MAN IS SENTENCED TO OVER 6 YEARS BEHIND BARS ON WEAPONS CHARGES ::Friday, April 11::

A Lockport man was sentenced in federal court Thursday to more than six years in prison on weapon charges. 30 year old Douglas Johnson will serve 77 months behind bars in connection with the April 9, 2006 burglary of a Wilson home. Johnson - along with the help of others - stole 22 firearms from the home while the victim was at work, according to assistant U.S. attorney Richard Maygret. Three of the guns have not yet been recovered. As part of the sentence, Johnson was ordered by Judge Richard Arcara to make restitution to the victim for the value of the missing firearms. Johnson pleaded guilty on October 25 to unlawfully possessing stolen guns. His arrest followed an investigation by the New York State Police, along with ATF agents.

LOCKPORT PROPERTY MANAGER PAINTS ROAD... NOW CITY WORKERS ARE UP IN ARMS ::Friday, April 11::

A downtown property manager apparently took it upon herself to have 'loading zone' markings painted on Market St. City officials said Thursday that Charlene Seekins-Smith of the Bewley Building commissioned private striping of the roadway to mark off a loading zone for tenants. At the curb next to the striped area, there were already several loading zone signs placed by the city. The painting work was reportedly observed Thursday morning by several city highway department employees who may now have a legitimate labor grievance over the act. Officials say Seekins-Smit - who is chairman of the city planning board - commissioned the markings without city permission. According to Mayor Mike Tucker, when she was approached by streets superintendent Mike Hoffman, she told him that she was having the work done with the mayor's blessing. However, Tucker flatly denied he'd signed off on the work being done, "I don't remember that conversation at all," he said. " She had no authority to do that." Seekins-Smith refused to comment on the marking late Thursday.

GROUP SEEKS TO MAKE NORTH TONAWANDA LANDMARK A DESIGNATED HISTORIC PROPERTY TO PREVENT ITS DEMOLITION ::Friday, April 11::

A preservation organization with ties to an anti-Walmart group wants to save a former theater from the wrecking ball at the site of a planned supercenter store. Friends of Melody Fair - led by Buffalo residents Jim Missall - has asked the North Tonawanda Historic Preservation Commission to designate the former Melody Fair site as a historic property. Missal said his group is neither for or against Walmart, but they would like to see the retail giant alter its construction plans and leave the theater standing. Missal says it should be preserved because it's one of the four remaing round theaters in the U.S., adding that he believes the building could be turned into a dinner theater. His organization has an attorney - David Seeger - working on the case for free. Seeger is also the attorney for Lockport Smart Growth, the group fighting a Walmart supercenter that has been proposed at the Lockport Mall.

NEW AMBULANCES COMING TO THE RESCUE IN LOCKPORT

The Lockport Fire Board voting 3-1 Wednesday night to reccomend to the Common Council that the city buy two new ambulances. Northeastern Rescue Vehicles of Syracuse was the only company to respond to a request for proposals. Fire Chief Tom Passuite says they want $225-thousand for the pair, that includes trading in the two the city has which date to 1996 and 2000.
He says the problem came to a head recently when both ambulances went down for a period of time over the weekend.

TEEN CHARGED WITH DISORDERLY CONDUCT

A Lockport teen has been charged after he allegedly stepped into the path of a car on High Street last month. 16 year old Darion Bell of LaGrange Street was charged Tuesday with disorderly conduct and a pedistrian violation in connection with a March 28th incident in the city. Officers responded to High near Beattie that morning for a report of a pedestrian struck by a car, and found Bell lying in the Road. An Old Akron Road man told police he was driving west on High when two groups of people were walking on either side of the road. Meantime, another group of people began entering from the left side, causing the man to swerve to the right in his lane. The car's right sideview mirror lightly hit Bell - who was walking in the roadway - and he fell to the ground. The man told police when he got out of the car to check on Bell, he was attacked by a group of individuals. The man said he didn't know who attacked him, telling police "I just remember being hit in the head over and over." Two witneseses helped free the man from the crowd, according to the police report. Bell was transported to Lockport Memorial Hospital by the fire department where he was treated for a concussion, and told police "we were walking the road some. I was walknig in the road when I was hit." Bell was transfered to Women and Children's Hospital for evalutation. After an investigation, he was arrested at Charlotte Cross School on Tuesday.

STATE LAWMAKERS PASS STATE BUDGET MORE THAN A WEEK PAST DEADLINE

State Senator George Maziarz and Assemblywoman Francine Del Monte say the worked together to get cash for a couple of important projects. There's over $6.6-million for NCCC's Culinary Arts Institute, and $100-thousand to develop the land around the Niagara Falls International Airport.

Del Monte and Maziarz also say there's a big increase in school aid. Niagara Wheatfield will get 14.2% more, Starpoint will receive an 8.1% increase, and Barker will see a 9.1% hike.

The governor also announced there's $450-million for universal pre-k; $96-million more than this year. Overall, it's the largest increase in school aid in state history, and the upstate revitalization plan is in the budget, but the governor cut it to $700-million.

'BB-GUNMAN' SPARKS MAJOR CONCERN FROM CATARACT CITY'S TOP POLICE BRASS ::Wednesday, April 9::

Niagara Falls Police have been dealing with sixteen separate property damage incidents this week - allegedly caused by BB guns. Captain Ernest Palmer says the attacks circle around the Lasalle area, and says they need to stop before they escalate any further. He says the first few cases dealt with only property damage, but now moving vehicles are now the new targets. If you have any information about the attacks - or have one to report - you're asked to call the police information desk at 286-4711, or the detective bureau at 286-4553.

LOCAL WOMAN COMPLAINS TO OFFICIALS ABOUT WIRE TAPS... FROM HER FRIENDS HUSBAND! ::Wednesday, April 9::

A Lockport woman telling the Sheriff's Department the husband of one of her friends has been secretly taping conversations between her and her friend. That friend says she found a recording device on their home phone and in the basement of their North Tonawanda home. The Lockport woman says her friend's 'hubby' told her friend he's been recording their conversations for more than a year, and has hundreds of tapes. The Lockport woman lives on Lockwood Lane and says her friend's husband told her husband about what was said and it's causing problems in their marriage. The man has also reportedly threatened to reveal conversations between other friends of the N.T. woman. The Sheriff's Department is investigating.

GAS PRICES UP NATIONWIDE....AND IN WESTERN NEW YORK!!

More bad news at the pump to report. A survey says the national average price for gasoline rose 5 cents over the last 2 weeks. The average price of self serve regular on Friday was $3.32,
according to the Lundberg survey of 7000 stations nationwide released on Sunday. However,
in Western New York, the average price of regular unleaded was $3.44, 12 cents above the national average, and 61 cents higher than a year ago. The cheapest price for gas was in Newark at $3.03, and the highest was in San Francisco at $3.72.