CENTRAL NEW YORK NEWS

Real-Time News Updates for Syracuse and CNY

Obamas chose private Sidwell Friends School

by The Associated Press

Friday November 21, 2008, 5:09 PM

APSidwell Friends School in northwest Washington, where President-Elect Barack Obama and his wife will send their children.

President-elect Barack Obama and his wife have chosen private Sidwell Friends School in Washington for their two daughters.

A spokeswoman for Michelle Obama, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, says the Obamas considered several schools for 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha but decided Sidwell Friends was the best fit.

Sidwell Friends is a private Quaker school in northwest Washington that Chelsea Clinton attended.

The family also looked at Georgetown Day, which was founded in 1945 and was an early pioneer in integration.

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Dow jumps nearly 500 on news of Obama's Treasury pick

by The Associated Press

Friday November 21, 2008, 4:38 PM

Wall Street is ending a volatile week with an unexpected jolt of confidence following reports that President-elect Barack Obama plans to name New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary. The major indexes have jumped more than 5 percent, with the Dow Jones industrials surging nearly 500 points.

Stocks have erased about half of the losses that came in steep selling Wednesday and Thursday.

Wall Street appears buoyed by reports that Obama plans to name his economic team on Monday -- offering investors some hope of a smooth transition in an uncertain market.

The Dow is ending up 494, or 6.5 percent, at the 8,047 level.

In Depth blog: Who is Timothy Geithner?

Huffington Post on Obama's cabinet.

Talking Points Memo on Obama's cabinet.

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J-D continues search for principal

by Elizabeth Doran/ The Post Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 4:28 PM

The search for a new principal at Moses DeWitt Elementary School in the Jamesville-DeWitt school district is in high gear, as district officials conclude their interviews with applicants.

The district received 35 applications and administrators have been conducting interviews this week. A panel of teachers and parents also are involved in interviewing candidates, said J-D Superintendent Alice Kendrick.

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ESM reschedules play

by Elizabeth Doran/ The Post Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 4:26 PM

The East Syracuse-Minoa Central High School Drama Club production of "The Three Musketeers" has been canceled tonight and Saturday and rescheduled to Nov. 24 and 25 at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium.

The change is due to inclement weather. Tickets are $7.

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Update: Police call infant's death suspicious

by Robert A. Baker / The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 3:53 PM

SYRACUSE, NY - Syracuse police are calling the death of an infant girl "suspicious."

The dead body of a female child was found in a house on Syracuse's South Side at 2:45 p.m. Deputy Chief Frank Fowler confirmed police are investigating the death of the child, who was found in an upstairs apartment at 124 Fage Ave.

Sgt. Thomas Connellan said the girl's age was between 12- and 18 months. Police are awaiting an autopsy. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Police gave no further details.

Reporter Douglass Dowty is at the scene and will provide updates.

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NYT: Clinton to accept secretary of state

by news service reports

Friday November 21, 2008, 2:55 PM

February 2008, file photo / APSen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., left, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., stand together before the start of a Democratic presidential debate in Cleveland in February 2008.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the nomination for secretary of state after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role, two confidants of Clinton told The New York Times today.

For details, see The Caucus blog at The New York Times.

The Associated Press is reporting that Obama is likely to name Federal Reserve Governor Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary next week.

An official close to the senator says the New York Federal Reserve president is the leading contender for the job and is likely to be nominated Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama hasn't finalized his decision.

The development comes as Obama prepares for how he will grapple with a collapsing economy. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico is under serious consideration to be commerce secretary.

Geithner has played a key role in the government's response to the financial crisis and worked closely with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

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New York City elementary school is named for Obama

by The Associated Press

Friday November 21, 2008, 2:04 PM

It was only a matter of time. A New York school has been renamed in honor of President-elect Barack Obama.

The former Ludlum Elementary School, in Long Island's Hempstead Union Free School District, was renamed at a school board meeting Thursday -- effective immediately. The new name is the Barack Obama Elementary School.

School officials say most of the 440 students there are black or Hispanic, and Obama's victory is a source of great pride.

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Several schools close early today

by The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 1:55 PM

Here is a list of the latest school closings and delays as of 4:10 p.m., compiled from local television stations:

Baldwinsville Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities

Cato-Meridian Central Schools: High school dismiss at 1 p.m.; no afterschool or eve. activities

Cazenovia Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities

Central Square Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities

Chittenango Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities; no Saturday activities

DeRuyter Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities

East Syracuse-Minoa Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities; no Saturday activities; high school play rescheduled for Monday and Tuesday

Faith-Heritage School: No after-school or evening activities

Fayetteville-Manlius Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities; no Saturday activities

Fulton Youth Basketball: No basketball practice tonight

Hannibal Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities

Immaculate Conception Fulton: No bingo

Jamesville-Dewitt Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities

LaFayette Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities

Liverpool Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities; after 6 p.m.

Manlius Pebble Hill School: Saturday Drivers Ed. cancelled; Saturday Drivers Ed. cancelled; at Chittenango High School

Mexico Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities

North Rose-Wolcott Central School: No after-school or evening activities

North Syracuse Schools: Closing early by 1 hour; no p.m. kindergarten; no UPK, No afterschool activities

Onondaga Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities Phoenix Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities; High School dismissing at 12: 45 p.m.

Red Creek Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities

Sandy Creek Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities

St. James Church: No rock-n-bowl

Sullivan, Town of: No Saturday activities

Vernon-Verona Sherrill Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities; no activities on Saturday as well

West Genesee Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities

Westhill Central Schools: No after-school or evening activities; school play rescheduled for Sunday 2 p.m.

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Route 174 bridge in Marcellus reopens today

by The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 1:25 PM

For the first time since May, drivers won't have to detour around the Rt. 174 bridge over Nine Mile Creek in Marcellus.

The bridge will open again at 2 p.m. today, according to Marcellus Mayor Mike Plochocki. Local officials were going to hold a brief ribbon cutting to mark the reopening.

The bridge replacement was part of a larger renovation project, which also included repaving North Street, removing and planting trees, and replacing sidewalks. The bridge work has been expected to be finished before school started in September.

State officials told village officials the remaining work on the project should be done shortly.

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International students have first Thanksgiving dinner at Syracuse University

by Nancy Cole/The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 12:03 PM

Some Syracuse University international students and their families will for the first time sample traditional Thanksgiving fare during SU's 29th annual International Thanksgiving Celebration Sunday.

About 400 SU international students and their families are expected to attend the dinner held on campus where they will be served a meal of turkey with all the trimmings, such as cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.

The meal is served family style and members of the university and greater Syracuse community act as table hosts and answer questions about the celebration.

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Update: Attorney General Mukasey given clean bill of health

by The Associated Press

Friday November 21, 2008, 12:00 PM

The Associated PressMichael Mukasey

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Michael Mukasey was given "a clean bill of health" and hoped to check out of the hospital after extensive medical tests following his collapse, the Justice Department said today.

Departmental spokeswoman Gina Talamona said that the 67-year-old Mukasey underwent a host of exams after being admitted late Thursday to George Washington University Hospital after he collapsed during a speech at a Washington hotel.

"The results are in. Everything looks great," Talamona told reporters gathered outside the hospital in late morning. She reported that that Mukasey had passed a treadmill stress test, a stress echocardiogram, and an MRI. She also said doctors ruled out a stroke or cardiac problem.

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Nebraska lawmakers put age limit in safe-haven law

by The Associated Press

Friday November 21, 2008, 11:59 AM

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Nebraska lawmakers have given final approval to adding a 30-day age limit to the state's safe-haven law.

The original safe-haven law was intended to prevent newborns from being dumped in trash bins or worse. Every state has such a law, but Nebraska's is the only one that lacks an age limit.

Since July, 35 children have been abandoned at state hospitals -- many of them preteens or teenagers as old as 17.

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Canastota child killer gets 23 years in state prison

by Aaron Gifford / The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 11:56 AM

John Berry / The Post-StandardJesse Snow (right) speaks with public defender Paul Hadley today after he was sentenced in Madison County Court to 23 years in prison for killing 3-year-old Aadon Olmsted.

Courtesy of Olmsted familyAadon Olmsted, 3, is shown in a family photo.

Wampsville, NY -- Jesse Snow was sentenced in Madison County Court today to 23 years in state prison on charges that he killed a 3-year-old boy earlier this year by slamming him head-first onto the floor.

Snow, 24, of Canastota, was convicted of first-degree manslaughter after a non-jury trial in September. The victim, Aadon Olmsted, never regained consciousness after the February attack at later died at a Syracuse hospital.

Snow, who lived with the boy's mother, said he loved Aadon and never intended to hurt him.

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In tough fiscal times, governor's mansion gets $21,000 rug

by The Associated Press

Friday November 21, 2008, 11:15 AM

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Times are tough, but evidently not so tough New York couldn't spend $21,000 on an antique Turkish rug for the governor's mansion.

That purchase came as Gov. David Paterson was ordering state agencies to cut spending and warning of dire economic hardships to come as budget deficits mount to $2 billion this year alone.

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Romulus man dies in garage accident

by The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 11:02 AM

Romulus, NY -- Seneca County sheriff deputies said a Romulus man died Thursday afternoon at his home when a pickup truck apparently slipped off jacks and crushed him.

Deputies identified the victim as Levi H. Karlsen, 23, of 885 Yale Farm Road.

They said Karlsen was apparently working on a pickup in a home garage-workshop about 4 p.m. when the vehicle slipped, trapping him underneath. His father, Karl Karlsen, found his son under the pickup, jacked it up and pulled his son away from then vehicle.

Levi Karlsen was pronounced dead on arrival at Geneva General Hospital.

The death has been ruled accidental.

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Daily Finder: Bakers, fire up your ovens

by The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 10:54 AM

The Post-Standard Interactive Online Directory

Check out today's Interactive Online Directory from The Post-Standard. Click on the image above to see a PDF of the page, and then click on the items you want to visit on syracuse.com.

Now on syracuse.com:

It's time for The Post-Standard's annual holiday cookie recipe exchange and contest. Find details on the Good Eats blog.

Sean Kirst writes more about the subject of today's column, Patrick Alvarez. The SU freshman started his own nonprofit organization to provide food to the hungry, "Project Feed Me."

The Voices blog asks teenagers: Do police officers in schools make you feel safer?

A reader of the Listen Up blog gets revved up about next week's David Byrne concert.

You can find the Tumbleweed composter featured in Green CNY magazine at Ballantyne Gardens in Salina, the Green CNY blog reports.

What's going around this week? In his weekly update, The Family Doctor reports seeing plenty of sinusitis and bronchitis, plus a stomach bug and strep throat.

Find a preview of the SU team's football game (with a lame-duck coach) Saturday against Notre Dame on the Orange Football blog.

On the Voices blog, a Faith Heritage senior writes that teens need to work together to make a difference.

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Cortland man charged with robbery

by The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 10:29 AM

Cortland County sheriff's deputies have arrested a city of Cortland man, accusing him of robbing a Cortlandville resident at gunpoint last Saturday.

Omar Harris-Raible, 29, of 88 Homer Ave., is charged with robbery and grand larceny. The robbery charge is punishable by up to seven years in state prison.

He was arraigned in Homer Town Court, where bail was set at $2,000 cash or $7,500 bond.

Deputies said Harris-Raible knocked on the door of 150 Penguin Drive about 10:35 p.m. on Nov. 15, displayed a handgun and robbed the resident of an undisclosed amount of money. No shots were fired, and no one was injured.

Harris-Raible was taken into custody Thursday without incident. He is to appear Monday in Cortlandville Town Court.

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Syracuse teen admits breaking into three homes

by Jim O'Hara / The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 10:16 AM

Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse teenager caught burglarizing a Strathmore home last week admitted his guilt today in that break-in and two others.

Joe'von Johnson, 16, of 4320 S. Salina St., pleaded guilty before county Judge William Walsh to three counts of second-degree burglary, admitting he broke into a Robineau Road residence Nov. 10, a Kirk Avenue residence Aug. 11 and an Anderson Avenue residence July 18.

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Parole officer's statements can be used against him in perjury trial

by Jim O'Hara / The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 10:12 AM

Syracuse, NY -- Statements parole officer Christopher Thomas made when questioned about discrepancies in the story of a parolee's arrest last year can be used against the officer in court at trial, county Judge Anthony Aloi ruled today.

Thomas, 35, of Seneca County, is charged with perjury, accused of lying when he claimed he was injured after parolee Antwan Jones jumped out a window of a residence on Gannett Avenue in Syracuse and landed on him.

Aloi today ruled First Chief Assistant District Attorney Rick Trunfio and prosecution Investigator Timothy McCarthy did nothing wrong in questioning Thomas in June to try and clear up an inconsistency between his story and other evidence.

Thomas is scheduled to stand trial on the perjury charge April 6.

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Higher bail for East Syracuse man in Syracuse teen's stabbing death

by Jim O'Hara / The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 10:08 AM

Syracuse, NY -- Bail was sharply increased this morning for an East Syracuse man charged with murdering a city man outside a North Side bar in February.

Carl J. Otts, 23, of 1 Grover St. had been free on $25,000 bail after initially being charged with first-degree manslaughter in the Feb. 1 stabbing death of 18-year-old Wesley Valentine.

But with Otts indicted this week on a more serious charge of second-degree murder, county Judge Anthony Aloi raised bail to $250,000 at the request of Chief Assistant District Attorney Christine Garvey.

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Canastota man who killed 3-year-old to be sentenced today

by The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 8:59 AM

Wampsville, NY -- Jesse Snow, the Canastota man who was found guilty in September of first-degree manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend's 3-year-old son, is scheduled to be sentenced this morning.

Snow, 24, was accused of deliberately causing head injuries to Aadon Olmsted by slamming him onto the floor or into a hard object on Feb. 6. Aadon died March 1 of a brain hemmorhage and skull fracture.

Snow initially told 911 dispatchers the boy have fallen down stairs. His lawyer later argued that Aadon's injuries were a product of roughhousing and play wrestling that went awry.

Snow faces five to 25 years in prison, according to District Attorney Jeff Aumell.

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Nelson house still on fire

by Aaron Gifford

Friday November 21, 2008, 8:32 AM

NELSON - A Nelson Road home just north of Route 20 in the town of Nelson was ablaze again Friday morning, several hours after firefighters initially knocked the flames down.

Firefighters were called back out to the scene, 4065 Nelson Road, around 8 a.m. today. The fire was first reported after 10 p.m. Thursday, Madison County emergency dispatchers said.

"It's burning down," a dispatcher said of the rekindling, adding that the property will probably be a total loss.

No injuries were reported. The cause is still under investigation.

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Woman and child get out of overturned car

by Sue Weibezahl Porter

Friday November 21, 2008, 8:22 AM

State police are responding to a report of an overturned car in a body of water at Peter Scott Road and Route 12 in Schroeppel, Oswego County.

According to 911 dispatchers, the driver and child, who were in the car when it flipped shortly after 8 a.m., managed to get out safely and were warming up in another person's vehicle near the scene.

Check back for updates shortly.

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Goodbye, orange cones: Syracuse's I-690 roadwork saga ends

by Hart Seely / The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 8:18 AM

Dick Blume / The Post-StandardNational Grid workers Jack Kelly (left) and Richard Birden work on lamp poles Thursday on the Hiawatha Boulevard entrance ramp to Interstate 690 westbound.

Syracuse, NY -- When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Germany partied for weeks.

When the Olympics ended in the summer, China welcomed Placido Domingo, David Beckham and 350 dancing kung fu fighters.

When Yankee Stadium closed recently, Yogi Berra reappeared.

But today, Central New York will achieve a milestone with no fanfare, fireworks or even one measly celebrity.

In a quiet, not-to-be-announced moment, the last orange cone will vanish from a ramp along Interstate 690, signaling the end of a traffic nightmare that spanned two years ... though it seemed at times like 100.

Though they finished on schedule, the two major highway projects unexpectedly outlasted Syracuse University football coach Greg Robinson, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the conventional U.S. financial system.

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Shhh ... it's the Friday caption contest

by The Post-Standard

Friday November 21, 2008, 7:52 AM

The Associated Press

Was she naughty in class, or did she get a boo-boo on her mouth? Give us the answers for our weekly caption contest.

Want to read the real caption? Find the answer on the In Depth blog.

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