WILSON HAZING SUSPECT FACES DRUG CHARGE ::Thursday, May 8th::

One of the Wilson baseball players charged with sexual abuse in a hazing incident on a school bus has been arrested on drug charges. !6 year old Colton Sherman was charged early yesterday morning with 7th degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Sheriff's deputies say te found Sherman in possession of hydrocodone painkiller pills and some kind of powder, at about 1:05 am on Ransomville Road. Sheriff deputies reportedly stopped Sherman and two other 16 year old boys who were walking through the back parking lot of Ki-Po Chevrolet. The teens were patted down for weapons, and Sherman was found to have a sock in his pocket. In the sock were three plastic bags and tin foil. One contained a white powder, another two white pills, and the 3rd more pills and powder. The bags were sent to the county lab for testing. Sherman was placed under arrest and released after posting $500 bail. He is due in Porter Town Court on May 13th. The other two were not charged.

BELIEN STILL HEADING AWAY ::Thursday, May 8th::

The wait is apparently over for Niagara County Sheriff Tom Belien. Governor David Paterson will send Belien's nomination to the State Senate to become chairman of the State Commission of Corrections, with confirmation expected by early June. The Senate is expected to act of the nomination before its summer recess. Former Governor Eliot Spitzer announced on February 21st that Belien was his choice for the chairman's post on the three member commission. However - in the aftermath of the sex scandal that drove Spitzer from office - Belien's nomination was put on hold. That's because Paterson wanted to review all of Spitzer's pending nominations, and Spitzer had not formally transmitted the Belien nomination before his resignation.

Meantime... State Senator George Maziarz is expected to guide Belien's nomination through the confirmation process, and says he's now pushing to make the nomination process happen.

ARTPARK ANNOUNCES FREE SUMMER CONCERT SERIES ::Thursday, May 8th::

Artpark has pulled out all the stops when it comes to booking big name acts on the lawn this summer. With the help of sponsors, close to a million dollars will be invested in the 21 free outdoor concerts on Tuesday's and Wednesday's. During a press conference yesterday, Artpark announced such top names as Trisha Yearwood, Michael McDonald, Kansas, 3 Dog Night, and America; who'll preform during the summer months. Tuesday's in the Park will run from June 3rd to August 26th, and remains the top night for free concerts for Artpark.

LEGISLATURE QUESTIONS CORONERS DEALINGS WITH PARLOR OWNER :: Wednesday, May 7th::

A board of inquiry will be convened to look into the business dealings of embattled Niagara County Coroner James Joyce.

Members of the Niagara County Legislature voted unanimously Tuesday to establish a board comprised of six county lawmakers who will examine whether Joyce violated any laws or ethical guidelines by associating with the owners of four local spas implicated in a prostitution ring.

While the measure ultimately received support from the entire Legislature, Minority Leader Dennis Virtuoso, D-Niagara Falls, initially questioned the wisdom of forming the board at this time. While Joyce is currently under investigation by federal law enforcement officials for his relationship with spa owner Che Ngan “Alan” Tsui, Virtuoso noted that he has not yet been formally charged with any crimes.

“You don’t just form a board of inquiry on a hunch,” he said.

Legislator and resolution co-sponsor Paul Wojtaszek, R-North Tonawanda, explained that forming the board of inquiry would allow the Legislature to get some answers to questions about whether Joyce did anything inappropriate in dealing with the spa owners while serving as county coroner.

“As elected officials, we have a duty to conduct ourselves ethically and legally,” Wojtaszek said.

Under county law, the board of inquiry would have the power to access relevant records and to subpoena witnesses as it conducts its investigation.

Individual board members will be chosen by Chairman Bill Ross, C-Wheatfield, who has previously said the body will consist of an equal number of lawmakers from both the majority and minority in the Legislature. Ross said Tuesday he plans to announce the names of the board members later this week.

SECOND REPORTED HAZING INCIDENT IN WILSON ::Wednesday, May 7th::

FROM THE BUFFALO NEWS...

A player on the Wilson high school baseball team was sexually harassed last year by older teammates during a bus ride for an away game.

The boy and his parent complained to a team coach, and for some time after that, one coach rode the bus in front and the other at the back to keep an eye on the players who had been involved in unruly behavior.

The hazing complaint apparently went no further.

But this year, when both coaches were riding at the front of the bus, some of the older players sexually abused two junior varsity players.

That is the story emerging from two law enforcement officials familiar with the Wilson investigation.

The sources did not want to be identified because they are not authorized to release information, but they came forward because of concern that a pattern has repeated itself in Wilson.

“The kid who complained [last year] was then singled out for the rest of last year by fellow teammates as a ‘narc’ and was punched by other teammates for telling his parent,” one of the sources said.

The coaching staff knew of hazing problems on the bus trip last year and, at one point, instituted a policy of having coaches sit at the back and front of the bus.

But that practice was discontinued prior to the new sexual-hazing incident during a bus ride home from an April 17 game in Niagara Falls.

Last week, Thomas J. Baia, 40, varsity baseball coach and middle school teacher, and William M. Atlas, 35, junior varsity coach and elementary gym teacher, were criminally charged with endangering the welfare of a child for failing to take action to prevent the April assaults.

It is because of the coaching staff’s knowledge of last year’s incident and an expectation that it could again occur that Baia and Atlas were charged, one of the law enforcement sources explained.

After learning of last year’s incident, one of the baseball coaches punished the varsity team by making members run “10 minutes of laps,” the law enforcement sources said.

The 2007 incident and disciplinary action were never reported up the chain of command, district officials told The Buffalo News on Tuesday.

District officials said that if they had known about last year’s incident, they would have taken strong measures.

“Had I been aware that there was a problem on the bus, I would have taken swift and immediate action to eliminate it,” said Wilson High School Principal Daniel Johnson. “But I was never made aware that there was a problem on the bus.”

Charles Jufer, the district’s athletic director, also said he was unaware of any previous problems.

“There are many things that are taken care of by a teacher or coach that never reach my office,” Jufer said Tuesday.

The practice of placing a coach at both the rear and front of the bus ended prior to the 2008 season because a member of the coaching staff tired of sitting in the rear of the bus with the high level of noise from players, the law enforcement sources said.

The two coaches have been suspended with pay from the district. The teaching contract requires they receive their salary.

In the April 17 attack, coaches and other adults were seated in the front of the bus.

“One of the victims was dragged in a headlock from his bus seat about two seats behind one of the coaches” to the back of the bus, one of the sources said. “The boy did not scream for fear of provoking an even worse attack by annoying his attackers. The other kids did not say anything or look back for fear they would be targeted next.”

The source said it was important for the Wilson community and district officials to know the details so that something could be done to break what may be a continual string of incidents over the last few baseball seasons.

“At this time, it is important for the victims to get support. They are being brave and by coming forward, it is not just about them. It’s about preventing incidents in the future,” the police source said.

The source cited a story quoting psychologists that appeared in The Buffalo News on Sunday, stating that such hazing can become a tradition of behavior victimizing new children each year and eventually turning the innocent victims into future predators who pick on the weakest or lower-level players.

A form of secondary hazing, they said, occurs as the victims are ostracized by teammates and the community, which rallies around the coaches and the accused.

Many of the 650 people who showed up Thursday for a district-wide meeting voiced support for Baia and Atlas, with only a handful expressing concern for the junior varsity players who were attacked.

“Besides the victims of the hazings, there’s another group of innocent victims,” one of the police sources said. “It’s all of these other student baseball players who have now been denied the opportunity to play the sport that they love and possibly it could affect college scholarships.”

The Wilson varsity baseball season was canceled by district officials in response to the allegations.

FALLS TATTOOIST RESPONSIBLE FOR SPREADING DISEASE NAMED; WARNINGS ISSUED ::Wednesday, May 7th::

Health officials are urging clients of a Niagara Falls tattoo artist to be tested for HIV and hepatitis. Authorities say an investigation found that eight people developed skin infections after receiving tattoos from John Portik. While no one is known to have contracted HIV or hepatitis from the tattooing, Niagara and Erie County health officials say clients should be tested for the diseases, because they don’t know whether Portik took proper infection control precautions.
A telephone listing for Portik was not in service Tuesday afternoon. Portik has been ordered to stop tattooing and has surrendered his tattooing equipment. Anyone who has gotten a tattoo from him since approximately January 2001 is being encouraged to get tested.

Portik’s clients who are seeking testing should contact their health care provider. If they do not have a health care provider or do not have health care insurance, they should call the Niagara County Health Department at 439-7470. Portik performed tattoos at his home and in clients’ homes. According to Portik, he was also employed for a short time at two former Niagara Falls tattoo studios known as Monsters Ink and Murder Ink. Portik also reported working in Erie County during 2004 and/or 2005 as an independent contractor for Hardcore Tattoo.