North Country Gazette

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North Country Gazette — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:27:03 +0000

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IG: State Employees Skipped Work

North Country Gazette — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:08:40 +0000

ALBANY—Three state employees on the road to official sites skipped work to shop, drink at pubs or go home hours early, according to a series of three reports issued by Inspector General Joseph Fisch. The Inspector General found that former NYS Bridge Authority Deputy Executive Director James J. Bresnan routinely left work around noon in his [...]

State Police Effect Three Felony DWI Arrests

North Country Gazette — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:02:25 +0000

WARREN COUNTY—Drunk driving arrests continued to dominate the blotter of arrest by the State Police in the Warren County area, including three men who are facing felony counts of driving while intoxicated. Patrick Alden, 48, of South Glens Falls, was charged with driving while intoxicated and aggravated driving while intoxicated after registering a blood alcohol content [...]

Different Strokes For Different Folks?

North Country Gazette — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:36:24 +0000

COMMENTARY By June Maxam WARREN COUNTY—Don’t you know who I am? That seems to be the attitude of some defendants in local justice courts. Do cases in Warren County justice courts get adjudicated on name and position? Is there really a equal system of justice or is it again a case of money talks and people walk? Do some people [...]

Felony DWI, AUO Charges Lodged

North Country Gazette — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:06:57 +0000

QUEENSBURY—A Middle Grove man is facing felony charges after police found his vehicle in a snow bank Sunday afternoon. John W. Lovejoy, 50, of Shaw Rd., was charged with felony driving while intoxicated and felony first degree aggravated unlicensed operation after Warren County Sheriff’s Officer K.S. Ordway found Lovejoy’s silver 2008 Toyota Highlander off the road [...]

Woman, 98, Indicted For Death Of Roommate, 100

North Country Gazette — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:03:38 +0000

NEW BEDFORD, MASS—In a case involving a person believed to be the oldest murder defendant in the state’s history, 98-year-old Laura Lundquist has been charged in the strangling death of her 100-year-old nursing home roommate. Lundquist was indicted Friday on second degree murder and sent to a state mental hospital for a pre-arraignment evaluation following a [...]

Keep Pets Safe This Holiday Season

North Country Gazette — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:05:14 +0000

Holly, Jolly and Oh-So-Safe! Of course you want to include your furry companions in the festivities, pet parents, but as you celebrate this holiday season, try to keep your pet’s eating and exercise habits as close to their normal routine as possible. And be sure to steer them clear of the following unhealthy treats, toxic plants [...]

Leandra’s Law Takes Effect On Friday

North Country Gazette — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:49:53 +0000

ALBANY—-Leandra’s Law, also known as the Child Passenger Protection Act, will become effective on Friday, Dec. 18. New York has joined 35 other states with special child endangerment laws that impose tougher sanctions on individuals who place a child passenger at risk by driving while drunk. Leandra’s Law, which makes penalties on drunk driving with child passengers [...]

Freezing Rain Advisory In Effect

North Country Gazette — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:31:54 +0000

WARREN COUNTY—A freezing rain advisory in effect until 6 p.m. EST Sunday evening. The National Weather Service in Albany has issued an advisory for light icing for the southern Adirondacks including the Lake George-Saratoga region and southern Vermont. A coating or light glaze of freezing rain is possible across the area as precipitation moving in encounters below [...]

Public Can Vote On Champlain Bridge Design Concepts

North Country Gazette — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:19:40 +0000

CROWN POINT—The 80-year-old Lake Champlain Bridge which spans the state line between Crown Point, NY and Chimney Point, Vt., has been closed and is scheduled to be demolished, deemed too unstable to be renovated after an underwater inspection of the bridge’s concrete piers and underlying foundations. The inspection revealed cracks and significant deterioration in the unreinforced [...]

Columbia County Snowmobiler Dies

North Country Gazette — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:26:35 +0000

COLUMBIA COUNTY—A Columbia County snowmobiler was killed early Saturday morning after he was thrown from his snowmobile. Michael Miller Jr. 25, of Ancramdale was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Miller was riding his 2006 Arctic Cat through a field about 500 feet east of Route 82 near the intersection of Pat’s Lane in Ancramdale [...]

Fugitive Arnold Fox In Custody In Miami

North Country Gazette — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:12:47 +0000

CAYUGA COUNTY—The man who abducted, bound and gagged a woman and left her in a Best Western motel in Weedsport has been apprehended by the FBI in Miami, Fla. Arnold C. Fox, 30, who has been sought by police since Monday was taken into custody by FBI agents about 7 p.m. Saturday. Police said he was [...]

Gary Harvey—Chemung County’s Terri Schiavo

North Country Gazette — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:28:07 +0000

COMMENTARY © By June Maxam ELMIRA—-Are you opposed to governmental intervention in your private affairs? Do you believe that government rather than family should be able to dictate what course of medical treatment you receive and who provides for your personal needs? Do you believe that government should be able to deny examination and treatment of you by personal [...]

Bus Driver Charged With Reckless Endangerment

North Country Gazette — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:14:48 +0000

KINGSTON—The driver of a Trailways bus has been charged with reckless endangerment after he attempted a U-turn on the state Thruway, resulting in a personal injury accident. State Police said Francis A. Marbot, 51, of Troy, was driving a full size Trailways bus with six passengers in the driving lane at mile post 101.7 about 11:40 [...]

Cops: Pinellas Sheriff’s Employee Stole From Inmate

North Country Gazette — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:24:39 +0000

PINELLAS COUNTY—An employee of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office has been arrested for forging documents in order to gain access to an inmate’s account. Joshua Lee, 24, who has worked at the jail on 49th St., in Clearwater since May, 2005, has been charged with uttering a forged instrument, a felony. On Monday, detectives with the Detention [...]

H1N1 Flu Vaccine Now Available To All

North Country Gazette — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:35:27 +0000

ALBANY—Effective immediately, health care providers may make the H1N1 flu vaccine available to all New Yorkers who want the vaccine, including those who are not in priority groups established by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The announcement applies to all providers, including local health departments with vaccine clinics scheduled for this weekend. To [...]

APA Sets Hearings On Boathouse Regs

North Country Gazette — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:29:00 +0000

RAY BROOK, NY – The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) has scheduled four public hearings to solicit public comments on proposed revisions to its boathouse regulations. The four hearings are scheduled for the following dates and locations: Jan. 5, 6 p.m., Adirondack Park Agency, Ray Brook. Hearing will be webcast live. Please see APA website www.apa.state.ny.us Jan. 6, 6 [...]

Money Manager Guilty In $133M Ponzi Scheme

North Country Gazette — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:13:49 +0000

NEW YORK—The president, senior portfolio manager, and sole managing member of investment firm Westgate Capital Management LLC pleaded guilty Friday in Manhattan federal court to three felony charges, including securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, and mail fraud, involving losses of approximately $133 million. Starting at least in 2004, James Nicholson, 43, of Saddle River, NJ, among [...]

Ex-NYC Counsel Guilty Of Mail Fraud

North Country Gazette — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:10:45 +0000

NEW YORK—A lawyer formerly employed by the Office of the Corporation Counsel for the City of New York pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of mail fraud arising from his participation in schemes to defraud two former clients. Hugh Zuber, 39, of Monsey, had represented the clients, in a personal capacity, in connection with their sale [...]

Fugitive Molesting Principal Apprehended

North Country Gazette — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:07:48 +0000

QUEENS—Leroy Johnson, a former Brooklyn public elementary school principal sentenced in 2004 in absentia to 20 years in state prison for molesting a young relative, has been extradited to Queens from Connecticut, was arraigned on bail jumping charges and is soon to begin his 20-year prison sentence. Johnson, who skipped out on $100,000 bail after pleading [...]

Ropes, Gray Attorney Guilty Of Insider Trading

North Country Gazette — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:53:14 +0000

NEW YORK—A former attorney at Ropes & Gray LLP has pleaded guilty to insider trading charges in Manhattan federal court. The charges against Brien Santarlas arose out of an ongoing investigation of insider trading at hedge funds and stock trading firms which has already led to charges against 20 Wall Street professionals, five of whom have [...]

Brokers Canned For Smart Online Trading

North Country Gazette — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:37:24 +0000

NEW YORK—Stock brokers Anthony Martin and Alain Lustig have been sentenced to 57 months and 28 months in federal prison, respectively, on securities fraud charges arising from a scheme to manipulate the stock of Smart Online. Ruben Serrano received a sentence of three years’ probation on the charges. All three defendants were ordered to pay restitution [...]

NYer Guilty In $5.9 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

North Country Gazette — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:24:52 +0000

NEW YORK— A New York man has pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to perpetrating a mortgage fraud scheme involving the sale of a $5.9 million building on 161 Street in the Bronx. During the course of the mortgage fraud scheme, Mark M. Benun, 35, represented himself to be the owner of a company called MBM1 [...]

Witness Tampering Attorney Gets 14 Years

North Country Gazette — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:49:46 +0000

NEW YORK—Former criminal defense attorney Robert Simels has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison based on his August conviction following a four-week jury trial for conspiracy to obstruct justice through witness tampering, attempted witness tampering, importation and possession of illegal eavesdropping equipment and bribing a witness. U.S. District Judge John Gleeson granted the motion [...]

EPA: Finch Paper Doubled Amount Of Pollutants

North Country Gazette — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:32:15 +0000

NEW YORK—Finch Paper LLC in Glens Falls had the largest increase in on site release of toxic air pollutants into the environment in New York State during 2008, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, nearly doubling the release of toxic chemicals from 2007 to 2008. According to the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Finch Pruyn released [...]