OSWEGO COUNTY NEWS

Latest Oswego County News, Events and Opinion

Phoenix, NY -- Divers were searching the Oswego River in Phoenix this morning for a man who bolted from the Phoenix police department after being charged with drunken driving.

Police have no indication that the man, James A. Kipp, 45, of county Route 54, Pennellville, dove into the river, said village Police Chief Rod Carr.

"We have to search it to be sure," Carr said.

Kipp was charged with driving while intoxicated and several other charges, Carr said.

While he was being booked overnight at the police station, located near the river, Kipp escaped, Carr said.

Oswego, NY -- Kyle T. McConkey, 20, of 73 Falise Drive, Oswego, is due in Oswego City Court Tuesday to answer charges of second-degree assault, criminal possession of a weapon and menacing.

Oswego police responded at 2:47 a.m. Wednesday to a fight in progress at West Bridge and West Third streets. When they arrived, they found a 17-year-old male who had been stabbed in the back.

At 3:50 p.m., police arrested McConkey, who was arraigned and taken to the Oswego County jail in lieu of $3,000 bail. The victim, who was not identified, was treated at Oswego Hospital, police said.

Oswego city police and state police are investigating armed robberies that occurred Wednesday night, one in Oswego and the other in Hastings.

Oswego police made two arrests less than an hour after The Pit Stop/Valero convenience store was robbed at 181 E. First St. at about 7:45 p.m. At 8:39 p.m., they arrested Carlos A. Ortiz-Torres, 21, of 91 E. Seventh St., Oswego, and charged him with first-degree robbery and criminal possession of a weapon (a knife).

They also arrested Joxuan Rivera Retamar, 17, of 155 E. Third St., Apt. 5, Oswego, and charged him with first-degree robbery.

No one was injured in that incident.

Not long after that robbery, at about 10:45 p.m., someone used a knife to threaten the store clerk at Sun-up Foods at 1982 U.S. Route 11 in Hastings. The clerk was not injured.

The suspect was an average size white male wearing a mask, black pants and a hoodie, police said. State police are asking anyone with information to call the Hastings barracks at 676-2214.

Hello Oswegonians,

It's Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008 and here are a few more things you'll find in today's edition of The Post-Standard:

The search is on: The folks at Harborfest, the annual event that draws hundreds of thousands to the Lake Ontario shoreline in Oswego every summer, are looking for a new director.

Volney runway gets money from the feds: The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded a $28,500 grant to the Oswego County Airport to improve runway safety.

Maybe he's had enough of the snow?: Randy Bateman, 52, the Oswego DPW chief, is resigning Sept. 30 and moving to South Carolina.

Today is Veterans' Day and Firefighters' Day at the Great New York State Fair. It's also a day when you can get unlimited Midway rides for $25.

If you're headed that way (lucky you), be sure to grab a copy of the Oswego County edition of The Post-Standard because there's a full schedule of the day's events on Page B-3, plus lots of photos from yesterday's events at the Fair.

That's all for now, but keep checking syracuse.com throughout your day. Our reporters post breaking news whenever and wherever it happens. Have a good one!
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Good morning, Oswego County! It's Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008, and another beautiful day is on the horizon. Here's some more of the day's news from The Post-Standard:

Child-killing case headed to grand jury: The case of Jay John Barboni, the 30-year-old Clay man accused of murdering his girlfriend's 15-month-old son, is going to an Oswego County grand jury. Fulton City Court Judge Spencer Ludington ruled Tuesday that there is enough evidence to hold Barboni and to present the homicide case to a grand jury.

Close, but no cigars: Pulaski's hopes of having the state's best tasting water were washed away Tuesday when New York City won first place in the competition. Interestingly, the city gets its water from reservoirs in Upstate New York.

No surprise here: Property taxes in the city of Oswego will increase nearly 3 percent next year, thanks to the passing of the 2009 budget earlier this week.

Keep away from those critters: The public is being asked to help conserve a dwindling reserve of human rabies vaccine by avoiding contact with wildlife. As of July 31, seven cases of rabies had been confirmed in Oswego County alone.

That's it for now, but keep checking syracuse.com throughout your day. If you're headed to the state Fair (it's Women's Day with lots of special exhibits), grab a copy of the Oswego edition of The P-S where you'll find a complete schedule for today on Page B-2.

Geddes, NY-- Pulaski came oh, so close to being named the municipality with the best tasting water in the state.

The state water tasting contest was held at the state fair Tuesday, just outside the state Department of Environmental Conservation building. Nearly 250 people tasted samples of nine water supplies.

The winner was New York City -- which, of course, gets its water from reservoirs in Upstate New York. Pulaski came in second, losing by only three votes.

New York City gets a plaque and bragging rights for the entire year. One other local community in the contest was Boonville, Oneida County.

The case of Jay John Barboni, the Clay man accused of killing 15-month-old Nicholas Taylor, will go before an Oswego County grand jury.

At today's 90-minute preliminary hearing in Fulton City Court, Assistant District Attorney Greg Oakes called two witnesses - the woman who cared for the child the day he died and Fulton police Lt. Jeff Kinney, the investigator who spoke with Barboni after the child's death.

All the details will be in Wednesday's edition of The Post-Standard.

Oswego councilors approved a slightly smaller city budget Monday that calls for a nearly 3 percent tax increase.

The $35.78 million budget is about $180,000 less than the current city budget.

Under the new budget the owner of a $70,000 home will pay about $628 in city property taxes next year. That's $18 more than this year's tax bill.

Earlier this year Mayor Randy Bateman told city department heads to cut their budgets by 10 percent without reducing the size of their staffs.

No city workers will lose their jobs under the new budget.