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Will state canal system hours be shortened as a result of planned layoffs?

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"No determination has been made concerning the impact of these layoffs," said a state spokesman.

Recent news concerning a total of 234 planned layoffs in the state Thruway Authority and Canal Corporation has sparked speculation about how the staff cuts will affect services offered.

One unsubstantiated report today on Waterway.com noted that the Canal Corporation is preparing to cut back on the hours that the state canal system would be open due to layoffs of lock operators.

The canal system has been open to boaters until 10 p.m. during the peak period of boat travel in June, July and August. Those hours would be cut back to 5 p.m., according to the report.

While a cutback in canal operating hours couldn’t be confirmed, an online petition was created recently to protest cuts to the state canal system.

Dan Weiller, spokesman for both the Canal Corporation and Thruway authority, said this afternoon that a total of 42 positions will be cut from the Canal Corporation. Those layoffs, along with the others from the Thruway staff, will be effective April 3. The employees were told of their status a couple of weeks ago, Weiller said.

He noted the state cuts will be taking place in both agencies statewide and at this point “no determination has been made concerning the impact of these layoffs.”


Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office mum on Dan O'Hara's new job with New York state

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Other state fair officials under the microscope have been fired or have left the state payroll.

Syracuse, N.Y. -- If the New York State Acting Inspector General found so much fault with Dan O'Hara's management decisions at the New York State Fair, how did the former fair director get another job with New York making $110,000 a year?

That what I asked this afternoon of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office. Here's the response:

"The fair senior management has been replaced by this administration," Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said.

That is true. Top officials at the Department of Agriculture & Markets who oversaw the fair have either been fired (former first deputy commissioner Robert Haggerty), retired (Ag & Markets lawyer Michael McCormick) or left the state payroll (former general counsel Ruth Moore).

O'Hara, who has been a subject of two IG reports now, left the fair at the end of January. On Feb. 1, he stepped into a new job as deputy director for preparedness with the Office of Emergency Management at the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

O'Hara had made $123,913 at the fair, according to the state comptroller's office.

Ag & Markets Commissioner Darrel Aubertine was unavailable today to talk about the IG report, according to a spokesman.


Read more about the IG's report here
.

Contact Teri Weaver at: tweaver@syracuse.com, 315-470-2274 or on Twitter at @TeriKWeaver.

State appeals court upholds drug sentence for man accused in Katie Socci murder

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The appellate court's affirmation of David McNamara's sentence on drug charges was pre-ordained, said Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann.

2011-09-13-sdc-mcnamara1.JPG David McNamara is scheduled to go on trial March 18 in Auburn on charges that he murdered Katie Socci, his ex-girlfriend. On Feb. 9, a state appeals court upheld his sentence on unrelated drug charges.  


Auburn, NY – A state appeals court has upheld the drug sentence of David F. McNamara, the man accused of murdering his ex- girlfriend while their toddler slept in another room.

McNamara, 36, is scheduled to go on trial on March 18 on charges that he strangled Katie Socci, a 29-year-old nurse, at her home in Auburn. Her body was found buried in a field in June 2011.

Judges of the Supreme Court Fourth Department Appellate Division on Feb. 8, denied McNamara’s appeal of his sentence on unrelated drug charges.

“The affirmance of defendant’s 2011 felony drug-forgery conviction was all but pre-ordained," said Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann. "Defendant McNamara voluntarily, with the assistance of counsel, entered guilty pleas, waived his appellate review and was, in fact, given the negotiated, agreed upon sentence (to) prison that he had bargained for.”

In 2010, McNamara was given probation after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor third-degree forgery to satisfy more serious charges.

In June 2011, he became a person of interest in Socci’s death and was charged with violating his probation. Police then reopened their investigation of the drug charges.

A Cayuga County grand jury indicted McNamara on charges that he forged a doctor’s prescription and gave a narcotic drug to a friend.

In September 2011, McNamara pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, and to fourth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. As part of the plea deal, he was sentenced to five years in prison and two years of post-release supervision.

The following month McNamara appealed his sentence. He claimed that his federal rights were violated when the Cayuga County Probation Department conducted his pre-sentence interview without his lawyer being present.

Judges on the appeals court unanimously denied his appeal noting that the federal constitution does not entitle a defendant to counsel at that stage of a criminal proceeding.


Upstate airport executives hoping to see more air service from merger of American and US Airways

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Upstate aviation officials are eager for direct flights to Dallas and West Coast cities.

The proposed merger of American Airlines and US Airways has Upstate New York airport officials hopeful of getting more air service.

AMR Corp. and US Airways Group unveiled an $11 billion deal today that would give creditors of the bankrupt American Airlines parent control of the combined airline.

Airport International Airport CEO John O’Donnell told The Business Review he'd like to see the merged airline offer flights from Albany to New York City, Dallas, Denver and the West Coast.

The publication reported that the Albany area's technology industry is driving demand for more flights to tech hubs in Texas and the West Coast. So any expansion in the number of direct flights to those destinations would be welcome in the Capital region.

The combined airline would operate under American's name, so the merger would bring American Airlines to Albany for the first time since it stopped serving New York's capital city in 2008.

William Vanecek, Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority director of aviation, told Buffalo Business First that the proposed merger might open the door for more flights to western destinations from Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

American operates only three daily flights from Buffalo -- all to Chicago.

Syracuse Aviation Commissioner Christina Callahan has similar hopes of getting more air service from the merger. She told The Post-Standard earlier today that she's hoping to persuade the combined airline to offer non-stop flights from Syracuse to Dallas, American's headquarters.

Syracuse Hancock International Airport has not had direct service to Dallas in several years.

But Associated Press airlines writer Scott Mayerowitz reported that a merger of American and US Airways is likely to raise airfares, which have climbed more than 11 percent since 2009, when adjusted for inflation.

Mayerowitz noted that In the past five years, the airline industry has seen the combinations of Delta with Northwest, United with Continental and Southwest Airlines with AirTran.

Contact Rick Moriarty at rmoriarty@syracuse.com or (315) 470-3148. Follow him on Twitter @RickMoriartyCNY and on Facebook at rick.moriarty.92.

Your comments: Syracuse New Times is 'boring' and it's a 'good time for a change'

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The Syracuse New Times Publisher fired editor-in-chief, Molly English-Bowers, citing needs for an organizational change.

news_130214_newspapers.jpg  
On Tuesday, the Syracuse New Times fired its editor-in-chief of 13 years and replaced her with a former copy editor at The Post-Standard. Molly English-Bowers, broke the news of her unemployment on Facebook, writing:
I was told my position - a position I held for 13 years - is being eliminated and that the publisher wants to go in a new direction.

English-Bowers is not the only staff member to be let go in recent months, with New Times Publisher William Brod citing a change needed as the 44-year-old alternative weekly newspaper adjusts to the newspaper industry's shift to the web.

Our syracuse.com readers have responded to this change. Here is a sample of what they are saying:
From tonyb: Good time for a change and maybe take advantage of void from PS print edition. For the past few years about all they managed was one main story a week. An open readers forum would be a welcome addition.

From redski: Internet, that's what is killing the newspapers.

From digger: 30-40 years ago, the Syracuse New Times was a publication that actually mattered. Over the last 20+ years though, SNT has become a very boring read and is, for all intents and purposes, no longer a player in Syracuse media.

From ducati: I like news and blues, and reading about more dumb crooks. Don't pick it up enough.

What do you think of the changes happening at the Syracuse New Times? Let us know in your comments below.

East Syracuse clerk reminds voters they must register with Onondaga County Board of Elections to vote in village elections

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People who plan to vote in the village election on March 19 now must be registered with the Onondaga County Board of Elections.

East Syracuse, NY – The Village of East Syracuse has turned over responsibility for registering voters for local village elections to Onondaga County, said village Clerk Pat Derby.

In the past voters eligible to vote in village elections could register with the county Board of Elections or with the village, she said.

The village recently changed its local law and it is no longer registering voters.

People now must be registered solely with the county Board of Elections to be eligible to vote, Derby said.

The clerk warns that some people who in the past were only registered to vote through the village will not be able to vote in village elections on March 19 unless they register with the county.

Syracuse charter school draws only praise at expansion hearing

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The school wants to expand from 696 students to 975 over four years.

2012-02-01-dl-academy1.JPG View full size Tyswanna Hickey (left), Courtney Chavis (center) and Samantha Turnquest work in an art class at the Syracuse Academy of Science last year.  

Syracuse -- Seven people spoke at a hearing on the proposed expansion of the Syracuse Academy of Science charter school today, and all had high praise for the school.

"It's an environment where getting good grades is cool," said one of the parents, Chanel Turnquest, whose daughter Samantha is a senior there.

The school, which runs campuses at 4837 S. Salina St. and 1001 Park Ave., is seeking permission from the state to expand from 696 students to 975 over the next four years. It held a required public hearing on the plan at Syracuse school district headquarters today.

The six adults and one student who testified all had glowing comments about the school. No one spoke against the expansion.

Mary O'Neill said her first-grade daughter, Grace, had anxiety at previous schools she has been in, but was thriving at the charter school.

"It's the teachers, the teachers, the teachers," O'Neill said.

Contact Paul Riede at priede@syracuse.com or 470-3260. Follow him on Twitter at @PaulRiede.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner risks Cuomo's wrath with a letter

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Miner's opinion piece in The New York Times raised eyebrows statewide.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Mayor Stephanie Miner decided about a week ago to write the letter that ended up criticizing the most powerful man in the state in the most prominent place she could find.

After a week of back and forth with editors from The New York Times, Miner said, she learned Wednesday evening that they would publish her opinion piece criticizing Gov. Andrew Cuomo today. She called Cuomo aide Joe Percoco to give him a heads up.

“No surprise, they weren’t exactly pleased,’’ she said.

Miner’s letter accused Cuomo of failing to address the dire financial condition of most of the state’s cities. She ridiculed as a “gimmick’’ the governor’s budget proposal to let municipalities reduce current pension payments and make up the difference in the future. She urged legislators to reject the budget.

The subject matter wasn’t new. In venues both public and private, Miner has urged Cuomo for months to help lead the cities away from insolvency. But Miner said she knew that publication in the Times would provoke Cuomo -- for better or worse.

Miner said her goal was to encourage Cuomo to launch a statewide conversation -- involving state and municipal leaders, unions and businesses -- to seek solutions to rising pension costs and other burdens. But she knew there was a risk from “publicly disagreeing with the governor,’’ she said. “He may say, ‘I’m not going to have a discussion at all.’ ‘’

The public airing came as a surprise to many observers, in part because Miner and Cuomo are fellow Democrats. The governor selected her last year to co-chair the state Democratic Party.

Miner said Cuomo’s pension-smoothing proposal provided her with an opportunity to write an opinion piece that drew attention to the issues. “I thought, well, here’s an opportunity. Maybe the Times will bite,’’ she said.

The initial reaction from the governor’s office was antagonistic. Aides declined to speak with The Post-Standard, but Cuomo’s director of operations, Howard Glaser, suggested in a radio interview that Miner was seeking a bailout because she is unable to solve Syracuse’s problems. Two business advocacy groups, Unshackle Upstate and the National Federation of Independent Business, also criticized Miner.

But the mayor said she received many phone calls from mayors and other municipal executives, thanking her for raising the issues. Other callers congratulated her on getting an Op Ed piece published in the Times, something she discovered to be a lengthy and involved process. She traded emails for days with editors and fact-checkers. She signed a three-page contract. Finally, after speaking with an editor by phone Wednesday, she learned the piece would run.

“I didn’t really know until they posted it (online) last night, that it was really going to run,’’ she said today. The mayor showed her pride with this Tweet, sent from the City of Syracuse account.




Contact Tim Knauss at tknauss@syracuse.com or 315-470-3023.

Oswego County passes resolution calling for repeal of NY SAFE Act

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Oswego, NY-- The Oswego County Legislature voted 25-0 for a resolution urging the repeal of the NY SAFE Act, joining a growing list of counties that have denounced New York state's controversial gun law. "We were just standing up for our constituents," Terry Wilbur, a legislator from Hannibal, said Thursday. Wilbur, who sponsored the resolution, said he was pleased with...

Oswego, NY-- The Oswego County Legislature voted 25-0 for a resolution urging the repeal of the NY SAFE Act, joining a growing list of counties that have denounced New York state's controversial gun law.

"We were just standing up for our constituents," Terry Wilbur, a legislator from Hannibal, said Thursday.

Wilbur, who sponsored the resolution, said he was pleased with the results, and that the resolution would send a clear message to state officials in Albany.

Oswego isn't the first county in the area to come out against the SAFE Act. Madison and Herkimer counties have already passed similar resolutions.

2010-01-07-mg-swear2.JPG Left, Terry Wilbur, 21, is one of the youngest to be elected to Oswego County Legislature. He is shown next to Oswego County Legislator Margaret Kastler, right, the day of his first meeting as a county lawmaker in 2010. Wilbur sponsored a resolution against the NY SAFE Act, which passed the county legislature Thursday.  

New York's new gun law, which was hastily passed in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., includes requirements for criminal background checks on the sale of ammunition, renewal of pistol permits every five years and updates to mental health reporting requirements.

Wilbur said he and other legislators moved forward on the issue in part due to the intense negative reaction from the community over the state's gun law.

The resolution quotes from the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, and takes issue with the government infringing on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens. It also criticizes the speed and lack of public comment with which the legislation was passed, and decries many arbitrary restrictions in the law.

Wilbur said some provisions of the SAFE Act, such as background checks and improvements to mental health screenings, are generally positive, but overall the law will do little more than hurt the public, and tourism and recreation in the county.

The resolution will be sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other state officials.

State police investigating Herkimer crash involving trooper

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The trooper was responding to a call when his car struck another vehicle, state police said.

Herkimer, NY-- A 30-year-old state trooper heading to a call Thursday morning was in a car accident when his patrol car and another vehicle collided in an intersection, New York State Police said.

The accident occurred around 6 a.m. Thursday at the intersection of State and North Washington streets in the village of Herkimer.

A preliminary investigation showed that Trooper Nathan Harder was driving a marked 2011 Ford Crown Victoria patrol car east on State Street to respond to a physical domestic dispute in progress, state police said.

A 2009 Toyota driven by Jessica Gilmartin, of Jordanville, was heading south on North Washington Street and pulled into the intersection at State Street with a green traffic light, state police said.

The patrol car went through a red light with its emergency lights on and struck the Toyota in the intersection, state police said.

Harder was taken to Little Falls Hospital for pain to the neck, left shoulder and left wrist. He was treated and released. Gilmartin was taken to Little Falls Hospital for abdominal abrasion and pain, where she was treated and released.

The investigation is continuing.

Mother says son, neighbor saved lives in Clay house fire

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Clay, NY-- Jennifer Kazlman and her family were upstairs in their home Wednesday night when she smelled something similar to burning tires. Then tan-colored smoke started wafting up through the floor and around the walls. The 9:21 p.m. fire on Joewood Drive in the town of Clay was fully involved when firefighters arrived, but Kazlman said it was the courage...

Clay, NY-- Jennifer Kazlman and her family were upstairs in their home Wednesday night when she smelled something similar to burning tires. Then tan-colored smoke started wafting up through the floor and around the walls.

The 9:21 p.m. fire on Joewood Drive in the town of Clay was fully involved when firefighters arrived, but Kazlman said it was the courage of her 14-year-old son and a quick-thinking neighbor that probably saved her family's lives.

"The lights went out and the house was completely filled with black smoke," Kazlman said. "It happened in seconds."

The family consists of nine people, but only Kazlman, her 13-year-old daughter Ivie, her 14-year-old son Edward and her partner were home when the fire started.

Kazlman's partner made her way downstairs through the smoke to look for several family dogs, and eventually got outside from the first floor. But Kazlman and her children became trapped on the second floor by smoke.

As more thick black smoke filled the house and choked the family, Kazlman said they found their way into the kitchen where their mother ordered them to pop their heads out the window for fresh air.

She shouted to a neighbor across the street from the open window, asking if he had called 911. He had. He shouted up asking if they could get out, Kazlman said. When she answered no, he darted back across the street to his garage.

"He didn't even think, he just went and got that ladder," she said.

The neighbor, who Kazlman described as a military man, brought the ladder to the window at the front of the house, she said.

Meanwhile, Ivie had gone looking for the family's Chihuahua in her bedroom. As the room filled up with smoke, she began yelling for help, Kazlman said. It was then that her son Edward used a cell phone light and, crawling on his hands and knees, dragged his sister to the waiting ladder.

"He said he didn't think about it, he just did it," Kazlman said. "He acted like an adult. I'm so proud of him."

Soon after, mother, daughter and son escaped the fire via the ladder the neighbor had brought. The family escaped with some minor injuries and smoke inhalation.

Kazlman said she is just happy everyone got out of the house OK. The Red Cross provided some clothes and helped with temporary housing, she said.

"We're both very grateful," Kazlman said. "Everybody has just helped so much."

But the house, which the family was renting, was partially gutted by fire and virtually everything was destroyed.

"We have to start over," she said.

A relative of the family is organizing donations and collection of clothing and other items. To help, contact Jeff Lorraine at 315-491-2605.

New York Minute: Syracuse Winterfest in full swing, Michael Bloomberg gives his last State of the City

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The search for Sara Anne Woods' body may resume; Feds issue a new college scorecard

Good morning! Syracuse Winterfest starts in earnest today, which in recent years has meant a sudden thaw. Not this time: It'll be a cold, snowy weekend to see the ice sculpture, play human football and start searching for the Treasure Hunt medallion.

Central New York

Herkimer County authorities say they’ll try once again to find the body of Sara Anne Wood, the 12-year-old abducted 20 years ago.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner continues to speak out about speaking out on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pension payment plan.

And yes, Miner gave the governor a heads-up that New York Times column was coming.

Gangnam is so out of style: SU students Harlem Shake it like a Polaroid picture.

New York

Then and now: A video look at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s first and last State of the City addresses show how we’ve all changed.

Looking for a used car? Take the Thruway to Rochester -- it’s the third-best place in the country, price-wise.

Another warning on the perils of social media: A student is suspended for a vulgar Tweet about a teacher.

Elsewhere

The federal Department of Education releases a new database, College Scorecard, with costs and results.

Student beware: Lowest-cost colleges have higher drop-out rates.

What is the sound of one meteor crashing to earth? This.

What does it look like? This.

Tweet of the day

President Obama's pre-school plan meets skepticism; a grad student sues her professor over a C-plus: School Day

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In a Utah reversal, the musical delivery of same-sex Valentine's messages is allowed,

A look at school news around the region, state and nation.

The day before the Syracuse school district proposed a budget that would eliminate 96 positions, Utica schools put out a plan to eliminate 88.

Parents praise the Syracuse Academy of Science charter school at a public hearing on a plan to expand the school.

Fayetteville-Manlius’ ice hockey team ends its season in a courtroom.

Conservatives are deeply skeptical about President Obama’s plan to vastly expand pre-school programs.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan got a message from his home turf as a coalition of Chicago teachers sent him a letter complaining about his policies, which they say rely too much on standardized testing.

A writer argues that policies that force the closure of “failing” schools can decimate low-income communities.

In Hempstead, a superintendent who left the district in November will get a $230,000 parting gift.

A Staten Island woman sues her child’s school for barring the child from classes because she was not vaccinated. The woman has religious objections to vaccination.

In other litigation news, a Lehigh University graduate student sues her professor for $1.3 million for giving her a C-plus.

In an apparent reversal, a choir in a Utah high school was given permission to deliver same-sex Valentine messages in its singing Valentine’s project.

Finally, chasing down first-graders and pretending to shoot them probably isn’t the best way to discuss the Sandy Hook massacre. A Georgia teacher is suspended.

Contact Paul Riede at priede@syracuse.com or 470-3260. Follow him on Twitter at @PaulRiede.


500 injured by blasts as meteor falls in Russia

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The Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement that the meteor over the Chelyabinsk region entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of at least 54,000 kph (33,000 mph) and shattered about 30-50 kilometers (18-32 miles) above ground.

MOSCOW (AP) — A meteor that scientists estimate weighed 10 tons (11 tons) streaked at supersonic speed over Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday, setting off blasts that injured some 500 people and frightened countless more.

The Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement that the meteor over the Chelyabinsk region entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of at least 54,000 kph (33,000 mph) and shattered about 30-50 kilometers (18-32 miles) above ground.

The fall caused explosions that broke glass over a wide area. The Emergency Ministry says more than 500 people sought treatment after the blasts and that 34 of them were hospitalized.

"There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people's houses to check if they were OK," said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow, the biggest city in the affected region.

"We saw a big burst of light then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud thundering sound," he told The Associated Press by telephone.

Another Chelyabinsk resident, Valya Kazakov, said some elderly women in his neighborhood started crying out that the world was ending.

Some fragments fell in a reservoir outside the town of Cherbakul, the regional governor's office said, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. It was not immediately clear if any people were struck by fragments.

The agency also cited military spokesman Yarslavl Roshupkin as saying that a six-meter-wide (20-foot-wide) crater was found in the same area which could be the result of fragments striking the ground.

Meteors typically cause sizeable sonic booms when they enter the atmosphere because they are traveling much faster than the speed of sound. Injuries on the scale reported Friday, however, are extraordinarily rare.

Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said that about 600 square meters (6000 square feet) of a roof at a zinc factory had collapsed. There was no immediate clarification of whether the collapse was caused by meteorites or by a shock wave from one of the explosions.

Reports conflicted on what exactly happened in the clear skies. A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The Associated Press that there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteor.

Amateur video broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 a.m. local time (0320 GMT), leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash.

Donald Yeomans, manager of U.S. Near Earth Object Program in California, said he thought the event was probably "an exploding fireball event."

"If the reports of ground damage can be verified, it might suggest an object whose original size was several meters in extent before entering the atmosphere, fragmenting and exploding due to the unequal pressure on the leading side vs. the trailing side (it pancaked and exploded)," Yeoman said in an email to The Associated Press.

"It is far too early to provide estimates of the energy released or provide a reliable estimate of the original size," Yeomans added.

Russian news reports noted that the meteor hit less than a day before the asteroid 2012 DA14 is to make the closest recorded pass of an asteroid -- about 17,150 miles (28,000 kilometers).

But the European Space Agency, in a post on its Twitter account, said its experts had determined there was no connection.

Small pieces of space debris — usually parts of comets or asteroids — that are on a collision course with the Earth are called meteoroids. When meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere they are called meteors. Most meteors burn up in the atmosphere, but if they survive the frictional heating and strike the surface of the Earth they are called meteorites.

The dramatic events prompted an array of reactions from prominent Russian political figures. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, speaking at an economic forum in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, said the meteor could be a symbol for the forum, showing that "not only the economy is vulnerable, but the whole planet."

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the nationalist leader noted for vehement statements, said "It's not meteors falling, it's the test of a new weapon by the Americans," the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said the incident showed the need for leading world powers to develop a system to intercept objects falling from space.

"At the moment, neither we nor the Americans have such technologies" to shoot down meteors or asteroids, he said, according to the Interfax news agency.

West at a glance: real estate, superintendents and celebrating school

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Area housing market is slow compared to the rest of the country.

Syracuse, NY -- A sluggish housing market, a new Skaneateles superintendent and celebrating 100 days of school are stories of interest in the Western suburbs this morning.

Thinking of buying or selling a house this spring? The Syracuse area is among the slowest markets in the country, reports Matt Mulcahy from CNYCentral.com.

Students at Elbridge Elementary School aged this week when they dressed up as 100-year olds to celebrate the 100th day of school on Tuesday, the district reports on its website.

One little girl even tucked a tissue up into her sleeve as a part of her costume.

The second of two candidates for superintendent of the Skaneateles Central School District made his pitch to the community last night.

Mark Davey, the current superintendent of the Gates Chili School District used a power point presentation during his meeting with the community, according to a story in the Skaneateles Journal.

Theresa Pulos, the current superintendent in the Clyde-Savannah School District, was the first candidate to meet with the community when she attended a forum on Wednesday.

The school board plans to chose a candidate by April, with the new superintendent starting the job in July.


Ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner's remains ID'd, cause of death unclear

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Thursday the sheriff-coroner's spokeswoman Jodi Miller announced that dental examination had definitively shown the remains were Dorner's.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Investigators determined fairly quickly that the burned human remains found after a shootout in Southern California mountains are those of Christopher Dorner, the ex-police officer suspected in a rampage that left four people dead. But the answer to a second question will likely prove more elusive — how did he die?

Evidence including descriptions from witnesses and the discovery of personal items including a driver's license had already led authorities to figure that it was Dorner who exchanged heavy gunfire with San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies at a cabin Tuesday, killing one person and never leaving as the cabin as it went up in flames.

But on Thursday the issue was officially put to rest when sheriff-coroner's spokeswoman Jodi Miller announced that dental examination had definitively shown the remains were Dorner's.

Virtually no other information was released. An autopsy report on the charred body was still being completed, and toxicology tests typically take several weeks to return results.

That means questions are likely to linger over which of three ways Dorner may have died: Was it the hail of gunfire that came from the deputies outside? Was it suicide by the single shot that was heard from inside the cabin as the flames began to rise? Or was it the flames themselves that engulfed both Dorner and the cabin?

The cause of the flames has remained in question in the days that followed Dorner's Tuesday death.

After milder tear gas had failed to bring Dorner out, deputies shot pyrotechnic tear gas canisters — called "burners" by deputies over the radio during the standoff and by Sheriff John McMahon at a subsequent news conference — into the cabin.

McMahon would only say that the fire broke out immediately after the canisters were sent in, stopping short of saying that they sparked the fire.

He added that the burning of the cabin "was not on purpose, We did not intentionally burn down that cabin to get Mr. Dorner out." Another news conference was scheduled for later Friday afternoon, but it was not clear what the department intended to reveal.

Meanwhile, court documents show Dorner gathered information on a women's basketball coach and her fiance before he apparently killed them earlier this month.

The Orange County Register reported that Irvine police believe Dorner researched Monica Quan, 28, and her 27-year-old boyfriend, Keith Lawrence. The records also say Dorner may have had documents containing information about Quan and her family.

Police tied Dorner to the slayings after reading a manifesto he wrote in which he sought revenge against those he believed ended his law enforcement career. Quan's father represented Dorner during a disciplinary hearing.

The search for Dorner began last week after authorities said he had launched a deadly revenge campaign against the Los Angeles Police Department for his firing, warning in the manifesto that he would bring "warfare" to LAPD officers and their families.

The manhunt for Dorner brought police to Big Bear Lake, 80 miles east of Los Angeles, after his burned-out pickup truck was found abandoned last week. His footprints disappeared on frozen soil and hundreds of officers who searched the area and checked out each building failed to find him.

Karen and Jim Reynolds were next to see him inside their cabin-style condo within 100 yards of a command post for the manhunt when they arrived to ready it for vacationers.

Dorner, who at the time was being sought for three killings, confronted the couple with a drawn gun, "jumped out and hollered 'stay calm,'" Jim Reynolds said at a news conference.

His wife screamed and ran, but Dorner caught her, Reynolds said. The couple said they were taken to a bedroom where Dorner ordered them to lie on a bed and then on the floor. Dorner bound their arms and legs with plastic ties, gagged them with towels and covered their heads with pillowcases.

"I really thought it could be the end," Karen Reynolds said.

The couple believed Dorner had been staying in the cabin at least since Feb. 8, the day after his burned truck was found nearby. Dorner told them he had been watching them by day from inside the cabin as they did work outside. The couple, who live nearby, only entered the unit Tuesday.

"He said we are very hard workers," Karen Reynolds said.

After Dorner fled in their purple Nissan Rogue, Karen Reynolds managed to call 911 from a cellphone on the coffee table.

Police have not commented on the Reynoldses' account, but the notion of him holed up just across the street from the command post was shocking to many, but not totally surprising to some experts familiar with the complications of such a manhunt.

"Chilling. That's the only word I could use for that," said Ed Tatosian, a retired SWAT commander for the Sacramento Police Department. "It's not an unfathomable oversight. We're human. It happens."

Law enforcement officers, who had gathered outside daily for briefings, were stunned by the revelation. One official later looking on Google Earth exclaimed that he'd parked right across the street from the Reynoldses' cabin each day.

The sheriff's department has refused to answer questions about how one of the largest manhunts in years could have missed Dorner.

Timothy Clemente, a retired FBI SWAT team leader who was part of the search for Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph, said searchers had to work methodically. When there's a hot pursuit, they can run after a suspect into a building. But in a manhunt, the search has to slow down and police have to have a reason to enter a building.

"You can't just kick in every door," he said.

In business: Biz groups oppose minimum wage hike

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Rochester makes list of the most affordable cities in which to buy a used car.

A roundup of business news in Upstate New York today:

Business groups are reacting negatively to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's proposal to raise New York's minimum wage to $9 an hour.

Silver wants to raise the minimum wage even more than Gov. Andrew Cuomo does. Cuomo has proposed raising it to $8.75 an hour. Silver's proposal matches that of President Obama, who called for a $9 an hour federal minimum wage on Tuesday.

The state's minimum wage has stood at $7.25 per hour, the same as the federal minimum, since 2009.

The Business Council of New York State said the proposed increase would add an additional direct cost of more than $4,000 for each full-time minimum wage employee, plus indirect costs caused by 'wage compression,' as wages are adjusted for higher earning employees.

"To meet these costs, employers will have to eliminate jobs or reduce workers' hours, raise prices, defer investments or reduce profits -- none of which promotes economic growth," the council said.

Unshackle Upstate called the proposal "a huge step in the wrong direction for businesses."

"Speaker Silver’s new minimum wage proposal demonstrates his lack of regard for struggling job creators and unemployed New Yorkers,” Unshackle Executive Director Brian Sampson said in a statement. “By increasing the state’s minimum wage to $9 an hour and indexing it to inflation, employment opportunities will vanish, jobs will be lost and businesses will suffer. Consumers will also pay the price for this ill-advised proposal as the cost of goods will increase.”

The cost of Buffalo's HarborCenter project is rising. The Buffalo Sabres, who are underwriting the downtown Buffalo project, said the cost has risen from $123 million to $170 million, Buffalo Business First reports. The project is to include two ice rinks, a hotel and retail space.

Rochester is the third most affordable U.S. city in which to buy a used car, according to the car shopping website CarGurus.

Topping the list of deal-friendly destinations was Miami, followed by Cleveland, Rochester and Detroit. Jackson, Miss., was found to be the most expensive used car city, followed by Seattle, Montgomery, Ala., and Little Rock, Ark. (Syracuse didn't make either list.)

A congressional panel called Thursday for a federal audit of New York's $54 billion Medicaid programs, reports the (Albany) Times Union.

Brockport’s Lakeside Hospital is converting to an outpatient and urgent care facility. Lakeside Health System is working with state Department of Health officials on a plan to wind down its acute care facilities, the Rochester Business Journal reports.

Paralympic superstar Oscar Pistorius statement disputes he committed murder

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Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said Friday in court it was premeditated murder, indicating the prosecution would file that more serious charge, upgraded from murder.

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius held his head in his hands and wept openly in court Friday as prosecutors said they would pursue a charge of premeditated murder against the Paralympic superstar.

Pistorius was formally charged at Pretoria Magistrate's Court with one count of murder after his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a model and budding reality TV show contestant. The 30-year-old was shot multiple times and died at Pistorius' upmarket home early Thursday morning.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said Friday in court it was premeditated murder, indicating the prosecution would file that more serious charge, upgraded from murder.

The double-amputee athlete's arrest and murder charge had already left South Africa stunned after Steenkamp's death on Valentine's Day at Pistorius' house in a gated community in an eastern suburb of South Africa's capital, Pretoria.

Following the hearing, Pistorius' family and his London management company issued a statement calling into question the criminal charge the 26-year-old athlete faces.

"The alleged murder is disputed in the strongest terms," the statement read. The statement did not elaborate.

The statement also said Pistorius wanted to "send his deepest sympathies to the family of Reeva."

"He would also like to express his thanks through us today for all the messages of support he has received — but as stated our thoughts and prayers today should be for Reeva and her family — regardless of the circumstances of this terrible, terrible tragedy," the statement read.

Those who knew Pistorius, including a former girlfriend, also weighed in on social media.

Trish Taylor, mother of Pistorius' ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor, wrote on Facebook: "I'm so glad Sammy is safe and out of the clutches of that man."

But another ex-girlfriend, Jenna Edkins, defended Pistorius in messages Friday on Twitter.

"All I am saying is let him speak, let his side be heard without jumping to conclusions," Edkins wrote. She offered "love and support" to the Pistorius family and wrote: "I have dated Oscar on and off for 5 YEARS, NOT ONCE has he EVER lifted a finger to me or made me fear for my life."

Prosecutors said Friday that they would argue the history-making Olympic athlete — the first amputee to run at the games — had planned Steenkamp's killing. It sent South Africans reeling further as their national hero, and a global role model in overcoming adversity, was set to face accusations that he intentionally gunned down his girlfriend.

South Africa's tabloid Citizen newspaper had the headline "Blade gunner?" Friday morning, playing on double-amputee athlete Pistorius' well-known nickname of "Blade Runner" because of his carbon fiber running blades.

Pistorius stood with his face in his hands as he broke down in tears on his first appearance at the Pretoria Magistrates' Court. Chief Magistrate Desmond Nasir delayed Pistorius' bail hearing until next Tuesday and Wednesday and ruled that Pistorius would be held at a police station in Pretoria until then. Police have said they oppose the granting of bail.

A solemn Pistorius entered the court wearing a gray suit and blue tie and initially appeared composed. When he broke down in tears, his brother, Carl, reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder. Pistorius' father, Henke, was in the court and later reached over to comfort him as well.

More than 100 people packed Friday morning into Courtroom C at the Pretoria Magistrates Court, including dozens of photographers and videographers. Nasir ruled that no recordings of court proceedings would be allowed in the case.

Police said Friday investigators also conducted an autopsy on Steenkamp's body. Lt. Col. Katlego Mogale said the results of the autopsy would not be published.

Pistorius earlier left a police station, his jacket completely covering his head as he got into a police vehicle. He was holding what appeared to be a white handkerchief in one hand. He was led by officers to a police van outside the Boschkop Police Station in eastern Pretoria, where he had been questioned on Thursday and had spent the night in custody.

A policeman was also seen carrying a handgun in a plastic forensic bag outside the Boschkop station. It was believed to be the weapon used to shoot and kill Steenkamp.

Police said the victim was shot four times at Pistorius' villa in a gated community. Officers found a 9 mm pistol inside the home.

Pistorius made history at the London Olympics last year when he became the first double-amputee track athlete to compete at any games. He didn't win a medal but did make the semifinals of the 400 meters and the final of the 4X400 relay, propelling the world's best-known Paralympian to the level of an international track star and one of the world's best-known sportsmen.

But police hinted at a troubled lifestyle away from public scrutiny for the runner Thursday when they said there had previously been domestic incidents at Pistorius' home.

Update: Russian meteor injuries climb to nearly 1,000

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Burning rocks damage buildings; hundreds hurt by flying glass.

MOSCOW -- A Russian health official says nearly 1,000 people have sought help for injuries caused by a meteor that exploded in the sky, blasting out countless windows.

Chelyabinsk health chief Marina Moskvicheva said Friday that 985 people in her city had asked for medical assistance. The Interfax news agency quoted her as saying 43 were hospitalized.

The Russian Academy of Sciences said the meteor — estimated to be about 10 tons — entered the Earth's atmosphere going at least 33,000 mph. It shattered 18 to 32 miles above the ground, releasing several kilotons of energy above the Ural Mountains.

ne_130215_Russia Meteor.jpg The contrail from the meteor that exploded over Russia is seen in this frame grab made from a video done with a dashboard camera, on a highway from Kostanai, Kazakhstan, to Chelyabinsk region, Russia.  

Amateur video broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky just after sunrise, leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash.

Authorities said most of those wounded were injured by shards of flying glass.

The burning rocks damaged buildings and shook the ground as they crashed into six towns in the Chelyabinsk region, an area of the Urals 1,000 miles east of Moscow.

Russian officials said 200 children were among the injured, according to the Interfax news agency. Forty people remained in hospital, including two with serious injuries. All schools and kindergartens in Chelyabinsk have been closed for the day.

Authorities said the damage could have been far worse had the meteorite fragments not fallen in such a sparsely populated area.

“There was a big fireball, which then descended. The whole thing lasted a few seconds,” a resident of the area told Itar-Tass.

Residents also said they saw flashes, explosions and smoke clouds in the sky.

The nearby nuclear facility of Mayak was not affected, news reports quoted authorities as saying.

Substantial meteorites hit the Earth every couple of months, but almost never hurt people, European Space Agency officials said.

“This is the first time this has happened, at least as far our records go,” said ESA spokesman Detlef Koschny in Darmstadt, Germany. “Mostly they land in the ocean, in deserts or in Siberia, so nothing much bad happens.”

Also on Friday, an asteroid dubbed 2012 DA14 will pass very close to Earth, but there is no chance of it colliding with the planet, NASA said.

The agency said on its website that it would broadcast real-time animation of the fly-by and live or near real-time images of the asteroid from observatories in Australia, weather permitting.


Gun control discussion Tuesday night at Syracuse University

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The event begins at 6:30 p.m. at Hendricks Chapel. It is free and open to the public.

2012-07-20-sdc-subarton1.JPG Syracuse University Scholar Stephen Barton of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences addressed the 158th Commencement in the Carrier Dome on May 13. He was among the injured in the shooting at the Colorado movie theater last year.  


Syracuse, N.Y. --Stephen Barton, the Syracuse University graduate who was wounded last year in the Aurora theater shooting, will be the keynote speaker Tuesday night at a panel discussion on gun laws.

Since the shooting, Barton has become an advocate in favor of more restrictive gun laws. Barton now works for Mayors Against Illegal Guns in New York City. He grew up about 10 minutes from Newtown, Conn.

Others on the panel include:

Scott Armstrong, Syracuse political communications consultant and former lobbyist for the National Rifle Association;

Helen Hudson, Syracuse Common Councilor At-Large and past president of Mothers Against Gun Violence;

James Knoll, director of the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program at SUNY Upstate Medical University;

Langston McKinney, retired Syracuse City Court judge; and

Robert Spitzer, distinguished service professor and chair of the political science department at SUNY-Cortland. Spitzer is a member of both the National Rifle Association and the Brady Center. He's the author of "The Politics of Gun Control."

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. at Hendricks Chapel. It is free and open to the public. To follow the event on Twitter, use the hashtag #suguntalk.

Contact Teri Weaver at: tweaver@syracuse.com, 315-470-2274 or on Twitter at @TeriKWeaver.

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