that successful treatment is cheaper than a liver transplant.

AbbVie said the shortest approved course of therapy for Viekira, 12 weeks, will cost about $83,320 at wholesale prices. Patients and insurers have been hoping the growing competition will start to reduce the prices.

"The new generation of therapeutics for hepatitis C virus is changing the treatment paradigm for Americans living with the disease," Dr. Edward Cox, director of the FDA's Office of Antimicrobial Products, said in a statement.

Viekira Pak was tested in six large patient studies involving 2,308 participants with chronic hepatitis C, some of them with cirrhosis. The testing showed 91 percent to 100 percent of the participants getting the new combination had no detectable levels of the virus in their blood 12 weeks after treatment ended, indicating they had been cured.

The treatment regimen involves taking two of the combination pills in the morning, plus one dasabuvir tablet in the morning and evening. The most common side effects in the study were fatigue, itching, weakness or lack of energy, nausea and trouble sleeping.

The drug's paritaprevir component was developed in collaboration with Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Watertown, Massachusetts, which will receive a $75 million payment for the approval.

The parks are the first of their kind in the United States to honor an African-American woman.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With the stroke of a pen President Barack Obama Friday signed into law a measure that included a provision creating a national historical park at Harriet Tubman's former home in Central New York and in Maryland.

The parks are the first of their kind in the United States to honor an African-American woman.

Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland in 1820. She later bought a home in Cayuga County in 1857 and became famous as a leader of the abolitionist movement and Underground Railroad. She's buried in an Auburn cemetery.

Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2015 Friday, which included a provision creating several parks including the ones honoring Tubman.

The provisions were added to the defense authorization bill because they were unlikely to pass separately in the remaining days of the lame-duck Congress.

U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei, D-Syracuse, sponsored the companion legislation in the House and helped maneuver to include the legislation in the defense authorization bill. In April 2013, Maffei invited Obama to visit the Tubman home, but the president did not have time to visit after an overnight stay in Auburn that summer.

After the bill passed the House, the U.S. Senate voted 89-11 to pass a bill establishing a Harriet Tubman National Historical Park at her former home in Cayuga County and along the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where the anti-slavery pioneer spent the early part of her life. The bill authorizes the money necessary for the National Park Service to establish the park, with the federal share not to exceed 50 percent of the total cost.

The national historical park will include Tubman's former residence and related properties on 32 acres along Auburn's South Street and in the town of Fleming in Cayuga County. The properties include Tubman's former home, as well as the Tubman Home for the Aged and the Thompson Memorial AME Zion Church and Rectory.

In Maryland, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park will trace Tubman's early life where she was born and later escaped to become a leader of the Underground Railroad, the network of safe houses and secret routes that helped slaves escape to free states.

Mark Weiner contributed to this story.

Syracuse mayor says state has the mandate and the means to control deer.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Rather than launch a $100,000 local effort to control the urban deer population, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner has asked the state Department of Environmental Conservation to do the job - and to pay for it.

A task force created last year by Miner and Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney has recommended that the city and county undertake a $100,000 pilot program to control the deer population on the East Side of Syracuse and in parts of DeWitt.

But Miner says that job belongs to DEC.

In a letter sent Friday to Commissioner Joe Martens, the mayor asserted that DEC "is the entity best equipped to tackle this multifaceted problem,'' in part because deer travel across municipal boundaries.

"I request that your office take immediate steps to design and implement a program to reduce the urban deer population in the City of Syracuse and the Town of DeWitt, as well as implement an outreach program to inform and educate residents on preventing disease and property damage that can result from a large urban deer population,'' Miner wrote.

DEC officials could not immediately be reached Friday for comment.

The burgeoning deer population on Syracuse's East Side became a hot topic in early 2012, when neighborhood complaints began to surge about deer-ravaged gardens, deer-car accidents and related issues.

In response, a city-sponsored neighborhood planning group, Eastside TNT, set up an ad hoc committee to study the problem. In the spring of 2013, Miner and Mahoney created a formal Syracuse-Onondaga County Urban Deer Task Force, which included representatives from the East Side of Syracuse and the neighboring town of DeWitt, among others.

After six meetings over more than a year, the task force recently issued its recommendations. The group asked the city and county to implement a pilot program, which it estimated would cost $100,000 for the first year.

The task force recommended that the city and/or the county issue a request for proposals to find '' the most appropriate company, agency, or organization'' to reduce the deer population. The target area is estimated to have 192 to 244 deer, or about 19 per square mile.

Task force members expressed a strong preference for humane, non-lethal methods to depress the deer population, such as surgical sterilization, which the group said costs $1,000 to $1,500 per deer.

But the task force also acknowledged that it might be necessary to kill some deer in the short term, which it said costs about $600 per deer, including permits and police supervision.

Syracuse Common Councilor Nader Maroun, whose district includes much of the East Side, said he has been looking for solutions to the deer problem for years, mostly out of concern over the spread of Lyme disease, which is carried by deer ticks.

In the past, DEC has not had a program to control the urban deer, Maroun said. He is eager to learn whether they will offer one now, he said.

"Are they willing to do it? I don't know,'' Maroun said.

Contact Tim Knauss anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3023

Urban Deer Task Force Report

The clock is ticking, and your holiday shopping list isn't complete.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The clock is ticking, and your holiday shopping list isn't complete.

Don't fret -- you aren't alone.

The National Retail Federation found that only about half of shoppers had finished shopping as of Dec. 10. That means tens of millions will be ticking those final items off their lists in the coming days.

But procrastination doesn't have to mean desperation. Here are a few tips to help survive last-minute shopping:

Seize the day

Retailers know the rush is coming, and they are doing everything they can to attract last-minute shoppers. This includes extended shopping hours, expedited shipping and exclusive promotions.

That opens up lots of strategies for shopping that will keep you out of the crazy lines in stores at noon on Christmas Eve.

One tactic is to become a night owl. Many retailers are open longer in the week before Christmas. For example, Wal-Mart says its stores are open 24 hours a day up until 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve and it is offering shipping options up until Dec. 23. Toys R Us stores are open around the clock from the morning of Dec. 23 through 9 p.m. Christmas Eve; it also is extending its hours in the days preceding.

And many retailers, such as Best Buy, allow shoppers to find an item online and pick it up at a store. Even 7-Eleven is targeting shoppers, offering gift cards, toys and stocking stuffers in its stores.

The bottom line: Take advantage of those last-minute discounts and other deals.

Do your homework

Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at market researcher NPD Group, says many people do not yet know what they want to give, or get.

"These consumers are the ones who put themselves in a stressful situation," he said. "The one saving grace is online (shopping) is a chance for a lot of people to do their homework."

He said shoppers can narrow down their options ahead of time by looking online.

You can also check Amazon.com to see if the person has a wish list you didn't know about, or study Facebook or Pinterest pages for ideas.

Such prep work can save a lot of headaches and potentially limit last-minute impulse purchases that can prove costly.

Wear comfortable shoes

Seriously, this is a common-sense step many shoppers skip.

"Wear comfortable shoes for goodness sake," Cohen said. "It (shopping) is exercise and it's not very comfortable."

Don't waste time cruising to find the closest spot to the store either, he said. Those comfortable shoes will make it easier to just park and walk.