New book makes allegations of infidelity and drug use.

The Associated PressFormer vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin addresses a Tea Party Express Rally in Manchester, N.H., Sept. 5. Palin left open the possibility of a presidential bid Monday afternoon, while encouraging tea party activists to unite against President Obama.

WASHINGTON — Sarah Palin's husband on Thursday called a book critical of his family "disgusting lies, innuendo and smears" as the former Alaska governor's camp sought to discredit a racy biography that includes allegations of infidelity and drug use.

As Sarah Palin weighs a White House bid, her husband released a statement seeking to blunt the fallout from Joe McGinniss' "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin." Palin allies also released another denial from the man alleged to have carried on an affair with Sarah Palin.

"This is a man who has been relentlessly stalking my family to the point of moving in right next door to us to harass us and spy on us to satisfy his creepy obsession with my wife," Todd Palin wrote of McGinniss. "His book is full of disgusting lies, innuendo and smears. Even The New York Times called this book 'dated, petty,' and that it 'chases caustic, unsubstantiated gossip.'"

The Republicans' 2008 vice presidential nominee and former governor of Alaska made no new reference on her Facebook account to McGinniss' book, although Sarah Palin previously mocked McGinniss for moving into a rented house next door to the Palin home.

"We're sure to have a doozey to look forward to with this treasure he's penning," Sarah Palin wrote last year. "Wonder what kind of material he'll gather while overlooking Piper's bedroom, my little garden and the family's swimming hole?"

McGinniss' book also repeats allegations first published in The National Enquirer that Sarah Palin carried on an affair with Brad Hanson, Todd Palin's former business partner.

In a statement released through Palin allies, Hanson again denied the allegation.

"This is the same old story that went around in 2008. It is a complete and outright lie," Hanson said. "Todd and Sarah Palin have been good friends for many years, and in fact we still own property together. We sold a former joint business venture for business reasons, nothing more. These attacks are shameful and those making them seem to be out only to destroy good people and make money doing so."

Appearing on NBC's "Today Show," McGinniss defended his reporting.

"I think I was as fair as I could possibly have been given the fact that she told all the people who were closest to her not to talk to me," he said.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

More on Joe McGinniss' Sarah Palin biography

» Review: Sarah Palin via Joe McGinniss - cocaine, infidelity and anonymity [L.A. Times]

» Author speaks out on salacious Palin claims [MSNBC]

» Sarah Palin may actually be a victim this time [Slate]

» Can Palin shake off stigma of sex, drugs revelations? [International Business Times]

Until the first frost, people should continue using mosquito repellent and take other precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes while outdoors

Syracuse, N.Y. -- More mosquitoes infected with Eastern Equine Encephalitis have been found in a mosquito pool near the Cicero Swamp, according to the Onondaga County Health Department.

The infected mosquitoes were collected Sept. 7 from a trap on Island Road in Cicero. The department said the total number of mosquitoes trapped had dramatically decreased in the last two weeks.

A 4-year-old Oswego County girl died of EEE last month, the fifth EEE death in Central New York since 1971.

Until the first frost, people should continue using mosquito repellent and take other precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes while outdoors. The department said people should wear shoes, socks, long pants and long-sleeved shirts when outside for long periods of time. It also advised the public to keep yards free of standing water that attracts the insects.

Eagle Hill Middle School in the Fayetteville-Manlius school district has been named a 2011 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.

View full sizeEllen M. Blalock / The Post-StandardEagle Hill Middle School in the Fayetteville-Manlius district is one of 19 National Blue Ribbon Schools.The U.S. Department of Education today named 19 schools in New York as 2011 National Blue Ribbon Schools. Vocal music teacher Cathy Koch leads a chorus rehearsal with seventh and eighth graders at Eagle Hill Middle School today.

Manlius, NY -- Eagle Hill Middle School in the Fayetteville-Manlius school district has been named a 2011 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.

The program honors schools with high academic achievement or those that have made great strides in closing achievement gaps.

Eagle Hill is among 19 public and private K-12 schools in New York state — and the only school in Central New York — to receive the honor this year, the U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday. Nationally, 305 schools were honored.

This is the first time Eagle Hill Middle School has received the Blue Ribbon award, Principal Maureen McCrystal said. The school was honored for its consistent high achievement over the last five years, she said.

“Our staff and our students are incredibly deserving of this national recognition,” McCrystal said. “As a district we speak of excellence frequently. In this particular case, I think the building exemplifies excellence, clearly with the support of our generous community.”

Eagle Hill is the 11th Central New York school from Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga, Madison and Cortland counties to receive the honor since 1982.

McCrystal, who’s in her fourth year leading the fifth- through eighth-grade Eagle Hill Middle School in the town of Manlius, said Eagle Hill was nominated by the state Education Department based on its state assessment test scores from the past five years.

When asked to fill out the application in mid-November, McCrystal said she didn’t hesitate one bit.

She said she also tried to emphasize Eagle Hill’s overall school program, including activities offered in all content areas.

McCrystal said she and eighth-grade social studies teacher Melissa Pietricola will accept the award for their school Nov. 14 and 15 in Washington, D.C.

“We have great kids, great adults who have come together and that’s how this happens,” McCrystal said.

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

Christopher J. Kelly will be sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for attacking woman while she held their toddler son.

A former Meridian man who slit his girlfriend’s throat in front of their toddler son today pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder in Cayuga County Court.

Christopher J. Kelly, 28, formerly of 3099 Route 370, is to be sentenced next month to 15 years imprisonment and five years post-release supervision, District Attorney Jon Budelmann said.

Kelly used a six-inch knife with a serrated blade to slice his former girlfriend’s throat from her Adam’s apple to her right ear on June 23, 2010, Budelmann said.

The woman, who was 28 at the time, was holding the couple’s two-year-old son when she was attacked, according to Budelmann. She ran to a neighbor’s house to escape from Kelly and received emergency medical treatment that may have saved her life.

“She was very lucky,’’ Budelmann said.

Kelly was upset because he and the woman had broken up, the prosecutor added. The case was scheduled to go to trial on Monday.

In exchange for pleading guilty to the attempted murder charge, a lesser felony charge of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child were dropped as part of Kelly’s plea-bargain deal.

Kelly is being held in county jail awaiting sentencing.

You can contact Scott Rapp at srapp@syracuse.com or 289-4839

The state will ban all commercial vehicles from Onondaga Lake Parkway following Megabus accident that killed four people in September 20l0. That means 3,000 more vehicles a day likely on Old Liverpool Road.

David Lassman / The Post-StandardA large metal piece hangs from the railroad bridge over Onondaga Lake Parkway and insulation is scattered on the road in this July 2011 file photo. Sheriff's deputies say a truck hit the bridge and kept going.

Public officials and some residents living near Old Liverpool Road say they are not too concerned that the state plans to reroute about 3,000 commercial vehicles a day from Onondaga Lake Parkway to Old Liverpool Road.

“I don’t see it being a huge problem,” said Clare Rothschild, who lives on Saltmakers Road off of Old Liverpool Road.

The state plans to ban all commercial vehicles from Onondaga Lake Parkway in response to a Megabus accident that killed four people in September 20l0. The Megabus slammed into a low railroad bridge that crosses the parkway. Between 1987 and 2010, there have been 53 accidents at the bridge.

The state has not released a date on when the ban will go into effect. State official completed a traffic study in June that examined if Old Liverpool Road could handle the extra commercial vehicles, which will include any vehicle with a commercial registration, including some pickups, some vans, box trucks, dump trucks, some buses and tractor trailers.

Salina Town Supervisor Mark Nicotra said any increase in traffic could be problematic, but he doubts that residents and business owners will be impacted in any major way.

“It remains to be seen if people will actually notice,” Nicotra said. “It’s 3,000 vehicles all in one day, not all at once. It could be a significant impact, but on the other hand we might not even notice.”

The state’s study shows that during peak morning hours 155 more vehicles will be traveling eastbound on Old Liverpool Road and 76 more vehicles will be traveling westbound. During the evening rush hour, 96 more vehicles will be traveling eastbound on Old Liverpool Road and 151 will be traveling westbound.

Rothschild said when the Onondaga Lake Parkway is closed for Parkway Sundays during the summer and all traffic is detoured to Old Liverpool Road there aren’t any problems.

“We’ve had the traffic on our roads before,” he said. “I don’t think there will be any major issues.

Currently an average of 13,000 to 16,000 vehicles travel each day on Old Liverpool Road, which runs parallel to the parkway.

Brian Donnelly, the commissioner of transportation for Onondaga County, said the state’s traffic report shows that the road can handle the additional traffic.

“I don’t think there is going to be a problem, but it will certainly impact the time it takes someone to get from point a to point b.”

The speed limit on Old Liverpool Road is 35 mph and there are traffic signals.

Donnelly said the county will continue to study the influx of traffic and make adjustments where needed to the traffic signals on Old Liverpool Road.

“We’ll be looking at every intersection,” he said.
Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@syracuse.com or 470-2298.

$66 million will fund a 6 million-gallon sewage storage tank in the Trolley Lot parking area near Armory Square and a 4.9 million-gallon storage tank and new sewer lines in the Harbor Brook area.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The state Environmental Facilities Corp. today awarded $66 million in financing, most of it interest-free, for Onondaga County sewer projects that are part of the lake cleanup plan.

The EFC board of directors awarded $32.5 million in interest-free financing for work along Onondaga Creek that will include a 6 million-gallon sewage storage tank in the Trolley Lot parking area near Armory Square. EFC also awarded $33.6 million in interest-free or low-interest loans for work in the Harbor Brook area, including a 4.9 million-gallon storage tank and new sewer lines.

The state financing will save the county an estimated $920,000 in interest charges, an EFC spokesman said. The county relies on EFC to help finance projects related to its court-ordered cleanup of Onondaga Lake and its tributaries, said Matthew Millea, deputy county executive for physical services.

Tests did not distinguish between organic arsenic, which is non-toxic, and inorganic arsenic.

The Associated PressThe federal Food and Drug Administration and a leading doctor are disputing suggestions by television show host Dr. Mehmet Oz that trace amounts of arsenic in many apple juice products pose a health concern.

Arsenic in apple juice! Fed to babies! And it probably came from China! Television's Dr. Mehmet Oz is under fire from the FDA and others for sounding what they say is a false alarm about the dangers of apple juice.

Oz, one of TV's most popular medical experts, said on his Fox show Wednesday that testing by a New Jersey lab had found what he suggested were troubling levels of arsenic in many brands of juice.

The Food and Drug Administration said its own tests show no such thing, even on one of the same juice batches Oz cited.

"There is no evidence of any public health risk from drinking these juices. And FDA has been testing them for years," the agency said in a statement.

The flap escalated Thursday, when Oz's former medical school classmate Dr. Richard Besser lambasted him on ABC's "Good Morning America" show for what Besser called an "extremely irresponsible" report that was akin to "yelling 'Fire!' in a movie theater."

Besser was acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before joining ABC news as health and medical editor several years ago.

APDr. Mehmet Oz

Arsenic is naturally present in water, air, food and soil in two forms — organic and inorganic. According to the FDA, organic arsenic passes through the body quickly and is essentially harmless. Inorganic arsenic — the type found in pesticides — can be toxic and may pose a cancer risk if consumed at high levels or over a long period.

"The Dr. Oz Show" did not break down the type when it tested several dozen juice samples for total arsenic. As a result, the FDA said the results are misleading.

Furthermore, the agency's own tests found far lower total arsenic levels from one of the same juice batches the Oz show tested — 2 to 6 parts per billion of arsenic versus the 36 that Oz's show had claimed.

Tests of the same batch conducted by two different food testing labs for the juice's maker, Nestle USA, which sells Juicy Juice under the Gerber brand, also found levels consistent with the FDA results.

In a letter published on the Oz show's website, Nestle said it told the program's producer in advance that the method the show's lab used was intended for testing waste water, not fruit juice, and "therefore their results would be unreliable at best."

The FDA also sent a letter in advance to the show and threatened to post its findings and the letters online if the program proceeded.

Oz went ahead.

"American apple juice is made from apple concentrate, 60 percent of which is imported from China," the website version of his report says. "Other countries may use pesticides that contain arsenic, a heavy metal known to cause cancer."

The show tested three dozen samples from five brands, and Oz claimed that 10 had more arsenic than the limit allowed in drinking water — 10 parts per billion.

However, the FDA said the arsenic in water tends to be inorganic, justifying the strict limit. In contrast, organic arsenic is the form usually found in food and juices. Tests over the last 20 years show apple juice typically has fewer than 10 parts per billion total arsenic.

The mercurial Oz is a heart surgeon at Columbia University and heads an alternative medicine program at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He was a regular on Oprah Winfrey's show for many years before getting his own program two years ago.

This is the first week of a new TV season, the first in two decades without Winfrey dominating the talk show scene.

Tim Sullivan, a spokesman for Oz's show, said in an interview: "We don't think the show is irresponsible. We think the public has a right to know what's in their foods."

Sullivan said Oz does not agree that organic arsenic is as safe as authorities believe. The show will do further tests to distinguish organic from inorganic arsenic in juice samples, he said.

"The position of the show is that the total arsenic needs to be lower," he said. "We did the tests. We stand by the results and we think the standards should be different."

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, even Oz said he wouldn't hesitate to keep giving his four children apple juice.

"There's no question in my mind folks can continue drinking apple juice. ... There have been no cases at all of kids being harmed by elevated levels of arsenic, and the kinds of numbers we are talking about are not high enough to cause acute injury," he said.

He said he was concerned instead about the possible ill effects from drinking apple juice for many years.

An independent lab agreed with the FDA's contention that the form of arsenic matters.

Oz's testing "certainly begs the question how much of that is inorganic," the type of arsenic that is of prime concern, said Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com. The company tests dietary supplements and publishes ratings for subscribers, much as Consumer Reports does with household goods.

However, Cooperman and others have long called on the FDA to strengthen regulation of contaminants.

The high should be up to 70 by Monday.

View full sizeMichael BorkowskiA stormy day gives way to a double rainbow, as seen in Lyncourt, then cold, clear skies tonight over Central New York.

With a brilliant double rainbow, today's rain gives way to clear and cool skies overnight, with a low of 39 at 6 a.m. in the Syracuse area. The record low for today's date was 35 in 1975.

The sun returns for the weekend, and the high is back to 70 by Monday.

For complete forecast and conditions, see Syracuse.com/weather

See Michael Borkowski's Syracuse Orange cartoons

12 lawmakers are tasked with developing legislation to reduce deficits by $1.2 trillion or more over a decade.

The Associated PressHouse Speaker John Boehner of Ohio talks about the economy during an address at the Economic Club of Washington, in Washington, Thursday. Boehner said the congressional committee charged with recommending large deficit cuts should lay the groundwork for tax changes that would enhance economic growth.

WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner urged Congress' deficit "supercommittee" on Thursday to lay the groundwork for a broad overhaul of the U.S. tax code, rejecting Democrats' talk of tax increases but leaving open the possibility the government's take could rise as a result.

Tax increases "are not a viable option" for the committee, Boehner declared in a speech to the Washington Economic Club, ruling out many of the proposals that President Barack Obama is expected to forward to the 12-member panel next week, including some that are part of his major jobs proposal.

Boehner made his remarks as White House officials disclosed that Obama intends to travel to Cincinnati next week as he campaigns for public support of his $447 billion proposal to cut into the nation's 9.1 percent unemployment rate. The political symbolism of the site was unmistakable — an overcrowded bridge that links Boehner's Ohio with Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell's Kentucky, a span the president has cited as an example of the repair work his jobs program would make possible.

Separately, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama will not recommend any budget savings from Social Security when he releases his recommendations to the deficit-cutting committee next week, despite the president signaling support for that idea in summertime debt-reduction talks with Boehner.

Carney declined to say what, if any, recommendations the president might make to find savings from Medicare.

The day's events underscored the extent to which the committee of 12 lawmakers is likely to be guided by the views of the most senior leaders in both political parties as it tries to develop legislation to reduce deficits by $1.2 trillion or more over a decade.

The panel has almost unlimited authority to recommend changes in federal spending and taxes and is working against a deadline of Nov. 23. It held a closed-door meeting during the day, but officials declined to provide details of what was discussed.

In his speech, Boehner was alternately critical of Obama's economic policies and somewhat conciliatory.

"Businesses are not going to hire someone for a $4,000 tax credit if government mandates impose long-term costs on them that significantly exceed the temporary credit," he said, describing a portion of what the president asked Congress to approve in his jobs program.

"Let's be honest with ourselves," he said. "The president's proposals are a poor substitute for the pro-growth policies that are needed to remove barriers to job creation in America."

The centerpiece of Obama's jobs program is a one-year extension of Social Security payroll tax cuts for workers, expanded to include businesses. He is also seeking other tax breaks, as well as an extension of unemployment benefits, aid to states to permit them to hire teachers and first responders, and construction funding for highways and bridges like the one he intends to visit in Ohio next week.

Asked whether the congressional debt panel might include some of Obama's jobs recommendations in its own work, Boehner said, "I think it's too early to determine whether some of it ends up being the work of the ... committee or whether we do it separately."

Any broad compromise that clears the bipartisan committee is almost certain to require Democratic agreement to savings from benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare, along with Republican acquiescence to additional revenues, although any such tradeoffs are rarely discussed openly until the last possible moment in negotiations.

The committee's charter is to cut deficits, and Boehner said, "That has everything to do with jobs."

Ruling out tax increases, he said the panel has "only one option, spending cuts and entitlement reforms," a reference to government benefit programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

At the same time, he said the committee 'can tackle tax reform and it should." Boehner said it was probably unrealistic to expect the panel to rewrite the tax code by Nov. 23. "But it can certainty lay the groundwork by then for tax reform in the future that will enhance the environment for economic growth."

He said the elements of an eventual overhaul of the tax code would be lower rates for individuals and corporations while closing deductions, credits, and special carve-outs.

"Yes, tax reform should include closing loopholes. Not for the purposes of bringing more money to the government. But because it's the right thing," he said.

Boehner did not rule out that tax changes might result in additional government revenue, and officials in both parties say that in his talks with Obama last summer the two men were discussing the possibility that an overhaul could mean as much as an additional $800 billion for the Treasury over a decade.

At the White House, Carney said, "I would simply note that the speaker of the House made clear that in the negotiations he had with the president, he put, in his words, revenues on the table. Well, we believe revenues have to be on the table if we're going to solve our deficit and debt problems."

Similarly, in the same talks, Obama appeared willing to include a provision to slow the growth in cost-of-living increases in Social Security and to raise the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67.

Both provisions sparked strong opposition from liberal lawmakers in the president's own party, and it was not clear whether Obama has decided to rule them out of any future talks or was merely was shelving them for the time being.

The collapse last July of the talks between Obama and Boehner led to legislation that cut spending by nearly $1 trillion over a decade, averted a first-ever government default and created the debt committee that is just now beginning its work in earnest.

Eighteen Syracuse Police officers received awards for their accomplishments in 2010. Watch video

Syracuse, NY -- For a year and a half, Syracuse Police Detectives Timothy Galanaugh and Jeffrey MacCollum tracked illegal guns coming from Cleveland, Ohio to Syracuse.

Using a variety of intelligence gathering techniques, they analyzed information and followed suspects as they drove from Syracuse to Cleveland and back again.

“We were able to get into their organization,” Galanaugh said.

The police operation begun by the two detectives effectively shutdown an organization that officials believe was responsible for bringing in 50 illegal guns a year into Syracuse.

Galanaugh, 36, and MacCollum, 43, Thursday night received Meritorious Service Awards at the Police Benevolent Association’s annual award ceremony at the Summit Credit Union auditorium on East Genesee Street.

The detectives were two of 18 officers to receive awards for their accomplishments during 2010.

“Tonight you’re going to hear about acts of courage. Your going to hear about acts of bravery,” said Chief Frank Fowler, as he opened the evening’s festivities. “It’s a small part of what we do every day.”

Galanaugh and MacCollum speaking before the ceremony said they felt honored to be recognized by their peers.

“We’re just the face of it,” MacCollum said. “It was alot of work by a lot of guys.”

They got help from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, the New York State Police, Cleveland police and several units in the Syracuse department.

The results speak for themselves: seven suspects arrested, crimes solved in Cleveland, DeWitt and Syracuse, and illegal handguns seized, including one used in a shootout with officers in 2009.

The main suspect, Shawndell Everson, was sentenced in March to 143 years in state prison after being convicted of criminal sale and possession of firearms, robbery, burglary, sale and possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy

The 18 officers to be honored wore their dress uniforms as they entered the elegant auditorium with a bagpiper and color guard escort. They marched in before 300 colleagues, friends and family, many with cameras to capture the moment.

WSYR anchor Dan Cummings was masters of ceremonies and Jeremy Ratchford, an actor on the CBS program “Cold Case,” who has developed a special attachment with the department was a special guest presenter.

In between the awards for bravery and leadership, the department gave a special award of its own this year to Tom Laun, the father of highly decorated Capt. Tim Laun, who died of a heart attack at the age of 44. The Laun family annually presents an award in Timothy Laun’s name.

This year the captain’s son William Laun and his grandfather Tom Laun, presented the award to Capt. John Brennan. As they were walking off the stage, Chief Fowler called Tom Laun back.

Fowler presented him with a special Timothy Laun Award for his contributions, dedication and service to the police department. Wearing a proud grin William Laun wrapped his arms around his grandfather in a big hug as Tom Laun left the stage with the award.

Also new this year, the department presented Merit Awards to an officer in each platoon. The inaugural awards went to Officers Robert Harrington, William Kittell and Donald Schultz.

Other awards presented were:

• The department’s Life Saving Award — Officer William Foster


• The benevolent association’s Valor Award — Officer Alvin Herrington


• The John C. Dillon Award — Sgt. John Savage


• The Wallie Howard Jr. Award — Det. James Burns


• The Distinguished Service Award — Officer John Mulherin


• The Meritorious Service Award — Det. Timothy Galanaugh and Det. Jeffrey MacCollum


• The Police Chief’s Achievement Award — Officer Aylan Briedis


• The Police Benevolent Association’s President’s Award — Officers David Craw, Robert Ripley and Jason Welch


• The Post-Standard Award — Det. Steven Kilburn and Officer Steven Stonecypher


• The Jerome P. Slater Award — Officer Matthew LaLonde

State contract worth more than $4 million a year.

Syracuse, NY -- A change in how the state manages transportation for Medicaid patients has landed a Syracuse company a multi-million-dollar contract and created 80 new jobs in Central New York.

Medical Answering Services won a state contract to handle arranging transportation for Medicaid patients in 13 Hudson Valley counties, including the New York City suburbs of Rockland and Westchester County, said company President and co-owner Russ Maxwell.

For years, each county has managed transportation within its borders for Medicaid patients. In 2010 the state changed rules so that the New York Department of Health could handle the task, hiring outside organizations to manage the work for a multi-county region.

Maxwell said the Hudson Valley was the first region put out to bid by the Department of Health. MAS won the bid earlier this year and will be paid roughly $350,000 a month, he said. To handle the growth, MAS has 80 new workers, roughly doubling the size of the staff.

“We manage Medicaid transportation for counties in the state,” Maxwell explained. A Medicaid patient calls the company to request transportation to an appointment, MAS checks the individual’s eligibility, whether the appointment is covered and what sort of transportation is appropriate, he said.

Depending on the individual, the right transportation solution could be an ambulance, a stretcher van, a wheelchair van, a taxi or “a bus token,” Maxwell said.

The company doesn’t handle any emergency transportation, he said. For that, people should call 911.

MAS has been managing Medicaid transportation since the company was created in 2004. MAS traces its roots back to 2002 when Rural/Metro Ambulance handled the work for Onondaga County. Maxwell bought the operation from Rural/Metro and created MAS with partner Wayne Freeman.

Before winning the new contract, MAS already serviced the Medicaid transportation management needs of nine counties across Upstate New York, he said.

The contract requires MAS to figure out how to deal with changing call demand. Payment is based on the number of people enrolled in Medicaid in a county, Maxwell explained. The payment to MAS doesn’t go up if an outbreak of flu drives up the number of calls the company has to handle, he said.

MAS, located at 375 West Onondaga St., has already hired the 60 new call takers, 10 managers and 10 specialist supervisors it needed to fulfill the new contract, Maxwell said.

As a Syracuse resident who served as auditor for the city in the early 1990s, Maxwell said it made sense to operate out of Syracuse while serving Medicaid patients around Upstate New York. He said workers here were capable and turnover was far lower than the industry average. While the average call center might see annual turnover of 40 percent or even 50 percent, MAS has had turnover of less than 15 percent, he said.

The Hudson Valley contract could be a beginning for MAS, he said, as the state asks for bids for other regions. “We very much anticipate participating in those bids,” Maxwell said. If more contracts come, he said the city’s central location in the state “means we can continue to grow in Syracuse.”

Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.

The county spent $4 million in 2011 to subsidize its baseball stadium, convention center, War Memorial arena and Civic Center theaters.

Jim Commentucci / The Post-StandardA big crowd was at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse for a game between the Chiefs and the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees in this Aug. 12, 2011 photo.

Story by staff writers Rick Moriarty and Marnie Eisenstadt

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Saddled with paying millions of dollars in yearly subsidies to run its convention center and baseball stadium, Onondaga County is looking for private companies to manage both — and may even put the stadium up for sale.

The county Purchasing Department last week sent out letters to nine companies seeking vendors qualified to “manage, operate and market any or all of” Alliance Bank Stadium and the Oncenter complex, which consists of the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center, the War Memorial arena, the Civic Center theaters and a parking garage next to the convention center.

The letters, which went to some of the world’s largest venue management companies, also said the county will consider any purchase offers for the 11,000-seat stadium, which is home to the Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A minor league affiliate of the Washington Nationals.

But Matt Millea, deputy county executive for physical services, said the county is focused on finding a company to manage the stadium and does not expect to receive any purchase offers.

He said the statement that the county would entertain purchase offers for the stadium was a “trial balloon” that probably would not go very far. Stadiums in the Northeast are usually municipally owned because the weather limits the number of days they can be used for sporting events and concerts, and they almost always need a government subsidy, he said.

“There’s not a big market for baseball stadiums,” he said.

Millea said the county expects to have to continue to subsidize the Oncenter and the baseball stadium. But it is investigating if a private company could manage them more efficiently and reduce the subsidy needed.

Both the convention center and the baseball stadium are a financial drag on county taxpayers. The county spent $3 million this year to keep the Oncenter afloat after the convention center started running out of money to pay its bills. County Executive Joanie Mahoney has asked the Legislature for $1.6 million to subsidize its operation next year.

County taxpayers annually pay about $1 million to operate the baseball stadium. It will spend $1.1 million on it in 2011, and Mahoney has requested $993,000 for next year.

A county-created nonprofit corporation with a long name — the Onondaga County Convention Center War Memorial Complex Management Corp. — has managed the convention center since it opened in 1992 in downtown Syracuse. It also manages the nearby War Memorial arena and the two performing arts theaters inside the nearby Civic Center complex. The Oncenter management corporation’s contract with the county expires at the end of next year.

Alliance Bank Stadium, which was formerly called P&C Stadium, has been leased since its opening in 1996 to the owner of the Syracuse Chiefs, the Community Baseball Club of Central New York. The lease expires at the end of this year, and county officials say they intend to negotiate a new lease with the Chiefs that will last at least 10 years.

The Chiefs initially managed the stadium, too, but the county has done so since 2000. Millea said any buyer or manager of the stadium would have to agree to honor the lease with the Chiefs.

John Simone, general manager of the Chiefs, said the team plans to submit a proposal to manage the stadium.

“Obviously, we have the most experience and we are the most qualified,” Simone said.

County officials have expressed a desire to see Alliance Bank Stadium become a venue for concerts in hopes of boosting the stadium’s revenues. But county lawmakers have been reluctant to go into the concert business because it requires the expenditure of substantial sums of money up front for artist fees and other costs — with no guarantee that tickets sales will cover the costs.

Last year, the county Legislature rejected County Executive Joanie Mahoney’s request for $500,000 to hire a promoter and financially back concerts at the stadium. The county briefly hired Syracuse Jazz Fest Executive Director Frank Malfitano to arrange concerts at the stadium, but it had to discontinue the deal after the Legislature barred county funds for concert promotions.

The Chiefs and JAM Productions of Chicago teamed up in 2009 to sponsor the Bob Dylan/John Mellencamp/Willie Nelson concert that attracted 7,100 fans and a Dave Matthews Band concert that attracted 18,000 people. But no concerts have been held at the stadium since 2009, a source of frustration for county officials.

Millea said there is a trend toward having municipally owned arenas managed by large national venue management companies that double as concert promoters. They not only run the facilities, they also manage the concert tours of many big artists and, thus, may be able to bring in more concerts for those facilities, he said.

“They have contracts with the acts and they control where they go,” he said.

In New York, Albany County’s Times Union Center, Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena and the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island are managed by Philadelphia-based SMG World, one of the companies Onondaga County invited to submit a proposal..

Millea said the county may negotiate a management contract with one or more of the vendors that respond to its letter. But the county will not be obligated to do business with any of them, he said. Proposals must be submitted to the Purchasing Department by 4 p.m. Nov. 4.

Terri Toennies, Oncenter’s president and CEO, said it is likely that the Oncenter’s management corporation would be dissolved if they county hires a private company to manage the Oncenter instead of renewing its contract with the corporation.

However, it’s possible that the corporation’s employees could be hired by any new manager. The county’s request to vendors asks them to include in their proposals their “anticipated plans for the retention of current employees.” The Oncenter has 41 full-time employees and employs up to 500 part-time employees during the year to work during events.

Toennies said it’s far from certain that the county will find a private manager that could operate the facilities at a lower cost. She said an oversupply of convention space in the country makes it nearly impossible to break even on those facilities.

Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar, a magazine and web site that covers the national concert business, said private companies are freer in how they can negotiate contracts and are more motivated to fill the seats.

“They’re profit driven and so they are going to be a little bit more aggressive than a civil service employee,” Bongiovanni said.

Heywood Sanders, a professor of public administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said many local governments have turned to private companies to manage their convention centers and sports arenas, and such firms are “glad to be paid a fee.” But he said most find they still are stuck with high costs because the highly competitive nature of the convention and arena business means they cannot charge the rental rates needed to break even, let along turn a profit.

“There is remarkably little fairy dust to solve the problem because you’ve got to compete on price,” said Sanders, who has written extensively on costs of government-owned convention centers and arenas. “People are giving this stuff away.”

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

Who was invited?

Here’s the nine companies that Onondaga County invited to submit proposals to manage Alliance Bank Stadium and the Oncenter complex:

AEG: Operates the Staples Center in Los Angeles, public venues around the world

Community Baseball Club of CNY: Owns the Syracuse Chiefs

Delaware North Companies: Provides hospitality and food service at sports arenas, casinos and airports, including Syracuse Hancock Airport. Its owner also owns the NHL Boston Bruins and Boston’s TD Garden.

DSF Sports/DSF Group: Owns the minor league baseball New Hampshire Fisher Cats and Bowling Green Hot Rods.

Global Spectrum: Manages nearly 100 public assembly venues and its parent company owns the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.

International Facilities Group: Manages sports arenas in California and Illinois.

SMG World: Manages eight stadiums, including the Louisiana Superdome, more than 60 arenas, and says it is the nation’s largest private operator of publicly-owned exhibition space.

VenuWorks: Calls itself one of the three largest “public assembly management” firms in the U.S., handling over 40 venues with more than 9,000 events.

Mandalay Entertainment: A TV and film company, owns the minor league baseball Dayton Dragons, which has 843 consecutive home sellouts.

Truck strikes tree in Granby

Granby, NY -- A father died and his son, the driver, has been hospitalized after a crash in Granby Thursday night.

Oswego County sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a crash on Rathburn Road at 9:33 p.m. and found a 1996 GMC crashed into a tree when it failed to negotiate a turn.

The crash killed John F. Pendall Sr., 46, of 307 Rathburn Road, the sheriff's department said.

John F. Pendall Jr., 25, of the same address, had been driving, deputies said, and was injured. He was listed in critical condition this morning at Upstate Unviersity Hospital.

No charges had been filed and the crash remained under investigation early Friday morning.

The Granby Center Fire Department, Menter Ambulance and state police also responded to the crash.

Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.

He was driving a white Chevy Avalance with West Virginia license plates

Russell Marcum

Richfield, NY -- State police continue to look for a soldier from Fort Drum, who escaped from military custody.

State police are looking for Russell C. Marcum, 20, whose last known location was the town of Richfield in Otsego County.

Marcum is 6 feet tall and weighs 180 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes.

Marcum, who was driving a white 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche with West Virginia license plate 8PR-207, is considered armed and dangerous, police said.

According to the Utica Observer Dispatch, Marcum was pursued by Onondaga County's Air 1 helicopter and, when that ran low on fuel, a state police helicopter.

Police asked that anyone who sees Marcum call 911 immediately.

Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.

The bronze bearing the thousands of names of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks was specially processed to turn it a somber, matte black.

View full size(AP Photo/Lucas Jackson, Pool, File)FILE -- In this Sept. 11, 2011 file photo, a woman makes an impression of one of the names on the wall at the Sept. 11 memorial, during the 10th anniversary observance of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. It's a way to reclaim those who have been lost, says memorial president Joe Daniels.

From the Associated Press:

NEW YORK (AP) — Nadine Mass' godfather died just steps from the exit of the World Trade Center. The Port Authority police officer and his captain had been trying to carry a woman in a wheelchair to safety.

Since Stephen Huczko Jr.'s death, his family has treasured photographs and memories of their time together. But it wasn't until this week that they were able to find a tangible symbol of his sacrifice.

"This is the first thing we've been able to have, to hold," Mass said, unrolling the crayon rubbing she took of his name at the newly opened 9/11 memorial. "This is our connection, maybe, to what really happened here. ... We can hold it. We can keep it."

The bronze bearing the thousands of names of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks was specially processed to turn it a somber, matte black. Now, with the public opening of the plaza, those names have been transformed into a rainbow of colors as mourners and those paying their respects have used crayons of every shade to make rubbings of the names of the lost.

The etchings have been yellow, orange, blue, purple, green, red and black. Some of them are done in an untidy, childlike scribble, with the name emerging beneath. Others form a neat, exact record — a solid piece of history.

Such rubbings have long been a way to record and a way to mourn — a way to reclaim some piece of what has been lost. For decades, visitors have made similar mementos at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the nation's capital. And for at least a century, people have taken similar rubbings of gravestones.

Jim Brown has no cemetery where he can visit his brother-in-law, firefighter Kevin Bracken. Along with more than 1,100 others, Bracken's remains were never identified among the ruins of the twin towers. For his family, this place is the closest they have to a gravesite. Taking a rubbing of Bracken's name may be the closest they can come to bringing him home.

First seeing the memorial, "I felt a little bit of sadness," said Brown, who lost three relatives in the attacks. But "I felt better now that I've seen their names and taken a rubbing."

Mourners often are drawn to objects that represent a connection to the person they lost, said Charlton McIlwain, an American culture professor at New York University who has studied death rituals.

"People were looking for something tangible to hold onto, something that has some kind of emotional connection, for them, with their deceased loved one," he said.

The memorial, placed in the footprints of the twin towers, was designed with the rubbings in mind. One earlier version of the design would have included raised names with water flowing over them, but that idea was scrapped after a family member worried it would prevent people from making mementos from their loved ones' names, said memorial president Joe Daniels.

Ultimately, planners chose to create bronze parapets displaying the visual litany of names, the letters cleanly cut out of the bronze, with only light and emptiness beneath.

Now the memorial foundation is handing out rolls of white paper, ordered months ago, sized exactly so that visitors can make name rubbings. After testing a number of options, planners selected a black soy wax similar to a crayon that they believed made the clearest impressions, which they're giving out along with the paper.

Eventually, the memorial may charge visitors for a rubbing kit, Daniels said. But for the foreseeable future the materials will be free.

Some visitors surprised planners when they began taking rubbings not just of the names but also the raised group designations that name the fire companies and employers with whom victims were affiliated.

Keith Reed was among a group of volunteer firefighters from Lancaster, N.Y., paying their respects and making rubbings of the words First Responders and of the names of fire companies.

"We're bringing back souvenirs," he said, explaining that they planned to display the rubbings in their firehouse "for all the future generations."

Read the entire story

Related news:

» Bill Would Provide Federal Funds for 9/11 Memorial [The New York Times]

» 9/11 Anniversary Attacks Thwarted by NATO [International Business Times]

» 9/11 Panel: US Remains Vulnerable to "Lone Wolf" [NBC]

In other news:

» Six-ton NASA satellite to collide with Earth [RT]

» What Rick Perry learned from Donald Trump [The Washington Post]

» Elizabeth Warren Hits the Trail — Officially [ABC News]

Sept. 16, 2011 would have been Hungarian physiologist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi's 118th birthday.

Google.comSeptember 16, 2011 would have been Hungarian physiologist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi's 118th birthday. Google's Doodle celebrates his discovery of Vitamin C in oranges.

Orange football fans are hoping Friday's Google Doodle is a sign that Syracuse will beat USC in Saturday's game. After all, Google is showing its orange pride today.

In honor of Hungarian physiologist Albert Szent-Györgyi's birthday, Google changed its homepage logo on Google.com to resemble a juice label, showing pictures of oranges with the search engine's name. Szent-Györgyi, who would've turned 118 years old on September 16, 2011, is credited with discovering Vitamin C through ascorbic acid in fruits.

According to The Daily Mail, he won the 1937 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for "his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes, with special reference to vitamin-C and the catalysis of fumaric acid." He first isolated the important vitamin, which boosts the immune system and is an antioxidant, from paprika.

J.W. McGuire / Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons Portrait of Nobel Prize laureate Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (1893-1986).

Born in Budapust in 1893, Szent-Györgyi served in World War I from 1914 to 1917 and moved to the United States after World War II. According to CNET, he was part of the Hungarian resistance against the Nazis and was part of a secret mission to begin negotiations with the allies. He escaped house arrest and spent 1944-1945 in hiding before immigrating to Massachusetts.

Google's bright homepage doodle honoring his scientific achievements, in addition to oranges, also includes other excellent sources of vitamin C such as lemons, strawberries and paprika.

Google Doodles have become a fun, popular way for the search engine giant to commemorate icons who have changed the world for the better.

Past Google Doodle honorees this year have included Isaac Newton, Vivaldi, Thomas Edison, Harry Houdini and Snoopy from "Peanuts." June's Google Doodle honoring Les Paul, which celebrated his invention of the electric guitar with a playable guitar logo, may have cost businesses around the world $286 million in lost productivity.

» Huffington Post: Albert Szent-Györgyi Google logo nods to Vitamin C discovery with illustration of oranges

Fest Saturday celebrates the comeback of the crop in Madison County. Watch video

Michelle Gabel/The Post-StandardNortheast Hops Alliance President Larry Fisher produces final batches of hops for the season using a Wolf Harvester at Morrisvile State that was purchased last year with a state grant.

When Larry and Kate Fisher harvested their first hops on their farm in Munnsville, it took them nearly 45 minutes by hand to separate the cones from each long, prickly bine.

This summer, the couple transported the crop to Morrisville State College, where a new commercial grade harvester can handle 180 plants in an hour, quickly separating the cones from stems and other debris using a system of conveyor belts, compressors and cutting augers.

The Wolf harvester was brought in from Germany last year with the help of a $30,000 legislative-member-item from New York State Assemblyman Bill Magee.

Larry Fisher, who also heads the nonprofit Northeast Hop Alliance, spent much of the year assembling the harvester – even translating the instruction manual from German and converting the system from European voltage.

The work paid off this summer, when the Fishers’ Foothill Hops produced several thousand pounds of dried hops that will be used in local craft beers as well as soaps, mustards and lemonade.

It is the next chapter for a crop that boasts more than 200 years of history in New York state.

The state’s first recorded hop crop was planted in a Bouckville field in 1808 by Massachusetts native James Coolidge. It went on to reign in the fields of Central New York for more than a century. By 1880, Madison County and two others in the state produced 80 percent of the country’s hops.

Although large-scale production of the crop ended in the 1900s due to disease, competition and Prohibition, the crop is enjoying a local resurgence today as craft brewers clamor for local sources, and farmers re-examine the industry’s economic potential.

The Fishers will be on hand at this weekend’s 16th annual Madison County Hop Fest to to explain how the seedling they purchased at the festival in 2001 multiplied to become the county’s first commercial hop farm in more than 50 years.

The local historical society’s annual toast to the hop empire includes brew pairing, food sampling and educational exhibits.

In May, Cornell Cooperative Extension brought on its first hops specialist, Steve Miller, who said he receives at least a half dozen phone calls a day from farmers interested in learning how to grow hops.

Within two years, he expects the interest will yield 100 acres of hops in Central New York, and that could be a game changer.

“Breweries need quality, quantity and regularity in order to rely on local hops,” Miller said. “Up until now, there was not enough acreage in New York State.

“Now that brewers can get the variety and the volume that they want, it is making a difference,” he continued. “I think that this industry has got a good foothold and will keep on growing.”

The processer will be an important part of the equation, Miller said.

“That was one of the major stumbling blocks,” agreed Fisher, who studied historical patents to build his own mechanical harvester when he couldn’t find appropriately sized equipment for sale in the United States. “It is conquered now. This will help new growers immensely.”

If you go
What: 16th annual Madison County Hop Fest.
When:11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Madison County Historical Society, 435 Main St., Oneida.
Details: Free workshops and exhibits, a food and beer pairing ($15 advance, $20 at the door) and a beer sampling featuring more than 30 styles ($25 advance, $30 at the door).
To learn more: Visit www.mchs1900.org/hopfest

Contact Alaina Potrikus at 470-3252 or apotrikus@syracuse.com.

A melon farm in Colorado has issued a recall of cantaloupe following a Listeria outbreak that has killed at least two people, sickened 22 and spread to several states.

DENVER (AP) — A melon farm in Colorado has issued a recall of cantaloupe following a Listeria outbreak that has killed at least two people, sickened 22 and spread to several states.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the deaths from the outbreak were reported in Colorado and New Mexico, and state health departments said more deaths could be confirmed once testing comes back.

The CDC said the 22 people infected are in seven states: Colorado, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia.

Jensen Farms spokeswoman Amy Philpott said Thursday that one of the Colorado farm's Rocky Ford cantaloupes tested positive for the bacteria, but more tests are needed to determine if it's the same strain linked to the outbreak. The farm provides about 40 percent of the area's cantaloupes, Philpott said.

In cooperation with the voluntary recall, Safeway Inc. said it was recalling jumbo cantaloupes supplied by Jensen Farms and sold in Colorado; Nebraska; Aztec and Farmington, N.M.; South Dakota and Wyoming between Aug. 30 and Sept. 6. Cantaloupes currently in Safeway stores are not from the Rocky Ford region, the grocery chain said.

It is first time the bacteria has been linked to cantaloupe in the U.S. The outbreak apparently originated in Rocky Ford, a fertile melon-growing area of Colorado that is a popular destination for tourists.

Tammie Palmer, of Colorado Springs, said Thursday her 71-year-old husband remains hospitalized after eating contaminated cantaloupe and she filed a lawsuit against Jensen Farms and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., where the family said the cantaloupe was purchased.

Palmer told The Associated Press that Charles Palmer got sick Aug. 31 and was rushed to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed it as Listeria monocytogenes, the same strain blamed for the outbreak.

"He wasn't able to talk to me for five days. When I talked to him, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. It's been a nightmare," she said.

Palmer said she was contacted by the Colorado health department, which wanted to know what groceries they bought, what they ate and where they stored the food. Philpott said she had not seen the lawsuit filed Thursday and had no comment.

Walmart spokesman Greg Rossiter said Palmer's illness was the first time the company has heard that somebody might have been sickened by cantaloupe bought at a Walmart.

"We take these concerns very seriously and we wish Mr. Palmer well," he said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

Rossiter said the company removed cantaloupes on Monday and has been working with suppliers to find melons that come from safe areas.

Rossiter had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment on specific allegations, which include selling a defective product.

Philpott said the company was informed that there was a positive test, "but we don't know if it was linked to the outbreak."

Philpott said she did not know the state or the store, or the agency that found it, and the recall was voluntary.

She said the company shipped more than 300,000 cases across the country during the period covered by the recall, but the company has recalled the entire harvest as a precaution.

The tests were first reported by KMGH-TV.

The farm stopped harvesting on Monday when Colorado health officials issued an alert and notified retailers to remove the cantaloupes from shelves, Philpott said.

New Mexico has blamed three deaths on the outbreak, but epidemiologist Chad Smelser said Thursday that one death has been confirmed and the other two are pending results from the CDC.

The CDC said almost all of the victims interviewed remember eating cantaloupe and several remembered that they were from the Rocky Ford region.

The agency said about 800 cases of listeria are diagnosed in the United States each year and there are three or four outbreaks of it a year. Deli meats, hot dogs and cheese are the most frequent carriers, and outbreaks in produce are rare. Sprouts caused an outbreak in 2009, however, and celery caused an outbreak in 2010.

Cantaloupe is often a culprit in foodborne illness outbreaks, but not listeriosis. Earlier this year, state and federal authorities linked 12 salmonella illnesses, many of them in the West, to cantaloupes imported from Guatemala.

The cantaloupes were shipped between July 29 and Sept. 10 and distributed throughout Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Tennessee, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The disease primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems. Symptoms can include fever, muscle aches, diarrhea, headache, stiff neck, confusion and convulsions.

Related news:

» Listeria Fightback: Couple File Suit Against Tainted Cantaloupe Suppliers [ABC News]

Phillip Lane faces maximum penalty of 3 1/2 to seven years in state prison after pleading guilty to burglary.

Syracuse, NY - A three-time convicted felon accused of accosting young girls in the bathroom at a Syracuse elementary school admitted his guilt today in Onondaga County Court.

Phillip Lane, 39, of Rochester, pleaded guilty to a single felony count of third-degree burglary in connection with the June 23 incident inside Delaware Elementary School on South Geddes Street.

Judge Anthony Aloi said he would sentence Lane to the maximum penalty of 3 1/2 to seven years in state prison. Sentencing is set for Oct. 7.

In accepting Lane's guilty plea, Aloi noted the resolution of the case allowed the young victims to avoid the trauma of having to come into court to publicly testify about what happened.

Authorities said Lane accosted two 10-year-old girls in the bathroom inside the school a short time after he accosted a 12-year-old girl on the street near the school.

Assistant District Attorney Geoffrey Ciereck said authorities don't know what Lane intended to do inside the school because the girls promptly reported the incident and the defendant fled the building.

When Lane fled, a school employee followed him and reported to the 911 center where the suspect was heading. Police Chief Frank Fowler ended up catching Lane a short time later at West Fayette and Magnolia streets, a short distance from the elementary school.

"We don't know exactly what could have happened," Ciereck said. Defense lawyer Charles Keller declined to speculate on what Lane's intent was in entering and remaining unlawfully in the school building.

"Nothing ended up happening," Keller said.

Ciereck said the burglary charge was the most serious crime Lane faced in the incident. He also said there was no possibility of getting any additional jail time added for any of the other charges of second-degree harassment and endangering the welfare of a child lodged in the case.

But Ciereck said the prosecution could have sought to have Lane sentenced as a persistent felony offender - subject to a penalty of up to life in prison - had he taken the case to trial and been convicted.

Keller admitted Lane's decision to plead guilty was motivated by a fear of a much harsher sentence if he was convicted at trial.

Authorities said at the time of Lane's arrest that he has three prior felony convictions for robbery and burglary.

31-year-old Adoboli had a luxury lifestyle but appeared to foresee his work hard, play hard lifestyle unraveling.

View full size(AP Photo/Sang Tan)A logo for Swiss bank UBS is seen outside one of their offices in the City of London, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011. Swiss banking giant UBS said Thursday that a rogue trader has caused it an estimated loss of $2 billion, stunning a beleaguered banking industry that has proven vulnerable to unauthorized trades.

LONDON (AP) — Educated at an exclusive school in a picturesque patch of English countryside, Ghana-born trader Kweku Adoboli was known to neighbors as a polite and well dressed young man who mixed grueling hours in London's financial district with a lavish social life in the capital's nightspots.

But even the 31-year-old Adoboli, who was charged Friday with fraud and false accounting, appeared to foresee his work hard, play hard lifestyle unraveling. "Need a miracle," he posted on his Facebook page, just hours before his arrest early on Thursday.

Analysts and regulators were left questioning why Swiss banking giant UBS and its monitoring systems had failed to spot Adoboli's alleged fraud, which will cost about $2 billion in losses.

"Nobody blames the tiger for stalking its prey, but you do blame the zookeeper for leaving the tiger's cage open," said Stephen Brown, professor of finance at New York University's Stern School of Business.

Between 1992 and 1998, Adoboli was a boarder at Ackworth School, founded in the late 18th Century by Quakers, the religious organization which asks followers to develop a personal approach to religion.

Also known as the Religious Society of Friends, the Quaker faith stresses the importance of honesty and, according to the school's website, students are asked to observe periods of "reflective silence before meals," and attend regular worship meetings.

According to Vida Yeboah, a member of staff at the United Nations office in Ghana's capital Accra, John Adoboli, Kweku's father, had worked at the U.N. and was know by colleagues as a gentle, humble man.

The Times of London reported that Adoboli's father's worked in Ghana, Israel, Syria and Iraq — sending his son away to England to be educated.

At Adoboli's $31,500-a-year school, set in rolling countryside close to the town of Pontefract, about 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of London, Adoboli would have been taught the value of a peaceful, simple lifestyle.

Despite the childhood schooling in prudence, Adoboli lived in an expensive loft apartment in a trendy corner of east London — close to the capital's financial district — and discussed on his Facebook profile a fondness for fine dining.

Philip Octave, Adoboli's former landlord, said he left the 4,000 pounds ($6,300) per month apartment four months ago. "He was a very nice guy, very polite. He would speak to anybody. I haven't got a bad word to say about him," Octave said.

"He was very well spoken and dressed very smartly. He was a very quiet chap, actually," he added.

According to his social media profiles, Adoboli embraced his bustling and ethnically diverse area of east London — once downtrodden, but now home to well-paid traders and bankers working at nearby financial firms.

A favorite local nightspot was The Boundary, a swank rooftop bar and restaurant with views across London's banking district, known for its $1,200 magnums of champagne and pricey menu of seafood and traditional British game.

Adoboli also listed interests including expensive wine, photography and the gritty U.S. crime drama "The Wire" on Internet profiles, and disclosed he had been dating a nurse for at least a year. The banker said he enjoyed traveling to France, the U.S. and returning to Ghana to visit his parents.

After he graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2003 with a degree in e-commerce and digital business, Adoboli won a job with UBS as trainee investment adviser in 2006 — rising through the company to join its equities desk.

The trader's LinkedIn profile confirmed he worked on a desk known as Delta One and worked with exchange-traded funds — which track different types of stocks or commodities, such as precious metals. Adoboli and colleagues performed similar work to Jerome Kerviel, who gambled away $6.7 billion at French bank Societe Generale.

Brown said that banks have shown a tendency to fail to spot cases where ambitious and intelligent employees run into difficulty.

"These top banks hire the best and brightest ambitious young people and when they outperform everyone else the bankers want to believe in their brilliance so they look the other way," said Brown. "That's exactly what happened at UBS."

Brown drew parallels with the case of Nick Leeson, the Singapore-based trader who brought down British bank Barings in 1995 after he made around $1.4 billion of losses in unauthorized trades. Law firm Kingsley Napley, which represented Leeson, confirmed on Friday that it had been hired to represent Adoboli.

Kimberly Krawiec, a law professor at Duke University, in Durham, N.C., agreed that the culture inside UBS would need scrutiny following Adoboli's arrest.

"In the Kerviel case all the blame went to the rogue trader and Societe Generale got away with a slap on the wrist," Krawiec said. "That was a disappointing outcome because you have to accept there are broader forces at work when traders take on positions that are large enough to threaten large institutions and markets."