Jason Morini was indicted on a charge of predatory sex abuse against a child.

Syracuse, NY -- A West Monroe man is accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a girl starting in 2012 when she was 8 years old.

Jason Morini, 31, of 10 Shaw Road, was accused of molesting the girl, now 10, from August 2012 to January 2014 in Cicero, according to an indictment filed last week.

He faces predatory sexual assault against a child and course of sexual conduct against a child charges. The "course of sexual conduct" means that it happened repeatedly.

Morini faces up to 25 years in prison on the predatory sex assault charge.

Morini was arrested Jan. 29 by Onondaga County sheriff's deputies. He was arraigned this morning before County Court Judge Thomas J. Miller. He remains in jail with bail set at $100,000.

Federal funding cut by $100 million over the past four years.

MANLIUS, N.Y. -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer visited Fayetteville-Manlius High School today to draw attention to steep cuts in federal anti-violence aid and security programs for schools.

Schumer, D-N.Y., said federal funding for school safety programs has declined by more than $100 million over the past four years, even in the wake of mass school shootings like the one in Sandy Hook, Conn., in December 2012.

The senator said the cutbacks force school districts like Fayetteville-Manlius to take money away from education programs if they want to improve security by adding school safety officers, training programs and new safety technology.

He noted that Fayetteville-Manlius High School had two security breaches by intruders in the past year. On Dec. 12, an unidentified man was spotted in the school after hours, and on Dec. 2 intruders stole more than $7,000 worth of items from the girls' locker room.

In the latter incident, two former F-M students were arrested and charged in connection with the thefts after allegedly gaining access to the high school by walking in with incoming students.

In response, the school district tightened security at all of its buildings, closing all but a single secure entrance to the high school and middle school after regular school hours. F-M's three elementary school buildings are locked with no entry after school unless an event is scheduled.

Schumer, speaking at a news conference at the high school, said he asked the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice to restore some of the money cut in recent years for safety programs.

In one example of the federal funding cuts, the Department of Justice eliminated its "Secure Our Schools" grant program. The grants paid for metal detectors, locks, lighting and other security programs in schools.

Fayetteville-Manlius School Superintendent Corliss Kaiser and Syracuse School Superintendent Sharon Contreras were among top school officials from across Central New York who joined Schumer at the high school today.

Kaiser said FM would like to add a new secure point of entry at the high school and security cameras, but lacks the money to pay for the project.

"As a parent, I know that the safety, health, and success of our children are always at the front of the mind," Schumer said. "Sandy Hook, Columbine and the recent incident in Murrysville are national tragedies, and they remind us that we simply must invest more, not less, to keep our children safe at school."

He added, "Sadly, federal support for school safety initiatives has declined steeply over the past few years, putting a strain on local school budgets and leaving important safety projects unfunded."

Contact Mark Weiner at mweiner@syracuse.com or 571-970-3751. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWeinerDC

"Stay safe, be smart, and have fun Dolphins," the school's official Twitter account said. Watch video

"Everyone is friends on Dolphy Day," Le Moyne College student Colleen Fagan wrote on Twitter Monday.

The sentiment appears universal at Dolphy Day 2014, where the campus is filled with students enjoying the unusually warm weather in Syracuse before snow invades the forecast Tuesday. Many classes are canceled, and students are often not penalized for skipping classes that are still scheduled, Le Moyne spokesman Joe Della Posta told syracuse.com last year.

This year's celebration includes Can Jam, bounce houses, bubbles, barbecue, live music and t-shirts that say "For a short while I drank like a Dolphin." The festivities began late Sunday night with fireworks over the quad after this year's student "Wizard," 21-year-old Tom Barrett of Newark, N.J., announced Monday would be Dolphy Day.

The annual event began in 1971 as a "spontaneous celebration" of the first warm day of classes in the spring, according to Le Moyne's website. Dolphy Day is named after jazz musician Eric Dolphy, who has no connections to Le Moyne but was popular on campus in the '60s and '70s and had a name similar to the school's mascot, the Green Dolphins.

» Dolphy Day at Le Moyne: 'We may be Jesuit but we know how to turn up'

 

"Stay safe, be smart, and have fun Dolphins," the school's official Twitter account said Monday morning.

See more #DolphyDay photos from Twitter and Instagram:

It's dolphy daayyyyy pic.twitter.com/rkmxkAIb6i

— Alex Breitenstine (@Alex_AboutIt) April 14, 2014

#DolphyDay pic.twitter.com/iKtIxww8Ud

— Nick Tabone (@ntabone27) April 14, 2014

It's the most wonderful time of the year #DolphyDay #Magical #FireWorks #HiTinyDancer #nofilter pic.twitter.com/9k64ou8mO2

— sara (@S_Luczak) April 14, 2014

Police find the bodies of those babies plus that of a seventh, stillborn child in Megan Huntsman's garage.

PROVO, Utah -- Authorities say a Utah woman accused of killing six babies that she gave birth to over 10 years told investigators that she either strangled or suffocated the children and then put them inside boxes in her garage.

According to a probable cause statement released by police Monday, Megan Huntsman said that between 1996 and 2006, she gave birth to at least seven babies at her home and that all but one of them were born alive.

Huntsman, 39, said she killed them immediately after they were born, and put their bodies inside the boxes. The statement said each baby was wrapped in either a towel or a shirt, and placed in a plastic bag.

Huntsman is being held on $6 million bail -- $1 million for each baby she's accused of killing. It wasn't immediately clear if she had an attorney.

Huntsman was arrested Sunday on six counts of murder after police found the infants' tiny bodies. A seventh baby found appears to have been stillborn, Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Buhman said.

Formal charges have not yet been filed against Huntsman and no other arrests have been made but Buhman said the investigation remains open.

Investigators were trying to determine if the seven babies had the same father or multiple fathers, Buhman said.

The gruesome case has raised a series of questions about how the killings occurred despite Huntsman carrying out what neighbors said seemed like a normal existence. Police declined to comment on a motive and on what Huntsman said during an interview with investigators.

Her estranged husband found the first infant's body while cleaning out the garage after recently getting out of prison. Authorities do not believe he was aware of the killings and he isn't a person of interest at this time.

Police Capt. Michael Roberts said officers responded to a call from him Saturday about a dead infant, and then they found the six other bodies.

Family and neighbors identified the estranged husband as Darren West, who has been in prison on drug-related charges.

Roberts said police believe West and Huntsman were together when the babies were born.

"We don't believe he had any knowledge of the situation," Roberts told The Associated Press

Asked how West could not have known about the situation, Roberts replied, "That's the million-dollar question. Amazing."

The babies' bodies were sent to the Utah medical examiner's office for tests, including one to determine the cause of death. DNA samples taken from the suspect and her husband will determine definitively whether the two are the parents, as investigators believe.

Huntsman also has three daughters -- one teenager and two young adults -- who lived at the house.

Neighbors in the middle-class neighborhood of mostly older homes 35 miles south of Salt Lake City say they were shocked by the accusations and perplexed that the woman's older children still living in the home didn't know their mother was pregnant or notice anything suspicious.

Late Sunday, West's family issued a statement saying they were in a "state of shock and confusion."

"We are mourning this tragic loss of life and we are trying to stay strong and help each other through this awful event," the statement said before asking for privacy.

West pleaded guilty in federal court in 2005 to two counts of possessing chemicals intended to be used in manufacturing methamphetamine, court records show. In August 2006, he was sentenced to 9 years in prison, but appealed the term three times. He maintained his innocence and said he never had any intention to manufacture meth.

West's sister Sarah Wright wrote to federal district court in 2006, saying West is a good father to his three daughters. She said he worked at an excavation company for 11 years and is an avid outdoorsman who likes to fish and camp.

"Darren is such an awesome dad," she wrote.

Neighbors told the AP they were shocked and horrified by the accusations of what went on inside the home. None of them even knew Huntsman was pregnant in recent years.

The family members seemed like nice people and good neighbors, said Aaron and Kathie Hawker, who lives next door.

Huntsman moved out several years ago, leaving her three daughters to live alone, the Hawkers said. They weren't sure where Huntsman has since been living.

Years ago, Huntsman baby-sat the Hawker grandchildren and they were friendly with each other.

"It makes us so sad, we want to cry," Kathie Hawker said. "We enjoyed having them as a neighbor. This has just blown us away."

Aaron Hawker said he talked with West on Saturday morning. He told Hawker he was cleaning out the mess in the garage.

"Two hours later, suddenly we had all these policemen here," Aaron Hawker said.

Fred Newman, a neighbor whose cousin is the husband's mother, said he's perplexed how the three oldest daughters living there didn't know about what police say was going on. He said the girls didn't always park their cars in the garage, but did sometimes in the cold winter months.

He said he has used his snow-blower to clean off the driveway of the home and the young women would thank him.

The girls were normal youngsters, coming and going often, neighbor Vickie Nelson said.

"It's shocking and kind of morbid and strange," Nelson said as he looked across the street at the garage from her from lawn.

Roberts said the case has been "emotionally draining" and upsetting to investigators. He was at the home when the bodies were discovered.

"My personal reaction? Just shocked. Couldn't believe it. The other officers felt the same," the 19-year police veteran said.

"They got more and more shocked each box they opened," Roberts said.

The Syracuse Technology Garden is leasing 18,000-square-feet of space at nearby AXA Towers, providing more room for tech startups.

Syracuse, N.Y. — The Syracuse Technology Garden, which provides inexpensive office space for startup technology companies, is expanding into the nearby AXA Towers.

The business incubator is renting 18,300 square feet of space on the ground floor of AXA Tower 1, a short walk across AXA's plaza from the Tech Garden. That's a 55 percent increase in the space the incubator has for young tech companies.

"We just got the keys two weeks ago," said Seth Mulligan, vice president for innovation services at CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity. "We hope to begin moving in tenants in the middle of the month."

The Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce opened the facility at South Warren and Harrison streets in December 2004. It provides inexpensive rents and allows tenants to share conference rooms and multimedia equipment. But the facility struggled in its early years to fill its space.

It struggled financially, too. The city of Syracuse stepped in and paid a $217,000 electric bill that the facility had rung up by early 2010.

Things changed when the chamber and the Metropolitan Development Association merged later in 2010 and CenterState, the resulting organization, implemented a more robust set of support programs for businesses at the incubator. It also created what it calls the Student Sandbox, summer office space reserved for companies started by student entrepreneurs.

In early 2011, the facility had 24 business tenants and a 25 percent vacancy rate, Mulligan said. Its space is now full with 31 year-round tenants, plus 25 to 30 student-run companies that call the Tech Garden home during the summer, he said.

CenterState President Robert Simpson said the facility has been full for 26 consecutive months. And more than half of the new space at AXA Tower is already committed to new companies, he said.

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's remarks today focused on highlights of the 2014-15 state budget.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Mayor Stephanie Miner dropped by the CenterState CEO annual luncheon today, a collection of nearly 1,000 business leaders from Central New York gathered to talk economic development.

But by the time Gov. Andrew Cuomo began speaking shortly after the lights dimmed and people dug into their grilled chicken salad, Miner had left the building.

"The mayor is very busy," said her spokesman Alexander Marion. "She had other things to do back at the office."

Cuomo never mentioned Miner, a Democrat he picked nearly two years ago to co-head the state party, during his 30-minute address to the group at the Oncenter's Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center.

Cuomo did mention several other local leaders, including Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida, CenterState CEO Director Rob Simpson, and Syracuse University's newly inaugurated chancellor, Kent Syverud.

And "your phenomenal County Executive" Joanie Mahoney, Cuomo said, of one of his closest political and government allies in Central New York.

Cuomo and Miner have had an icy relationship since last year when she wrote an op-ed column in The New York Times criticizing his efforts to help fiscally challenged cities like Syracuse.

Cuomo's remarks focused on the state budget, a $143 billion plan he and lawmakers approved late last month. He's made similar victory speeches around the state since signing the spending plan - which includes some property tax relief tied to local government consolidation - into law.

After the speech, Cuomo didn't take questions from the press. His staff said his schedule in Syracuse was tight and that the speech started late.

The luncheon cost $65 to $80 per person, or $625 to $775 per table of 10 seats, according to CenterState's website.

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

An expansion has created 173 jobs and helped to preserve 117 existing ones at Felix Schoeller in Pulaski.

This story has been updated.

Pulaski, N.Y. — An expansion at the Felix Schoeller paper company has created 173 jobs, more than doubling the company's workforce in the northern Oswego County community of Pulaski.

Jason Conwall, a spokesman for the state's economic development office, said the expansion helped the German-based company retain 117 existing jobs while creating the 173 new ones over the past year.

"This commitment by Felix Schoeller not only creates jobs — it speaks volumes about the business community's confidence in Central New York and our ability to be globally competitive," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement Monday.

Cuomo said the expansion occurred after Felix Schoeller negotiated a new contract with a major manufacturing company. The contract resulted in the relocation of a paper conversion operation from out of state to the Felix Schoeller facility in Pulaski, he said.

Empire State Development, the state's economic development office, said it is is providing Felix Schoeller with more than $650,000 in Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits to assist the company with the purchase of machinery and equipment and other project-related costs required to accommodate the new paper converting contract. The tax credits also will help offset out-of-state incentives, it said.

State officials said the company has exceeded the number of required new jobs to receive the tax credits.

About seven years ago, Felix Schoeller transitioned from a papermill to a converting company, taking raw paper and converting it into specialty paper products such as high-quality imaging papers for photographic and digital printing applications.

At that time, the company ceased all major operations in Pulaski, focusing on converting papers that are made at other Felix Schoeller locations outside the United States.

State officials said the new contract has resulted in a significant growth in business for the Pulaski plant and the ability to accommodate future business.

"This expansion does not only solidify our presence in Pulaski, but sets a good basis for future growth," Michael Szidat, president and CEO of Felix Schoeller North America, said in a statement.

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148

No crime was committed, police said.

Onondaga, NY -- Three boys accidentally started the fire Sunday evening in a wooded area behind houses in the town of Onondaga's Brittany Hills subdivision, police and fire investigators determined.

The fire -- at the top of a hill behind Shaw Terrace and Kingsford Terrace -- was the result of an improper burn that got out of control, said Ken Wisely, commissioner of Onondaga County Emergency Management.

Flames grew to about the size of a football field after someone called 911 to report the the outdoor fire about 6:15 p.m. Sunday, firefighters said.

Volunteers from the Onondaga Hill, Taunton and South Onondaga fire departments were able to get the blaze under control relatively quickly, but they remained at the scene for about two hours to make sure they didn't leave any embers that could cause the fire to reignite, Wisely said. No injuries were reported and the fire did not spread to nearby homes, firefighters said.

After Sunday's fire, firefighters said they wanted to remind residents that residential brush burning in towns with fewer than 20,000 residents is prohibited in New York state through May 14.

"Reducing fire risks is critical to protecting lives and natural resources, and preventing damage to homes due to wildfires," state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens said in a news release. "Prohibiting residential burning during the high-risk spring fire season significantly decreases the number of fires. As the weather turns warmer, we urge residents to abide by the ban and make safety a priority."

Violators of the state's burn ban can face criminal and civil enforcement citations, with a minimum fine of $500 for a first offense, according to the DEC.

Onondaga County sheriff's deputies and a fire investigator at the scene determined three boys started the outdoor fire Sunday in the town of Onondaga, but said it was accidental, sheriff's Deputy Herb Wiggins said.

"... The fire was not started with malicious intent," Wiggins said, "and no crime had been committed."

It's not likely the town will use the money for tax rebates, the supervisor said.

Marcellus, NY -- The state comptroller's office says Marcellus has $2.9 million in extra cash, but town officials say the money isn't laying in piles around in town hall.

It's in the bank awaiting to be assigned to 24 special town districts, said Supervisor Mary Jo Paul. "Much of that money, when all is said and done, is going to show up as being already spoken for in these accounts," she said.

A state audit of the town supervisor's reports and records released in March shows that Marcellus had $2.96 million in cash at the end of December 2012. So much money that it represented 81 percent of the 2013 budget of $3.65 million, the comptroller's report said.

The money was cash leftover after all the bills were paid. It built up year after year for 20 to 30 years, officials said.

The town is determining how much money is in each individual fund and how much extra to carry in reserve for each fund, Paul said.

Once all that's done, it's likely there will be some money left over, the supervisor said. In that case the town has several options, she said. The board could decide to place the extra in a capital reserve fund to build a new town hall or garage, or it could be used over several years to offset any tax increases, Paul said.

It's not likely that residents will receive any tax rebate checks, she said.

Marcellus took a big step toward balancing its books recently when the Comptroller's Office approved the town's 2010 end of the year financial report, Paul said. With that as a baseline, the town should pretty quickly be able to balance the books for 2011, 2012 and 2013, she said.

"When the books are finally balanced, the town will then know exactly how much is in each fund and how much surplus really exists," Paul said.

Contact Charley Hannagan by phone or text at 315-470-2161, by email at channagan@syracuse.com, on Facebook at Neighbors West or on Twitter @charleypost.

Fayetteville's Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014, also invited to White House Easter Egg Roll.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Former Syracuse University basketball point guard Michael Carter-Williams and former SU football great Dwight Freeney of the San Diego Chargers are among more than 50 active and retired sports stars invited to the White House next week for the 2014 Easter Egg Roll.

The White House said this afternoon that the two former Orange stars have agreed to participate in the April 21 event on the South Lawn of the White House in support of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign to promote health and wellness.

The athletes will have company from one other person with ties to Central New York: Fayetteville's Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014, will be included in the talent lineup. She will be joined by 12-year-old singing sensation Cam Anthony, the White House said.

The Easter Egg Roll is a 136-year-old tradition that is the largest annual event at the White House. More than 30,000 people are expected to attend this year. Tickets were distributed through an online lottery open to residents of all 50 states.

This year's event will have the theme, "Hop into Healthy, Swing into Shape." It will include live music, sports courts, cooking stations, storytelling and Easter egg rolling.

Contact Mark Weiner at mweiner@syracuse.com or 571-970-3751. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWeinerDC

The "Raise the Roof" benefit designed to help the United Methodist Church of Manlius pay for a new roof was a huge success, organizers say.

More than 320 people showed up at a benefit to help raise money for the Manlius United Methodist Church, which had more than $600,00 taken from its endowment fund.

The benefit at the Cavalry Club in Manlius last Saturday raised $8,100, and more donations are coming in, said organizer Brian Ogborn.

"We had a tremendous turnout, and people were very generous,'' he said. "We are so appreciative, and this will help us a lot."

Church officials and members were shocked to learn in late 2012 the fund had been nearly drained. An investigation lead to the arrest of two trusted church members who handled the church's finances. The two await a trial now set for June 23.

The loss left the church so broke that they had to take out a loan to replace their leaking roof. The roof cost nearly $29,000, and with Saturday's event the church now has only about $6,000 left to pay off, Ogborn said.

"Everyone really rallied around us, and it was a huge success,'' Ogborn said.

Ogborn said more than 30 businesses the Fayetteville-Manlius area donated items and certificates for the silent auction and raffle.

The two charged in connection with the thefts - John Osborn, who chaired the church's finance committee, and his wife, Mary Meyer, the church treasurer - are scheduled to go to trial June 23, according to Onondaga Chief Assistant District Attorney Beth Van Doren. The couple faces three counts of grand larceny, and could face decades in prison if convicted at trial.

Prosecutors said at the time the couple was charged said this is one of the worst cases of theft in recent history particularly because the church has such faith in the couple.

"We are just moving forward now,'' Ogborn said.

Donations are still being accepted for the "Raise the Roof" fund at the church, P.O. Box177, Manlius, NY 13104

Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee thinks it does, while astronomers await a rare but more mundane lunar eclipse tetrad to start.

Does Tuesday's "blood moon" lunar eclipse signal that some sort of earth-shaking event is nigh?

John Hagee thinks so. Hagee, the pastor of the Cornerstone megachurch in San Antonio, is telling his congregation that the four straight "blood moon" eclipses that begin with tonight's eclipse signal that "something is about to change," mySanAntonio.com reports.

"I believe that the heavens are God's billboard, that he has been sending signals to planet Earth and we just haven't been picking them up," Hagee says in a YouTube video that promotes his idea and his book, "Four Blood Moons: Something Is About to Change."

Regardless of potential spiritual cues, the eclipse that begins shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday signals the beginning of a rare celestial event -- it is the first of four total lunar eclipses taking place every six months between now and October 2015, a series astronomers call a tetrad.

An eclipse takes place at full moon when the moon crosses into Earth's shadow. It doesn't happen every full moon because of the way the moon's orbit around Earth is inclined.

It's also rare for the moon to creep into the darkest part of the Earth's shadow, the umbra, during four eclipses in a row. These tetrads run in 585-year cycles, in patterns so uneven that there was none between 1600 and 1900, ABC News reports. The tetrad beginning tonight is the first of nine in this century, according to USA Today.
The next one begins in 2032.

The moon's disk won't be blacked out. Instead, it will turn a shade of red.

The red hue "is the projection of all the sunsets on the Earth projected onto the face of the moon. It's going to be quite spectacular and very beautiful." Dr. Noah Petro, a scientist with NASA, told The Christian Science Monitor. The red shade is the origin of the term "blood moon," according to Petro.

To Hagee, this blood moon cycle is significant because the four eclipses all will take place during Jewish holidays. Tonight's takes place during Passover. The eclipse on Oct. 8 will come during the Feast of the Tabernacles. Next year's lunar eclipses, on April 4 and Sept. 28, also will take place during Passover and the Feast of the Tabernacles.

"To have four and have them fall on these exact dates is something that has to be beyond coincidental," Hagee told the Daily Express.

Coincidence or not, Central New Yorkers likely will miss out on the celestial show. AccuWeather's overnight forecast calls for cloudy skies with thunderstorms about 1 a.m., just when the eclipse is to begin.

But if you want to take a chance, here's the eclipse schedule for our area:
Penumbral Eclipse begins: 12:55 a.m.
Partial Eclipse begins: 1:59 a.m.
Full Eclipse begins: 3:08 a.m.
Maximum Eclipse: 3:46 a.m.
Full Eclipse ends: 4:23 a.m.
Partial Eclipse ends: 5:32 a.m.
The penumbral eclipse ends at 6:36 a.m., but it won't be visible as it comes 13 minutes after sunrise.

A man and woman are wanted for stealing more than $800 in cigarette products from the Sav-On gas station on Patrick Road in Verona, state police say.

View full sizeState police are looking for a man and woman wanted for stealing more than $800 in cigarette products last month from the Sav-On gas station on Patrick Road in the town of Verona.Provided photo 

Verona, NY -- State police are asking the public's help in finding a man and woman who stole more than $800 in cigarette products last month from a Sav-On gas station in Verona.

Video surveillance shows a man and woman walk into the Sav-On gas station at 5233 Patrick Road in the town of Verona around 5:30 p.m. March 14, and steal cigarettes, state police said. State police in Oneida on Monday released images from the video surveillance.

Anyone who recognizes the two people in the security images, or anyone with information about the theft can call state police at (315) 366-6000.

Troy Waffner will serve as acting director at the fairgrounds as state officials look for a candidate who has experience with both expositions and economic development.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- State officials today named Troy Waffner as the New York State Fair's acting director, extending their search for a permanent manager at the Geddes fairgrounds.

Waffner, 41, of Cazenovia, has been assistant director at the fair since 2010. His salary of $102,120 will remain the same.

State officials will continue to look for a manager to run the fair, said Matt Driscoll, Syracuse's former mayor who Cuomo selected to head up the search.

But the state wants to cast a wider net to attract a candidate who would do more than run the 12-day extravaganza and the year-round events already in place, said Driscoll, who now runs the state's Environmental Facilities Corporation.

This time, the state wants a person who could also develop new ways to bring more revenue to the fair and better utilize the entire 375-acre fairgrounds for more days during the year, he said.

"We want to take a wider look," Driscoll said. "At this point, what's the hurry? We've got someone in place."

Under this broader concept, the fairgrounds would still be run by the state, Driscoll said. But he and others want to explore ways to attract more activity to the fairgrounds -- a move that might include larger, multi-event contracts with private companies that could build a steady stream of customers. "We're taking a deeper look at the possibilities," he said.

One of those possibilities involves working with Onondaga County, which is planning to build an amphitheater on the western shore of Onondaga Lake, virtually in the fairgrounds' front yard, Driscoll said.

Waffner, until now the No. 2 official at the fair, will take on the fair in the midst of major changes.

The state has selected a new midway vendor -- the most lucrative contract at the fair -- ending a six-decades' long relationship with James E. Strates Shows. Prices for rides, all-day passes and other special offers for the midway still must be worked out.

This spring, state officials are trying to hire a new, single vendor to run all its year-round restaurants, including the Empire Room. Last year, the Empire Room opened for the fair only after a last-minute effort by the people who run the Sherwood Inn and Phoebe's Garden, among other restaurants.

Waffner also will take over a fair that has been stripped of much of its local control, reaction to past investigations that found lax management and problems with contracting, which in one case led to a guilty plea from a former state fair director.

Waffner steered clear of the more serious findings from a 2013 Inspector General's report, which criticized how officials above him handled contracting at the fair. But the report did find Waffner failed to tell the Department of Agriculture & Markets about theft of scrap metal at the fair. And the report found Waffner knew about two fair employees using the fairgrounds for overnight lodging but failed to report the findings to the proper authorities or take action. The report says Waffner was disciplined but does not say how.

In recent weeks, state officials interviewed at least one person for the job. Frank Ferraro, a former fair staff under then-Gov. Mario Cuomo, interviewed for the position in late winter.

The former head of the California State Fair and the Orange County Fair and Exposition Center, Norbert J. Bartosik, said he was contacted about the job but never interviewed.

"I was called and asked for a copy of my bio," Bartosik said earlier this month. "We didn't get a call back, one way or the other. Apparently they weren't interested."

Driscoll said he recommended three people for the job of fair director. Those three people -- who the state didn't name -- are still under consideration, he said.

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

Response times have not changed significantly, city fire officials say.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The numbers are in. Syracuse firefighters reach the scenes of fires and medical emergencies as quickly as they did a year ago, despite the controversial decision to close an East Side fire station last May.

Fire Chief Paul Linnertz today told the Syracuse Common Council that firefighters in 2013 achieved an average response time of four minutes, six seconds after Station No. 7 closed -- one second slower than during the five months of the year while the station was open.

Response times for all calls from June through November 2013, the latest data available since Station 7 closed, averaged 14 seconds slower than the four-year average. To Linnertz, that's a strong indication that closing Station 7 has not affected response times thus far. "As we continue to watch it, that's what it appears to me,'' he said.

But union president Paul Motondo said it's too early to celebrate. Motondo, president of Local 280 of the International Association of Fire Firefighters, said the total number of calls to the fire department continues to climb, from 27,609 in 2012 to 28,022 in 2013. Increasing call volume combined with fewer stations is likely to lead to slower response times over the long run, he said.

Linnertz and his boss, Mayor Stephanie Miner sparked union protests, neighborhood demonstrations and political criticism last year when they announced a plan to close Station 7 at 1039 E. Fayette St. and to reduce the number of firefighters per shift from 69 to 65.

Opposition to the plan was so widespread that the city council voted unanimously last May to restore $1.6 million to the city budget to prevent the cuts. Miner ignored the funding and closed the station.

Pat Hogan, who challenged Miner in a primary for mayor, announced his campaign outside Station 7.

Fire officials measure response times in a variety of ways. Linnertz said he was most impressed by the average travel times, which show how much time elapses from when a vehicle leaves a station to when it reaches the scene of an emergency. Travel times are a good measure of the distance from the station to the scene, and the most likely to be impacted by closing a station, he said.

The average travel time for all calls was 2:26 from June to November 2013, compared with 2:37 from January to May. The four-year average is 2:25.

"If you look at those response times, we're doing great,'' Linnertz said.

There was one exception to the general trend: Travel time for confirmed working fires, so-called "signal 99s,'' increased to 4:55 after Station 7 closed from 3:52 earlier in 2013. The four-year average was 4:15.

Linnertz said travel-time data indicate when the last vehicle, typically a third or fourth, reaches a working fire.

The first vehicle sent to a fire is getting there as quickly as before - as demonstrated by response times for reported structure fires and false alarms - but the third or fourth vehicles likely are traveling longer distances to fires than they did before Station 7 closed, Linnertz said. The change is not significant, he said.

"They're coming from a little bit farther away because there's one less engine company in the city,'' Linnertz said. "So it's not shocking to me.''

Total average response times
(Interval from 911 call to when first emergency vehicle arrives and begins action.)
2010: 3:22
2011: 3:52
2012: 3:55
Jan.-May 2013: 4:05
June-Nov. 2013: 4:06
Average: 3:52
Source: Syracuse Fire Department

Contact Tim Knauss at tknauss@syracuse.com or 315-470-3023 or follow on Twitter @TimKnauss.

The Washington Post and The Guardian won the Pulitzer Prize in public service Monday for revealing the U.S. government's sweeping surveillance efforts in a blockbuster series of stories based on secret documents supplied by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

NEW YORK -- The Washington Post and The Guardian won the Pulitzer Prize in public service Monday for revealing the U.S. government's sweeping surveillance efforts in a blockbuster series of stories based on secret documents supplied by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

The Pulitzer for breaking news was awarded to The Boston Globe for its "exhaustive and empathetic" coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing and the manhunt that followed.

Two of the nation's biggest and most distinguished newspapers, The Post and The New York Times, won two Pulitzers each, while the other awards were scattered among a variety of publications large and small.

The stories about the National Security Agency's spy programs revealed that the government has systematically collected information about millions of Americans' phone calls and emails in its effort to head off terrorist attacks.

The disclosures touched off a furious debate in the U.S. over privacy versus security and led President Barack Obama to impose limits on the surveillance.

The NSA stories were written by Barton Gellman at The Washington Post and Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewan MacAskill, whose work was published by The Guardian US, the British newspaper's American operation, based in New York.

"I think this is amazing news," Poitras said. "It's a testament to Snowden's courage, a vindication of his courage and his desire to let the public know what the government is doing."

Snowden, a former contract employee at the NSA, has been charged with espionage and other offenses in the U.S. and could get 30 years in prison if convicted. He has received asylum in Russia.

In a statement issued by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Snowden saluted "the brave reporters and their colleagues who kept working in the face of extraordinary intimidation, including the forced destruction of journalistic materials, the inappropriate use of terrorism laws, and so many other means of pressure to get them to stop."

Snowden's supporters have likened his disclosures to the release of the Pentagon Papers, the secret Vietnam War history whose publication by The New York Times in 1971 won the newspaper a Pulitzer. His critics have branded him a traitor to the U.S.

"To be rewarding illegal conduct, to be enabling a traitor like Snowden, to me is not something that should be rewarded with a Pulitzer Prize," said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. "Snowden has violated his oath. He has put American lives at risk."

At The Boston Globe, the newsroom was closed off to outsiders, and staff members marked the announcement of the breaking-news award -- coming just a day before the anniversary of the bombing -- with a moment of silence for the victims.

"There's nobody in this room who wanted to cover this story. Each and every one of us hopes that nothing like it ever happens again on our watch," Globe Editor Brian McGrory told the newsroom.

The bombing last April 15 that killed three people and wounded more than 260 also led to a Pulitzer in the feature photography category for Josh Haner of The New York Times, for his photo essay on a blast victim who lost his legs.

The Times also won in the breaking-news photography category, for Tyler Hicks' coverage of the Westgate mall terrorist attack in Kenya.

The Washington Post won a second Pulitzer in the explanatory reporting category, for Eli Saslow's look at food stamps in America.

The Pulitzers are given out each year by Columbia University on the recommendation of a board of distinguished journalists and others.

The two winners of the public service award will receive gold medals. The other awards carry a $10,000 prize.

The Center for Public Integrity's Chris Hamby won for investigative reporting for detailing how lawyers and doctors rigged a system to deny benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung disease.

The prize for national reporting went to David Philipps of The Gazette of Colorado Springs, Colo., for an investigation that found that the Army has discharged escalating numbers of traumatized combat veterans who commit crimes at home.

The Pulitzer for international reporting was awarded to Jason Szep and Andrew R.C. Marshall of Reuters for their coverage of the violent persecution of a Muslim minority in Myanmar.

The Oregonian newspaper won for editorial writing for its pieces on reforms in Oregon's public employee pension fund. The prize was the third in the newspaper's history for editorial writing.

The Tampa Bay Times' Will Hobson and Michael LaForgia won in local reporting for writing about squalid housing for the city's homeless.

"These reporters faced long odds. They had to visit dicey neighborhoods late at night. They had to encourage county officials to be courageous and come forth with records," said Neil Brown, Tampa Bay Times editor and vice president. "And in the end, what they were ultimately doing was standing up for people who had no champion and no advocate."

The Philadelphia Inquirer's architecture critic Inga Saffron won for criticism. At The Charlotte Observer, Kevin Siers received the award for editorial cartooning.

No award was handed out for feature writing.

Sig Gissler, who administers the prizes at Columbia, said the reporters on the NSA story "helped stimulate the very important discussion about the balance between privacy and security, and that discussion is still going on."

The Post's Gelman said the stories were the product of the "most exhilarating and frightening year of reporting."

"I'm especially proud of the category," he said. "Public service feels like a validation of our belief in the face of some pretty strong criticism that the people have a right to take part in drawing the boundaries of secret intelligence in a democracy."

Dry periods are getting shorter, which means the soil can't absorb as much rain.

                Albany, N.Y. - Get used to heavy storms and flooding - they're going to happen more and more often in Upstate New York, experts said at a forum today.

                "The Northeast and New York have become a hot spot for record floods and heavy rainfall in the past 10 years," said David Vallee, hydrologist in charge of the federal Northeast River Forecast Center. "The environment around us has changed."

                The forum at SUNY Albany, sponsored by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, featured talks by meteorologists, emergency management officials and the mayor of Oneida. They painted a bleak picture of climate change and development leading to bigger storms that could cause more floods in the future.

View full sizeHeavy rainfalls of at least 1 inch in 24 hours have increased by 74 percent in the Northeast -- the highest of any region of the country.National Climatic Data Center 

"Upstate New York has had more than its share of ravages from storms," said U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Albany, noting Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee and Hurricane Sandy, in addition to a variety of other floods Upstate in the past decade.

                Here are five key findings presented to several hundred people today:

1. Severe rainfall events - more than 1 inch in 24 hours - have increased by 74 percent in the Northeast, more than in any other region of the country. That has been fueled by more moisture coming from warming oceans.

2. The federal government has declared 19 disasters and emergencies in New York since 2006. Of those, 13 were because of rain and flooding.

3. Dry periods in the summer and cold periods in the winter are less frequent and shorter than they were in the past. That means the soil is less able to act as a sponge and soak up rain.      

"The overall trend is warmer and wetter," Vallee said, "and those dry periods are much shorter than they used to be."

4. Flood maps and disaster plans rely on historical data, not future predictions. The area projected for the 100-year flood plain for the Greene County village of Prattsville was relative accurate when Hurricane Irene hit in 2011, but water was 6 to 8 feet deep - not the 2 feet planners had thought.

"We planned on what we believed would be the worst case," said Colleen Fullford, the emergency manager for Schoharie County whose own house was destroyed. "We were wrong."

Oneida Mayor Max Smith stands outside two homes that were flooded last year and whose owners have abandoned them. Smith spoke today at SUNY Albany during a forum on severe weather in Upstate New York.Glenn Coin | gcoin@syracuse.com 

5. Severe rainfall events could become four times more likely under the worst-case scenario assuming high greenhouse gas emissions that could warm the earth's climate by 9 degrees.

"The paradigm of the past has changed," said Oneida Mayor Max Smith, whose city had more than 230 homes and businesses flooded last summer. "We're looking a new weather trend, and it means different choices in the future. "

Contact Glenn Coin at gcoin@syracuse.com or 315-470-3251. Follow him on Twitter @glenncoin

Granite State lawmakers are poised to repeal a 200-year-old law that made cheating on your spouse a misdemeanor.

New Hampshire lawmakers appear ready to repeal a law that has made adultery illegal in the Granite State for 200 years.

Currently, cheating on ones spouse in Concord, Keene and other New Hampshire communities was is a Class B misdemeanor that can be punished with a fine of up to $1,200, the Washington Post reports.

But change is on the way. The state House of Representatives last week voted 268-29 to repeal the law, Boston television station WCVB said. The state Senate is due to vote on it Thursday.

If it passes, Gov. Maggie Hassan is likely to sign it, a Hassan spokesman told The Associated Press.

The House version of the repeal was co-sponsored by Rep. Timothy O'Flaherty, a Democrat from Manchester. He said he was motivated by a New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling 11 years ago that same-sex partners in an adulterous affair could not be charged with adultery because case law defined adultery as an act between a man and woman.

Speaking at a March 25 Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, O'Flaherty also said he didn't "think there's any appetite in New Hampshire to use police powers to enforce a marriage."

That's not necessarily true.

In a letter to the editor published Sunday by the Concord Monitor, Daniel J. Hammond of Nottingham, N.H., argued that the anti-adultery law needed to be looked at on its merits, not whether it can be enforced.

Added Hammond:

Don't let the tail wag the dog. The government is already in consenting adults' bedrooms, and rightly so. Our society doesn't allow siblings to marry, or have sexual relations, consent or age of majority not withstanding. This type of behavior is repugnant to society's idea of what a family is and is rightly considered criminal. Adultery is similarly repugnant and also ought to be criminal. Government intrusion in intimate relations should be very limited, but retaining the criminal penalties for adultery is on the proper side of the equation.

If the repeal goes through, New Hampshire would join neighbors Maine and Vermont, both of which recently did away with their adultery statutes.

According to the Washington Post, 22 states still have adultery laws on the books; among them is New York. In Massachusetts a person convicted of adultery could get three years in prison, according to The Associated Press.

President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Monday for the first time in more than two weeks, but appeared to make little progress in stemming the growing crisis in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian forces are deepening their insurgency.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Monday for the first time in more than two weeks, but appeared to make little progress in stemming the growing crisis in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian forces are deepening their insurgency.

A senior U.S. official said Obama told Putin that while a diplomatic solution to the crisis remains his preferred outcome, Russia's actions are not conducive to that approach. The Kremlin said Putin used the call to reject Western claims that Russian agents have stoked protests in eastern Ukraine and also urged Obama to discourage the Ukrainian government from using force against those protesters.

The call was initiated at Russia's request, according to the U.S. official, who insisted on anonymity in order to describe the call before details are formally released by the White House. The conversation occurred days before U.S., Russian, Ukrainian and European officials are due to hold talks on the unrest in Geneva.

U.S. officials say there is compelling evidence that Russia is fomenting the unrest in eastern Ukraine, but have suggested Obama has not yet concluded that Putin's actions warrant broader sanctions on key Russian economic sectors.

"We are actively evaluating what is happening in eastern Ukraine, what actions Russia has taken, what transgressions they've engaged in," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "And we are working with our partners and assessing for ourselves what response we may choose."

Administration officials confirmed Monday that CIA chief John Brennan visited the Ukrainian capital of Kiev over the weekend, breaking with the administration's typical practice of not disclosing the director's travel. Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych accused Brennan of being behind Ukraine's decision to send troops into the east to try to quash an increasingly brazen pro-Russian insurgency.

While U.S. officials denied those accusations, confirmation of Brennan's visit could provide fodder for Russian officials to create a pretext for further incursions into eastern Ukraine.

Obama and Putin last spoke on March 28. Since then, pro-Russian forces have undertaken a rampage of storming and occupying local government offices, police stations and a small airport in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has proved powerless to rein in the separatists, who are demanding more autonomy from the central government in Kiev and closer ties to Russia.

The White House has blamed the unrest on Russia, saying there are undeniable similarities between the situation in eastern Ukraine and the Kremlin's maneuvers in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine last month.

"The evidence is compelling that Russia is supporting these efforts and involved in these efforts," Carney said. "You saw this coordinated effort in a number of cities across eastern Ukraine all at once that sure didn't look organic to observers from the outside."

Despite those assertions, it was unclear whether the U.S. planned to respond with deeper economic penalties. Obama has repeatedly warned that Russian advances into eastern Ukraine would mark a serious escalation of the crisis that would warrant a stronger international response, including the prospect of sanctions on Russia's energy sector and other key industries.

But the administration has avoided saying whether Russia's actions in the east thus far have crossed that line. U.S. officials are also still trying to rally support for sector sanctions from Europe, which has a far deeper economic relationship with Russia and would therefore be more likely to be negatively affected by the penalties.

As part of that effort, Obama spoke Monday with French President Francois Hollande. The French leader said in a statement that he and Obama discussed the importance of avoiding provocations in Ukraine and establishing a policy of strong and calibrated sanctions along with other European partners.

A high-ranking European Union official said foreign ministers did decide Monday to sanction more Russians with asset freezes and visa bans, though they appeared to stop short of the broader penalties on Russia's economy.

A space station cargo ship will remain Earthbound for a while longer because of a rocket leak.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A space station cargo ship will remain Earthbound for a while longer because of a rocket leak.

With just over an hour remaining, the SpaceX company called off Monday's planned launch. Officials said they believe the problem can be fixed by Friday, the next opportunity for flying and the last chance before astronauts do urgent spacewalking repairs.

A helium leak in the first-stage of the unmanned Falcon rocket forced a halt to the countdown, the latest delay spanning the past month.

Over the weekend, NASA almost postponed the launch attempt because of a computer outage at the International Space Station. But mission managers decided Sunday that everything would be safe for the arrival of the Dragon capsule and its 2½ tons of supplies.

The computer, a critical backup, failed outside the space station Friday as flight controllers were trying to activate it for a routine software load. The primary computer has been working fine.

It's the first breakdown ever of one of these so-called space station MDMs, or multiplexer-demultiplexers, used to route computer commands for a wide variety of systems. Forty-five MDMs are scattered around the orbiting lab. The failed one is located outside and therefore will require spacewalking repairs.

The Dragon capsule holds a gasket-like material for next week's computer replacement. This new material was rushed to the launch site over the weekend and loaded into the Dragon. NASA said astronauts can make the repair without it if necessary.

NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Steven Swanson will perform the spacewalk next Tuesday -- regardless of whether the Dragon flies by then. It will take several days to get the replacement computer ready, thus the one-week wait before the job, NASA's Kenny Todd, a station operations manager, said Monday.

SpaceX -- Space Exploration Technologies Corp. of California -- is one of two American companies hired by NASA to fill the cargo gap left when the space shuttles retired in 2011. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia is the other.

If the SpaceX Dragon isn't flying by Friday, the company may have to get in line behind Orbital, on track for a May delivery run from its Virginia launching site.

The Dragon should have soared in mid-March, but SpaceX needed two extra weeks of launch prepping. Then an Air Force radar-tracking device was damaged in a fluke accident; an electrical short caused the instrument to overheat.

Monday's helium leak apparently came from a system that separates the first-stage during the first few minutes of flight.

Earlier in the afternoon, SpaceX signed a 20-year lease with NASA to take over the launch pad used during the Apollo and shuttle programs. Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39-A would be used for SpaceX launches with astronauts bound for the space station in three or four more years, if NASA approves the venture. Russia currently provides the only way to get astronauts to and from the space station.

Unmanned missions also are slated for this pad, possibly next year.