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Camillus police seek Medicine Shoppe robber

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Anyone who was on Hinsdale Road and Milton Avenue between 5:30 p.m. and 6:15 p.m., and may have seen the suspect is asked to call the Camillus Police Department at 487-0102, or go to www.CamillusPolice.com.

Camillus, NY – Camillus police are looking for a suspect who robbed the Medicine Shoppe, 3781 Milton Ave., this afternoon.

The robbery took place at about 5:55 p.m. The suspect was last seen walking south on Hinsdale Road. The robbery is still under investigation and police would not say what was taken.

Police offered this detailed description of the suspect provided by the shop's employees:

He is a white man, between the ages of 20 and 30, about six feet tall, of medium build, with pale skin tone and two days of facial hair growth.

The suspect was wearing a zip up style gray sweatshirt, with the hood up. The sweatshirt has a red stripe across the front with the white letters “ENYCE.” He was also wearing blue jeans that were faded on both sides, black and white Converse sneakers and brown oversized wrap around sunglasses.

The suspect was wearing two gun metal style rings, one on the right hand pinky finger and the other on his left hand.

Anyone who was on Hinsdale Road and Milton Avenue between 5:30 p.m. and 6:15 p.m., and may have seen the suspect is asked to call the Camillus Police Department at 487-0102, or go to www.CamillusPolice.com.
All calls will be kept confidential.


Update: Barricade situation ends at Arizona Air Force base

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Base officials would not confirm reports of a man holed up with a gun.

2011-09-16-ap-Air-Base-Lockdown1.JPGView full sizeVehicles are stopped outside an entrance to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., on Friday after a report of a man with a gun prompted panic and reports that someone had been shot at the sprawling military facility. Traffic into and out of the base was limited because of the security situation, but no one was shot or hurt, according to the public affairs office at the base.

Update at 8:55 p.m.:

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A barricade situation had ended at an Air Force base in southern Arizona, but authorities aren’t immediately releasing any details Friday.

A military official said earlier that a man with a gun was holed up in a building at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on the outskirts of Tucson and that the base was locked down for several hours.

The base issued a statement saying that its response to the situation had ended, but provided no details on how it was resolved. A press conference on the incident was scheduled for later Friday.

Sgt. Maria Hawke, a Tucson police spokeswoman, said base officials told the police department that the department’s SWAT, bomb and hostage negotiation squads no longer needed at the scene. Hawke didn’t know how the situation was resolved or whether any arrests were made.

Earlier story:

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A man with a gun holed up Friday in a building at a sprawling Tucson Air Force base that was locked down several hours earlier on the outskirts of Tucson, a military official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Traffic into and out of the base was being limited because of an unspecified security situation, but no one was shot or hurt, according to the public affairs office at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Schools at the base were locked down and parents waited for information about when they could pick up their children.

The lockdown was prompted by reports of someone with something that looked like a weapon, said Tech Sgt. Russ Martin said earlier. Base officials would not confirm reports of a man holed up with a gun. "So the base is going into crisis action mode. We’re just locking down the base for the safety and security of the people on Davis-Monthan,” he said.

The Tucson police department says its SWAT team, hostage negotiations unit and bomb squad are on stand-by to help out if necessary. An FBI spokesman says investigators are on at the base on the edge of the southern Arizona city where earlier this year a gunman gravely wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed six people.

Ambulances were sent to the base, sparking fears of injuries, but it was just a case of bad timing, Martin said. “Any ambulance you saw leaving earlier, not too long ago, was actually a woman going into labor,” he said.

2011-09-16-ap-Air-Base-Lockdown2.JPGView full sizeAir Force Tech Sgt. Russ Martin talks to the media outside an entrance to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., on Friday after a report of a man with a gun prompted panic and a lockdown of the the air base.

As the lockdown unfolded Friday, Senior Airman Timothy Dunaway said traffic was reduced to a single point entry; vehicles lined up at the base’s main gate and were being turned around.

Alison Bunnell, who lives at the base with her husband and their four children, was turned away when she tried to return to the base after having left it. Bunnell said she was told that children at the base’s schools were oblivious to what was going and were watching movies and eating snacks. She said she wasn’t worried. “We have exercises all the time,” Bunnell said.

Davis-Monthan is adjacent to the Pima Air & Space Museum and the “boneyard” for old military and government airplanes that is a popular destination for aviation enthusiasts. The base is the home of the 355th Fighter Wing, and provides attack airpower, combat support and medical forces, according to the base’s Facebook page.

Security at military bases has gained more attention in the last two years since an Army major went on a rampage at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009. Maj. Nidal Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the shooting spree. Investigators have foiled other plots against military bases in other parts of the country since Sept. 11.

New York's attorney general asks state court to toss anti-gay marriage lawsuit

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Eric Schneiderman argues that the opponents don't have legal standing to challenge actions of the Senate.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s attorney general asked a state court on Friday to throw out a lawsuit challenging the gay marriage law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June.

New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms and several other opponents of the law sued on July 25, claiming in part that the law should be nullified because the state Senate violated its own rules and the state’s open meetings law before the critical vote that led to its narrow passage.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman argued in papers filed Friday that the opponents haven’t been harmed by the law, don’t have standing to challenge the actions of the Senate and any procedural actions of the Senate and governor aren’t subject to judicial review. He has asked for a hearing on Oct. 17 at the Livingston County Courthouse.

The law making New York the sixth and largest state to allow gay marriage was passed June 24 after days of protests on both sides at the state Capitol and followed a month later by hundreds of weddings from New York City to Buffalo, also marked by demonstrations on both sides.

The bill was adopted on the last day of the legislative session after a series of closed-door negotiations that opponents said ran afoul of the open meetings law. Their lawsuit also claims Cuomo improperly waived the three-day waiting period between a bill’s introduction and a vote. Such waivers are common in Albany for negotiated bills.

They also targeted maneuvers in the Senate that led to a quick vote amid little debate as two key undecided Republicans dramatically announced they would support the measure, leading to its passage 33-29 in the GOP-controlled chamber.

In his motion to dismiss, Schneiderman relies heavily on the separation of powers to argue the court shouldn’t get involved in matters “wholly internal” to the legislature. He also contends the various meetings between executive and legislative branch members, lobbyists and other interested parties were proper under the open meetings law.

He said the law doesn’t violate the state Constitution and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit didn’t suffer “any actionable injury whatsoever” when it was passed.

The Rev. Duane Motley, leader of the conservative Christian group New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday evening.

State police accuse three nurses of stealing drugs from Oswego Hospital

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The charges stem from an internal investigation begun by administrators at the hospital.

Oswego, NY – The New York State Police have accused three registered nurses of stealing drugs from the Oswego Hospital’s emergency department.


The charges stem from an internal investigation begun by administrators at the hospital, state police at Fulton said Friday night. The nurses were arrested between Aug. 16 and Sept. 9.

Shannon, M. Salva, 42, of 108 Meays Drive, VanBuren, was accused on Aug. 16.

Lori E. Weinheimer, 46, of 1379 County Route 7, Hannibal, was accused Aug. 26.

Ryan C. Fleming, 25, of 4070 State Route 69, Mexico, was accused Sept. 9.

State police accused the three of felony first-degree falsifying business records and misdemeanor seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, as well as other charges relating to the Public Health Law.

The three were released on appearance tickets. State police did not know their employment status with the hospital.

Here’s what police said happened:

While on duty in the hospital’s Emergency Department, the suspects were stealing drugs from an automated dispensing system, called Omnicell. The drugs were removed from the dispensing system without a valid physician’s order-prescription.

The hospital tracked several unauthorized transactions over a period of time to identify the suspects responsible.

Three dead, 56 injured in horrific Reno, Nev., air show crash

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The pilot of a vintage World War II-era fighter plane was on his third lap when he lost control and crashed into the grandstand.

2011-09-16-ap-Air-Show-Crash.JPGView full sizeDebris from the plane that crashed at the Reno Air Races are seen scattered in front of the grandstand at the Stead Airport in Stead, Nev., on Friday. A World War II era fighter plane plunged into the grandstands Friday during a popular annual air show, killing three people and injuring at least 56.

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A vintage World War II-era fighter plane plunged into the grandstands Friday during a popular annual air show, killing at least three people, injuring more than 50 spectators and creating a horrific scene strewn with body parts and smoking debris.

The plane, flown by an 80-year-old pilot, spiraled suddenly out of control and appeared to disintegrate upon impact. Bloodied bodies were spread across the area as people tended to the victims and ambulances rushed to the scene.

Maureen Higgins of Alabama, who has been coming to the show for 16 years, said the pilot was on his third lap when he lost control. She was sitting about 30 yards away from the crash and watched in horror as the man in front of her started bleeding after a piece of debris hit him in the head.

"I saw body parts and gore like you wouldn't believe it. I'm talking an arm, a leg," Higgins said "The alive people were missing body parts. I am not kidding you. It was gore. Unbelievable gore."

Among the dead was pilot Jimmy Leeward, 80, of Ocala, Fla., who flew the P-51 Mustang named the "Galloping Ghost," according to Mike Houghton, president and CEO of Reno Air Races.

Renown Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Carter confirmed that two others died, but did not provide their identities.

Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority, told The Associated Press that emergency crews took a total of 56 injury victims to three hospitals. She said they also observed a number of people being transported by private vehicle, which they are not including in their count.

Kruse said of the total 56, at the time of transport, 15 were considered in critical condition, 13 were serious condition with potentially life-threatening injuries and 28 were non-serious or non-life threatening.

"This is a very large incident, probably one of the largest this community has seen in decades," Kruse told The Associated Press. "The community is pulling together to try to deal with the scope of it. The hospitals have certainly geared up and staffed up to deal with it."

The P-51 Mustang crashed into a box-seat area in front of the grandstand at about 4:30 p.m., race spokesman Mike Draper said. Houghton said Leeward appeared to have "lost control of the aircraft," though details on why that happened weren't immediately known.

KRNV-TV weatherman Jeff Martinez, who was just outside the air race grounds at the time, said the plane veered to the right and then "it just augered straight into the ground."

"You saw pieces and parts going everywhere," he said. "Everyone is in disbelief."

Tanya Breining, off Hayward, Calif., told KTVU-TV in San Francisco: "It was absolute carnage. ... It looked like more than a bomb exploded."

Another witness, Ronald Sargis, said he was sitting in the box seat area near the finish line. "We could see the plane coming around the far turn - it was in trouble," Sargis told KCRA-TV in Sacramento. "About six or seven boxes down from us, it impacted into the front row."

He said the pilot appeared to do all he could to avoid crashing into the crowd. Response teams immediately went to work, Sargis said. After the crash Sargis went up a few rows into the grandstand to view the downed plane. "It appeared to be just pulverized," he said.

Leeward, the owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team, was a well-known racing pilot. His website says he has flown more than 120 races and served as a stunt pilot for numerous movies, including "Amelia" and "Cloud Dancer."

In an interview with the Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner last year, he described how he has flown 250 types of planes and has a particular fondness for the P-51, which came into the war relatively late and was used as a long-range bomber escort over Europe. Among the famous pilots of the hot new fighter was WWII double ace Chuck Yeager.

"They're more fun. More speed, more challenge. Speed, speed and more speed," Leeward said.

Houghton described Leeward as "a good friend. Everybody knows him. It's a tight knit family. He's been here for a long, long time," Houghton said.

The National Championship Air Races draws thousands of people every year in September to watch various military and civilian planes race. They also have attracted scrutiny in the past over safety concerns, including four pilots killed in 2007 and 2008. It was such a concern that local school officials once considered whether they should not allow student field trips at the event.

The competition is like a car race in the sky, with planes flying wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet off the sagebrush at speeds sometimes surpassing 500 mph. Pilots follow an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.

The FAA and air race organizers spend months preparing for air races as they develop a plan involving pilot qualification, training and testing along with a layout for the course. The FAA inspects pilots' practice runs and brief pilots on the route maneuvers and emergency procedures.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying he was "deeply saddened" about the crash. "My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives and with those who were wounded in this horrific tragedy," he said. "I am so grateful to our first responders for their swift action and will continue to monitor this situation as it develops."

» Read our earlier coverage
» Official: Racing pilot Leeward dies in Nev. crash [The Associated Press]
» Get the latest news on the crash

Temple Concord to fold its past into the future during rededication on Sunday

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While the congregation has changed a lot over the years, keeping tradition alive has remained a constant.

Editors' note: This story was written by contributing writer Liz Sauchelli.

Syracuse, NY -- On Sunday, Temple Concord will rededicate the building in which members have worshipped since 1911.

The ceremony will closely follow the original dedication ceremony, in 1911. Besides using the same liturgy and music, Mayor Stephanie Miner will participate, just as the mayor of Syracuse did in 1911.

“We owe a lot of respect and gratitude to those who came before us,” said Temple Concord Rabbi Daniel Fellman. “We hope that this is just the first century and that there will be many more.”

The 500-family congregation was founded in 1839 and is one of the oldest in the United States — one of the characteristics that makes it unique, Fellman said.

“This congregation has been very solid,” he said. “While other congregations have gone through many changes and ups and downs, ours has been a steady and solid course. We’ve been very fortunate to have real stability in this congregation.”

Syracuse resident Frances Smith, 97, has been part of the temple community since she was a child. Smith’s grandfather, Louis Glazier, was a founding member of Temple Concord. Glazier would sometimes bring Smith with him when he visited congregation members. She remembers how the men in the community would gather around and listen to Glazier talk about his native Germany.

“He was a lecturer and could write ... ,” Smith said. He started a language school for immigrants and taught at Syracuse University. Smith, an artist, designed the nameplate on the temple’s prayer books.

Temple Concord holds fond memories for her son, Lynn Smith, as well. “The rabbis have always been very user-friendly, congenial and accommodating,” Lynn Smith said.

While the congregation has changed a lot over the years, keeping tradition alive has remained a constant. “The congregation today is very different from the congregation that built that building 100 years ago. The needs of the individual members have changed dramatically,” Fellman said. “Now the challenge is holding onto our faith and our tradition in a world that’s constantly changing.”

The rededication ceremony will be 2 p.m. Sunday at Temple Concord, 910 Madison St., Syracuse.

Contact Liz Sauchelli at esauchelli@syracuse.com or 470-6084.

Customers' parking tickets a big reason Syracuse's original Freedom of Espresso shop is moving

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"We've been decimated by (parking checkers) harassing customers," said Anna Dobbs, owner of Freedom of Espresso. "You get a $35 ticket on top of a cup of coffee and you don't come back again."

2011-09-16-jb-pearl1.JPGAnna Dobbs, owner of Federal Expresso, is one of the Pearl Street merchants in favor of changing the 12 minute parking zone to metered parking that would allow for customers to park for a longer period of time. It may be too late for Federal Espresso, though. Dobbs said she is moving, partly because her customers get too many parking tickets.

Syracuse, NY -- Time expired: Anna Dobbs is pulling the plug on the coffee roasters and espresso machines that have had a home on Pearl Street in downtown Syracuse since 1995.

A big reason for the shutdown sometime in October, says Dobbs, is the slew of parking tickets her customers have been receiving in front of the original Freedom of Espresso, the home-grown coffee shop which is at the corner of East Belden Avenue near another well-known eatery, Columbus Baking Co./Columbus Meats and Cheeses.

“We’ve been decimated by (parking checkers) harassing customers,” Dobbs said. “You get a $35 ticket on top of a cup of coffee and you don’t come back again. To really decimate a small business is not right.”

There are no parking meters in front of Freedom of Espresso and Columbus Baking Co. and its deli. There are signs that say “12 minute parking,” which the city enforces.

Toward the street’s south end, where Pearl becomes Willow Street, there are coin-fed meter stands. A parking lot across from the business strip along Pearl is city owned and requires a permit.

There are “no standing” signs across Pearl from Columbus, but people stop there during rush hour to run in and grab a loaf of freshly baked bread, said Jimmy Retzos, owner of the two shops.

“During rush hour, people jump out of their cars and run across the street,” said Retzos. “The (parking checkers) are standing there four in a row, bam, bam, bam, bam with tickets. Then the customers yell at me. I say I try to change it.”

Dobbs said she’s watched parking checkers — especially between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. when business peaks — wait until seconds after the 12-minute time limit expires and write tickets on her customers’ vehicles.

News that parking enforcement might drive a business away didn’t sit well Friday with Bill Ryan, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner’s chief of staff.

“I am aware of what’s happening on Pearl Street and I have talked to the police department about it,” said Ryan. “If there is any targeting, and I certainly hope there isn’t, I hope our parking checkers are not doing that.”

Friday afternoon, Ryan said he was planning to go to Pearl Street and talk to some of the business owners, partly to remind them a newer parking meter system — one that will accept dollar bills — is planned for that section of Pearl Street.

“I was not aware one (business) is going to pull out of that location,” said Ryan. “That is news to me. I hate to see a business move over a parking situation.”

Dobbs said she is looking for a new store front away from Pearl Street and possibly closer to St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Not all businesses on Pearl Street share Dobbs’ frustration.

Close to the Freedom of Espresso on Pearl Street is Fralli’s Italian Kitchen. Owner Anthony Frallicciardi says he doesn’t know what the fuss is over the parking situation and Dobbs’ request for meters.

“The (parking checkers) come here maybe once a day. They don’t bother anyone unreasonably,” said Frallicciardi. “... I have been here one year Tuesday and I have nothing but kudos to say about how the city treats business on this street.”

Ryan said the city is looking at its citywide street parking systems “to strike a balance.”

“We have 12-minute parking in the (Pearl Street) area and it’s not good for people getting a cup of coffee, but it’s good for people looking for turnover,” Ryan said. “It becomes a question of balance.”

New York bill to require HPV vaccinations has never come up for a vote

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Bill's sponsor in the state Assembly says the measure became controversial.

Syracuse, NY -- Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Westchester County, thought it would be easy to mandate HPV vaccination for young girls in New York after the federal government recommended the immunization in 2007.

New York mandated other vaccines for school-age children after they were recommended by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. “So I put the bill in hoping it would be very simple to add that to the existing list of mandated vaccines,” Paulin said.

Four years later, Paulin’s bill has never come up for a vote. It is stalled in the Assembly health committee. A Senate version of the bill has never been introduced.

“It became very controversial,” Paulin said. “Many people in the New York legislature were afraid that somehow it was going to make little girls have sex. Then the anti-vaccine community said it was dangerous. That’s why it’s been difficult to get any movement on the bill.”

Both the Food and Drug Administration and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the vaccine is safe and effective. The vaccine has been tested in thousands of people around the world, and the studies have not turned up any serious safety concerns, according to the CDC.

HPV, short for human papillomavirus, is a common virus easily spread by skin-to-skin contact during sexual activity with another person. HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer, which kills about 4,000 U.S. woman annually. The vaccine prevents cervical cancer and other types of cancer. It is recommended for girls who are 11 and 12.

Paulin said she’s not surprised the HPV vaccine has generated so much controversy among Republican presidential candidates in recent debates. “Anything to do with sexual activity of women requires a debate by men,” she said.

The vaccine is available for boys and men, in which HPV can cause genital warts and cancer. The federal government has not yet added it to its list of recommended vaccinations for males.

Paulin believes the controversy surrounding the vaccine will disappear if it is recommended for boys and young men. “I’m still on a mission,” she said. “One day we will do it, because it’s the right thing to do.”

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

» Get answers to common questions about HPV.


Women hold up half the sky, which is why girls aren't too pretty to do homework

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Karen DeCrow writes: Education, doing homework, is the way to lift up girls. Around the world, where girls are educated, the economy and the standard of living rise.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin EbadiNobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi (center) on Dec. 21, 2008, leaves the Center for Protecting Human Rights in Iran after police shut it down. Her colleague, Abdolfattah Slotani (second from left), looks on as Ebadi talks with journalists. The police raid targeted the center as it was preparing to hold a celebration marking the 60th anniversary of Human Rights Day. Iranian authorities banned Ebadi's group.

By Karen DeCrow, Contributing writer

Women hold up half the sky.
— Chinese proverb

“Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world. ... The question is not whether countries can afford this investment, but whether countries can afford not to educate more girls.” Lawrence Summers, who was then chief economist of the World Bank, wrote this in the early 1990s.

Students went back to school this month, which makes it a relevant time to think about education for all children, girls and boys, in the developing world and in our world. This is crucial for girls, who for centuries were not taught to read and write.

So what were the creative teams at J.C. Penney thinking? They produced girls’ T-shirts, for back-to-school wear, that read, “I’m too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me.

Shortly after this gaffe, the company removed the shirts from its website. Not censorship, just sound business judgment.

Education, doing homework, is the way to lift up girls. Around the world, where girls are educated, the economy and the standard of living rise.

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn make that point in their book, “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009). It brilliantly shows the importance of educating girls. It is controversial because it doesn’t tiptoe around Islam’s treatment of girls and women.

Kristof and WuDunn spare no group when it comes to standing back from cultural practices: “... when resources are scarce, priorities are essential. Many African and Indian men now consider beer indispensable and their daughters’ education a luxury. The service of a prostitute is deemed essential; a condom is a frill. If we’re trying to figure out how to get more girls in school, or how to save more women from dying in childbirth, the simplest solution is to reallocate spending.”

The authors insist that Americans often miss how draconian gender roles hold back economies in the Islamic world.

Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2003.

Ebadi was the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to win the Peace Prize. She sat on the bench from 1975 to 1979, but then the fundamentalist government in Iran suspended her and held her in detention.

Kristof and WuDunn quote Ebadi in their book: “I’m a Nobel Peace Prize-winner and a university professor, but if I testify in a court, it won’t take my testimony because I’m a woman. ... Any uneducated man would be taken more seriously. ... Iran is a bundle of contradictions. Women can’t testify fully in court, and yet women can be judges presiding over the court. We do have women judges. Any woman who wants to travel abroad needs the consent of her husband. But our vice president is a woman. So when our vice president travels abroad, she needs the consent of her husband.”

Karen DeCrow, Post-Standard guest columnistKaren DeCrow

After she won the Nobel, Syracuse University invited Ebadi to visit. She spent May 10, 2004, meeting with students, speaking at SU’s College of Law and giving a keynote address that evening in Hendricks Chapel.

I asked her if there was anything American feminists could do to improve the status of women in Iran. She replied, “The most important thing to do for the women in Iran is to invest in the education of females.”

“Half the Sky” gives example after example of relatively small projects making all the difference to the economy of an emerging nation. “We believe an international women’s movement needs to focus less on holding conventions or lobbying for new laws, and more time in places like rural Zimbabwe, listening to communities and helping them get their girls into schools.”

As Kristof and WuDunn illustrate in their shocking-yet-hopeful book, no girls, whether in the U.S. or in the developing world, are too pretty to do homework. What will save girls, and the economies of their countries, is for them to do more and more homework.

Karen DeCrow, an attorney, author and activist from Jamesville, is in the National Women’s Hall of Fame and writes an occasional column in The Post-Standard.

Marcellus man remains free after arraignment on indecency indictment

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Authorities say the 13-year-old girl David Irwin thought he was communicating with was actually a state police investigator in Pennsylvania.

Syracuse, NY - A Marcellus man was allowed to remain free on his own recognizance after being arraigned Friday on an indictment accusing him of sending indecent photographs over the Internet to someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

David Irwin, 24, of 3948 Aquinnah Heights, is facing one felony charge of attempted first-degree disseminating indecent material to a minor.

Assistant District Attorney Geoffrey Ciereck said Irwin is facing only an attempted charge because the person he was communicating with was actually a state police investigator in Pennsylvania and not a 13-year-old girl.

Authorities contend Irwin engaged in sexually oriented conversations in computer chat rooms and sent sexually explicit pictures over the Internet.

Ciereck said the day Irwin was arrested by plainclothes state police investigators in January 2010, his mother thought he was being abducted by strangers and called 911 to report a kidnapping taking place.

Because a lawyer quickly entered the case on Irwin's behalf, authorities never gained access to his home and computer to check for any sexually explicit material to warrant other charges, the prosecutor said.

Irwin was arraigned Friday before County Judge Anthony Aloi on the attempted dissemination charge that carries a maximum penalty of up to four years in state prison upon conviction.

The judge adjourned the case to Oct. 21 for argument of motions.

Fitness program offers a healthy role model for Syracuse school children

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"We want them to learn about health and why it's important at an early age."

2011-09-16-gw-books054.JPGView full sizeFourth-grade students at Martin Luther King Elementary School, in Syracuse, pour over a pile of books that was collected and donated to the school by members of Genesis Health Project's fitness program. Students in this photo are (from left) Nazeem Johnson, Tymair Jones and Myles Davis-Swain. From Genesis Health Project are (from left) Betty Brown, of Fayetteville; Nora McDonald, of North Syracuse; and Luvenia Cowart, director of Genesis Health Project and a faculty member at Syracuse University.

Syracuse, NY -- Inner city residents who recently participated in a 12-week fitness program have donated about 50 books about health to students at King elementary school in Syracuse.

The fitness program is part of the Genesis Health Project, an initiative that seeks to reduce health disparities in Syracuse’s black community. About 35 people participated in a summer fitness program organized by Genesis.

“Oftentimes when we think of the inner city, we think of our resources coming from the outside,” said Luvenia Cowart, a Syracuse University professor and executive director of Genesis. “This is inward resources. We were so proud of our participants who volunteered so graciously to purchase these books to provide to inner city youth.”

She said the books are culturally sensitive.

“This is an opportunity for children to read books to improve their reading skills, but also have books available to them where they can see themselves and read about various aspects of health,” Cowart said. “We want them to learn about health and why it’s important at an early age.”

Search for Fort Drum soldier now centered in Cortland County

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Fugitive Russell Marcum, spotted in stolen car overnight, fled on foot into the woods in the Cortland County town of Virgil.

russell marcum[1]_2.JPGRussell Marcum

Virgil, NY - The search for a Fort Drum soldier described by authorities as "armed and dangerous" has shifted to this community in Cortland County this morning.

State police in Ithaca reported the search is focusing on a wooded area off Gee Hill Road, into which Russell C. Marcum fled after being chased in a stolen vehicle.

Authorities have been searching for Marcum since Thursday night when he reportedly assaulted a fellow Fort Drum officer and stole his parents' vehicle after being released on bail on a burglary charge in Watertown. Read previous stories about Russell Marcum.

Friday, authorities had focused their search for Marcum in the area around Richfield Springs in Otsego County.

But state police reported the focus shifted after a vehicle, reported stolen in West Winfield overnight, was spotted about 1:50 a.m. today by a Tompkins County Sheriff's patrol on state Route 13 in the Ithaca area.

The patrol tried to stop the vehicle but the driver, identified as Marcum, refused to pull over. The vehicle then was chased to the Gee Hill Road area in the town of Virgil where Marcum abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot into the woods, state police reported.

Responding officers, believing Marcum is still in the vicinity, immediately established an area perimeter. A State Police command post has now been set up the at Dryden Fire Department on state Route 13 in Dryden.

Authorities said Marcum was seen wearing a blue or dark-colored "hoodie" type sweatshirt and tan pants. He previously had been reported to be wearing camouflage clothing.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the NYS Forest Rangers, the Tompkins County Sheriff's Department, the Cortland County Sheriff's Department, the Dryden Police Department and the Dryden Fire Department are assisting state police in the investigation.

Cortland woman arrested on fugitive warrant from Utah

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Sheriff's officers were alerted to Bonnie Jo Martin's whereabouts after she attempted to buy a gun at a local store.

Cortland, NY - A Cortland woman, wanted on forgery charges out of Utah, was arrested here Friday after she tried to buy a firearm and police were notified.

Bonnie Jo Martin, 51, of 1077 Starr Road, was wanted by the Utah County Sheriff's Department on 15 felony counts of forgery, according to authorities.

The Cortland County Sheriff's Department was alerted to her whereabouts after she attempted to buy a firearm from a local retail store, sheriff's officials reported.

Martin was arrested without incident and arraigned on the fugitive warrant in Cortlandville Town Court. She is being held in jail without bail pending extradition to Utah.

3 dead, more than 50 injured in crash at Reno air show

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Some witnesses say the pilot, a 74-year-old veteran Hollywood stunt pilot, attempted to miss the crowd at the last second.

Air Show Crash.JPGView full sizeA P-51 Mustang airplane crashes into the edge of the grandstands at the Reno air show Friday in Reno, Nevada.

As thousands watched in horror, a World War II-era fighter plane competing in a Nevada event described as a car race in the sky suddenly pitched upward, rolled and did a nose-dive toward the crowded grandstand.

The plane, flown by a 74-year-old veteran Hollywood stunt pilot, then slammed into the tarmac in front of VIP box seats and blew to pieces in front the pilot's family and a tight-knit group of friends who attend the annual event in Reno.

"It absolutely disintegrated," said Tim O'Brien of Grass Valley Calif., who attends the races every year. "I've never seen anything like that before."

The pilot and two spectators were killed and more than 50 were injured amid a horrific scene strewn with smoking debris.

Authorities said it appears a mechanical failure with the P-51 Mustang — a class of fighter plane that can fly in excess of 500 mph — was to blame. Some credit the pilot, Jimmy Leeward, with preventing the crash from being far more deadly.

"If he wouldn't have pulled up, he would have taken out the entire bleacher section," said Tim Linville, 48, of Reno, who watched the race with his two daughters.

Left in its wake were bloodied bodies spread across the area as people tended to the victims and ambulances rushed to the scene. Video of the aftermath shows a man with his leg severed at the knee.

Video and photos of the crash were captured by several people in the stands, and the horrific images of the wreckage were transmitted around the world within minutes.

Prior to Friday, 17 people had been killed at the National Championship Air Races since their start 1964, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

Two involved P-51s, the newspaper reported. In 1999, a P-51 disintegrated during a race, scattering debris and damaging a house. In 1994, one of the vintage craft crashed next to the east-west runway after engine failure sprayed the windshield with oil.

Organizers softened two of the curves pilots negotiate after crashes into nearby neighborhoods in 1998 and 1999. In 2007 and 2008, four pilots were killed at the races, prompting local school officials to consider barring student field trips to the event.

Friday's crash was the first time spectators were killed or seriously injured, the Gazette-Journal reported.

Planes at the yearly event fly wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet off the sagebrush at speeds sometimes surpassing 500 mph. Pilots follow an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.

Mike Houghton, president and CEO of Reno Air Races, said at a news conference hours after the crash that there appeared to be a "problem with the aircraft that caused it to go out of control." He did not elaborate.

He said the rest of the races, which bring in tens of millions of dollars for the local economy, have been canceled as the National Transportation Safety Board investigates.

"The way I see it, if he did do something about this, he saved hundreds if not thousands of lives because he was able to veer that plane back toward the tarmac," said Johnny Norman, who was at the show.

O'Brien, who is chairman of an air show in his hometown in California, was photographing Friday's races when the crash occurred.

He said the P-51 Mustang was racing six other planes, and was in the process of moving from third place into second when it pitched violently upward, rolled and then headed straight down.

From the photos he took, O'Brien said it looked like a piece of the plane's tail called a "trim tab" had fallen off. He believes that's what caused the plane's sudden climb.

When the aircraft hit the ground, there was a "big explosion but no fire," O'Brien said.

"The propeller (was) spinning very fast, and there was a lot of mass coming down all at once," he said. It was a "very violent impact."

Afterward, a number of people were standing around, and "all we could do was hug each other," he said.

Maureen Higgins, of Alabama, who has been coming to the air races for 16 years, said the pilot was on his third lap when he lost control.

"Obviously he had no control. He was wobbling. He went upside down and then he headed straight for us, straight at the grandstand."

She was sitting about 30 yards away from the crash and watched in horror as the man in front of her started bleeding after debris hit him in the head.

"I saw body parts and gore like you wouldn't believe it. I'm talking an arm, a leg," Higgins said "The alive people were missing body parts. I am not kidding you. It was gore. Unbelievable gore."

Renown Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Carter confirmed that two others besides the pilot died, but did not provide their identities.

Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority, told The Associated Press that emergency crews took a total of 56 injury victims to three hospitals. She said they also observed a number of people being transported by private vehicle, and those people were not included in the count.

Kruse said of the total 56, at the time of transport, 15 were considered in critical condition, 13 were serious condition with potentially life-threatening injuries and 28 were non-serious or non-life threatening.

"This is a very large incident, probably one of the largest this community has seen in decades," Kruse told The Associated Press. "The community is pulling together to try to deal with the scope of it. The hospitals have certainly geared up and staffed up to deal with it."

Gov. Brian Sandoval noted at a news conference that area hospitals were in need of blood in the wake of the crash, and he encouraged people to donate.

Among the dead was Leeward, of Ocala, Fla., a veteran airman and movie stunt pilot who named his P-51 Mustang fighter plane the "Galloping Ghost," according to Houghton said.

Leeward, the owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team, was a well-known racing pilot. His website says he has flown more than 120 races and served as a stunt pilot for numerous movies, including "Amelia" and "Cloud Dancer."

In an interview with the Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner last year, he described how he has flown 250 types of planes and has a particular fondness for the P-51, which came into the war relatively late and was used as a long-range bomber escort over Europe. Among the famous pilots of the hot new fighter was WWII double ace Chuck Yeager.

"They're more fun. More speed, more challenge. Speed, speed and more speed," Leeward said.

Leeward talked about racing strategy in an interview Thursday with LiveAirShow TV while standing in front of his plane.

"Right now I think we've calculated out, we're as fast as anybody in the field, or maybe even a little faster," he said. "But uh, to start with, we didn't really want to show our hand until about Saturday or Sunday. We've been playing poker since last Monday. And uh so, it's ready, we're ready to show a couple more cards, so we'll see on Friday what happens, and on Saturday we'll probably go ahead and play our third ace, and on Sunday we'll do our fourth ace."

Houghton described Leeward as a good friend.

"Everybody knows him. It's a tight-knit family. He's been here for a long, long time," Houghton said.

He also said Leeward was a "very qualified, very experienced pilot" who was in good medical condition. He suggested Leeward would have made every effort to avoid casualties on the ground if he knew he was going to crash.

"If it was in Jimmy's power, he would have done everything he possibly could," Houghton said.

The National Championship Air Races draws thousands of people to Reno every September to watch various military and civilian planes race.

The FAA and air race organizers spend months preparing for air races as they develop a plan involving pilot qualification, training and testing along with a layout for the course. The FAA inspects pilots' practice runs and briefs pilots on the route maneuvers and emergency procedures.

Mike French, a private pilot, was his way to the races late Friday when he learned they were canceled after the crash.

"It's unfortunate, tragic in so many ways," said French, 41, of Wellington, Colo.

It would have been his fifth trip and the first for his 8-year-old son, Myles. "He really wanted to go," the dad said.

French said he had the "Galloping Ghost" P-51 image as his computer screensaver.

"It's the weirdest thing," he said. "I just liked the looks of the aircraft."

Eleanor Mondale, daughter of former vice president, dies at 51

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Showbiz reporter and 'wild child' had been diagnosed with brain cancer. She was a graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY

Obit_Eleanor_Mondale.JPGEleanor Mondale, daughter of Democratic Presidential nominee Walter Mondale, passes out campaign literature for her father on Chicago's Michigan Avenue.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Eleanor Mondale, the vivacious daughter of former Vice President Walter Mondale who carved out her own reputation as an entertainment reporter, radio show host and gossip magnet, has died at her home in Minnesota. She was 51.

Mondale family spokeswoman Lynda Pedersen said she died Saturday. She had been diagnosed with brain cancer years earlier.

Mondale had been off the air at WCCO-AM in Minneapolis since March 19, 2009, when she announced that her brain cancer had returned a second time. She had surgery to remove the tumor Aug. 12, 2009, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota., and a posting on her CaringBridge website declared the surgery a success.

Mondale, the middle of three children born to Walter and Joan Mondale, stumped for her father in his failed campaign to unseat President Ronald Reagan in 1984. She also made calls in 2002 in her father's last un successful campaign, when the former vice president took the ballot slot of Sen. Paul Wellstone, who had died in a plane crash just days before the election.

A striking blonde known on the party circuit when she was younger, Eleanor Mondale also attracted gossip. Her dalliance with the late rock musician Warren Zevon was detailed in "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon," a posthumous biography published by Zevon's ex-wife in 2007.

In 1998, CBS News reported that Mondale was one of four women Monica Lewinsky expressed resentment toward in taped conversations because of attention President Bill Clinton paid to them. (Mondale issued a statement saying her relationship with the president and his wife, Hillary, was "purely a friendship."). Lewinsky was the former White House intern caught up in a scandalous relationship with Clinton that led to the president's impeachment.

Mondale, a graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, started as an aspiring actress, with bit parts in TV's "Three's Company" and "Dynasty." She got her start in broadcasting as an entertainment reporter at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis in 1989, but left after only eight months when a Twin Cities magazine was about to publish an article called, "Walter and Joan's Wild Child." The Star Tribune reported that Mondale denied she was forced out.

In the article in Mpls.St. Paul magazine, Mondale was quoted as saying "I like to get wild. But it's not murder, and I don't do drugs."

After stints at Minneapolis radio station WLOL-FM, on cable television at E! Entertainment and ESPN and network TV on CBS' "This Morning," she returned to Minnesota in 2006 to co-host a weekday morning show on WCCO-AM with Susie Jones.

In 2005, Mondale was diagnosed with brain cancer after she suffered two seizures during a camping trip. The tumor nearly disappeared after Mondale had chemotherapy and radiation, but her cancer returned in 2008. She underwent surgery that time and was able to return to WCCO but eventually had to take disability leave to treat the recurrence.

Mondale was married three times: to Chicago Bears offensive lineman Keith Van Horne, to fellow DJ Greg Thunder and to Twin Cities rock musician Chan Poling of The Suburbs. Mondale and Poling married in 2005, shortly after her cancer was diagnosed, and lived on a farm near Prior Lake in the southern Twin Cities.


Hurricane Irene causes pumpkin shortage; Northeast looks to Upstate farms for help

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A farmer near Queensbury had to rent mules for the harvest.

Northeastern states are facing a pumpkin shortage after Hurricane Irene destroyed many fields, and farms in Upstate New York say they're getting calls from other growers who want to buy their crops.

Farmer Dennis Kelly told the Glens Falls Post-Star that he feels sorry for other growers because the pumpkin-growing season had been difficult even before the storm.

Pumpkin planting got off to a late start this year because of heavy rains in the spring, and Kelly had to begin his harvest a week early because he was afraid that Irene's rains could lead to fungus.

Kelly said he had to rent mules for the harvest at his farm near Queensbury, N.Y. The ground was too wet for tractors.

No injuries reported in Oswego County house fire

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Some firefighters still on the scene this afternoon.

New Haven, NY - No injuries were reported as fire heavily damaged a home in this Oswego County community late this morning.

Authorities said the blaze at the residence at 3985 State Route 104 was reported shortly after 11 a.m. Some firefighters were still on the scene three hours later, according to the Oswego County 911 center.

Authorities said firefighters from Hastings, Mexico, Volney, Scriba, Palermo, Minetto, Parish, Pulaski, Cody, Central Square and Hastings either responded to the scene or were placed on standby.

Kara Kennedy, daughter of Sen. Edward Kennedy, dies at 51

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She had lung cancer, but died after her daily workout at a health club.

Obit Kennedy Daughter.JPGView full sizeKara Kennedy speaks during funeral services for her father, Sen. Edward Kennedy, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kara Kennedy, the oldest child of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, died at a Washington-area health club, her brother said Saturday. She was 51.

Patrick Kennedy, a former congressman from Rhode Island, said his sister died Friday.

"She's with dad," Patrick Kennedy said. Their father died in 2009 at age 77 after battling a brain tumor.

Kara Kennedy had herself battled lung cancer: In 2003, doctors removed a malignant tumor. Patrick Kennedy said that his sister loved to exercise, but that he thinks her cancer treatment "took quite a toll on her and weakened her physically."

"Her heart gave out," he said.

The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate said in a news release that Kara Kennedy died after her daily workout. The statement said Kennedy, a board member for the institute, was a filmmaker and television producer who produced several videos for Very Special Arts, an organization founded by her aunt Jean Kennedy Smith.

She also served as a director emerita and national trustee of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Kara Kennedy was the oldest of three children. She and her brother Edward Kennedy Jr. helped run their father's U.S. Senate campaign in 1988. The National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome lists her as a national advisory board member on its website.

Edward Kennedy Jr. himself was a survivor after losing a leg to bone cancer as a child. And Patrick Kennedy had surgery in 1988 to remove a non-cancerous tumor that was pressing against his spine.

In 1990, Kara Kennedy married Michael Allen. The couple had a son and daughter, both now in their teens.

Kara Kennedy was born in 1960 as her father campaigned for his brother, John F. Kennedy, during the presidential primaries.

The late senator wrote in his 2009 memoir, "True Compass," that "I had never seen a more beautiful baby, nor been happier in my life."

She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002 and was given a grim prognosis by doctors, her father wrote.

In the book, Edward Kennedy recalled her operation, along with her aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

"Kara responded to my exhortations to have faith in herself," he wrote. "Today, nearly seven years later as I write this, Kara is a healthy, vibrant, active mother of two who is flourishing."

In 2009, shortly before his death, Edward Kennedy was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama. Kara Kennedy accepted the award on behalf of her father.

In April article she wrote for The Boston Globe Magazine, Kara Kennedy recalled the lessons her father taught his children.

She wrote of family trips in the summer when the late senator would lead his children on explorations of historic battlefields and buildings, trips she said taught her that one person can make a difference.

"What mattered to my father was not the scale of an accomplishment, but that we did our share to make the world better," she wrote. "That we learned we were part of something larger than ourselves."

She's the apple of his eye: Phoenix woman says yes to orchard proposal

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Groom-to-be Dave Oliver and orchard owner Eric Behling set up the proposal throughout the past week.

appleoliver.jpgDave Oliver and Kolah Hoyt, both of Phoenix, right after she accepted his marriage proposal at Behling Orchards Saturday afternoon.

Mexico, NY -- Saturday was beautiful weather for apple picking and proposing.

At least that's what Dave Oliver had in mind as he took his girlfriend, Kolah Hoyt, to Behling Orchards in Mexico Saturday afternoon.

They picked up their plastic bags and strolled down the long rows of McIntosh trees, brimming with big, red apples.

"Hon, these apples look good," he said to Hoyt as they turned a corner to walk down another row.

Then she saw it. On the ground in front of her was written, using apples: Will you marry me Kolah?

"Oh, what's that?" she exclaimed. She put her hands over her face. "Oh, honey."

"I love you with all my heart and I don't want to live my life without you," Oliver said. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes," she said. "I love you."

The Phoenix couple hugged and kissed. "Oh honey, that is the sweetest thing," Hoyt said.

From behind some Mac trees stepped Eric Behling, orchard owner. Oliver had worked with Behling nearly all week to line up this special proposal for his beloved.

"In all our 50 years here, we've never had anyone propose," Behling said.

Oliver said he was "keeping it together" pretty well as he and Hoyt arrived at the orchard and began walking amongst the trees. Hoyt said she had no idea what was in store for her.

"Oh my goodness, my heart is pounding," she said.

Oliver pulled a gorgeous diamond ring from his pocket and placed it on Hoyt's finger.

"Remember last Friday when I had the day off and I told you I had to run an errand?" Oliver, 35, asked Hoyt, 32. "This is where I was going."

Behling and a couple of other onlookers then headed off through the orchard to leave the newly engaged couple alone.

"Congratulations," they yelled as Oliver and Hoyt continued to hug and revel in their special moment.

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


Man found dead in ditch along East Taft Road in Cicero

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Sheriff Kevin Walsh says the man appears to have fallen into the ditch and drowned in several inches of water as he walked home from a nearby bar overnight.

Update: Sheriff's officials have now identified the victim found in the ditch as Terry Turner, 53, of 7568 E. Taft Road.

Cicero, NY - Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh said a man whose body was found along East Taft Road this morning appears to have drowned when he fell into a drainage ditch walking home from a local bar.

According to Walsh, the man appeared to have slipped down a 6-foot embankment before passing out and drowning in about 3 1/2 inches of water.

Walsh said the man left William's -- at the intersection of East Taft Road and Route 298 - about midnight and was walking west on Taft Road toward his home, which is located about one-quarter to one-half mile away.

It appears the man stepped off the side of the road or slipped off and fell down into the drainage swale along the south shoulder of the road, the sheriff said. The man appeared to have crawled about 10 feet before passing out in the shallow water in the ditch, Walsh said.

According to the sheriff, the man was known "to consume large quantities of alcohol" and authorities suspect he was drunk at the time of the incident. Officials will have to await a toxicology report to verify that, Walsh said.

Walsh said somebody who knew the man from the bar just happened to be walking along the same stretch of East Taft Road about 10:30 a.m. today when he spotted the body in the ditch.

The sheriff said it appears the death was due to drowning, as there was nothing to indicate the man had been injured falling into the ditch. There also was no evidence to suggest he had been struck by any passing vehicle, Walsh said.

NAVAC personnel pronounced the man dead at the scene, according to Deputy Kathleen Kruger.

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