WCDO Radio News

National Weather service officials have confirmed 8 tornadoes in our area in the last week.   Officials said that 8 Tornadoes is unusually high, the region only averages a few tornadoes a year.  Officials said that severe weather tends to come in cycles, with the most recent year with similar activity is 1998.   The latest confirmation was that a tornado hit the Sullivan county hamlet of Parksville on Sunday, with 90 mile an hour winds, making that tornado ranked as an "EF-1".

Pre-trial hearings for Ganesh Ramsaran will be closed to both the public and the media, by Chenango County judge Frank Revoir.  Ramsaran is accused of killing his wife Jennifer Ramsaran in December of 2012, her body was found about 2 months later in a wooded area in Pharsalia. Ramsaran's murder trial is scheduled to begin in September.

The murder trial of 40-year-old Aaron Powell continues in Broome county court.  Powell is accused of murdering his estranged wife Christina Powell and 24-year-old Mario Masciarelli at the Powell's Binghamton home in March of 2013.  Prosecutors allege that Powell killed Masciarelli with a baseball bat and strangled his wife with an electrical cord.  Powell remains held in the Broome County jail without bail during the trial.

The Anti-Fracking movement claimed victory this week when a supreme court judge tossed out lawsuits from the Joint Landowners Coalition and Norse energy, the 2 entities were trying to push Governor Cuomo to make a decision on Hydrofracking after 6 years of a moratorium.  Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Rob Astorino vowed to move forward with allowing hydro-fracking is elected as governor in the November election.  Governor Cuomo inherited the gas-drilling moratorium from the previous administration of David Paterson; research is still being performed by the state health department following thousands of [public comments on the issue.

The Otsego county health department will hold a free rabies clinic today at the Morris fire department.  The clinic will run from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, for dogs 7 cats at least 3 months of age.

36-year-old Jeremy Barrett of Deposit pleaded guilty in Broome County Court to 2 counts of sexual conduct against a child. Barrett admitted to sexual contact with 3 under aged girls, he faces sentencing on August 1st.

The State Senate Task Force on Heroin & Opiod addiction will hold another public hearing tomorrow, to gather more input on the growing problem. The task force will be in State Senator John Bonacic’s District:

(Bonacic 5-8-14)

Friday’s hearing will be held from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at the Sullivan County Government Center in Monticello, those who were unable to attend the Oneonta event are invited to testify at Friday’s event.

The Delaware county Sheriff's Office now has a drug drop-0ff Box In their Front Lobby at 280 Phoebe Lane in Delhi.   Sheriff Tom Mils announced that Mallinckrodt's Hobart plant is responsible for the prescription drug take-back collection box. County Residents are invited to safely and legally dispose of unused or unwanted prescription drugs at the Delhi Location, in order for these items to stay out of the wrong hands. The box may be utilized to dispose of prescription medications, however, Needles and liquid medicine cannot be discarded in this box.   More information is available at 746-2336.

State Police arrested 34-year-old April Florance of Kirkwood, for DWI & Unlawful possession of Marijuana. Police reported that Florance drove the barracks to make a complaint; the desk Trooper detected a strong odor of alcohol on her breath.   Troopers determined that Florance also in possession of marijuana in the police station.   Florance refused to submit to a breath test, she was arraigned & was and remanded to the Broome County Jail pending future court action.

Federal auditors say New York should repay $60.8 million in Medicaid reimbursement, for unallowable costs for room and board for taking care of developmentally disabled people. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general said repairs, maintenance, utilities, and property-related costs should have been excluded, in calculating Medicaid payment rates at state-operated residences. The audit recommends the state Health Department refund the $60.8 million federal share of those costs.

Oneonta Police Department arrested 3 people on a variety of drug charges.  Arrested were 24-Year-old Adam Scully of Oneonta ,  22-year-old Ray Arnold of Oneonta for criminal possession of a controlled substance, Police confiscated 11 bags of heroin, also arrested was 25-year-old Cody Clapper of Oneonta, for conspiracy, criminal possession of a controlled substance and possession of a hypodermic instrument.  Scully, Arnold and Clapper were arraigned in the City of Oneonta Court and sent to the Otsego County Correctional Facility pending a future court action.

The Catskill Watershed Corporation has extended eligibility guidelines for its Septic Rehabilitation and Replacement Program.  Homeowners within the New York City Watershed in Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan or Ulster Counties may be eligible for assistance if their property is within 300 feet of a watercourse, and if their homes were built prior to November 2, 1995.  The program pays 100% of the cost of replacing failed septic systems for permanent residences; 60% for non-primary residences.  Homeowners  who may be eligible for this program, should call  845-586-1400 to arrange for a CWC staff visit.

New York State of Health reported that Over 1.2 million New Yorkers have completed their applications and over 908,000 have enrolled for coverage since the launch of the Marketplace last October 1st.   More than 70% of those who have enrolled to date were uninsured at the time of application. New York State of Health will continue to provide additional assistance to individuals who began the application process by March 31. All applications and enrollments must be completed by the end of the day on April 15th.

On April 3rd Delaware County Deputies participated in Operation Safe Stop to combat the illegal passing of stopped school buses.   Deputies shadowed school buses during their morning and afternoon bus routes in the Downsville, Deposit, Delhi, Franklin and Stamford Central School Districts.  During the Operation deputies issued 1 traffic summons to an individual that passed a Franklin School District Bus that was stopped with flashing red lights.  Statistics show that increased awareness of school bus traffic laws has brought the umber of potentially deadly incidents way down since Operation Safe Stop began.