When a Manlius man videotaped a bear eating from bird feeders Friday, wildlife biologist David Riehlman said it's not unusual to see young male bears roaming this time of year, as it is breeding season and they are searching for mates. He added that the DEC tracks reports of where the bears are, but doesn't send anyone out to...

View full sizeCourtesy of Douglas Zamelis Douglas Zamelis took this video Friday of a bear in his yard on Vassar Drive in the town of Manlius. The bear was a little more than half a mile from Fayetteville-Manlius High school.

When a Manlius man videotaped a bear eating from bird feeders Friday, wildlife biologist David Riehlman said it's not unusual to see young male bears roaming this time of year, as it is breeding season and they are searching for mates. He added that the DEC tracks reports of where the bears are, but doesn't send anyone out to investigate. The bears won't bother anyone as long as they aren't aggravated or harassed, he said.

That's not a smart way of handling the sightings, says commenter banone. Here's more from banone:

Another sorry example of a branch of law enforcement being scared of what the public might think of them and letting it affect doing their job...these sightings should be visited by the DEC and the bear(s) should be tagged so we all will know if there are multiple or a single bear being spotted across the area, if these animals are passing through or settling-in. If all goes wrong and the bear dies, so be it. Just because the Geddes bear died they're afraid of tranquilizing another and doing their job.

One could argue that 'we are in their territory' but that doesn't hold water after a given amount of time, these are not one-year-old developments, they're established neighborhoods being visited. The bear is on our turf, it is passing through looking for a mate, but is a menace nonetheless. DEC, deal with it! If the demise of a bear or two conflicts with Environmental 'Conservation' then maybe the peace officers should take over and do their jobs of protecting its citizens. Before you start with the tranquility of black bears, remember that a situation can turn ugly and deadly in seconds.

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ALBANY, N.Y. — New York plans a $1.60 increase per pack in the cigarette tax, making it the nation’s highest, as well a long-delayed plan to crack down on the sale of cigarettes by tribes to non-Indians, according to a bill Gov. David Paterson’s administration announced late Friday. The plan also includes raising the tax on chewing tobacco, cigars,...

View full sizeThinkstock

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York plans a $1.60 increase per pack in the cigarette tax, making it the nation’s highest, as well a long-delayed plan to crack down on the sale of cigarettes by tribes to non-Indians, according to a bill Gov. David Paterson’s administration announced late Friday.

The plan also includes raising the tax on chewing tobacco, cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products. The tax would increase to 75 percent of the wholesale price of those products, from 46 percent now.

New York state Budget Director Robert Megna said specifics are still being negotiated with legislative leaders and tribes in New York, but higher tobacco taxes will be part of an emergency spending bill Monday.

“Raising the tax, combined with the decision to collect the tax on Indian sales, together is probably the most important public health measure this state has taken in many years,” said Russ Sciandra, director of the Center for a Tobacco Free New York, a coalition of health groups.

Peter Slocum of the American Cancer Society called the tax plan “one of the most important public health measures of our time.”

But Paterson ventures into potentially dangerous territory in trying to tax sovereign tribes. “This is an act of economic violence against the native people of what is now New York state,” said Richard Nephew, chairman of the Seneca Nation’s legislative council. “The state is built on the graves and land sacrifices of our people.”

Lawmakers will either have to accept the whole package or reject the weekly emergency appropriation and shut down government. In two previous emergency appropriations they chose to avoid a shutdown of government. Government has run on weekly emergency appropriations because budget negotiations have failed. The budget was due April 1.

“Our anticipation is that extender will pass, that people will not want to shut down government,” Megna said.

New York state’s current cigarette tax is $2.75 a pack. A $4.35-per pack tax would surpass even Rhode Island’s tax of $3.46 per pack and $3 per pack in the state of Washington, according to the American Cancer Society.

The tobacco tax package is expected to raise $440 million for New York as it faces a $9.2 billion deficit. The increases are projected to provide $290 million in revenue. The collection from Indian sales is projected to bring in $150 million this year, Megna said.

New York Indian tribes have long refused to collect taxes on their cigarette sales to Indians and non-Indians in their many shops and Internet sites. For decades, governors have sought to collect the revenue estimated at hundreds of millions a year that also has hurt businesses not owned by Indians near tribal land.

Megna said the Paterson administration seeks to avoid the violence of a similar effort more than 20 years ago by requiring wholesalers to pay the tax. Burning tires at one point shut down the statewide Thruway highway where it ran through tribes, and there were shootings reported at several Indian communities.

“I think the way we structured the bill is a way to specifically avoid that,” Megna said. However, the bill also allows New York the option of issuing coupons to reimburse Indian smokers for the tax they paid, but that’s not Paterson’s preference.

Megna said collection taxes collections on Indian sales are scheduled to begin Sept. 1, pending more negotiations. The state believes Indian sales to Indians are tax exempt. “We’re working on agreements,” he said. “We’re trying to gain closure to this issue in the most inoffensive way to the Native Americans and the most unobtrusive way possible, so we’re trying to do that in a way that minimizes any impact on the tribes,” Megna said. He said he hopes the move will reduce, rather than increase illegal trafficking in cigarettes.

Megna said the state will provide an intentionally inflated estimate of how many cigarettes are smoked by Indians so most sales to non-Indians could be taxed.

Smokers rights advocates say the latest big tax increase will drive more smokers to buying from bootleggers, tribes and over the Internet. “When normally law-abiding citizens are turned into victims without redress or due process they will turn to one form or another of civil disobedience — a protest that has a long and distinguished history in the face of acts that are abusive,” said Audrey Silk of the smokers’ rights group New York City CLASH. “Count on it.”

Paterson had previously proposed an increase of $1 per pack to help fund health programs. The Senate’s Democratic majority said it is reviewing the details. The Assembly majority had already proposed a $1 per pack tax and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has said he expects agreement to increase taxes on the other tobacco products, too.

ALBANY, N.Y. — The leader of New York’s Senate acknowledged Friday that he gave details of other competitors’ proposals to the low bidder for a massive contract to install and operate video slot machines at Aqueduct race track. But Democratic Sen. John Sampson said the data was all public and he didn’t violate any laws or ethics rules against...

View full sizeMike Groll / APSenate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, walks in a hallway after leaving Gov. David Paterson's office at the Capitol in Albany last week. At right is aide Selvena Brooks.

ALBANY, N.Y. — The leader of New York’s Senate acknowledged Friday that he gave details of other competitors’ proposals to the low bidder for a massive contract to install and operate video slot machines at Aqueduct race track.

But Democratic Sen. John Sampson said the data was all public and he didn’t violate any laws or ethics rules against the release of confidential information.

Word that Sampson gave the information to a low-ranked bidder that later revised its proposal and temporarily won the deal was the latest twist in a now-abandoned process that has led to accusations against some of the state’s top Democratic leaders.

“I know what private and confidential documents are and I know what inside information — or whatever it is — I know what it is. I did not engage in anything like that,” said Sampson, a lawyer. He said he showed, and then gave, a copy of other bidders’ proposals to Carl Andrews, a former state senator who, like Sampson, is from Brooklyn.

Sampson met with reporters after the New York Post reported Friday that investigators said he leaked confidential bidding information to the lobbyist for the politically connected firm, Aqueduct Entertainment Group.

Asked why Andrews apparently didn’t know the information if it was readily available, Sampson said the bidding was a confused process without structure and the requirements were constantly changing. But he insisted the data was available to all lobbyists.

AEG altered its bid soon after Andrews met with Sampson and was awarded the deal, only to have that revoked as the whole scandal-plagued process was scrapped and restarted. A winner under a revised process is expected to be chosen in August.

State Inspector General Joseph Fisch is investigating the release of what may have been confidential information and how AEG rose from last place in the early rounds of bidding to first.

Sampson said he doesn’t regret giving Andrews the information. “Sen. Andrews and I had a heated exchange because he heard the Senate was not considering AEG because they submitted one of the lowest bids based upon our analysis and he confronted me,” Sampson said. “I told him, ‘That is true.’

“And he disagreed and said all the other bidders did not rise to whatever level they wanted (the Senate) to rise to,” Sampson continued. “I said, ‘Yes they did.’ And we continued the heated exchange. I said, ‘You know what? I’ll prove my point to you. Here’s our analysis of all the public documents which was not private or confidential ... you’re the lowest and that’s it, end of story.’”

The data Sampson provided to reporters Friday details each bid, side by side. It doesn’t identify the data as confidential or private. It is from a Senate attorney to “members of the Senate majority.” Sampson said the Senate is cooperating with the inspector general’s probe of the executive branch on the issue, although the Senate had fought subpoenas at first.

Andrews is fighting a subpoena now. Andrews is also the former cabinet level secretary for intergovernmental affairs in Gov. David Paterson’s administration. He left in 2008 as the inspector general was investigating claims that he was pressuring the State Liquor Authority into approving licenses for a restaurant owner. Andrews didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The Aqueduct bidding was also muddied by accusations of influence peddling after one of the contenders, SL Green, hired lobbyist Bill Lynch, who had worked for Paterson. In addition, Paterson faced criticism for meeting after AEG was selected with the Rev. Floyd Flake, a one-time AEG partner who is influential in Democratic politics. The governor said that meeting was to seek Flake’s political support and was unrelated to the choice of AEG.

Fisch spokeswoman Kate Gurnett declined comment. Fisch may refer findings to prosecutors with broader jurisdiction that could investigate legislators and lobbyists.

Utica, NY -- The state police internal affairs bureau arrested Trooper Jeffrey W. Kopec on charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance Friday. Police said Kopec, 26, had anabolic steroid in his possession. Kopec, who had worked out of the Herkimer police barracks was arrested in Utica and released on his own recognizance. Kopec, a trooper for three...

submitted photoJeffrey Kopec

Police said Kopec, 26, had anabolic steroid in his possession.

Kopec, who had worked out of the Herkimer police barracks was arrested in Utica and released on his own recognizance.

Kopec, a trooper for three years, was suspended without pay.

Elbridge, NY -- Three ambulances were needed to take injured people, including children, from a chain-reaction crash on Route 5 in Elbridge Friday afternoon. State police said a car was stopped in the eastbound lane, waiting to turn left into a farm stand west of the village of Elbridge. The car behind it stopped and was rear ended by a...

Elbridge, NY -- Three ambulances were needed to take injured people, including children, from a chain-reaction crash on Route 5 in Elbridge Friday afternoon.

State police said a car was stopped in the eastbound lane, waiting to turn left into a farm stand west of the village of Elbridge. The car behind it stopped and was rear ended by a third car.

The third car was struck in the rear by a fourth and the fourth was struck by a fifth car, police said.

The first car was not involved in the crash, police said, while the second, with only minor damage, left the scene.

The driver and a passenger in the fifth car were taken by ambulance to the hospital in Auburn. Children in one of the other involved vehicles were taken to the hospital in Auburn as well, but only as a precaution, police said.

None of the injuries were considered life threatening, police said.

Auburn, NY -- When they were in afternoon kindergarten at Owasco Elementary in Auburn, about 30 youngsters watched as items were placed in a time capsule and buried near the school. That was during the 1997-98 school year. Now, most of those young people are about to graduate from Auburn High School. And Friday, some returned to their old...

View full sizeJohn Berry / The Post-Standard, 2009Graduating seniors returned to Owasco Elementary School where, as kindergartners during the 1997-98 school year, they buried a time capsule that they opened Friday with their former teacher, Colleen Locastro. From left are Tim Smith, Mike Galka, Marybeth Diego, Kara Mahunik, Melissa Duc and Mike Westmiller.

Auburn, NY -- When they were in afternoon kindergarten at Owasco Elementary in Auburn, about 30 youngsters watched as items were placed in a time capsule and buried near the school. That was during the 1997-98 school year.

Now, most of those young people are about to graduate from Auburn High School. And Friday, some returned to their old school to watch as the capsule was opened.

Among the items inside was a simple yearbook, so they got to see how they looked as kindergartners.

They also were able to reminisce with their former kindergarten teacher, Colleen Locastro, who has taught there for 24 years. Locastro said classroom mother Trisha Cady came up with the idea to bury a time capsule. She thought the kindergartners could come back one day and see what they had put into it, Locastro said.

Cady’s daughter, Mary Beth Diego, was one of the six there Friday. Work at the school in recent years had resulted in the capsule being unearthed, but it had not been opened— until Friday. That’s when kindergartners past and present were able to take a peek.

And if these seniors had forgotten the good times they had at Owasco, they were in luck. Also in the capsule were stories they’d written 12 years ago about what they liked best about their year in kindergarten.

Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse judged has ruled that the state cannot make last year’s changes in the state Empire Zone program retroactive to 2008. Jessica Bassett, a spokeswoman for Gov. David Paterson, said the state has been told that state Supreme Court Judge John Cherundolo ruled recently the state could not strip businesses of their Empire Zone benefits retroactively...

Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse judged has ruled that the state cannot make last year’s changes in the state Empire Zone program retroactive to 2008.

Jessica Bassett, a spokeswoman for Gov. David Paterson, said the state has been told that state Supreme Court Judge John Cherundolo ruled recently the state could not strip businesses of their Empire Zone benefits retroactively when businesses do not meet rules approved last year.

Among the amendments is a prohibition against businesses that reincorporate and then claim their existing employees are actually new hires to beef up the companies’ zone credits. Such companies have become known as “shirt changers” and are an example of what critics say was abuse of the program.

Five local businesses stripped of their tax benefits sued the state’s economic development office, alleging that the amendments enacted by the Legislature in 2009 did not include language allowing the state to take away the benefits retroactively to Jan. 1, 2008.

The companies that sued were James Square Associates, Mohawk Glenn Associates, Pioneer Fulton Shopping Center, Pioneer Management Group and Waterfront Associates. They said the original language of the amendments submitted to the Legislature contained the word “retroactive,” but that the bill as enacted did not. They said the earliest date the new rules could take effect was April 7, 2009. Bassett said Cherundolo agreed with the businesses.

The state anticipated such a ruling. In January, after the businesses filed their lawsuit, Paterson included language in his proposed executive budget that would clarify that the Legislature’s intent when passing the 2009 amendments was to make them retroactive to 2008.

Lawmakers have not acted on Paterson’s budget. Bassett said the governor plans to include the “clarifying” language in a budget extender bill if the Legislature has not acted on his budget by June 28.

The Empire Zone program is scheduled to sunset June 30. On Friday, Paterson sent the Legislature a bill creating a new program to replace it. The Excelsior Jobs program would provide tax credits to targeted industries such as high tech, biotech, financial services and manufacturing. He said it also would implement accountability standards and cap program spending to ensure prudent use of taxpayer dollars.

Firms in the targeted industries that create new jobs or make a substantial new investment in New York for five years would receive a tax credit of $2,500 to $5,000 for each new job, plus investment and property tax credits.

Contact Rick Moriarty at rmoriarty@syracuse.com or (315) 470-3148.

Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse police officer shot a dog in self-defense Friday afternoon, as an effort to arrest a man wanted on warrant turned violent. Syracuse Police Sgt. Tom Connellan said police attempted to arrest Ormond Harrison, 36, of Highland Stree, around 4:30 p.m., but Harrison ran from police and into the home of an acquaintance at 1041 Highland...

Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse police officer shot a dog in self-defense Friday afternoon, as an effort to arrest a man wanted on warrant turned violent.

Syracuse Police Sgt. Tom Connellan said police attempted to arrest Ormond Harrison, 36, of Highland Stree, around 4:30 p.m., but Harrison ran from police and into the home of an acquaintance at 1041 Highland St.

Harrison at first refused to come out, said Connellan, then told police he would leave the home. Then, Connellan said, Harrison reversed himself and wouldn’t come out.
When police entered the home to apprehend Harrison, he loosed two Rottweiler dogs on them, Connellan said.

Officer Daniel Rathburn was bitten on the hand and leg by one of the dog, before he shot it dead with his gun, Connellan said. The other dog retreated.

Harrison fled the house, jumping from a second story window and landing on his head, Connellan said.

Harrison and Rathburn were both taken to Upstate University Hospital.

Harrison was listed in serious condition.

Connellan said police expected Rathburn would be treated for bite wounds and released.

Police were trying to arrest Harrison on a warrant for violating probation, Connellan said. Connellan didn’t know what crime had lead to Harrison being on probation.

Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.

DeWitt, NY -- A DeWitt home was heavily damaged by a fire Friday night. Firefighters were called to 1055 Nottingham Road shortly before 10 p.m. They found a fire burning in the garage and spreading to the home, said DeWitt Fire Chief Jeffrey Cardinali. Firefighters tried to fight the fire from inside the house, he said, but were forced by...

DeWitt, NY -- A DeWitt home was heavily damaged by a fire Friday night.

Firefighters were called to 1055 Nottingham Road shortly before 10 p.m. They found a fire burning in the garage and spreading to the home, said DeWitt Fire Chief Jeffrey Cardinali.

Firefighters tried to fight the fire from inside the house, he said, but were forced by the intensity of flames – despite help from other fire departments and two more hose lines.

More than half an hour after the fire was called in, flames were still visible and firefighters were pouring water into the garage to douse the stubborn and smoky fire.

Cardinali said the cause of the fire was under investigation, but it appeared it had begun in the garage.

No one was injured and the Red Cross was at the scene.

Along with DeWitt, firefighters from Jamesville, Fayetteville, East Syracuse, Minoa and Manlius responded to the fire.

Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.

Clay, NY -- Onondaga sheriff’s deputies used a borrowed ladder to save four people from a burning home in Clay Friday night. “Firefighters tell us if they had not done that, then this would have been a fatal fire,” said Undersheriff Warren Darby, who was at the scene of the fire at 37 Bayberry Circle. The fire was called into...

Clay, NY -- Onondaga sheriff’s deputies used a borrowed ladder to save four people from a burning home in Clay Friday night.

“Firefighters tell us if they had not done that, then this would have been a fatal fire,” said Undersheriff Warren Darby, who was at the scene of the fire at 37 Bayberry Circle.

The fire was called into emergency dispatchers at 11:22 p.m. Deputies on patrol in the area got there first, Darby said, and found the first floor of the two-story home already engulfed in flames with people trapped on the second floor.

They went to a neighbors, borrowed an aluminum extension ladder and put it up to a window on the second floor, rescuing first Matthew Poon, who had burns to his upper body, then Poon’s mother Catherine Poon, sister Scarlet Poon and a cousin, Amy Chei.

Deputy Michael Doupe was at the top of the ladder, with Deputy Timothy Hahn next to him and Deputy Timothy Kelly remained on the ground holding the ladder, Darby said.

The residents and three of the deputies were taken to Upstate University Hospital. All suffered smoke inhalation. Matthew Poon was also being treated for burns. Deputy Robert Bell was injured while trying to bring the ladder to the house. He was being treated for an injury to his shoulder, Darby said.

Firefighters from Moyers Corners and Liverpool remained at the scene and investigators had not yet determined a cause for the fire.

“We are proud to have that level of work force for us protecting the community,” Darby said standing amid the flashing lights of the still smoky scene early Saturday morning.

1996 Westhill graduate Erin Davies has made a documentary of people's reactions to the vandalism to her car. Now she and her partner want to build a museum and brewery.

View full sizeGary Walts / The Post-StandardErin Davies (left) and Sonya Parrish stand outside the building at 412 Oswego St., Syracuse, that they are planning to turn into a museum for the Fagbug, a Volkswagon Beetle that Davies drove across the country.

Syracuse, NY -- Erin Davies said she hopes someday to meet the person who scrawled “fag” on her car three years ago, permanently altering the course of her life.

“At the core, I’m hoping that will happen,” said Davies, 32, of Syracuse. “I’m not expecting it. But by keeping at this, by continuing to do what I’m doing — you know what? Anything is a possibility.”

If such optimism sounds like something from a movie, perhaps Davies can be forgiven. She went and made one.

Davies’ 2009 documentary, “Fagbug,” chronicles her reaction to the vandalism, which took place in Albany, where she was studying art. Somebody spray-painted “fag” and “u r gay” on her Volkswagen Beetle, an act that Davies — who is gay — viewed as an attempt to taunt and intimidate.

Instead of scrubbing it clean, she let the paint dry and drove the country for 58 days, talking to people and filming their reactions to the car and its message. The resulting 83-minute movie has aired at 35 film festivals and appeared on about 70 college campuses and forums. It won sponsorships from Volkswagen Group of America and the Sundance Film Festival, and was dubbed “best gay car movie of the year” by Vanity Fair magazine. Its DVD release, scheduled for July 13, will be commemorated in a Syracuse public showing a few nights later.

“Once the whole idea started taking off — well, ever since, it’s been unique,” said Davies, a 1996 Westhill graduate, whose odyssey has led to a two-story, brick husk on Syracuse’s Near West Side. There, the sequel is planned.

Building a museum and brewery

Davies and her partner, Sonya Parrish, are buying a vacant, 1900s-era fortress at 412 Oswego St., which they foresee as the future Fagbug home and museum.

View full sizeGary Walts / The Post-StandardErin Davies (left), Sonya Parrish (right) and Ali jackson, new market specialist for Home Headquarters, stand inside a building at 412 Oswego St., Syracuse. Davies and Parrish are planning to turn the building into a museum for the Fagbug, a Volkswagon Beetle that Davies drove across the country.

“We’re looking to take this building from nothing and turn it into something,” Davies said this week, standing outside the boarded-up building. They’ll take title July 2 as part of a city-backed program to resuscitate the West Side with artists and entrepreneurs. They’ll buy the structure and an adjacent lot from Home Headquarters, the nonprofit housing agency, for just $2 — and about $80,000 in strings attached.

As per the agreement, Davies and Parrish have six months to redo the outside and until spring of 2012 to rebuild the interior. They plan to finance their renovations several ways. They will take out a $40,000 low-interest loan, Davies earns money from speaking engagements, they both sell their artwork and they plan to fundraise.

Shortly after closing on the deal — there’s no key; the front door will require a power drill — they’ll start hauling out junk and scraping shredded paint off the walls. They’ll film some of the action.

Davies said she’s begun work on her next documentary: “Fagbrew,” about her quest to launch the first-ever gay-oriented beer. (One brand name: “Homosexu ALE.”) Davies conceded that she’s no brewmaster, but she said the niche is waiting to be filled. “We’re coming more from a marketing standpoint,” she said. “We hope to partner with someone who knows the beer end.”

If you go ...

What: A showing of “Fagbug,” with reception and public Q&A with filmmaker Erin Davies.

When: 6:30 p.m. July 15

Where: The Palace Theatre, 2384 James St., Syracuse.

Cost: $10.

Information: Link to www.fagbug.com.

Their goal: to open the “Fagbug Museum and Brewery.” They will renovate the top floor for residential use and put a museum and small cafe on the first floor. The museum would put on display the actual “Fagbug,” Davies’ 2002 VW Beetle, which still holds traces of the original vandalism, though it is now decorated with rainbow stripes. Its speedometer shows 151,000 miles. She plans to drive another 150,000 before retiring it as a museum piece. Along with the Fagbug, the museum would include the 77 notes found on the car’s windshield during Davies’ travels.

Davies said she hopes to someday sell Fagbrew beer from that Oswego Street storefront, though she said it would probably take eight years. Between now and then, they would try to win the hearts and minds of the neighbors — and the appropriate governmental agencies.

Facing government hurdles

The building’s 13-foot-high tin ceilings testify to its own journey, of sorts. Built around 1900, it lay vacant for several years before being taken by the city for back taxes in the early 2000s. A database search shows it as the site of several drug arrests in the 1990s. In 2007, Home Headquarters bought it from the city for $151. It’s one of 74 nearby properties targeted for rehabilitation or demolition.

Karen Schroeder, Home Headquarters marketing manager, said planners were swayed by Davies and Parrish. “We were taken with their energy, their spirit and their wanting to make a difference,” said Schroeder, of Davies and Parrish. “We found their enthusiasm to be infectious.”

They will face governmental hurdles. The property is not zoned to house a cafe, a spokesperson at City Hall said. They will need a special permit from the city’s Planning Commission, said Lindsay McCluskey, an aide to the mayor. Sale of beer would require approval from other state and local licensing authorities. The site’s proximity to Skiddy Park and Blodgett School, a block away, would likely be a barrier.

The city’s Zoning Office would have to issue a sign permit for “Fagbug,” but the local statutes specifically address size, height, site location and proposed lettering — not content.

Parrish said there is a vast difference between the words “fag” and “fagbug.” “If you separate the words, yes, it’s offensive,” Parrish said. “But I think if you put them together, it has its own definition. It has its own story behind it.”

Davies said she intends to stick with the name. “I hear it every day — people saying, ‘You shouldn’t do this; nothing good will come out of this.’” she said. “But I do see good things come out. People come up to me, crying, and they say how much this means to them. For every 15 negative comments, I get one of those, and that keeps me going.”

The women said they hope to enlist local high school students to paint a wall mural. They will become part of the neighborhood — which might become part of a movie.

On a recent afternoon, they studied an overgrown mountain of debris that lurked behind the building. A smashed TV sat upon a metallic item too weathered to identify. They foresaw a shaded courtyard someday. “We’d like to put in a fountain,” Parrish said, nodding toward an open area.

They spoke of the tall ceilings not as a winter heating problem but for their design potential. “We intend to do a lot of the work ourselves,” Parrish said.

A gay marketing icon

Today, when thousands gather for Syracuse’s annual CNY Pride Parade and Festival, the Fagbug will be part of the attraction. It has become a gay marketing icon for posters, stickers and toys. Davies said there is talk of a line of Volkswagens painted in rainbow stripes.

But the Fagbug line also includes T-shirts that feature the original artwork donated long ago by an unknown spray-painter — the one who launched the ride.

“What motivated me was the idea that — whoever did this to my car — that I would do the complete opposite of what they wanted me to do, and feel the complete opposite of what they wanted me to feel,” Davies said. “Every single choice I’ve made since, it has been to go against what they were thinking ...

“Who knows?” she said later. “Maybe 10 years from now, the beer line is out there, the museum has succeeded, and I’d like to think that person also will have changed. Maybe our paths will cross after all.”

Hart Seely can be reached at hseely@syracuse.com or 470-2247.

Two men arrested, face felony charges

Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse police traffic stop Friday afternoon lead to the arrest of two brothers and the recovery of two loaded guns.

Police said the incident began at 5:55 p.m. when Officers Don Patti and Brendan Cope saw a red 1999 Mercury Mountaineer sport utility vehicle driving erratically and speeding. They stopped the vehicle on South West Street near West Fayette Street.

Just after stopping the vehicle, the officers heard other police responding to a report of shots fired in the 200 block of Oswego Street. The suspected vehicle in that call was a red sport utility type vehicle.

During their investigation, the officers found a loaded 22 caliber semi-automatic handgun that had been reported stolen and a loaded 22 caliber rifle in the car.

The driver of the vehicle, Obed Ocasio, 24, of Onondaga Avenue, Syracuse, was accused of criminal possession of stolen property, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and criminal use of a firearm, all are felonies.

He was also charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon, and traffic violations.

The front seat passenger, Neftali Ocasio, 23, also of Onondaga Avenue, Syracuse, was accused of criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a weapon, both felonies. He was also charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.

Cortland, NY -- Cortland County Sheriff's deputies Friday accused a Cortland woman of driving while intoxicated and endangering the welfare of a child after an officer saw a young child standing up in back seat of her vehicle. A deputy stopped the vehicle at 8:50 p.m. near the intersection of Greenbush Street and Central Avenue, Cortland after the officer saw...

Cortland, NY -- Cortland County Sheriff's deputies Friday accused a Cortland woman of driving while intoxicated and endangering the welfare of a child after an officer saw a young child standing up in back seat of her vehicle.

A deputy stopped the vehicle at 8:50 p.m. near the intersection of Greenbush Street and Central Avenue, Cortland after the officer saw a young child standing up in the back seat and not wearing a seat belt.

The driver, Candice M. Graves, 29, of 12 Park St., Apt. A, Cortland, failed field sobriety tests, and was accused of driving while intoxicated.

In addition to driving while intoxicated, Graves was accused of driving with a blood alcohol content of more than 0.08 percent, not having a passenger seat belted and endangering the welfare of a child.

Penn Yan, NY--A Penn Yan man was injured Friday when his replica 1910 Glenn Curtiss biplane crashed a quarter mile east of the Penn Yan Airport. Pilot Harlan Poel, 67, lost altitude and crashed his replica single engine pusher biplane into a farm field, state police said. He was taken by helicopter to Strong Hospital in Rochester for what...

1910 Glenn Curtiss biplane. Submitted photo.

Penn Yan, NY--A Penn Yan man was injured Friday when his replica 1910 Glenn Curtiss biplane crashed a quarter mile east of the Penn Yan Airport.

Pilot Harlan Poel, 67, lost altitude and crashed his replica single engine pusher biplane into a farm field, state police said. He was taken by helicopter to Strong Hospital in Rochester for what was reported as minor injuries.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

» More details and a photo from mpnnow.com

» Curtiss Aviation Museum in Hammondsport

BP executive disagrees, says partners must "live up to their obligations"

APBP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward, left, and BP Managing Director Bob Dudley, right, arrive with other BP executives Wednesday at the White House for a meeting with President Barack Obama.

A drilling partner of BP has put the blame for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster squarely on that company's shoulders, and said that BP should foot the entire bill for the damage to the region.

From a report in The Guardian, from the United Kingdom:

Anadarko Petroleum, which owns a quarter of the ruptured Deepwater Horizon well, refused to accept any blame for the explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the US's worst environmental disaster.

The company's chairman and chief executive, Jim Hackett, said in a statement BP's actions probably amounted to "gross negligence or wilful misconduct."

BP's chief executive Tony Hayward, who was grilled about the disaster by Congress for seven hours on Thursday, said he "strongly disagreed" with the allegation and expected the firm's partners to "live up to their obligations."
Read the full article: BP oil spill caused by 'negligence or misconduct', says drilling partner (Guardian)

APOn day 60 of the oil spill, this image from video provided by BP PLC early Saturday morning shows oil continuing to gush from the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Earning trust is biggest obstacle in disbursing $20 billion BP escrow fund (Washington Post)

As oil spews in Gulf, BP chief at UK yacht race (Associated Press)

Who's in charge of the Gulf oil spill crisis for BP? (New York Daily News)

Gulf well could contain a billion barrels of oil (CBS)

Five crucial moves by BP: Did they lead to Gulf oil spill disaster? (Christian Science Monitor)

Donations from businesses and individuals help keep event going

View full sizeDavid Lassman / The Post-StandardThe CNY Pride Parade begins at Syracuse City Hall with a flag raising. Roxanne Green had the honor of raising the flag.

Four months ago, CNY Pride planning committee members put a desperate call out to the Syracuse community.

A typical CNY Pride Parade and Festival costs about $25,000 to put on, said Tim Ray, treasurer of the volunteer organization whose mission it is to celebrate and empower the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. But CNY Pride had only raised about $4,000.

“We sent a letter to anyone in the community we thought could help,” Ray said. “We were in very bad financial straits and we needed help.”

Several companies that had never participated in the festival decided to take part. Individuals and local businesses also donated enough money to keep the parade and festival afloat.

“The community really came out and stood behind us, which is a really good feeling,” Ray said, surrounded by more than 6,000 people Saturday at the plaza outside the Everson Museum of Art.

Ray said this year’s festival is the most significant for him personally. His husband, Michael Weinberg, died May 26 of liver cancer. Weinberg was the planning coordinator of last year’s CNY Pride Parade and Festival, and active in several LGBT associations. Ray said he and Weinberg were together for 20 years and legally married four years ago in Toronto.

“This is a very tough day for me ...,” said Ray, still wearing his wedding band. “But I have a lot of support here.”

About 200 people helped kick off the festival in front of City Hall, where Mayor Stephanie Miner read a proclamation and a rainbow flag was hoisted above a cheering crowd.

Miner, who in 2009 became the first political candidate to march in the event, was grand marshal of this year’s parade. CNY Pride officials said they wanted to honor Miner because she has supported policies that promote inclusion and equality for the LGBT community.

View full sizeDavid Lassman / The Post-StandardSyracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner was the grand marshal of the CNY Pride Parade. She rode with her press secretary Lindsay McClusky.

The parade included a dozen floats, most of which were designed by students in the Industrial Design Department at Syracuse University’s Visual and Performing Arts at The Warehouse.

Nikki Fenmore sported a hot pink dress as she rode on a float that the student turned into the shape of a giant high heel. Fenmore, 41, of Syracuse, said she has been in a relationship for 20 years with a man. She also was born a man, but lives as a woman.

“I see a lot of support from this festival,” Fenmore said. “When I was growing up in the 80s, it was very hard because I had nobody to turn to. Now there are a lot more outreach programs and more people to talk to. I think people are getting over their hang-ups and phobias.”

Ray said he also believes people are more accepting and more understanding today.

When the CNY Pride Parade began 22 years ago, some people covered their faces with bags as they marched through the city. “They wanted people to be aware there were gay people in their community, but some still wanted to remain anonymous,” Ray said. “Today, I don’t think you can get any more gay than I am.”

After Weinberg died last month, Ray said he asked the funeral home to list him as his husband in both his obituary and on his death certificate. The funeral home, he said, told him the state probably wouldn’t name him as Weinberg’s husband, but they would give it a try.

The state approved and Ray is listed on the death certificate as Weinberg’s husband.

“That was our last little civil rights fight we did together,” Ray said. “We’ve come a very long ways.”

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

» Attempt to intimidate gay artist has become inspiration for the Syracuse woman's work

Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse man is facing charges after police responded to a reported attempted abduction this morning at McChesney Park, Syracuse police said. When police arrived at the park about 10:10 a.m., they found a man being held for them by the father of reported victim and some of the father’s friends, Sgt. Tom Connellan said. The father’s...

Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse man is facing charges after police responded to a reported attempted abduction this morning at McChesney Park, Syracuse police said.

When police arrived at the park about 10:10 a.m., they found a man being held for them by the father of reported victim and some of the father’s friends, Sgt. Tom Connellan said.

The father’s 15-year-old girl was outside the recreation center at the park with a friend after a basketball tournament, when she was approached by a man, Connellan said. The man, who spoke little English, grabbed the 15-year-old by the waist and kissed her neck, Connellan said.

The girl broke free, but was grabbed again by the man. The man then began unwanted physical contact with the girl, Connellan said. The girl broke free again and ran to her father, who then chased and caught the man, Connellan said.

Dilli Dhimala, 23, of 215 Craig St., was charged with unlawful imprisonment, menacing and sexual abuse, all misdemeanors, and harassment, a violation.

Connellan said there were several similar incidents in the city the last few days and police are investigating whether they are connected to Dhimala.

Syracuse, NY - African drummers played a rhythmic beat while children bounced in inflatable play structures. Rhythm and blues, hip hop and gospel music resonated from the stage. And the smell of fried dough, goat curry and sweet potato pie prevailed today on the final day of the 23rd annual Juneteenth Festival. Thousands of people gathered at Clinton Square...

Syracuse, NY - African drummers played a rhythmic beat while children bounced in inflatable play structures.

Rhythm and blues, hip hop and gospel music resonated from the stage.

And the smell of fried dough, goat curry and sweet potato pie prevailed today on the final day of the 23rd annual Juneteenth Festival.

Thousands of people gathered at Clinton Square not only to have a good time, but to commemorate June 19, 1865, the day the last American slaves — in Texas and Louisiana — heard the news of their freedom after the Civil War ended.

“What it shows is with struggle — and if everyone works together — we can achieve,” Syracuse Juneteenth board president Duane Owens said. “As you can see we have a big struggle facing our city, whether it’s economics, crime or joblessness. We all need to work together. If we do, we can overcome these challenges and uplift Central New York.”

One challenge the Juneteenth Festival tackled this afternoon was health care.

“The African American community is underinsured so they may not go to their doctor’s as often as they should,” said Bridget McCarthy, president of the Syracuse Area Black Nurses Association.

About 15 health organizations set up booths under a tent, sponsored by SUNY Upstate Medical University, in the Dr. Henry A. Washington Health Pavilion. Washington was the first African American doctor to establish a private practice in Syracuse.

Visitors picked up brochures and talked to health care professionals about how to prevent and control potentially deadly diseases and illnesses, and what services are available. They could have their blood pressure checked, fill a bag with condoms, and bring home a toothbrush and dental floss.

“This is wonderful because it’s a non-threatening environment,” Aduke Branch, 58, of Syracuse, said while having her blood pressure checked. “In the last 15 years, I’ve gained 55 pounds. It was gradual. I’m trying to really focus on my health because I want to live and have a good quality of life.”

Branch was happy to learn that her blood pressure was in the healthy range, but not everyone was so lucky. McCarthy said one woman was surprised to learn she had high blood pressure.

“Many diseases and illnesses can be treated if caught early enough,” said McCarthy, a nurse practitioner at SUNY Upstate. “But because some people don’t know where to do or the signs to look for, they wait until it’s too late.”

Also at the festival, the William G. Pomeroy Foundation signed up people to become part of the bone marrow donation registry and the American Red Cross gave out information about donating blood and volunteering.

“It’s really a matter of access to health care and health care information,” Owens said. “It’s not just for African Americans. It’s the lower economic society in our city that does not have adequate access to health care. We felt we should do whatever we can to help make health care more accessible and provide the awareness and information to a population that normally wouldn’t have access to it.”

Earlier today, about 500 people marched in a parade from Dr. King School to Clinton Square. The parade included floats, a literacy bus, marching bands, stilt walkers, Miss Juneteenth Charice Lundy and children chanting “Say Yes to Education.” A late afternoon downpour paused festivities in Clinton Square.

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

Manlius, NY -- Manlius firefighters fought a fire tonight in the eaves of a two-story home off of Route 92 in the town. While the investigators haven’t made an official determination in the cause, a lightning strike on the home at 8328 Verbeck Drive may have started the fire hours before the alarm was called in, Manlius Fire Chief Paul...

Manlius, NY -- Manlius firefighters fought a fire tonight in the eaves of a two-story home off of Route 92 in the town.

While the investigators haven’t made an official determination in the cause, a lightning strike on the home at 8328 Verbeck Drive may have started the fire hours before the alarm was called in, Manlius Fire Chief Paul Whorrall said.

The family in the home began smelling smoke about 6:30 p.m., about the time a thunderstorm passed through the area, Whorrall said. Almost three hours later, fire was discovered in the eaves of the home and the family safely evacuated the house, Whorrall said.

“It started on the outside and burned its way in,” Whorrall said of the fire.

The home is located on a cul-de-sac and there were many graduation parties on the street, Whorrall said. Parked cars lined both sides of the street, making it difficult to get fire equipment to the home, he said.

The house suffered fire damage in the eaves and water damage in the house, Whorrall said.

At Syracuse mayor's request, Salvation Army rehab center agrees to stop welcoming addicts from Newark.

View full sizeC.W. McKeen / Post-Standard file photoLeRoy Jennings during a Dec. 1, 2002, court appearance, after he was charged in the torture slaying of Walter Perry. Jennings came from Newark, N.J., with a one-way bus ticket to join a drug rehab program run by the Salvation Army in Syracuse. He is serving 25 years to life in Attica.

By Michelle Breidenbach and John O’Brien / The Post-Standard

Syracuse, NY -- Long before police discovered the migration of heroin addicts from New Jersey to rehab in Syracuse, there was the case of LeRoy Jennings.

Jennings came to Syracuse from New Jersey to recover from alcohol addiction at the Salvation Army counseling center on Erie Boulevard East. He dropped out of the evangelical program and crashed at the apartment of his new friend, Walter Perry, the bell captain at the Hotel Syracuse.

After about two months, in February 2002, Jennings walked into a neighboring apartment with a 22-ounce beer and a hand swollen like a grapefruit. He was singing gospel hymns and asking for prayers, witnesses said.

Jennings bought a one-way bus ticket back to Newark.

Police found Perry dead in his apartment. His arms and legs were hogtied behind his back with electrical wire. His mouth was sealed with duct tape. He had been beaten, gagged, burned and cut. Police thought he had been tortured for a week.

Jennings pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is spending 25 years to life in Attica prison.

The investigation took Syracuse police and attorneys to Newark and the Salvation Army, but the isolated murder case did not tip police off to the bigger picture.

A minister in Newark, N.J., had been buying one-way tickets for hundreds of drug addicts to get to the Salvation Army’s alcohol and drug rehab program in Syracuse, 230 miles away. The Rev. Anthony Hawthorne, from New Hope Baptist Church, said he would pitch the idea to the homeless drug addicts who came to the church’s free lunch program.

Many people who went through the program have recovered and set up successful new lives in Syracuse. But only about 20 percent of people finish, according to the Salvation Army, and some return to drugs.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department charged 17 people from New Jersey in connection with a major heroin pipeline.

The drug dealers saw Syracuse as a business opportunity and they boldly sold drugs at the public library and outside another drug rehab center, two blocks from Syracuse police headquarters, investigators said.

There have been new developments:
• Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner asked the Salvation Army to stop taking referrals from the outreach groups at the heart of the investigation. The agency agreed.

• The Justice Department discovered that all 17 of the people arrested were from New Jersey. Prosecutors and Salvation Army officials said three went through the Salvation Army drug program and at least three others have a family connection to the program.

• One of the men arrested, Derrick Campbell, came to the Salvation Army drug rehab program after serving three years in prison in New Jersey for his seventh felony drug conviction.

“In my 18 years as a prosecutor, I’ve never seen a defendant with seven prior felony drug convictions,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Katko said at a detention hearing last week. “He’s used to the revolving door of justice in New Jersey. He’s used to short sentences, then getting out on probation or parole and he’s back at it again.”

• Until Miner’s request, the Salvation Army continued to take people from New Jersey and other states last week and took no responsibility for bringing drug activity to Syracuse. Staff said they did not do criminal background checks and instead relied on the drug addicts to reveal any past crimes.

Salvation Army staff said, in a written statement, that they had not had any contact with federal prosecutors and had no knowledge of the incidents except the information in the newspaper.

Rehab to heroin

Two of the former Salvation Army addicts — Geneva Brown, 52, and Derrick Campbell,
35 — were identified in court as playing a lead role in the heroin-dealing conspiracy.

Brown entered the Salvation Army rehab center in 2000 while she was on probation from a drug charge in New Jersey, her lawyer said. She owns a home at 115 John St. in Syracuse from which multiple sales were made to undercover police informants wearing hidden microphones, Katko said.

Brown’s son, Salaam Brown, 27, came to Syracuse because of her, and he was charged in the heroin-selling conspiracy, Katko said.

Campbell went into the Salvation Army rehab center in 2000 after serving three years in prison in New Jersey for his seventh felony drug conviction.

Campbell took over a leadership role after another defendant, Keyfa Sampson, had to step back in January because police raided her home and found large amounts of heroin, Katko said.

Her father, Joseph Sampson, came from New Jersey for the Salvation Army’s drug rehab program. In 2004, he was charged in Syracuse with illegally possessing a pistol as a convicted felon.

Keyfa Sampson, 28, worked at the Salvation Army’s warehouse until recently, when she went out on maternity leave to give birth to her fourth child, said her lawyer, James Medcraf. She came to Syracuse in 2002 to be near her father. Two years ago, she became a large-scale heroin dealer, Katko said.

Her cousin and another defendant, Darleen Sampson, is a spokeswoman for Narcotics Anonymous and is scheduled to attend the group’s national convention in Florida in July, her lawyer Craig Schlanger told U.S. Magistrate George Lowe on Friday. The judge gave permission for her to attend the convention.

Sampson came to Syracuse from New Jersey about eight years ago for the Salvation Army’s rehab center, Schlanger said.

Open door in Syracuse

The Salvation Army continued last week to accept drug addicts from New Jersey and other states, said Maj. Kevin Schoch, who runs the rehab center.

The agency also took no responsibility for what happens if they flunk out of rehab.

“We can encourage them, and we can hold them accountable while they’re here,” Schoch said. “But ultimately, when they walk out that door, like anybody else from anywhere else, they’re going to make their own choices.”

The rehab center screens people who enter the program, he said. They are asked
about any legal issues that might prevent them from leaving their hometown for seven months, he said.

Hawthorne also said he interviewed people before he sent them to Syracuse to ensure they were suitable for the facility. He said he would not, for example, send an addict who also had a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia. He also asked people about their criminal backgrounds and would contact probation or parole officers to see if they could get a pass to come to Syracuse. Hawthorne said he would relay that information to the intake officer in Syracuse.

The rehab program has no government oversight and receives no government money, he said.

One-third of the Erie Boulevard East rehab center’s beds are filled with people from New Jersey. That’s about 100 people a year.

The Salvation Army does not follow up with people after the program.

And regardless of the high drop-out rate, the Salvation Army staff did not see a reason to tell police about the people they were importing to Syracuse — even though the police chief is on the Salvation Army’s advisory board.

“I don’t see it as our responsibility to tell the police department, just as when folks are moving from one community to another they are not required to do that,” Schoch said.

The program supports itself. The people in the program work 40 hours a week at the Salvation Army warehouse and at the rehab center without pay, helping the agency generate annual revenues of more than $6 million at its thrift stores.

Rehabilitating people from their addictions has been a part of the Salvation Army’s ministry as a church since the late 1800s, Schoch said. Many of the people who graduate from the program return for Sunday church services at the rehab center, he said. Others attend services at the local Salvation Army’s church, the Citadel.

“The most important thing is the need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” Schoch said. “Some people come and they know it’s a Christ-based program, but they act like they’re surprised when they get here. And sometimes people don’t want to listen.”

Mayor seeks 'balance'

Syracuse police Chief Frank Fowler said he is working with prosecutors to address the issue of New Jersey addicts being bused to Syracuse, but he declined to give specifics.

Miner on Thursday called the Salvation Army and asked that they suspend accepting people from the agencies at the heart of the investigation.

She said rehab centers should also be open to people from outside the area, but she does not think the Syracuse agency should be recruiting people from Newark.

“That’s what I think we have to ascertain, where the balance is,” she said.

She also said she did not think the onus should be on the Salvation Army to decide that people are not going to be rehabilitated.

“They are a rehabilitation center and so they should be rehabilitating people,” she said. “Just because somebody drops out of a rehabilitation program does not mean that they will become a drug dealer or does not mean that they will stay in Syracuse and set up a heroin ring.”

After speaking with Miner, Salvation Army officials agreed to temporarily stop accepting people into the rehab program from any New Jersey organization in the criminal investigation, Schoch said. That will continue at least until the investigation is over, he said.

“We determined that was a reasonable request on the part of the city,” Schoch said.

He would not identify which organizations that would include, but said no one from those entities was in the program now or scheduled to start at the rehab center.

In recent years, the number of people enrolled in the program through New Hope Baptist Church in Newark has been sporadic, Schoch said. When it started 10 years ago, as many as 15 people a week were bused from Newark to Syracuse, according to the minister who got the program started.

Contact Michelle Breidenbach at mbreidenbach@syracuse.com or (315) 470-3186 and John O’Brien at jobrien@syracuse.com or 470-2187.