NIAGARA COUNTY DEED SCAM ::Thursday, June 12th::

Niagara County homeowners are being advised to beware of a direct mail offer that charges $60 to obtain a certified copy of a homeowner's deed. County Clerk Wayne Jagow called the direct mail solicitation a record retreival scam - which tells homeowners that the deed was recorded by the county clerk - and recommends that property owners should have their own certified copy of their deed. Jagow says no county homeowner needs to pay an excessive fee to obtain a certified copy of their deed, and they shouldn't be made to feel that they need a certified copy of a document which has been properly recorded in Jagow's office. He adds that homeowners can always obtain a certified copy of their deed from his office for $5 for up to five pages, and $1 for each additional page.

MARSHAWN LYNCH UPDATE ::Thursday, June 12th::

The case of the Marshawn Lynch hit and run incident could start getting nasty starting today! Buffalo Police plan on going to the Ralph this afternoon to question three Buffalo Bills about what happened on the night of May 31st. That's when an SUV owned by Lynch hit an Ontario woman at Delaware and Chippewa and drove off; leaving her injured in the crosswalk. Officer Allen Kasperzack has called the Bills and the NFL security office to complain about stonewalling by players in the case - including Lynch - who has so far refused to be questioned about the incident. Erie County DA Frank Clark says if the players question today are not truthful, they'll be called before a grand jury. That option remains the same for Lynch as well.

COUNTY SHERIFF'S INVESTIGATING SUSPICIOUS VEHICLE ::Wednesday, June 11th::

The Sheriff's Department interviewing three people Monday night who reported seeing a pick-up matching the description of a vehicle that a girl said had followed her on several occasions in Ransomville. A Porter woman said she saw the old white pick-up with rusted wheels in her mobile home community and it was driven by and older white man with a gray beard. The description of the driver also matched the one given by the girl. A short while later, two girls reported seeing the truck on Curtis Road in Ransomville. They said the older white man was driving slowly and looking at the residence. They walked to the corner and saw the same man leave the area in an older two door blue sports car.

SOMERSET LEADERS WISH TO NEGOTIATE WIND POWER DEAL ::Wednesday, June 11th::

In Somerset, the town board wants to renegotiate a community host agreement with Empire State Wind Energy. The board is willing to give up some of the profits anticipated from the wind turbine project in order to assume less risk. ESWE would be rewarded with more profits if it's willing to take more risk. Supervisor Richard Meyers said quote, "we decided to contact ESWE to see if they would be open to negotiating our profit sharing percents we would get in the host agreement." At their meeting last night, the board decided to send a letter to the Oneida based firm asking if they are indeed ready to negociate. Meyers added that they're still looking to work with ESWE. The board hopes for an answer by July 1st. The town board is willing to take less than 75%. The letter will go to Keith Pitman, President and CEO of ESWE.

LOCKPORT MAY NO LONGER PAY TAXES ON N-T WATER LINE ::Wednesday, June 11th::

The City of Lockport could finally get some relief on the county taxes it pays on its water line running from North Tonawanda. After being rejected several times in the past, the proposal sailed through last night's meeting of the county legislature's administration committee. The plan co-sponsored by Toni Nemi and Keith McNall. The resolution requires the city to use the savings to make repairs and replacements of city owned water lines. Nemi said he was very happy and was confident city leaders and Treasurer Mike White would make good use of the savings. The proposal passed 8-0. The committee took no action on the County Manager's recommendation that the county cut its contribution to NCCC by $177-thousand. The budget was tabled after majority leader Rick Updegrove said he was not prepared to go forward. It was decided the committee would discuss it further during a break in next Tuesday's legislature meeting and then bring it to the floor for a vote.

MAN WHO VOLUTEERED D.N.A. MEETS JUDGE MONDAY ::Tuesday, June 10th::

The man now accused of eight felonies in the March 20th abduction and sexual assault of a 12 year old North Tonawanda girl will appear on Friday for a felony hearing. 41 year old Mitchell Brokob stood silently in city court Monday as Judge William Lewis handed down paperwork initiating proceedings in the case. Brokob - who is being held without bail in the County Jail - was asked Monday to sign an order of protecting barring him from all contact with any juvenile under the age of 18. Brokob is married and is the father of a young daughter, for who the order also applies. Lewis told him that he would be free to apply for bail once the matter reaches County Court. In this case, the girl was abducted at knife point, taken to a vacant home, and sexually assaulted, before escaping from a second story window down a bed sheet. Niagara County District Attorney Michael Violante says Brokob has a workers comp. type of injury, which occurred a couple years ago, and has been unemployed for quite some time.

NEXT APPEAL COULD DELAY LOCKPORT SUPER WALMART CONSTRUCTION 9 MONTHS ::Tuesday, June 10th::

In the Town of Lockport, residents involved with Smart Growth are appealing the recent State Supreme Court ruling upholding Town approvals of a proposed WalMart Supercenter at the vacated Lockport Mall. Smart Growth attorney Dan Spitzer says he filed a notice of appeal late last week. The notice essentially puts WalMart and the Town on notice that the group will argue some aspect of Judge Richard Kloch's ruling supporting planning and zoning approvals to put a Supercenter at the mall. Spitzer says the initial appeal notice doesn't have to be specific, and they now have up to nine months to make a specific claim to the Appelate Court. The filing is quote, "the start of a long process," according to Spitzer.

GOVERNENT TO CITIZENS: "HOLD THE TOMATOES!" ::Tuesday, June 10th::

McDonald's, Wal-Mart, and other nationwide chains have halted sales of some raw tomatoes as federal health officials work to trace the source of multiple salmonella food poisoning outbreaks. Burger King, Outback Steakhouse, and Taco Bell were among the others who voluntarily withdrew tomatoes from the menus. Tomatoes that should be avoided are red roma, red round, and red plum. Most have been removed from area stores.

ARREST MADE IN MARCH ABDUCTION ::Monday, June 9th::

North Tonawanda Police have charged a suspect with the March 21st abduction and sexual assault of a 12 year old girl from a local middle school. 41 year old Mitchell Brokob of 592 Gilmore Ave. was arrested early Friday night. Brokob lives just a few houses down from the empty home where police say the assault took place. Police say they were able to use evidence similar to DNA to link Brokob to the crime scene. They did that by canvassing the neighborhood and asking male residents to voluntarily submit a swab of their inner cheek. Of the 30 samples taken, Brokob's was one of them. The husband and father is charged with two counts of predatory sexual assault against a child, four counts of 1st degree criminal sexual acts, kidnapping in the 2nd degree, criminal possession in the 4th degree, and burglary in the 1st degree. He pled not guilty to those charges on Friday. Meantime, the father of the victim issued a statement through police in which he told parents to be aware of the dangers children face.

LYNCH ATTORNEY TO SPEAK WITH ERIE COUNTY D.A. ::Monday, June 9th::

There will be a meeting of the minds later today between the attorney for Bills running back Marshawn Lynch - Michael Caffery - and Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark. At issue: when investigators will be able to question Lynch about the hit and run accident involving his SUV late last month. An Ontario woman was hit in the crosswalk at the intersection of Delaware and Chippewa. She suffered minor injuries and police have tried to contact Lynch since the night of the incident, but have so far been unsuccessful. Clark and Caffery did meet briefly last Friday, and today's meeting is expected to be much longer. Clark says he's working under the assumption that Lynch was driving the vehicle and that he has proof he was on Chippewa on the night in question. Clark also believes that there were at least two other people in the SUV when the accident occuredl possibly other Bills.

NATIONAL GASOLINE AVERAGE HITS NEW HIGH ::Monday, June 9th::

For the first time ever gas prices nationwide have reached an all-time high of $4.00 a gallon - $.90 higher than this time last year. The average cost for a gallon of unleaded in these parts is now $4.16. Experts say a barrel of crude may soon cost $150, so don't look for the price of gas to come down any time soon. It could reach $5 a gallon this summer.