WCDO Radio News

There will be a Republican primary in the 52nd Senate District. The state Board of Elections officially certified the primary between Denver Jones and incumbent Senator Tom Libous, following a legal battle over the validity of Jones’s signatures for the ballot. The state Supreme Court Appellate Division ruled Jones had at least 1,000 valid signatures of registered Republicans in the district.

In Delaware County, Polls will be open from Noon to 9 PM. Democrats will hold a Primary in all towns for Governor and Lt Governor. Republicans will hold a Primary in the Town of Franklin for Member of Council; in the 101st Assembly District that includes Andes, Bovina, Davenport, Delhi, Hamden and Meredith. Delaware County residents needing more information can call the County Board of Elections at 746-2315.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that his office will operate a statewide Election Day hotline to help ensure that all eligible voters are able to cast an effective ballot during today’s primary elections. Voters can report issues or problems at polls by calling 800-771-7755.

The Cancer Services Program of Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie counties will offer free health screenings to women 40 and older who are uninsured today, with the Bassett Cancer Institute's mobile screening coach. The Coach will be available from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM today at the American Legion located at 176 Main Street in Laurens. Appointments are available at 1-888-345-0225.

60-year-old Almond Upton of Florida pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and 10 other charges in Broome County Court this morning.  Upton is accused of intentionally swerving on northbound Interstate 81 & hitting Trooper Christopher Skinner, who was conducting an unrelated traffic stop on the side of the highway.  Upton is charged with 1st degree murder, 2 counts of 2nd degree Assault, 3 counts of criminal mischief & 5 counts of reckless driving, he faces court action again on August 29th.

State Police reported that 4 people were injured in an accident on State Route 7 in the town of Unadilla on Sunday.  The accident occurred at around 2:45 Sunday afternoon, between a car and motorcycle occurred in a driveway near the juncture of Sheep Pen Road and Sanly Road, Police said that 21 year old Benjamin Newman of Bainbridge; & 68 year old Richard Lewis of Birmingham, Alabama collided, 4 people suffered a variety of injuries.

State Police at Oneonta arrested 43-year-old Ramnarine Baldeo of Schenectady for False Personation and Aggravated Unlicensed Operation.  The arrest resulted from a stop for not wearing his seatbelt on I-88 in Oneonta; Baldeo is accused of giving the Trooper a false name and date of birth, to keep his suspended driver’s license from being found out.   Baldeo was arraigned and was remanded to the Otsego County Jail in lieu of $1,500 cash bail.

State Labor Commissioner Peter Rivera today announced that through a partnership with the US Department of Treasury, New York leads the nation in the number of recoveries made, with more than 19,000 individuals who filed fraudulent Unemployment Insurance claims & had their federal tax refunds intercepted.  The Program returned $21 million over the past 6 months to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. New York was the first state in the nation to implement this program and has recovered more than $139.4 million since February 2011.

Hunting and trapping licenses, and Deer Management Permits for the 2014-15 season are now available for purchase through the State DEC.  Sporting licenses and permits can be purchased at one of DEC's 1,100 license sales outlets statewide. Licenses can also be ordered at dec.ny.gov/permits.  The 2014-2015 hunting and trapping licenses are valid for 1 year beginning this September 1st

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Rob Astorino, and the GOP statewide ticket, filed 4,400 pages of signatures in an attempt to create a "Stop Common Core" ballot line this fall.  Astorino's campaign filed 62,000 signatures from voters in support of the effort, if certified by the state Board of Elections, the effort would give Astorino a 3rd ballot line against Governor Cuomo in the November election.

New York is getting new restrictions on the sale of ivory or rhino horn to prevent the slaughter of the endangered animals. Gov. Cuomo signed legislation into law that prohibits the sale of ivory or items containing it unless they are antiques or used for educational or scientific purposes. The rules would also apply to rhino horn. Federal law already restricts ivory imports and interstate sales. The Wildlife Conservation Society said New York is the nation's No. 1 importer of ivory.

Governor Cuomo is using his campaign money to pay the cost of travel for himself and his staff to Israel. The three-day journey to Israel is officially a government trip. But members of the delegation are using campaign funds to pay their way. State Senator Jeff Klein and Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver are also using campaign funds. The group was scheduled to meet with Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu today & return tomorrow.

Over 300 firefighters responded to the 6-alarm fire at the 7-story Rexmere Hotel on west Main Street in Stamford yesterday. The building was constructed in 1898, and was currently in the process of being sold for eventual restoration.  10 fire departments responded to the blaze, which was reported about 10:30 Tuesday morning.  The cause of the fire is under investigation, no injuries were reported.

Fire crews responded to 794 Castle Creek road in the town of Chenango yesterday morning, crews responded at around 11:00 AM Tuesday.  No one was home when Firefighters arrived, the house was a total loss & 2 family pets died in the fire.   Several area fire companies responded,  Broome County Fire Investigators are trying to determine the  cause of the fire.

Delaware County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 26-year-old Jonathan Shaw of Delhi on 2 counts of Aggravated Harassment.  Shaw is accused of sending numerous harassing text messages to another person after being directed to stop; he is also accused of leaving a voicemail threatening physical violence to the victim.  Shaw was issued appearance tickets to appear in the Hamden Town Court on April 7th, 2014 to address the charges.

The Cancer Services Program of Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie counties will offer free health screenings to women 40 and older that are uninsured, in partnership with the Bassett Cancer Institute’s mobile screening coach.  The screenings will be available today from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at The Sidney Great American.  Appointments can be made toll-free at 1-888-345-0225.

The Sidney Chamber of Commerce will hold their annual “New Member Coffee hours” this morning.  The event will run from 7:30-8:30 am at Trackside Dining on Main Street in Sidney.

The “Give America a Raise” Bus Tour Comes to Binghamton this afternoon.  Various groups including “Americans Untied For Change” are calling on local congressman Richard Hanna to raise the federal  Minimum Wage to $10.10 an hour, in order to keep full time workers from falling below the poverty line.  The Bus Tour will stop outside Congressman Hanna’s Binghamton office at 49 Court Street at 1:00 PM.

A Public Hearing on the Sidney Central School District 2014-2015 Budget will be held at the High School Library on Tuesday, May 13th at 7:00 PM.  The School & Public Library Budget vote and Board of Education elections will be held in the Sidney High School Lobby on May 20th between 7:00 AM & 8:00 PM.

State Police announced the arrest of 3 people for allegedly operating a Meth Lab in Broome County.  Arrested were 25-year-old Caleb McNeilly, 33-year-old Brad Gates  and 27 year old Nathan Pixley, all from Castle creek, on a variety of drug charges, following a 3-week investigation by the state Police CNET team & Vestal Police.   Police confiscated 8 ounces of liquid methamphetamine; 2.5 grams of powder methamphetamine; a scale; a surveillance camera; cellphones; a 20-gauge shotgun and a .22 caliber rifle; as well as chemicals & items utilized in meth manufacturing.  All 3 were arraigned and were remanded to the Broome County Jail.

Oneonta police, and the Otsego County Sheriffs department K9 unit executed a no-knock search warrant Thursday morning at 71 Elm Street in Oneonta, and arrested 2 women on charges of heroin possession.  25-year-old Stephanie Seagren, and 24 year old Jania Barnett, were charged with 3rd degree possession of a controlled substance.  Police seized 38 packets of heroin and $620 in cash. Both were arraigned in Oneonta city court and sent to the Otsego County jail

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has opened a campaign account with the State Board of Elections that allows him to raise money for this year's gubernatorial race. Astorino has not publicly declared his candidacy. But the new account allows him to accept much larger contributions as he considers challenging Governor Cuomo, a Democrat with $33 million in the bank. Astorino has said he will make a decision later this month about whether to run for governor.

About one third of the 17,487 bridges in New York are rated either "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete."  The state Department of Transportation said those bridges are safe, but need repairs or upgrades. For each bridge, the state provides the location, the feature it passes over, the year it was built, the owner, the date of last inspection and the condition ratings. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli released a report that said the state should rework the pot of money dedicated to highway and bridge repairs so it pays for its intended purpose.

Governor Cuomo today announced the Formation of the Common Core Implementation Panel, which will undertake an immediate and comprehensive review of the rollout of the Common Core standards in New York State.  Assemblyman Cliff Crouch held a public meeting about the issue in Binghamton recently:

(Crouch 2-7-14)

The panel includes State legislators, parents, educators, and business and community leaders, they will deliver a set of recommendations before the end of the legislative session to improve the proposal’s implementation.