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For now, oil spews unchecked in effort to cap well

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil are being allowed to spew into the fouled waters of the Gulf of Mexico while BP engineers prepare to install a new containment system they hope will catch it all in the coming days. There's no guarantee for such a delicate operation nearly a mile below the water's...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil are being allowed to spew into the fouled waters of the Gulf of Mexico while BP engineers prepare to install a new containment system they hope will catch it all in the coming days.

There's no guarantee for such a delicate operation nearly a mile below the water's surface, officials said, and the permanent fix of plugging the well from the bottom remains slated for mid-August.

"It's not just going to be, you put the cap on, it's done. It's not like putting a cap on a tube of toothpaste," Coast Guard spokesman Capt. James McPherson said.

Robotic submarines removed the cap that had been placed on top of the leak in early June to collect the oil and send it to surface ships for collection or burning. BP aims to have the new, tighter cap in place as early as Monday and said that, as of Saturday night, the work was going according to plan.

» The cap is off: why that is not a disaster in Gulf oil spill [Christian Science Monitor]
» Follow the underwater operation in live streaming video

If tests show it can withstand the pressure of the oil and is working, the Gulf region could get its most significant piece of good news since the April 20 explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 workers.

"Over the next four to seven days, depending on how things go, we should get that sealing cap on. That's our plan," said Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president, of the round-the-clock operation.

It would be only a temporary solution to the catastrophe the federal government estimates has poured between 87 million and 172 million gallons of oil into the Gulf as of Saturday. Hope for permanently plugging the leak lies with two relief wells, the first of which should be finished by mid-August.

With the cap removed Saturday at 12:37 p.m. CDT, oil flowed freely into the water, collected only by the Q4000 surface vessel, with a capacity of about 378,000 gallons. That vessel should be joined Sunday by the Helix Producer, which has more than double the Q4000's capacity.

But the lag could be long enough for as much as 5 million gallons to gush into already fouled waters. Officials said a fleet of large skimmers was scraping oil from the surface above the well site.

The process begun Saturday has two major phases: removing equipment currently on top of the leak and installing new gear designed to fully contain the flow of oil.

BP began trying Saturday afternoon to remove the bolted top flange that only partially completed the seal with the old cap. Video images showed robotic arms working to unscrew its bolts. Wells said that could last into Monday depending on whether the flange can be pulled off from above, as BP hopes. If not, a specially designed tool will be used to pry apart the top and bottom flanges.

Once the top flange is removed, BP has to bind together two sections of drill pipe that are in the gushing well head. Then a 12-foot-long piece of equipment called a flange transition spool will be lowered and bolted over it.

The second piece of pipe inside the well head came as something of a surprise, and raises the possibility that one of the sections of pipe became jammed in the Deepwater Horizon's blowout preventer, through which the well pipes run. The failure of the blowout preventer, a massive piece of equipment designed to stop the unchecked flow of oil, is partly to blame for the size of the spill.

"That will be an important question to ask when we pull the blowout preventer up to the surface and we'll figure out where that pipe ultimately landed," Wells said.

After the flange transition spool is bolted in place, the new cap - called a capping stack or "Top Hat 10" - can be lowered. The equipment, weighing some 150,000 pounds, is designed to fully seal the leak and provide connections for new vessels on the surface to collect oil. The cap has valves that can restrict the flow of oil and shut it in, if it can withstand the enormous pressure.

That will be one of the key items for officials to monitor, said Paul Bommer, a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

"If the new cap does work and they shut the well in, it is possible that part of the well could rupture if the pressure inside builds to an unacceptable value," Bommer wrote in an e-mail Saturday.

Ultimately, BP wants to have four vessels collecting oil within two or three weeks of the new cap's installation. If the new cap doesn't work, BP is ready to place a backup similar to the old one on top of the leak.

Gulf_Oil_Spill_NY111.JPGView full sizeThis image from video provided by BP PLC early Sunday, July11, 2010 shows oil continuing to leak after the flange was removed from atop the broken wellhead, at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.

The government estimates 1.5 million to 2.5 million gallons of oil a day are spewing from the well, and the previous cap collected about 1 million gallons of that. With the new cap and the new containment vessel, the system will be capable of capturing 2.5 million to 3.4 million gallons - essentially all the leaking oil, officials said.

The plan, which was accelerated to take advantage of a window of good weather lasting seven to 10 days, didn't inspire confidence in residents of the oil-slicked coast.

"I want to believe it and I'm going to take them at their word because it's good news," Mayor Tony Kennon of Orange Beach, Ala., said Saturday.

But for the popular tourist destination, any halt to the leak comes too late to save the season, Kennon said.

Louisiana State University environmental sciences professor Ed Overton said he's less concerned with the strategy than with the unknown. As long as the cap is put on properly, the plan should work, he said.

"The problem is that almost everything they've done, there's been some unknown about it," he said. "I don't see why this is all that much different."


Update: Rochester man dies in Oswego County ATV crash

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Albion, NY - State police say a Rochester man died in an all-terrain vehicle crash Saturday evening in the town of Albion. Patrick S. Monagan, 41, of 67 Boca Ave., was riding an ATV north on a gravel driveway when he lost control of the ATV and struck a large tree, troopers said. Troopers and emergency personnel were called at...

Albion, NY - State police say a Rochester man died in an all-terrain vehicle crash Saturday evening in the town of Albion.

Patrick S. Monagan, 41, of 67 Boca Ave., was riding an ATV north on a gravel driveway when he lost control of the ATV and struck a large tree, troopers said.

Troopers and emergency personnel were called at 7:05 p.m. to 1661 state Route 13. When they arrived, emergency crews found Monagan laying on the ground next to the ATV and tree.

Monagan, who died from his injuries, suffered severe head trauma and was not wearing a helmet, state police said.

The crash site is south of the village of Altmar and about a half-mile from Route 13, 911 reports.

Attorney general: Russian spies posed threat to US

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- While they passed along no U.S. secrets, the 10 Russian sleeper agents involved in the spy swap posed a potential threat to the U.S. and received "hundreds of thousands of dollars" from Russia, Attorney General Eric Holder said. "Russia considered these people as very important to their intelligence-gathering activities," he told CBS' "Face the Nation" in...

Russian_Spy_Arrests_NYMA101.JPGView full sizeThis courtroom sketch shows bottom row from right, Richard Murphy, Cynthia Murphy, Donald Howard Heathfield, Tracey Lee Ann Foley, Michael Zottoli, top row from right, Patricia Mills, Juan Lazaro, Vicky Pelaez, Anna Chapman, and Mikhail Semenko during their arraignment in in Manhattan federal court Thursday, July 8, 2010 in New York. A spy swap between the U.S. and Russia is unfolding as 10 people accused of spying in suburban America have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and have been ordered deported to Russia in exchange for the release of four Russian spies.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- While they passed along no U.S. secrets, the 10 Russian sleeper agents involved in the spy swap posed a potential threat to the U.S. and received "hundreds of thousands of dollars" from Russia, Attorney General Eric Holder said.

"Russia considered these people as very important to their intelligence-gathering activities," he told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an interview broadcast Sunday.

He defended the decision to allow the 10 to return to Russia in exchange for the release of four Russian prisoners accused of spying for the West because the swap presented "an opportunity to get back ... four people in whom we have a great deal of interest."

Holder also sought to erase concern over the fate of the children of the Russian agents, saying they all were allowed to return to Russia "consistent with their parents wishes" or, in the case of those who were adults or nearly adults, were allowed to make their own choices of where to live.

"The children have all been handled, I think, in an appropriate way," he said.

The seven offspring embroiled in the spy saga ranged in age from a 1-year-old to a 38-year-old architect. In most cases they were born and grew up in the United States, making them U.S. citizens.

On pending terrorism cases, Holder acknowledged "there's a real question" as to whether a terrorist suspect such as self-professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed can face the death penalty if he were to plead guilty before a military commission.

Holder indicated he still favors bringing Mohammed and four alleged accomplices before civilian courts, but that has been met with opposition in Congress and elsewhere. He said no decision has been made on where the trials will be held or whether they would be civilian or military.

He said one roadblock is that Congress has yet to come up with the money for the trials. "The politicization of this issue when we're dealing with ultimate national security issues is something that disturbs me a great deal," Holder said.

Holder also said the closing of the Guantanamo detention camp has become more difficult "because there have been people who have changed their positions" and Congress hasn't agreed to provide the money to relocate the detainees to an underused state prison in Illinois. He said other states have offered to take the prisoners, but did not name any states.

"There is no reason to believe that people held in Guantanamo cannot be held wherever we put them in the United States. Again, very safely and very effectively," Holder said.

U.S. Marine from Clay: Being shot makes you grow up fast

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Lance Cpl. Kyle Francis is recovering after suffering three bullet wounds in Afghanistan.

2010-07-02-jc-FRANCIS1.JPGView full sizeU.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Francis is recovering at home in Clay after suffering three bullet wounds in his left leg and right hand May 13 in Afghanistan. The smile on his face and the pride in the banner are good signs of the spirit with which he's approaching his future -- what he calls his "second chance."

On a perfect summer day, Kyle Francis sat in a rocking chair on his parents’ front porch in Clay and talked about the worst part of having visible war wounds: People asking him what happened.

It’s hard to miss the two metal rings that hold six titanium pins, and his leg, in place. They’re too big to fit pants over, and scars mark the bullets’ entry and exit points — and where surgeons operated, trying to save his leg and his ability to walk.

Sometimes people ask and wait for an explanation, he said. Sometimes, they’ll offer up their own explanation — “Did you fall?” — and Francis will nod agreeably.

It’s not that he doesn’t want people to know. It’s the repetition.

He said if he “could sit everyone in a group,” he’d explain it all at once, but instead, “between aisle seven and aisle nine at Wal-Mart, I’ve got to explain it three times.”

For the record, Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Francis, 22, was with eight members of his unit when they were ambushed by 13 Taliban fighters in Marjah in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. Francis was hit twice in the left leg, took another step and fell, but stayed in the fight.

”I scooted on my butt” to the first-aid kit, he said, and that’s when a bullet ripped through his right hand. “Then I just laid on my stomach, looked through my hand and waited for it to be over.”

That was eight weeks, about 7,400 miles and 13 surgeries ago. After nearly a month at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland, where he received the Purple Heart, Francis was moved to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Syracuse in mid-June.

Three weeks ago, he made it home to Clay, where neighbors still stop to say hello, thank Francis for his service and let him know they’re proud of him.

He accepts the thanks quietly, in a voice surprisingly soft for a man who says he likes confrontation and enjoyed the rush of battle.

“Confrontation excites me,” he said. “That’s why I signed up to be infantry.”

When his unit learned it would be on the sharp edge of U.S. efforts to push back the Taliban in Afghanistan, some fellow Marines worried and some broke down, he said, but Francis was exhilarated.

“No one’s been in Marjah and succeeded,” he said. “I couldn’t wait for that rush to come along.”

Battle wasn’t exactly like training, he said. In camp there were dry runs and critiques. In Afghanistan, “you don’t knock on somebody’s door and say ‘Now we’re going to practice, then be back for real in 15 minutes.’”

In camp he was taught to lie prone or drop to one knee in battle, but he said he always fought standing up because he could see more standing. Sometimes, such as when he was in “poppy fields up to my chest,” there was no other way.

He learned to look for better angles. He learned that the enemy was quick, able to get in and out.

He learned that bullets sound different depending on how close they are. Bullets that make whipping sounds aren’t too close. When they crack, “like a thick twig snapping,” they are.

“The next one could be for you,” he said, adding that on May 13, “I kept hearing the crack, crack, crack.”

After initially being bandaged up, Francis tried to stay in the fight. Not realizing how serious his wounds were, he tried to tear off his cast before he was flown out of Afghanistan.

“I was begging for them to let me stay,” he said.

He’s in contact with members of his unit. They call when they get the chance.

“It’s still pretty hectic,” he said.

Three more members of his Marine company have been wounded. A good friend got shot in the hand.

As his unit’s designated marksman, Francis chafes at not being able to do anything about what’s happening in Afghanistan.

“I wish I was still over there,” he said.

He’s planning to visit his fellow Marines when they return to North Carolina later this summer. There are more surgeries coming up as doctors plan to transplant tendons from the back of his leg to the front.

He’s hoping to earn an associate’s degree online and then transfer to a four-year college and study behavioral psychology.

“I got shot three times,” Francis said. “I have to tell you, it makes you grow up.”

Things that mattered before, don’t anymore. Asked what matters now, Francis points to his family — his mother Lisa Williams, stepfather Lamar Williams, sister Nia Williams and brother Isaiah Williams — and his girlfriend Camille Bufano, as they sit nearby. Another brother, Keenan Williams, was away in Australia on a student exchange.

“I’ve got a steady focus on my future, job and family,” he said. “Now I’ve got my second chance.”

Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.

Obama's chief spokesman says Dems could lose House majority

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's chief spokesman Robert Gibbs says it's possible that Democrats could lose their majority in the House this fall. He says there's no doubt that enough seats are in play for Republicans to take control. Gibbs says the outcome of the fall vote will depend on whether Democrats wage strong campaigns. Gibbs is echoing...

Obama_DCCK103.JPGView full sizeRobert Gibbs appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's chief spokesman Robert Gibbs says it's possible that Democrats could lose their majority in the House this fall.

He says there's no doubt that enough seats are in play for Republicans to take control. Gibbs says the outcome of the fall vote will depend on whether Democrats wage strong campaigns.

Gibbs is echoing points that Obama has made political fundraisers this summer - that GOP apologies to oil giant BP and complaints about tighter Wall Street rules show how Republicans would govern.

Gibbs appeared Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."


Four shootings; two teens and a home struck by gunfire overnight in Syracuse

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Syracuse, NY - City police kept busy overnight, investigating two separate shootings in which two teenagers were shot in the buttocks. Police also say someone fired a gun and shot a house five times early this morning. And investigators have confirmed that shots were fired at another location today. Investigators do not know whether three of the shootings are related,...

Syracuse, NY - City police kept busy overnight, investigating two separate shootings in which two teenagers were shot in the buttocks.

Police also say someone fired a gun and shot a house five times early this morning. And investigators have confirmed that shots were fired at another location today.

Investigators do not know whether three of the shootings are related, but they believe one in which a shotgun was used -- and found by police -- is not connected to the other three.

"It was a busy evening," Syracuse police Sgt. Gary Bulinski said. "We had two people shot and a couple other shooting incidents."

Bulinski said the two shootings and two "shots fired" incidents are more than police typically see in one night. "The weather was decent and more people were outside," he said. "When you have nice weather, there are more people outside. And if there's shots fired, there's an increased risk of people being hit."

Here is a breakdown of the shootings:

  • A 15-year-old boy was shot in the buttocks in an apparent drive-by shooting about 10:30 p.m. Saturday in the 900 block of Midland Ave., Sgt. Tom Connellan said. The wound is not life threatening and the boy was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, he said.
  • Then around 12:30 a.m. today, police received a "shots fired" complaint near the 100 block of Sterling Avenue. Police found a loaded shotgun and a spent shell from the shotgun, however they have not found a suspect, Bulinski said.
  • A 19-year-old Syracuse man was shot in the buttocks about 1:50 a.m. Sunday outside the B&B Lounge at 310 South Ave., Bulinski said. Zaquan Smith told police he was standing alone outside the tavern when he heard roughly four gunshots. A bullet then struck Smith in the buttocks. His injury also is not considered life threatening, police said.
  • Ten minutes later, at 2 a.m., police were called to another "shots fired" complaint in the 400 block of Rowland Street. People were sleeping inside a home at 414 Rowland St. when they were awakened by the sound of gunfire, Bulinski said. Investigators say five projectiles struck the home.

Anyone with information about the two shootings or two "shots fired" investigations is asked to call the Syracuse Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at (315) 442-5222.

Your comments: What's the hurry with drilling? Gas isn't going anywhere.

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Nick Riolo didn’t want gas drilling beneath his property in the Madison County town of Lebanon, but he had no choice. Under what the law calls compulsory integration, a gas company can drill under land without permission of the owners if enough of their neighbors have already leased their property to the company. “There’s nothing you can do to...

07-08-10-fo-riolo.JPGView full sizeNick Riolo stands by his truck next to a drilling field behind his property in Lebanon. "There's nothing you can do to stop it," said Riolo, who was forced to have two 5-acre parcels integrated into the drilling area. He gets about $350 a month in royalties from the gas company.

Nick Riolo didn’t want gas drilling beneath his property in the Madison County town of Lebanon, but he had no choice.

Under what the law calls compulsory integration, a gas company can drill under land without permission of the owners if enough of their neighbors have already leased their property to the company.

“There’s nothing you can do to stop it,” said Riolo, who had about 7 acres integrated into a drilling area. “I called a lawyer and he said, ‘You don’t really have a choice.’ ”

The story prompted a lot of discussion among readers. Here's what zenartist2 had to say:

"The drilling companies are in a big hurry to start drilling in NYS and elsewhere. Why is that? The natural gas isn't going anywhere. Maybe its because people are becoming aware of the hazards of fracking and its only a matter of time before their regulation free days are over. People are catching on and seeing the damage and pollution that can result. There are movements to repeal their exemptions from clean water and air acts . Their greed is their main motivator it seems."

» Read the story and all the comments

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AP Video: Teen steals NYC bus, picks up passengers

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Metro Transit Police officials are investigating how a 19-year-old Washington man was able to steal a Metrobus, crash it into a tree and ultimately abandon the bus when officers stopped the vehicle. No injuries were reported

Metro Transit Police officials are investigating how a 19-year-old Washington man was able to steal a Metrobus, crash it into a tree and ultimately abandon the bus when officers stopped the vehicle. No injuries were reported


BP happy with new oil-leak effort, but no promises

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The new cap may allow all the crude to be captured for the first time since the April 20 rig explosion.

oil-cap.jpgView full sizeIn this image taken from video provided by BP PLC, the transition spool, top half in yellow, which goes into the wellhead before the new containment cap is placed on top, is maneuvered into the leaking wellhead, bottom, at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Sunday.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Underpromising with hopes of overdelivering, BP said Sunday that it is making progress on what could prove its most effective effort yet to contain the Gulf oil leak, but cautioned that the verdict could be several days away.

A new cap being placed atop the gusher is intended to provide a tight seal and might eventually allow the oil giant to capture all the crude leaking from the well for the first time since an April 20 oil rig explosion set off the environmental crisis. But several prior failed attempts to stop the leak have made BP PLC careful to keep expectations grounded.

"We're pleased with our progress," said BP senior vice president Kent Wells, who then hastened to add the operation was still expected to last up to six more days.

Asked during a conference call if the new cap and collection efforts would end the spilling of oil into the Gulf, Well said only that BP will capture all the oil "at some point."

Wells said BP may have to bring another vessel back online and add additional collection capacity in order to stop the oil flow altogether.

Officials won't be satisfied the cap is working until they've run tests on whether it can withstand the tremendous pressure of oil pushing up from below the seafloor, Wells said.

"We've tried to work out as many of the bugs as we can. The challenge will come with something unexpected," he said.

» Continuous and comprehensive coverage of the oil spill on nola.com

The well has been gushing largely unchecked since an old, leaky cap was removed from the wellhead Saturday to make way for the new one. Between 88 million and 174 million gallons have already spilled into the Gulf, according to federal estimates.

Wary Gulf residents reserved judgment about BP's latest effort and said the damage already done to the environment, fishing and tourism will haunt the region for a long time either way.

"At this point, there have been so many ups and downs, disappointments, that everybody down here is like, 'We'll believe it when we see it,'" said Keith Kennedy, a charter boat captain in Venice, La.

Robotic submarines finished removing a busted piece of pipe that was bolted around the leak around 3 a.m. Sunday. That paved the way for the installation of a pipe-like connector called a flange spool that will sit on top of the spewing well bore. The new cap would be mounted on top of that connector and have flexible pipes leading up to surface ships.

The work was being closely monitored at the White House, where President Barack Obama is being briefed multiple times a day, adviser David Axelrod said on ABC's "This Week."

"We have every reason to believe that this will work," he said.

The new cap will be aided in containing the leak by the arrival of the Helix Producer, a vessel that will be able to take in about 1 million gallons of crude per day by Tuesday after gradually ramping up. The Helix connected to flexible pipes from the well Friday, and crews have been running tests since then.

Like another vessel already operating, the Q4000, the Helix will take in oil through connections beneath the new seal. Once the new cap is affixed, two other vessels are to connect to it for their oil collection.

Ultimately, the four vessels collecting oil from the leak would have a rough capacity of about 2.5 million to 3.4 million gallons a day - enough to capture all the oil leaking, if federal estimates are right. Getting all the vessels on the task will take about two to three weeks.

The hurricane season that lasts through November could interfere. There are no storms forecast now, but if one blows through, the ships collecting the oil may have to leave and crude would spew again for days into the water.

If the new cap is a complete success in stopping the leak, that will be a first.

In May, BP tried to drop a four-story, 100-ton steel-and-concrete box on the leak, but abandoned it when it was encased by ice-like crystals. That was followed by a mile-long siphon tube designed to suck up oil escaping the leak. That, in turn, was scrapped after it managed to suck up only about 900,000 gallons after roughly a week of operation.

The most anticipated effort was the so-called "top kill," in which mud and cement were pumped down from above the leak. After about three days of the strategy, BP announced on May 29 it had failed.

Then came the cap that was removed Saturday. That device didn't form a perfect seal on the jagged pipe that was cut to make room for it, and the inexact fit meant that it was able to collect only 1 million gallons or so of oil a day.

The new, tighter cap is not intended to be the permanent fix to the problem.

Relief wells are being dug for the permanent fix, a "bottom kill" in which heavy drilling mud and cement are pumped in from below the broken wellhead.

The effort to drill relief wells was moving ahead of schedule, Wells said Sunday. BP and government officials have said the wells are expected to be completed sometime around mid-August.

The new cap, or "Top Hat 10," weighs some 150,000 pounds. It is designed to fully seal the leak and provide connections for new vessels on the surface to collect oil. The cap has valves that can restrict the flow of oil and shut it in, if it can withstand the enormous pressure.

Former Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, co-chair of the national oil spill commission, said capping the spill would be a relief.

"But the problem is still going to be there to deal with the enormous amount of petroleum put in the Gulf of Mexico," he said during a stop at a local emergency operations center in the Florida Panhandle town of Southport.

Crews are working to skim oil from the Gulf's surface and remove it from the coast, but the job is enormous. People on shore who depend on the Gulf for their livelihood are paying attention to the latest effort but wonder if the damage already done by the spill is too much.

Trey Riviere, 42, who owns a fishing lodge in Myrtle Grove, La., said that even if BP is successful, he fears the aftermath could last for years. He said crude was already in his waters in the marshes west of the Mississippi River.

"How are they going to get all that out of there?" he asked.

Syracuse University international students celebrate World Cup Final

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2010-07-11-mjg-WorldCup1.JPGSyracuse University students and family members react after the Netherlands team nearly scored a goal against Spain in the World Cup Final. The crowd was watching the broadcast on TV at the SU Internatioonal Studies Center. Front row, left to right, are Melikhan Kirazoglu, 9, and Ramazan Cetin, both from Turkey. Second row, from left, are Mehmet Kaya and Hamza Erden, both from Turkey. Standing in the rear is Michael Smith, from Rochester.

Cheese plant expansion in Jefferson County is good news for CNY dairy farmers

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Adams, NY - Farmers throughout Central New York are sending their milk to a newly expanded Great Lakes Cheese Co. plant in Adams, Jefferson County. A grand opening ceremony was conducted Saturday for the plant, which has doubled its capacity with the expansion. More than 13 new jobs also have been created. Jay Matteson, executive director of the Jefferson County...

Adams, NY - Farmers throughout Central New York are sending their milk to a newly expanded Great Lakes Cheese Co. plant in Adams, Jefferson County.

A grand opening ceremony was conducted Saturday for the plant, which has doubled its capacity with the expansion. More than 13 new jobs also have been created.

Jay Matteson, executive director of the Jefferson County Agricultural Economic Development Corp., said the new manufacturing plant cost more than $80 million to construct and represents the largest new dairy manufacturing plant construction in New York state in decades.

The plant will take in more than 800,000,000 pounds of milk (that’s nearly 69 million gallons) per year — the amount produced by 40,000 cows. The plant takes in milk from farmers in parts of Oswego, Cayuga, Onondaga, Madison, Oneida, Herkimer and St. Lawrence and nearly all of Jefferson and Lewis counties.

The total economic impact of the project throughout the milkshed area is more than $600 million per year.

A ceremony and ribbon cutting for the plant took place Saturday following by the community’s first Cheddar Cheese Festival including cheese, wine and food for all kinds, plus entertainment for children. Organizers hope to make it an annual event.

Great Lakes Cheese makes naturally aged cheddar cheese in the Adams facility. This cheese is sold to retailers and sold as store brand cheese. Anyone who buys Price Chopper or Hannaford brand New York state cheddar is buying cheese made at the Adams plant from local milk.

Great Lakes Cheese has won many world and national competitions.

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

Teacher centers across state - including four here - face closure

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Syracuse, NY -- Four teacher centers that serve school districts and thousands of teachers across Central New York will be forced to close unless the state restores funding or other money can be raised. About $35 million for the state’s 132 teacher centers, which provide professional development and resources to teachers, was not included in the state spending plan...

2010-07-08-dl-smartboard2.JPGStephen Bittner (left) instructs teachers at Dr. King Elementary School in the use of a Smartboard. Working at the board (right) is teacher Joy Yoffa. Bittner works with the Syracuse Teacher Center. Teacher Centers are losing their state funding and facing closures across the state.

Syracuse, NY -- Four teacher centers that serve school districts and thousands of teachers across Central New York will be forced to close unless the state restores funding or other money can be raised.

About $35 million for the state’s 132 teacher centers, which provide professional development and resources to teachers, was not included in the state spending plan this year.

“It does not make sense that the state would cut the vehicle that provides the most viable professional development for teachers,” said Maria Neira, vice president of New York State United Teachers.

NYSUT is pressing state legislators to restore some money for the centers and the union is also looking for grants that could save the centers.

In addition to training, the centers provided resources such as multimedia equipment, books and technical support materials. Teachers who were certified after 2004 are also required to receive 175 hours in professional training every five years to keep their certification.

Without teacher centers providing this training, teachers across the state may be forced to pay for their professional development at community colleges or through other organizations, Neira said.

“Our teachers will not be able to access the kind of professional development that they need,” she said. “Teachers will have to find other places to get professional development and it will be a major cost factor.”

The Central New York Teaching Center in East Syracuse, which serves 16 districts, is set to close if money does not become available, said Patti Galimi, director. The center is currently running on reserve funds for the summer until they decide what their next step should be.

“The teacher center is a great asset to the school districts,” Galimi said. “Before a district would call us and tell us what they needed and we would bring the presenter to them at little or no cost. We won’t be able to do that now.”

Galimi, who retired in June, is volunteering at the center until a final decision is made. Janet Jury, director of Center State Teacher Center in New Hartford, also said she would volunteer until money becomes available.

“Our school districts have already lost funding and eliminated professional development from their budgets,” Jury said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Center State Teacher Center, which serves six districts, will close if funding isn’t found, but not all teacher centers will be closing. Some affiliated with a school district will remain open with limited resources, Neira said. They include three here: Jamesville DeWitt; Syracuse and West Genesee.

“We will remain open this summer with limited services, but the situation will be dire this fall,” said Stephanie Pelcher, director of the Syracuse Teacher Center. “Everything is up in the air.”

Sue Jones, the director of Neighborhood House in Auburn, Universal Pre-K site for Auburn School District, said she used the services provided at the Cayuga-Onondaga Teacher Center frequently.

“It’s extremely expensive to laminate teacher prepared material,” Jones said. “The center was a huge asset for us.”

The Cayuga-Onondaga Teacher Center closed in June and will not reopen until funding is restored.

In addition to services and professional training, the centers collaborated with major corporations, such as Intel, Microsoft and Verizon.

“Teacher centers have been a critical asset for the past 25 years,” Pelcher said. “Our district will feel a loss and other districts will take a real hit in their ability to provide these kinds of services without teacher centers.”

Syracuse councilors appear poised to approve $28 million lease today

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Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Common Council appears poised today to approve a long-debated $28.2 million lease of the former Syracuse Development Center as temporary classroom space while city schools undergo renovations. The vote at city hall could very well mirror the council’s 5-4 vote in April, when it gave preliminary approval to the school district’s 15-year lease agreement...

2010-04-23-db-exterior.JPGAn exterior view of the former Syracuse Developmental Center, which Syracuse's school district hopes to lease for 15 years at a cost of $28.2 million.
Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Common Council appears poised today to approve a long-debated $28.2 million lease of the former Syracuse Development Center as temporary classroom space while city schools undergo renovations.

The vote at city hall could very well mirror the council’s 5-4 vote in April, when it gave preliminary approval to the school district’s 15-year lease agreement with Health Consortium-USA, which is buying the property.

A poll of the council’s nine voting members over the weekend indicated that the five councilors who voted for the deal in April will again vote for it or are leaning heavily toward approving it. Three of the four councilors who voted no in April said they will do so again.

Councilor Kathleen Joy, the Democratic majority leader, said she does not think anybody will change their vote.

“I think it’s going to break the same way,” she said.

Joy voted previously for the deal and said she will again. Nevertheless, she urged the school district to require that Health Consortium post a performance bond to protect the city in the event Health Consortium fails to complete renovations to the former developmental center in time for 1,500 students from Dr. Weeks Elementary School and H.W. Smith K-8 School to attend classes there next year. Students from other schools would temporarily attend classes at the site in future years.

Councilor Pat Hogan said he has concerns about Health Consortium finishing the renovations in time. However, he said, the city has little choice.

“We need to move kids in around Feb. 1,” he said.

Since the council gave its preliminary OK to the deal three months ago, some councilors have expressed concerns about the lease terms and the background of one of the partners in Health Consortium. To comply with Mayor Stephanie Miner’s demands, the current owners of the SDC site signed a stipulation Friday agreeing to pay $1.325 million in back taxes on the property and to drop a lawsuit challenging the city’s tax assessment.

Miner urged the council to approve the deal.

Her support did not persuade councilors Bill Ryan, Matthew Rayo and Ryan McMahon to drop their opposition, however.

Ryan said he is glad to see the tax issue resolved, but is concerned about the length of the lease, the cost to state and local taxpayers and the lack of a viable alternative from the district.

“It once again points to the disconnect between the city and the district and prompts another argument for the debate of mayoral control (of the school district),” he said.

School Superintendent Dan Lowengard said he will be pleased if council approves the lease because the district could find no other available facility big enough to house 1,500 students.

Susan Fahey Glisson, president of the Syracuse chapter of the advocacy group Parents for Public Schools, said she’ll just be glad to see the long-delayed renovations of schools begin.

“There are kids who were in grammar school when this thing started and now they’re graduating,” she said.

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

Council poll
Here’s how Syracuse common councilors said they plan to vote today on the proposed $28.2 million lease of the former Syracuse Development Center for temporary classroom space:
Voting yes
Patrick Hogan
Kathleen Joy
Nader Maroun
Voting no
Ryan McMahon
Matthew Rayo
Bill Ryan
Undecided
Lance Denno: Leaning yes
Jean Kessner: Previously voted no
Thomas Seals: Leaning yes

Crouse Hospital streamlines how it cares for lung patients to cut costs, improve care

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SU management school helps prepare for expected surge in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease cases

lung.JPGCrouse Hospital respiratory consult coordinator Renee Bear guides Pat Hagadorn in using a device that breaks up mucous in her chest. Hagadorn, 59, of Frankfort, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Pat Hagadorn gasps for air when her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease flares up.

“Scary ain’t the word for it,” said the Crouse Hospital patient after getting a treatment to loosen up mucous in her lungs. “You think you are going to die then and there. It’s a horrible feeling.”

Hagadorn, 59, of Frankfort was diagnosed with COPD, the most common type of lung disease, a year ago.

Crouse has seen a nearly 50 percent increase since 2006 in patients like Hagadorn as the prevalence of COPD grows dramatically worldwide. The hospital is expecting a lot more over the next 10 years as the baby boomers age.

An estimated 24 million Americans have the disease and half of them don’t know it, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The number of COPD deaths is expected to increase by more than 30 percent over the next 10 years.


It is the nation’s fourth-leading cause of death and is expected to move up to third by 2020. The disease is expected to cost the nation more than $50 billion this year.

As COPD cases grow, the nation’s supply of doctors is expected to shrink. At the same time, hospitals expect to come under increasing pressure to cut costs.

“Who will take care of these COPD patients?” asked Dr. Russ Acevedo, Crouse’s director of the intensive care unit and respiratory care.

To prepare itself, Crouse is overhauling the way it cares for COPD patients and has enlisted efficiency experts from Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management to help.

Crouse plans to have respiratory therapists play a much bigger role in patient care. Whitman professor Gary La Point and some of his students are helping Crouse rethink the way it does things so it can deliver better care more efficiently to this growing wave of patients.

COPD is an umbrella term used to describe lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis that slowly get worse over time. It is a frequent cause of hospitalizations and hospital readmissions.

Nearly 75 percent of all COPD cases are caused by smoking. Even if everyone stopped smoking today, the effect on the prevalence of COPD would not be seen for up to 20 years, according to a study by the COPD Foundation. That’s because many former smokers develop symptoms and are diagnosed a decade or two after they quit smoking.


The care of COPD patients at Crouse is currently managed by hospitalists, doctors who care exclusively for hospital patients. Respiratory therapists will take over most of the work under a new program Crouse is developing called “Lung Partners.” The hospital is testing out the program now and expects to fully implement it by October.

Respiratory therapists are trained to evaluate, treat and care for patients with breathing problems. Crouse has about 35 of them. They spend most of their time giving treatments.

Under the new program, each respiratory therapist will be assigned to specific COPD patients. In addition to giving treatments, the therapists will educate patients about their disease, medications and any devices they need to use, such as nebulizers. They also will be trained to screen patients for depression, an often undiagnosed condition that affects about 35 percent of COPD patients.

These additional tasks are usually offered in pulmonary rehabilitation outpatient programs. St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center operates the only one in Syracuse. “What makes this unique is we are planning on doing this as part of our inpatient respiratory care department,” Acevedo said.

The goal of the new approach is to improve and standardize patient care, shorten patient stays, prevent readmissions and save the hospital $3.2 million a year.

More than 17 percent of COPD patients at Crouse are readmitted within 30 days. COPD patients have the second-highest readmission rate at Crouse after congestive heart failure patients.

The federal government is putting pressure on hospitals to reduce costly readmissions.

To help keep COPD patients out of the hospital, Renee Bear, a Crouse respiratory therapist, has started visiting “Lung Partners” patients when they go home to make sure they are taking medications properly. “If you don’t take them every day, you are opening your lungs to a bad attack which brings you back to the emergency room,” Bear said.

Crouse started a similar home visit program in 2007 with congestive heart failure patients.

Some COPD readmissions are unavoidable because of the nature of the disease, Acevedo said. A relatively minor viral or bacterial chest infection can make it extremely difficult for some COPD patients to breath. COPD patients who are readmitted at Crouse will see the same respiratory therapist who cared for them on their previous visit, providing more continuity of care, Acevedo said.

SU professor Gary La Point and some of his students are helping Crouse figure out how to redeploy its respiratory therapists. La Point teaches a course on Six Sigma, a business management strategy that seeks to improve quality by identifying and removing process defects.

La Point is using those principles to help Crouse revamp its respiratory care department.

For example, the hospital has traditionally provided respiratory treatments during the same three time periods every day.

That’s one of the inefficient processes La Point and his group want to weed out. They are analyzing how long it takes to perform a treatment so the work can be scheduled throughout the day.

“That’s a radical idea for us as far as scheduling treatments,” Acevedo said. “It’s more the norm in industry than what we do in health care.”

La Point said hospitals often do not have the time or expertise to step back and take stock of the way they do things. Failure to address process problems costs hospitals money, he said.

“Over time processes change, not necessarily by design,” La Point said. “People think they are doing the right thing by ... doing something that’s outside the normal routine. Over time those exceptions become the norm. What used to be a simple, straightforward process becomes bogged down with excessive routines, people and steps all consuming additional resources.”

La Point believes his group’s work on the Lung Partners project could pave the way for redesigning treatment programs for other chronic illnesses.

There is no cure for COPD. But there are increasing numbers of medications and therapies that can help patients manage the disease and improve their quality of life. The most important thing smokers with COPD can do is quit smoking, Bear said.

It’s also important for people experiencing shortness of breath to get screened, according to Bear. Early diagnosis and treatment can help patients avoid some of COPD’s worst symptoms, she said.

Many people with COPD go undiagnosed because they mistakenly believe their shortness of breath is a sign of aging or they are in a state of denial because they don’t want to quit smoking, Bear said.

Pat Hagadorn said she ignored her symptoms — repeated bouts of pneumonia — for a long time even though her mother died of COPD.

Hagadorn, a former smoker, recently learned that in addition to COPD she has lung cancer, a related disease.

“If you are smoking, stop,” she said. “COPD is a horrible, horrible disease. It’s hard to breath. You can’t do sports. You can’t do things with your kids and your grandkids. You can’t live your life the way you want to.”

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

Lawyers argue forgery vs. paramour's gift in bail hearing

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Syracuse, NY - Defense lawyer Tylyn Bozeman was putting as positive a spin as possible on client Charisse McGee's case during a recent bail argument before state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti. Bozeman noted her client had been recertified as a nurse’s aide and home attendant. She also is the mother of five and grandmother of three, the lawyer said....

Syracuse, NY - Defense lawyer Tylyn Bozeman was putting as positive a spin as possible on client Charisse McGee's case during a recent bail argument before state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti.

Bozeman noted her client had been recertified as a nurse’s aide and home attendant. She also is the mother of five and grandmother of three, the lawyer said.

And, McGee did not have any arrests – before the one that landed her before Brunetti for a bail discussion – since 2002, Bozeman said.

The lawyer argued the pending forgery case was more of a misunderstanding.

Yes, the lawyer said, McGee had written her name on a blank money order that had come to her in the mail . But no, that didn’t amount to forgery, Bozeman said.

She claimed McGee thought the money order was a gift from “one of her paramours.”

Assistant District Attorney Mary Gorman then noted McGee had a history of moving from county to county and had been involved in similar conduct all over the state. Additionally, McGee has three prior felony conviction and four misdemeanor convictions for similar kinds of crimes, the prosecutor said.

Bozeman asked to have McGee released from jail to the Pretrial Release program. Gorman asked for $7,500 bail. Brunetti set bail at $2,500.


Lawyer: Parents want son released on bail, but not free
Defense lawyer Edward Klein found himself making an unusual argument in a recent bail pitch for his client.

Malcolm Young was being held on $25,000 bail on a first-degree assault charge. But Klein said the evidence indicated the victim may not have been as seriously injured as first thought and the case might actually be more of a lesser second-degree assault case.

Assistant DA Rob Moran noted Young was accused of whacking the victim over the head with a candle stick. He asked to have the bail set at $15,000 cash or $30,000 bond.

That’s when the unusual part of the argument arose.

Klein noted Young’s mother was a former high-ranking official at the Syracuse Community Health Center and his father had been a history professor at SUNY Oswego before the couple moved to Savannah. They were more than able to have bailed their son out of jail on the original bail, the lawyer noted.

But the couple wanted something different, Klein said. He clearly was not getting his message through as Aloi kept saying he thought the $25,000 bail was reasonable.

Finally, Klein made his point clear. The defendant’s parents didn’t want their son just released on bail to go back out on the streets. They wanted him freed on bail only if it was conditioned on being released to an inpatient substance-abuse treatment program.

That’s what Aloi finally agreed to.

Motorcycle T-shirt gets judge's attention
Steven James might have considered some different apparel for his appearance before County Judge Bill Walsh one recent morning.

But he indicated he was heading to work right after court where he was sentenced to five years’ probation, four weekends in the county correctional facility and a $1,000 fine for a DWI conviction.

James was wearing a T-shirt advertising Harley-Davidson motorcycles. But it was the slogan on the front of the shirt that caught Walsh’s attention as the defendant stood before him.

It read “Home of the blockheads.” Walsh couldn’t let that pass without comment.



Man shot in ankle in fifth Syracuse shooting in 24 hours

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Rash of violence hits city over the weekend.

2010-07-11-mjg-Shooting1.JPGA member of the Syracuse Police Crime Scene Unit gathers evidence on Putnam St. near Geddes St. which was the scene of a shooting Sunday night. Mike Greenlar / The Post Standard

Syracuse, NY—One person was injured in a possible drive-by shooting Sunday evening near the intersection of Putnam Street and South Geddes Street, police said.

It marked the fifth shooting in Syracuse in a 24-hour period.

Pedro Ayala, 23, of Syracuse, was shot in the right ankle, police said. He was taken to Upstate University Hospital with injuries were not considered non-life threatening, they said.

Police were called to the scene on Putnam Street at 9:03 p.m.

Yellow police tape could be seen blocking off an area of Putnam Street from South Geddes Street to about halfway down the block. Several police cars were on the scene and officers were in the middle of the taped-off area.

The incident is being investigated as a possible drive-by shooting. A possible suspect left the scene in a dark-colored sedan that was last seen headed south on Bradley Street, police said.

Nine shell casings were found in the 300 block of Putnam Street and one bullet was lodged in the wall of 331 Putnam St., they said.

Four shootings over the weekend

City police kept busy throughout the day Sunday investigating four other shooting incidents.

Investigators said they didn't know if any of the shootings were related, but said they believed one in which a shotgun was used -- and found by police -- was an isolated incident.

"It was a busy evening," Sgt. Gary Bulinski said Sunday. "We had two people shot and a couple other shooting incidents."

No connection had been established among any of the incidents as of 9 a.m., Sgt. Tom Connellan said.

Here is a breakdown:

  • A 15-year-old boy was shot in the buttocks in an apparent drive-by shooting about 10:30 p.m. Saturday in the 900 block of Midland Avenue, Connellan said. The wound was not life-threatening and the boy was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, he said.
  • Around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, police received a "shots fired" complaint near the 100 block of Sterling Avenue. Police found a loaded shotgun and a spent shell from the shotgun but have not found a suspect, Bulinski said.
  • A 19-year-old Syracuse man was shot in the buttocks about 1:50 a.m. Sunday outside the B&B Lounge, 310 South Ave., Bulinski said. Zaquan Smith told police he was standing alone outside the tavern when he heard roughly four gunshots and a bullet struck him in the buttocks. His injury also was not considered life-threatening, police said.
  • Ten minutes later, at 2 a.m., police were called to another "shots fired" complaint in the 400 block of Rowland Street. People were sleeping inside a home at 414 Rowland St. when they were awakened by the sound of gunfire, Bulinski said. Investigators said five projectiles struck the home.

Anyone with information about the five shootings is asked to call the Syracuse Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at (315) 442-5222.

Staff writer Catie O'Toole contributed to this report.

Syracuse man leads four police agencies on chase from Fulton to Tully

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Fulton, NY – A Syracuse man is being held in the Fulton city lockup after he allegedly led officers from four police agencies on a chase Sunday night through Oswego and Onondaga counties. The incident began about 10:07 p.m. Sunday when Fulton officers spotted a passenger car on South First Street near Rochester Street that had been reported stolen earlier...

Fulton, NY – A Syracuse man is being held in the Fulton city lockup after he allegedly led officers from four police agencies on a chase Sunday night through Oswego and Onondaga counties.

The incident began about 10:07 p.m. Sunday when Fulton officers spotted a passenger car on South First Street near Rochester Street that had been reported stolen earlier in the Oswego County city.

When the officers tried to get the driver to pull over the driver sped off, taking Route 48 south from Fulton. The car continued onto Route 690, then Interstate 690 and Interstate 81. The Oswego County Sheriff’s Department, Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department and its Air One helicopter and the state police joined the pursuit, which reached an average speed between 70 mph and 80 mph, Fulton Lt. Jason Delano said.

The car was stopped about 10:53 p.m. on I-81 near the Tully exit after one of the police agencies deployed a stop strip, blowing out one of the car’s tires, Delano said. About 10 police units were on hand when the driver, Terry M. Smith Jr., 26, of Syracuse, was taken into custody, he said.

Smith was charged with felony aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and criminal possession of stolen property, plus misdemeanor counts of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

He is to be arraigned today in Fulton City Court, Delano said.

A passenger in the car, whom Delano would not identify, is cooperating with authorities and was released without charge, he said.

While Smith was the alleged driver, the investigation is continuing to determine whether he was the person who stole the car, Delano said.

BP reports progress on oil cap; Gulf Coast waits

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Underwater robots steadily assembled heavy metal pieces Monday as BP prepared to install a tighter cap over its busted well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, offering hopeful signs that it could soon bring the gusher under control. The oil giant said it was ahead of its schedule to get the new, better...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Underwater robots steadily assembled heavy metal pieces Monday as BP prepared to install a tighter cap over its busted well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, offering hopeful signs that it could soon bring the gusher under control.

The oil giant said it was ahead of its schedule to get the new, better cap in place. Once the cap is in place and working properly, officials hoped it would capture all of the oil spewing out of the well and that it can all be funneled to containment ships at the surface.

"The hope is that we can slowly turn off the valves, close the capping completely and then test pressure to see how the well is performing," Thad Allen, the government's point man on the disaster, said on CBS's "The Early Show."

While the operation is under way, the previous cap had to be removed - meaning all of the oil is escaping unfettered until the new cap can be installed. Still, the chance to capture all the oil was a welcome bit of news 83 days into the environmental and economic disaster that has fouled the Gulf and its fragile coastline.

After more than two months of failed efforts, there remains a healthy dose of skepticism among those who live and work along the coast.

"At this point, there have been so many ups and downs, disappointments, that everybody down here is like, 'We'll believe it when we see it,'" said Keith Kennedy, a charter boat captain in Venice, La.

In a regulatory filing Monday, BP said the installation of the sealing cap was proceeding as planned. A transition spool had been installed on the existing flange. The next step was to install a capping stack that has three closing rams.

It was unclear from undersea video feeds and the comments in the filing if the process of lowering the new cap had begun early Monday. Several spokesman did not respond to e-mails and phone calls seeking comment early Monday, and people who answered phone calls to vessels involved in the containment effort declined to comment.

Also Monday, BP said in the Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the cost of the response to date has risen to roughly $3.5 billion. That includes the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid and federal costs.

Once the new cap was placed atop the gusher it was expected to provide a tight seal that should eventually allow the oil giant to capture all the crude leaking from the well for the first time since the April 20 oil rig explosion set off the environmental crisis. But prior failed attempts to stop the leak have made BP PLC careful to keep expectations grounded.

BP has tried and failed to counter the gusher with a giant concrete box over the well, mud and shredded rubber pumped into it and a pipe to siphon the crude. A converted supertanker specially equipped to skim huge amounts of oil from the surface has been hampered by bad weather.

» Jimmy Buffet performs free Gulf benefit concert
» BP spill response costs reach $3.5 billion [Market Watch]
» Oil spill's aftermath likely to be less alarming than advertised [nj.com]

Gulf residents and politicians reserved judgment about BP's latest effort and said damage already done to the environment, fishing and tourism will haunt the region.

"I'm not a scientist, but I know a lot of people are praying that they get that flow stopped," said Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who was attending a Jimmy Buffet beach benefit concert Sunday in Alabama.

In Louisiana's coastal Jefferson Parish, Councilman Chris Roberts said officials expected oil to keeping hitting the shoreline for up to three months after the flow stops, possibly stretching the cleanup into the fall.

Gulf Oil Spill.JPGView full sizeIn an image made from video provided by BP PLC, underwater robots work on assembling equipment early Monday for containing the oil gushing from the damaged oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. A second robot is in the background.

Matthew Peterson, a crabber in Yscloskey, La., hasn't put out his traps since oil began washing ashore. Even if BP is able to prevent any more crude from leaking into the Gulf, Peterson said, it won't make much difference.

"Until it's cleaned up, nothing's going to get back to normal," he said.

Vicki McVey, 44, a bartender at Artie's Sports Bar in Grand Isle, La., said nothing will improve until the waters are reopened for fishing.

McVey says this summer is already shot. Every local fishing tournament has been canceled, including the biggest at the end of July.

"The damage has been done," she said.

Roughly 81,000 square miles of federal waters in the Gulf have been closed to fishing since the beginning of the disaster, about 44 percent of the total.

"You look around, and it's like my life, my little island, my tranquility. It's gone," McVey said.

The well has been gushing largely unchecked since an old, leaky cap was removed from the wellhead Saturday afternoon to make way for the new one.

BP senior vice president Kent Wells said Sunday afternoon he's pleased with the progress, but hastened to add the operation was still expected to last another two to five more days.

Officials won't be satisfied the cap is working until they've run tests on whether it can withstand the tremendous pressure of oil pushing up from below the seafloor.

Asked during a conference call if the new cap and collection efforts would end the spilling of oil into the Gulf, Wells said only that BP will capture all the oil "at some point."

The new cap will be aided in containing the leak by the arrival of the Helix Producer, a vessel that should be able to take in about 1 million gallons of crude per day after coming online. The Helix connected to flexible pipes from the well Friday, and crews have been running tests since then.

Ultimately, the plan is to have four vessels collecting oil from the leak with a combined capacity of about 2.5 million to 3.4 million gallons a day - enough to capture all the oil leaking, if federal estimates are right. Getting all the vessels on the task will take about two to three weeks.

The new, tighter cap is not intended to be the permanent solution to the problem.

Relief wells are being dug for the final fix, a "bottom kill" in which heavy drilling mud and cement are pumped in from below the broken wellhead.

BP and government officials have said the relief wells are expected to be completed sometime around mid-August.

Gas prices slide lower around Syracuse

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Syracuse, NY – The average price of a gallon of gas crept lower in the Syracuse area over the past week, two price monitoring services say. Regular unleaded cost $2.78 a gallon on average Sunday, down 1.3 cents from a week ago, according to SyracuseGasPrices.com. That’s about 7 cents higher than the national average about 9.7 cents higher than...

Syracuse, NY – The average price of a gallon of gas crept lower in the Syracuse area over the past week, two price monitoring services say.

Regular unleaded cost $2.78 a gallon on average Sunday, down 1.3 cents from a week ago, according to SyracuseGasPrices.com. That’s about 7 cents higher than the national average about 9.7 cents higher than the local average a year ago, the service reported.

The AAA motor club’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report put the Syracuse average at $2.788 a gallon early this morning, also 1.3 cents lower than a week earlier.

Gas prices in CNY on syracuse.com

Documentary claims Obama campaign 'stole' Democratic nomination from Hillary Clinton

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Director says film exposes widespread voter fraud and intimidation tactics in the 2008 primary.

plt_100712_obama-clinton.jpgHillary Clinton and Barack Obama appear together at a campaign rally in Florida in October, 2008.

A new documentary called "We Will Not Be Silenced," directed by lifelong Democrat Gigi Gaston, accuses the Democratic National Committee of "depriving American voters of their choice of Hillary Clinton as Democratic nominee" in the 2008 presidential election.

In an interview on "Fox & Friends" on Sunday morning, Gaston said she went to Texas during the 2008 primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, hoping to prove that allegations of voter fraud were wrong.

But Gaston says she has since compiled dozens of interviews with campaign workers and volunteers from across the country who say they witnessed voter intimidation tactics, falsified documents and other irregularities perpetrated by the Obama campaign.

In one documentary interview, civil rights activist Helene Latimer recounts seeing an elderly woman being intimidated at the polls. "As she approached the entrance way to go into the building, one of the young men said to her, 'If you're not voting for Obama, go home because you're not voting here today.'"

"It's our right as Americans to be able to vote and everybody was alerted, we went to press, we went to Fox, we went to CNN, nobody wanted to hear the story (in 2008)," Gaston told Fox's Alisyn Camerota. "Nobody wants to deal with this."

What do you think of this documentary's allegation that the Obama campaign stole the Democratic nomination from Hillary Clinton? Leave your comments below.

» Fox News: Documentary has evidence of Obama campaign election fraud

» Examiner.com: Democrats: Obama stole nomination in 2008

» The documentary: We Will Not Be Silenced

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