The robbery occurred at 234 Goodrich Ave., at about 8:30 p.m., and involved four suspects, police said.

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Syracuse, NY-- A man and woman were tied up during a home invasion robbery Friday night that left one person injured, Syracuse police said.

The robbery occurred in the 200 block of Goodrich Ave., at about 8:30 p.m.

The victims -- a 67-year-old man and 62-year-old woman -- spent several minutes tied up before wriggling free, police said. The man suffered a cut to his head from struggling with the robbers.

Four men, all wearing dark clothes and masks, stole an undisclosed amount of cash from the home, police said.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact Syracuse police at 315-442-5222.

Three people walked into the Cricket cell phone store at 2859 S. Salina St., across the street from the Landmark Theatre, wielding a knife, a claw hammer and what appeared to be a shotgun.

Syracuse, NY-- Three people have been charged in connection with an armed robbery that occurred Friday night on South Salina Street, Syracuse police said.

Three people walked into the Cricket cell phone store on South Salina Street, across the street from the Landmark Theatre, wielding a knife, a claw hammer and what appeared to be a shotgun.

The trio robbed the business and fled on foot with a stolen iPhone and an undisclosed amount of cash from the register, police said.

Officers later found an iPhone, a claw hammer and a BB gun behind an abandoned, burned-out building, located at 2518 S. State St., police said. Officers found a 15-year-old boy on the front porch of the building.

Officers surrounded the scene, and a K-9 unit was called in to search the building.

The police dog found two people hiding in a closet. One was another 15-year-old boy. The other was identified as Israel Martin, 17, police said.

All of the weapons and proceeds from the robbery were recovered, with the exception of a small amount of the stolen cash, police said.

Both boys and Martin are being charged with first-degree robbery.

The bridge work will take place during the 2013 and 2014 construction seasons, and will meet Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Drivers First initiative to ensure that construction causes minimal impact to drivers.

Work being done on I-690 over Peat Street, in Syracuse, in 2012. Another bridge restoration project will begin on I-690 on April 1. Dick Blume/The Post Standard  

Syracuse, NY-- Crews will begin work on April 1 on 11 bridges in and around the Interstate 690 interchange with West Street, near downtown Syracuse, the New York State Department of Transportation said.

The project will make critical infrastructure improvements in the area and provide a better transportation system for motorists using the interchange, the DOT commissioner said in a statement.

The bridge work will take place during the 2013 and 2014 construction seasons, and will meet Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Drivers First initiative to ensure that construction causes minimal impact to drivers.

Nonetheless, the work is expected to create long-term detours drivers will need to be aware of, the DOT said.

Of the 11 bridges included in the project, eight will have mostly minor work done, such as deck, concrete, joint and bearing replacements. Workers will also paint steel girders and make substructure repairs.

The bridges carrying mainline eastbound and westbound I-690 over Onondaga Creek, as well as westbound I-690 over North Salina Street, will have their decks replaced with precast concrete panels. Other work will include bearing replacement, painting and substructure repairs.

Detours will be needed for all phases of work.

This year’s work includes:

Phase I:
Work areas: The right lane of the bridge carrying northbound West Street over West Genesee Street will be closed. This will prevent access from northbound West Street to eastbound I-690 and Herald Place.
Duration: Approximately six weeks, April 1 to mid-May.
Signed Detours:
• Northbound West Street to eastbound I-690: Northbound West Street ramp to westbound I-690. Exit at Geddes Street, turn left. Turn left onto ramp to eastbound I-690.
• Northbound West Street to Herald Place: Northbound West Street ramp to westbound I-690. Exit at Geddes Street, turn left. Turn left onto West Genesee Street, then continue easterly and turn left onto Wallace Street.

Phase II:
Work area: Westbound I-690 between the exit to northbound I-81 and West Street. This also requires the ramp from northbound I-81 to westbound I-690 be closed, and will prevent access to the exits for West Street and Geddes Street.
Duration: Up to two weeks, June.
Signed Detours:
• For Westbound thru traffic: Westbound I-690 to northbound I-81; continue north on I-81 to Seventh North Street (Exit 25); right turn at end of ramp; right turn onto southbound I-81; continue south to Bear Street (Exit 22). Follow service road then turn right onto Bear Street; Bear Street leads back to a ramp to westbound I-690.
• For Westbound traffic to Geddes Street: Westbound I-690 to northbound I-81; continue north on I-81 to Seventh North Street (Exit 25); right turn at end of ramp; right turn onto southbound I-81; continue south to Bear Street (Exit 22). Follow service road then turn right onto Bear Street; turn left onto Spencer Street; Spencer Street leads to Geddes Street.
• For Westbound traffic to West Street: Westbound I-690 to northbound I-81; continue north on I-81 to Seventh North Street (Exit 25); right turn at end of ramp; right turn onto southbound I-81; follow signs back to West Street (Exit 20).
• For Northbound I-81 to Westbound I-690: continue north on I-81 to Seventh North Street (Exit 25); right turn at end of ramp; right turn onto southbound I-81; continue south to Bear Street (Exit 22). Follow service road then turn right onto Bear Street; Bear Street leads back to a ramp to westbound I-690.

Motorists should be prepared for heavier than normal traffic on I-81, I-690 and surface streets in the downtown Syracuse area.

Phase III:
Work area: The center and left lanes of the bridge carrying Northbound West Street over West Genesee Street. This will prevent access from northbound West Street to Westbound I-690.
Duration: Approximately six weeks, September through October.
Signed Detour: Northbound West Street ramp to eastbound I-690, exit onto northbound Thompson Road (Exit 16N), then, staying in right lane, return to westbound I-690.

Creekwalk:
In addition to the highway restrictions shown above, the Onondaga Creekwalk will be closed between West Genesee Street and Plum Street, from March 25 to Oct. 31. This is necessary due to the construction work taking place on the bridges adjacent to and over the Creekwalk. A signed detour using North Franklin and Plum Streets will direct pedestrians and bicyclists around the work area.

The half marathon starts at 8 a.m., police said. They expect all runners to be off the streets by noon.

Syracuse, NY -- Motorists should expect minor traffic delays Sunday due to the half marathon being run in the city, Syracuse police said.

The half marathon begins at 8:00 a.m. in front of the OnCenter Complex located at 800 S. State St. More than 1000 runners are registered to attend. All runners are expected to be off the city streets by noon, police said.

South State and James streets as well as Shotwell Park and Court Street from Lyncourt to the Inner Harbor will be used by runners in the half marathon. Several downtown streets will also be used and runners will make their way back to the finish line located in front of the Oncenter Complex.

Syracuse police will assist with traffic control at several locations throughout the race.

Six of the seven lawyers Mayor Stephanie Miner has hired are the daughters of city workers or prominent Democratic politicians.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – At most workplaces, Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day comes once a year.

But at the law department in Syracuse City Hall, every day is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. The emphasis is on daughters.

Of the seven city lawyers hired since Mayor Stephanie Miner took office in January 2010, all but one are daughters of city employees or prominent Democratic politicians with ties to Miner.

In addition to those full-time lawyers, the city corporation counsel this month hired Meghan Ryan, the 26-year-old daughter of Miner’s chief of staff, Bill Ryan, to work as a part-time law clerk for $8 an hour.

And when Miner needed specialized outside legal help, she hired Terry Mannion, her husband’s son from a previous marriage, to represent the city on matters relating to Destiny USA. Mannion has billed the city for $112,612 in fees thus far.

Tim Carroll, director of mayoral initiatives, said family ties do not prevent the city’s young lawyers from doing good work. “The fact is, the new attorneys who have been hired in the law department are credentialed, and are good lawyers,’’ he said.

The hiring of at-will city employees, who serve at the discretion of the mayor, has always included an element of politics. But three former employees of the city law department, who spoke on the condition that they not be identified, said the Miner administration has been unusually political in its hiring of lawyers. “It has not always been quite that way,’’ said one.

The city law department never advertises job openings, but accepts applications on an ongoing basis, Carroll said. Miner has the final say on who gets hired.

That became clear in July 2011, when Miner revoked job offers tendered by her former corporation counsel, Juanita Perez Williams, to a husband-and-wife team from Illinois. Although Perez Williams had sent letters confirming the jobs, Miner told the couple the letters had been sent without authorization from the mayor.

Here are the lawyers hired on Miner’s watch:

Meghan McLees Craner, 29, was hired as a city lawyer in April 2010, four months after Miner named her father, veteran firefighter Mark McLees, as fire chief. Chief
McLees retired this month. McLees Craner, whose husband is also a city firefighter, is an assistant corporation counsel II at a salary of $60,000.

Shannon O’Connor, 35, was hired in September 2010, three months after she passed the bar exam and nine months after Miner promoted her father, Pete O’Connor, to commissioner of public works. Shannon O’Connor’s mother and two brothers also are city employees. Her title is assistant corporation counsel I, with a salary of $52,500.

Meghan Gaffey  

Shannon Jones, 29, was hired in August 2011. Her father, Timothy, is a city engineer. Shannon Jones is an assistant corporation counsel I, at a salary of $52,500.

Meghan Gaffey, 32, was hired in September 2011. Gaffey is the daughter of Onondaga County Judge Joseph Fahey and the step-daughter of Fahey’s wife, Terri Bright, a former corporation counsel who is a friend of Miner and a contributor to her campaign committee. Gaffey’s husband, Jim, has worked for the city since 2000. Meghan Gaffey is an assistant corporation counsel III, at a salary of $68,000.

Aimee M. Paquette, 28, was hired in November 2011. Paquette is the daughter of Syracuse lawyer Steven Paquette, former chairman of the Onondaga County Democratic Committee and former member of the state Democratic Party executive committee. Steve Paquette has contributed $1,250 to Miner’s campaign committee since 2009. When Paquette ran for surrogate court judge in 2008, Miner and her husband contributed to his campaign. Aimee Paquette is an assistant corporation counsel II, at a salary of $60,000.

Ann Magnarelli Alexander, 33, was hired in February 2012. Alexander is the daughter of Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, a longtime ally of Miner’s. Magnarelli’s campaign committee has given $1,400 to Miner’s committee since 2009. Alexander is an assistant corporation counsel III. Her salary is $70,000.

Ann Magnarelli Alexander  

The exception to the friends-and-family theme is Derrek T. Thomas, a city lawyer hired in November 2011. Thomas, 38, has no obvious political or family connections to the Miner administration. He is an assistant corporation counsel II, earning $60,000.

In addition to those seven lawyers, the department has six veteran attorneys, including Corporation Counsel Mary Anne Doherty, who were in the office when Miner arrived as mayor.

Meghan Ryan, who graduated from law school in 2012, plans to work in her part-time law clerk position until May while she awaits the results of the bar exam, Carroll said.

Doherty needed help with housing court paperwork and solicited Ryan for the job, Carroll said. “She envisioned this as something that would fill a need in her office until the bar exam results come out,’’ he said.

The job market for lawyers has grown quite competitive in recent years, because of the recession and because of trends such as off-shoring of legal work and changes in technology, experts say. The most recent American Bar Association survey of law school graduates, released in June 2012, found that only 55 percent of 2011 graduates had found full-time jobs within a year.

Carroll said Doherty has not discussed hiring Ryan as a full-time lawyer when she is admitted to the bar. “That’s not a plan,’’ Carroll said. “That’s not something that’s been talked about or decided.’’

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

Vernon W. Pedro was charged after an investigation uncovered that he was using his business as a front for a cocaine business, state police said.

Oswego, NY -- An Oswego man who allegedly used a telephone business as a front for a cocaine business was arrested on felony drug charges after the Oswego County Drug Task Force and state police executed a search warrant at his business and his home.

Around 11:36 a.m., Friday, troopers said they searched Talk to Me Communications located at 190 County Route 57, in the town of Schroeppel and the home of business owner, Vernon W. Pedro, 35, at 57 Bridge St., in Phoenix.

Scales, packaging,10 ounces of cocaine, various pills and $2,420 were found at the business and an additional half ounce of cocaine and pills were found at Pedro's home, troopers said.

Pedro was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance for the cocaine at his business and criminal possession of a controlled substance for cocaine at his home, both felonies.

He was arraigned in the town of Minetto Court and taken to the Oswego County Jail without bail.

Shaeem Grady, 27, was charged after a traffic stop where police located cocaine and a stolen handgun.

Syracuse, NY -- An illegally parked car in the city of Syracuse led to the arrest of one person and the recovery of cocaine and a stolen handgun, Syracuse police said.

Around 11:05 p.m., Friday two officers said they saw three people inside an illegally parked Chevy Impala on the 300 block of Catawba Street. When officers approached the vehicle, they immediately saw what appeared to be crack cocaine on the passengers lap, police said.

The passenger, Shaeem Grady, 27, of 274 West Borden Ave., refused to get out of the vehicle and resisted arrest, police said. When officers tried to take him out of the vehicle, Grady struggled and tried to get into the center console, police said.

During the struggle, officers saw what appeared to be a handgun sticking out of the center console. Officers overcome Grady's resistance and he was arrested.

The female driver and rear seat male passenger were both detained while police conducted their investigation. The handgun officers saw in the center console was later found to be a stolen loaded 9 mm Glock, police said.

Grady was charged with felonies criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance. He was also charged with misdemeanors criminal possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and violation of harassment.

Grady was taken to the Onondaga County Justice Center and is scheduled to be arraigned today in city court. The other two occupants in the vehicle were released without being charged, police said.

You wanted actual figuring; you got it

 

Can you meet the challenge we are setting for our children? Today is Day 7 of our nine-day experiment to see whether you are smarter than a fifth-grader in math.

Good luck and don't worry -- only your pride is at stake.

Question 7: Which equation below gives the correct value of the following sum?

A. 3/8+7/6=10/14

B. 9/24+28/24=37/24

C. 3/12+14/12=17/12

D. 3/8+14/12=17/20

» Show answer

If the first seven questions were too easy for you, remember that there are two questions left. Tune in Sunday for Question 8.

Here are the first six questions, if you missed them.
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
Question 5
Question 6

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

The accident occurred in Wawarsing in Ulster County.

WAWARSING, N.Y. (AP) — A New York driver who stopped for a turkey crossing the road inadvertently triggered a four-car crash that injured five people.

The Times Herald-Record of Middletown reports that the accident happened around 12:30 p.m. Friday in Wawarsing in Ulster County.

The sheriff's office tells the newspaper that 71-year-old Roberta Decker had stopped her Toyota to allow a turkey to cross when she was struck from behind by a minivan.

Decker's car was pushed into the opposite lane of traffic and hit a Ford. Authorities say Decker's car then spun around and hit a Volkswagen.

The driver of the Ford was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center to be treated for head injuries.

Four other people were hospitalized for treatment of injuries. They included Decker and a passenger in her car.

The state budget will include extending a temporary income tax increase on millionaires and delaying the end of a big utility tax on businesses.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York's budget that lawmakers will begin voting into law this weekend is based on their power to stop a sunset.

Two sunsets, in fact.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature are stopping the scheduled end, or sunset, of a temporary income tax increase on millionaires, and delaying the end of a big utility tax on businesses.

Those tax measures are two critical ways the budget will pay for several tax cuts and tax breaks that will mostly take effect in 2014, an election year for Cuomo and lawmakers.

Starting next week, Cuomo and lawmakers will portray the budget one that cuts taxes despite continued hard fiscal times. They alternately term it the most business-friendly, most middle class-friendly and most family-friendly budget in years.

The budget came together after closed-door negotiations and was announced Wednesday night.

Albany politicians will tell constituents that most of them will get a $350 tax rebate check next year. The officials won't likely mention it will come from part of the $6 billion in income taxes millionaires will pay over three years.

Lawmakers will also say they are phasing out over three years the onerous utility tax paid by employers who already have some of the highest energy costs in the nation, but likely won't mention the tax was supposed to end this year.

"It's not a tax-cutting budget, no way," said E.J. McMahon of the fiscally conservative Manhattan Institute. "It's an election-year check in the mailbox, pure and simple."

In Albany, resurrecting taxes about to die is just part of the deal.

The extended taxes were not only needed to pay for the tax cuts for middle class families and mostly small businesses pushed hard by the Senate's Republican conference. Republicans needed the tax cuts to agree to the Assembly Democrats' top priority of an increase in the minimum wage, according to a senior administration official who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because closed-door budget strategy isn't supposed to reach the public.

The independent Citizens Budget Commission sees this budget as extending a temporary 2009 tax increase a second time. Cuomo and legislators also struck a deal even though their own commission that is developing broader, fairer tax changes is still in the early stages of discussion. The millionaires tax wasn't scheduled to sunset until next year, but action now avoids that election year action.

The fiscal watchdog called that "the wrong message."

The tax increases come from a governor who promised to end New York's image as a high-tax state. But economic recovery is much slower and more uneven than was predicted when Cuomo and the Legislature extended the millionaires tax the first time in 2011.

Oddly, the politicians seem to be underselling one of the budget's undeniable accomplishments.

The budget keeps state spending under 2 percent again, a streak under Cuomo that was once unthinkable even in hard times, while spending by state agencies is flat. In the public sector, with its wildly rising health care, labor and pension costs, that's akin to cutting up to 8 percent.

That's no minor feat considering the budget grew from $85 billion 10 years ago to $135 billion now and had average increases in spending of 6 percent — with some hikes hitting 10 percent.

But voters should plan for a hard sell that this was a tax-cutting budget when Cuomo tours the state and legislators head back to their districts.

"The attitude of the governor and the Legislature seems to be that that they don't like the facts being written" in the press, McMahon said. "They want their spin ... but ultimately they don't care what you say and will go directly to the people and hammer them with, 'This is the best family-friendly budget in years!'"

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb of Canandaigua calls it a bad idea.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Some New York lawmakers are upset with a proposed tax credit that would benefit NBC if it moves "The Tonight Show" from California to New York City.

As reports circulated that Jimmy Fallon is poised to become the show's host, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a bill that would give a 30 percent credit to any "relocated television production" that films before a large studio audience, has a $30 million budget and has been on the air for at least five seasons.

Republican Assemblyman Jim Tedisco tells the New York Post (http://bit.ly/13kkEzi) that it is "outrageous" to be giving a tax break to a talk show while the state is preparing to cut funding for the developmentally disabled.

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb called the credit a "bad idea" on Twitter.

The rally is prelude to the "March on Albany" set for next month, officials said. Watch video

Syracuse, NY -- Hundreds protested the NY Safe Act at a rally Saturday at Syracuse Inner Harbor.

People of all ages braved the chilly weather carrying American flags, and signs saying "Impeach Cuomo" and "No Mo Cuomo" in defense of their right to bear arms, they said. They clapped and cheered and chanted over and over "Cuomo's Gotta Go."

The permit to hold the rally was obtained by Turn Albany Upside Down, an organization that grew out of Republican candidate Carl Paladino's campaign for governor in 2010.

Cuomo defeated Paladino for governor in 2010, 61 percent to 34 percent.

Upstate Republican Party, Conservative Party chairs and gun advocacy groups including Women for the Second Amendment (W2A) and The Oath Keepers of NYS also attended the rally that was a prelude to a "March on Albany" next month, they said.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., a slew of speakers, including Paladino, addressed the crowd protesting the law.

The Safe Act was the first state gun control law to be passed following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Conn. The new law, which Cuomo signed Jan. 15, sets a seven-bullet limit on magazines used outside of competitions or gun ranges, tightens the definition of illegal "assault weapons" and requires owners of formerly legal semi-automatic guns to register them.

Cuomo has said the new law "will limit gun violence through common sense, reasonable reforms that include addressing the risks posed by mentally ill people who have access to guns and banning high capacity magazines and lethal assault weapons."

Cuomo was invited to the protest but did not attend.

His popularity has fallen in recent weeks with Upstate Republicans. A poll out this week found only 3 out of 10 Upstate GOP voters approve of the way the governor is doing his job.

Richard Baum, a lawyer from Sullivan County addressed the crowd Saturday. Baum is concerned that the rights of law-abiding gun owners are being disrespected, not protected, he said.

State Conservative Party Chairman and keynote speaker Mike Long was encouraged by the crowd and urged protesters to continue to take a stand.

"I couldn't be more proud to stand here today," he said. "You're taking back your rights and letting your voices be heard."

Eric Reynolds, who drove up from Rochester with a van full of protesters, was holding a big white sign condemning the new act.

"I'm here to try to stop our government from making a big mistake," he said,"and to protect our rights that allow us to defend ourselves. Taking away our guns will not protect us, crime will increase."

Betty Gates recently got her permit, she said. Her boyfriend Don Hillman has a collection of long guns and pistols and both agree they should be given the right to own and operate their guns. They feel the law is too strict and protects criminals instead of law-abiding citizens, she said.

"Personally, I feel like if you can handle the responsibility of owning a gun, then you have to know how to take care of it," Gates said. "It's not the guns that kill people it's the people behind the guns that kill people."

Onondaga County Legislator Michael Plochocki said he fully supports a repeal. Plochocki is okay with provisions regarding the mentally ill within the law, he said, but wants to see different legislation brought to the table.

"It was passed to quickly and my hope is that this law would be repealed and there can be an open debate where all sides can be heard," he said.

Last week, state leaders said they would suspend a ban on the sale of 10-round magazines, a part of the NY Safe Act that was set to go into effect on April 15. Cuomo has agreed to the change but says it is not a roll-back of the law. Rather, he says it's a technical change to the law, which allows for shooters to load 10 bullets at competitions and ranges but seven bullets when shooting anywhere else.

Nathaniel Vivelmore, 8, stood beside his mother Miki Laubscher and his father Ray Vivelmore holding a sign that said "Sometimes I need more than seven -- I'm not a criminal."

Nathaniel, a target shooter, said he was at the rally in support of the second amendment and doesn't understand why the new law was passed.

"We have the right to bear arms," he said. "We're responsible people and I don't think that we should be punished."

Cuomo and the Legislature had once predicted the budget would be final March 21, but policy issues bogged down talks, the Associated Press reported today.

Syracuse, N.Y. -- The New York State Assembly will vote on a $141.2 billion budget Thursday, nearly a week after a self-imposed deadline to get the work done before the Passover and Easter holidays begin, the Associated Press reported today.

The New York State Senate, meanwhile, plans to begin its work Sunday afternoon and then work overnight from Monday into Tuesday to finish the law-making.

Senators can take up the three budget bills Sunday that are already printed and aged a required three days.

Assuming the remaining bills are printed today, senators would then return to work Monday and work overnight into Tuesday's early hours to finish up votes on the more controversial parts of the budget: education aid, healthcare spending, tax refunds for middle class families, a tax break for 'The Tonight Show,' and a higher minimum wage.

Cuomo and the Legislature had once predicted the budget would be final March 21, but policy issues bogged down talks. Instead of passing an extraordinarily early budget as they had planned, lawmakers now will rush to meet the April 1 deadline a few days early.

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

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Lori Bresnahan, of Liverpool, was given a Catholic funeral mass and private services, her family said in her obituary Saturday.

A Catholic Mass was said and private services held for Lori Bresnahan, of Liverpool, her family said in her obituary Saturday.

Lori Bresnahan  

Bresnahan's family thanked the community for their support and acknowledged its need to mourn. But the family also said they know the community will understand their need for privacy at this time.

Fergerson Funeral Home, in North Syracuse, has charge of the arrangements.

A director at the funeral home declined to say when, where or who attended the Catholic funeral Mass and other private services.

Donations may be made to an organization Bresnahan's family said she strongly supported: Project Children.

The organization is an American-Northern Ireland partnership dedicated to showing Protestant and Catholic kids that they have nothing to fear from each other and much to gain. It brings more than 100 children each summer from Northern Ireland to stay with host families in the United States.

Donations may also be made to the family through Community Bank: The Bresnahan Family Benefit Fund, c/o Community Bank, NA, 5966 State Route 31, Cicero, NY 13039.

Masey Zegarowski, his sister, tweeted that everyone was OK.

WCVB Boston is reporting that the home of Michael Carter Williams, a Syracuse University basketball player, caught fire Saturday night in Hamilton, Mass.

The family was watching the Syracuse men's basketball NCAA tournament game against California when the fire broke out, the Boston station reported.

» Syracuse basketball star's home goes up in flames during tournament game [WCVB.com]

Masey Zegarowski, his sister, tweeted that everyone was OK.

"Thank u everyone, everyone's fine which is all that matters ... I appreciate everyone's prayer and concerns," Zegarowski tweeted at 12:42 a.m.

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@syracuse.com or 470-2298. Follow @SarahMoses315

Accused killer and child raper underwent multiple surgeries after being born missing the lower half of his left jaw and part of his cheekbone.

Reported by Douglass Dowty, Sistina Giordano and Marnie Eisenstadt

Syracuse, N.Y. -- When he got on the school bus, girls sitting alone moved to the outside of the seat so there would be no room for him.

When Renz wanted to talk in class, first he had to cover the tracheotomy hole in his neck with his finger so people could hear him, said a friend who graduated from East Syracuse-Minoa High School with Renz.

Renz’s life was dominated by his deformity, his friends and family friends say. But now it is dominated by the unthinkable things police say he did March 14.

Renz, 29, was charged that day with kidnapping, stabbing and killing school librarian Lori Bresnahan and raping a 10-year-old girl. Police said he followed them in the parking lot of Great Northern Mall and attacked them.

Renz was already on pretrial probation for federal child pornography charges. He was charged Jan. 9 with having more than 3,000 images of children involved in sex acts on his computer. On Jan. 11, federal prosecutors and Magistrate Judge Andrew Baxter decided that Renz could be free while he waited for trial as long as he wore an electronic monitor.

Two months later, officials alleged he outsmarted the monitoring system, broke his court-ordered curfew and committed crimes that left Central New York horrified.

Renz’s old friends and people who had never heard of him wondered the same thing: What kind of person could do what police say he did?

“The kid with the weird looking face”

Renz was born missing the lower half of his left jaw and part of his cheekbone.

From infancy, fixing Renz’s face was the center of his life and his family’s. A family friend who attended the Worldwide Church of God said he remembers Renz’s parents coming to church when Renz was just a baby.

“There were always prayer requests being made for David. Week after week, surgery after surgery,” said the parishioner, who didn’t want to be identified because he was worried his house would be vandalized like Renz's mom's house was last weekend.

View full size David Renz as a teen. Provided photo  

The man and his family took care of Renz’s younger brother a few times when Renz was having surgery out of town. He said the medical condition Renz has is hereditary. Renz’s father had it along with Renz’s younger brother, but it was much less pronounced in them, said the family friend. The man said the family struggled with money in part because of Renz’s surgeries.

Renz’s sister, who also has the hereditary condition, described it her MySpace page. She didn’t have jaw-lengthening surgery, she wrote. David Renz did.

“They go in and break or cut the bone and put metal screws into the 2 pieces of lower jaw bones. The screws have to be turned so much each day rebreaking the new bone that has grown,” she wrote. Those screws would have been visible on Renz’s face, she wrote.

But David Renz had another story he told kids: It was a car accident that made his face the way it was, said his friend from grade school.

“He would always be gone for weeks at a time, missing school, all for reconstructive facial surgeries,” said that friend, who kept in touch with Renz until around the time of his arrest in January. “He used to look 20 times worse than how he looks now.”

One of his first memories of Renz is the boy putting his hand up in class to talk, then the entire class staring as he put his hand over his throat so he could be heard. The tracheotomy hole was closed up in a surgery later in elementary school, said another family friend.

When it was time to be picked for anything, Renz was always last, the friend said. “He would be the last to be called for when we played sports in gym. He was the last one who would find a partner for reading time or whatever it was,” said the friend.

Like everyone else contacted for this story, that friend couldn’t imagine what happened to Renz or where his life turned from the polite computer guy to a monster.

The “smart kid”

As far back as grade school, Renz loved computers.

Gloria Kyser, who took care of Renz after school, said Renz knew how to work a computer better than most adults.

At 8, he was a computer whiz, Kyser said, and had four computers of his own. But he lived in a cluttered trailer in Cicero that looked like something out of the TV show “Hoarders,” she said. And his parents’ religion kept Renz from celebrating Christmas and birthdays, she said.

Their church, Worldwide Church of God, is a fundamentalist Christian group that doesn't celebrate Christmas and celebrates the Sabbath on Saturday instead of Sunday.

Kyser's son, Todd, and Renz were an unlikely match. Todd – who declined to be interviewed - was big and popular. Renz was small and quiet. Kyser never recalled Renz having a girlfriend. Through at least middle school, he never went to the school dances, she said.

He talked about computers. He liked being the one with the answers, Kyser said. Renz helped Todd with algebra when he struggled.

Renz also played in school bands in the percussion section. And he was an incessant air drummer, said his school friend.That friend, who was in advanced math, science, social studies and English classes with Renz throughout junior high and high school, said he and Renz were always done with their work before everyone else, so they’d goof off on computers.

View full size David Renz's high school yearbook photo. Provided photo  

Janice Dowling, the principal at East-Syracuse Minoa High School when Renz went there, recalled him as a bright kid who took advanced placement courses in several subjects. Though he’d had many surgeries by that point, she said his facial deformity was still pronounced.

She said he was never in trouble and was a bit of a loner, but not unlike other bright kids.

Renz graduated from high school in 2001. In the fall of that year, his father dropped dead of a heart attack at age 56.

“The Blank Slate”

Renz went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2002 to 2005. The school is well known for its computer science and engineering programs. Renz was in the materials engineering program there. No one would say why he left.

According to Renz’s Facebook page, he began working at the James Street Wegmans in 2004. When he left after being charged early this year with possessing child pornography, Renz had risen to an assistant manager, according to Renz’s Facebook page.

A Wegmans worker, who didn’t want to be identified, said Renz was a quiet guy who did his job. He worked the podium in the center of the store – helping cashiers and customers. In the break room, Renz usually read while everyone else watched ESPN.

Renz attended OCC studying computer science for two semesters: Fall 2006 and Spring 2007.

That was around the same time that Renz began collecting child pornography, according to the criminal complaint against him in federal court.

There is an indication that Renz got into trouble when he was a teen. According to a report on CNY Central, Renz had another victim. She was 9 at the time and Renz was 15. He had her sit on his lap while he masturbated, according to the news report.

Her case was investigated by the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office abused person’s unit, she said, and it went through the family court system. Renz had to go to counseling at the Huntington Center and his church, according to the report.

In 2011, Renz graduated with a degree in computer science from SUNY Oswego. He graduated with honors, but professors there did not remember him as exceptional, a professor said.

“He’s a bit of a blank slate to us,” said the professor, who didn’t want to be named. He said Renz was on campus the minimum amount of time he had to be. He came to class and spent as little time in the lab as he needed to. The professor remembered that he struggled when he had to give oral presentations.

“The Shadylizard”

On his Facebook page, Renz’s favorite quote is about isolation: “While some build walls to protect themselves, others build walls to see who's willing to break through them.”

View full size David Renz's mug shot from March 14. Provided photo  

On MySpace, Renz calls himself “The Shadylizard.” And describes himself this way: “To sum me up, I’m short, funny and Asian … although everyone from (Illinois) says I’m angry. Enjoy the rest.”

Renz’s mom’s family are of Japanese descent from Hawaii.

His profile says he’s 5-foot-3 and looking for a relationship with a woman.
Renz has numerous photos on MySpace of him playing paintball, including an image of him on a team. Few of the photos show Renz’s face clearly.

His favorite song is “Indestructible” by Disturbed. It talks about surviving war and battle, winning against all odds. “Take a last look around while you're alive, I'm an indestructible, Master of war.”

But now, Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputies are worried that Renz will die by his own hand before he can be tried for what police say he did. He’s on 24-hour suicide watch at the Justice Center Jail.

Contact Marnie Eisenstadt at meisenstadt@syracuse.com or 315-470-2246. Contact Douglass Dowty at 315-470-6070 or ddowty@syracuse.com.

Beware: This one's not multiple choice

 

Can you meet the challenge we are setting for our children? Today is Day 8 of our nine-day experiment of using sample questions to see whether you are smarter than a fifth-grader in math.

Good luck and don't worry -- only your pride is at stake.

Question 8: Carson needs to purchase 5.6 meters of tape for a project. If each roll of tape contains 80 cm and costs $5, what is the total cost of the tape that Carson must buy?

Show all work.

Answer: $ ______________

» Show answer

If the first eight questions were too easy for you, maybe the final question will stump you. Tune in Monday for Question 9.

Here are the first seven questions, if you missed them.
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
Question 5
Question 6
Question 7

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

After months of working after school and on Saturdays, teens head to the National Society of Black Engineers convention in Indianapolis.

View full size Jevon Jones and Davon Howard test drive their remote-control model cars at Nottingham High School Friday. Kevin Rivoli | krivoli@syracuse.com  

Syracuse -- Twelve-year-old Christian Curry didn’t hesitate when he was asked why he spends so many weekday afternoons and Saturdays working on an engineering project at school.

Otherwise, he said, he’d probably be playing basketball, and where would that get him?

“The chances of anyone getting into the NBA are slim, but the architecture field is wide open,” he said. “I’ve actually done research on it, and there will be a 25 to 30 percent increase in jobs by the time I graduate college.”

The seventh-grader spoke as his seven teammates continued their work on the project that will bring them to Indianapolis tonight for a week of learning and competition at the annual convention of the National Society of Black Engineers.

The team, made up of seventh- and eighth-graders from across the district, will compete in a series of challenges centering on model race cars they modified from kits funded by the NSBE and the U.S. Army.

The project has brought the eight students into Nottingham science teacher Gwen Raeford’s classroom after school and on Saturdays for months. Friday, Raeford and Frazier Middle School teacher Rob Woolery were there to supervise. Saturdays, they are joined by volunteers from the Syracuse University NSBE chapter.

In all, 44 Syracuse school district students will travel to Indianapolis, with middle- and high school teams competing in a variety of events, including the race car challenge, robotics, math and science. If they do well, they will move on to further competition in Charlotte, N.C., in May.

Nottingham Vice Principal Ken Baxter said the competitions focus on science, technology, engineering and math, but they are about more than that.

“Our focus is STEM, but really it’s about building kids and professionalism,” he said.

View full size Students Davon Howard, left, and Keisean Carswell work on the cars Friday. Kevin Rivoli | krivoli@syracuse.com  

The racing car team, for instance, will be judged not just on the speed and agility of the cars, but on their research – which includes an effort to charge their cars’ batteries with energy derived from willows; an extensive website; a business plan including business cards, a logo and letterhead; and public presentations.

The trip will include a college fair and a tour of Purdue University.

Syracuse students have been going to the NSBE convention for more than a decade, and Baxter said it is a huge eye-opener for them. Although the organization and competitions are not restricted to African-Americans, the convention is filled with thousands of successful black students, scholars and business people.

“The look their faces is worth its weight in gold,” Baxter said of Syracuse students who attend. “They can see that ‘I too can be successful – I don’t have to be subject to my environment.’ ”

Curry, a seventh-grader at Roberts Pre-K-8 School, doesn’t need much convincing. He was drawn to the technical fields at the age of 9, when he and his uncle were rooting through Curry’s attic. They found brief cases filled with blueprints, drawings and drawing tools that had belonged to the boy’s great-grandfather, a New York City architectural draftsman.

The fourth-grader was fascinated, and started doing his own house designs on construction paper.

Last year a teacher saw his interest and recommended him for the district’s NSBE chapter.

He’s got his future mapped out. His college choices are Syracuse (excellent architecture program), Stanford (great all-around school) and North Carolina (awesome basketball team). Then he’ll go into the field, with the ultimate goal of running his own architectural firm.

“I want to be on the creative side and I also want to be on the management side,” he said.

Curry said his friends support his goals; after all, they have ambitions of their own.

“I like positive influences around me,” he said.

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

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which runs Foxwoods Resort Casino, is receiving more than $4.5 million per year from the U.S. government.

LEDYARD, Conn. (AP) — Once the envy of Indian Country for its billion-dollar casino empire, the tribe that owns the Foxwoods Resort Casino has been struggling through a financial crisis and pursuing more revenue from an unlikely source: U.S. government grants.

The money provided annually to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation through the Interior Department and the Department of Health and Human Services has risen over the last five years to more than $4.5 million, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act. One former tribal employee says department leaders were encouraged to offset dwindling resources by seeking more federal grants.

The Pequots, who once distributed stipends exceeding $100,000 annually to adult members, are not alone among gaming tribes seeking more federal aid. Several, including the owner of Foxwoods' rival Connecticut casino, the Mohegan Sun, say they have been pursuing more grants — a trend that critics find galling because the law that gave rise to Indian casinos was intended to help tribes become financially self-sufficient.

"The whole purpose of the 1988 law which authorized Indian casinos was to help federally-recognized tribes raise money to run their governments by building casinos on their reservations," said Robert Steele, a former Congressman from Connecticut. "I would argue strongly that federal money was meant for struggling tribes. Certainly the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans couldn't under any circumstances be put in that category."

As long as they have federal recognition, casino-owning tribes are eligible for the same grant programs as the larger tribes based on large, poverty-stricken reservations in the American West. The grants, which don't need to be paid back, support tribal governments by paying for programs such as health screenings, road maintenance and environmental preservation.

"The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is proud of the work they do with the use of federal funds when it comes to assisting the region and fellow Native Americans," said Bill Satti, a tribal spokesman, who said the grants have supported the tribe's medical clinic and repair work on local roadways.

Thomas Weissmuller, who was chief judge of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court until 2011, said that near the end of his tenure the tribal council said they had distributed too much money to members and urged department leaders to pursue more federal grants. He said there was resistance from some council members, who raised questions about the effects on sovereignty, but he was personally encouraged to pursue grants by officials including the tribal chairman, Rodney Butler.

Weissmuller said he was not comfortable seeking such assistance for the tribal court system because most of the issues it dealt with were related to the casino, which is essentially a commercial enterprise.

"A billion-dollar gaming enterprise should fully fund the tribal government," said Weissmuller, who said that he was forced out of the job by tribal officials who told him he did not appear to have the tribe's interests at heart on other matters.

The reversal of fortunes for the Pequots began around 2008, when Foxwoods completed a major, costly expansion with the 30-story MGM Grand hotel and casino just as the recession began to show its teeth. The following year the tribe defaulted on debt exceeding $2 billion.

Since then, the tribe of some 900 people in rural southeastern Connecticut has ended its member stipends. The Pequots have kept some other benefits in place, covering payments for members pursuing higher education and offering supplemental pay for tribal members taking entry-level jobs at the casino.

The federal grants provided to the Pequots through the Interior Department and its Bureau of Indian Affairs, meanwhile, rose from $1 million in 2008 to $2.7 million in 2011, with partial records for 2012 showing $1.7 million in grants for the year. Grants provided to the Pequots through the Indian Health Service, a division of Health and Human Services, increased gradually from $1.7 million in 2008 to $1.9 million in 2012. That money is to support health care services such as community health, nutrition, substance abuse treatment and pharmacy services.

The federal money opened the door to scrutiny by the FBI, whose investigation of tribal finances led to the January indictments of the tribe's treasurer, Steven Thomas, and his brother Michael Thomas, a former tribal chairman. The two are accused of stealing a combined $800,000 in tribal money and federal grants. The tribal council has expressed full confidence in its treasurer.

Mohegan Tribe officials said they took pride in refusing federal grants for years, in acknowledgment that there were needier tribes. But tribal officials said they had relaxed that position as their Mohegan Sun casino, like Foxwoods, has faced growing gambling competition from neighboring states.

"It's a sign of the times. Everybody is" seeking grants, Mohegan Chairman Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum said. "There's some that we qualify for and it helps us to keep everybody healthy and working. At the end of the day, why shouldn't we apply for it? If we get approved, it's always for a good cause, usually health or jobs created."

Tribal officials said they receive modest grants to contribute to the cost of health care for their 2,000 members.

The tribe that owns the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Michigan, one of the country's largest Indian casinos outside of Connecticut, has been aggressively pursuing grants in areas including environmental protection and health services as it struggles with the weak economy, according to Sylvia Murray, grants and contracts manager for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.

Sam Deloria, director of the American Indian Graduate Center in Albuquerque, N.M., said he has no issue with tribes pursuing grants for which they are eligible. It's no different, he said, from the state of Alaska participating in federal programs despite the annual payouts to residents from the state's oil savings account.

As the federal money reflects financial distress for gaming tribes, however, he does worry that their struggles ultimately could have a ripple effect throughout Indian Country and affect the ability of tribes to participate in the marketplace.

"It has got to raise a set of issues that either in the courts, or in the Congress, or in the marketplace, eventually it will get people looking at tribal participation in business in a different light," he said.

A signed detour using North Franklin and Plum streets will direct pedestrians and bicyclists around the work area.

Syracuse, NY -- A section of the Onondaga Creekwalk will be closed between West Genesee and Plum streets from Monday to Oct. 31 due to construction work taking place on the bridges adjacent to and over the Creekwalk.

The New York State Department of Transportation recently announced numerous highway restrictions due to the construction. Repair work will take place on 11 bridges in and around the Interstate 690 interchange with West Street, near downtown Syracuse.

The Onondaga Creekwalk runs along the creek from Armory Square to Onondaga Lake. The expanding trail network extends along the lake's eastern and western shore, and could eventually loop all the way around.

A signed detour using North Franklin and Plum streets will direct pedestrians and bicyclists around the work area.

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@syracuse.com or 470-2298. Follow @SarahMoses315