ANOTHER MISTAKE BY THE FALLS SCHOOL DISTRICT

The State is withholding $14-million in aid to the Falls
School district because they were late in submitting the
results of an external audit to Albany. The district's
financial officer, Joseph Giarizzo told the School Board
Thursday night they were supposed to submit it by
December 15. Giarizzo said their external auditor
probably submitted the results to the district around
December 11. He told a board member he thought they
had already missed the deadline...which he thought was
November 30. He said he did not know then that it was
December 15. He said the District had to borrow
$10-million to make it through January 30 at 3.26 per cent
annual interest. He said they would pay the money back
in February or March but it would cost them $25,000.
Interim School Superintendent Cynthia Bianco said
they would take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again.

NAIAGARA CATHOLIC'S 4 DAY WEEK

More than 50 parents of students at Niagara Catholic
High School were at a meeting last night to discuss
plans to begin their 4 day week in September. The
school plans to eliminate classes on Mondays. Principal
Robert DiFrancesco said the change would give students
more time to do community service, schedule needed
appointments and vacations, and visit potential
colleges. He said closing the building on Mondays
would save on rising heat and electricity bills and they'd
require fewer substitute teachers. Nevertheless he said
tuition will remain the same and would remain at $5,595
next year.

BLOOD DRIVE

Sheriff Jim Voutour and Lockport Police Chief Larry
Eggert were among the first donors Thursday as the
Red Cross held a blood drive at the Dale Association.
All of the donors got a coupon for a pound of coffee
from Dunkin Donuts and free pizza from Papa Leo's.
A spokesperson described the turnout as "steady."

PONZI SCHEME

An 82-year old Williamsville businessman was charged Thursday
with running a ponzi scheme. Richard Piccoli allegedly used
Catholic priests as references and advertised for clients in
Catholic newspapers from Buffalo to Anchorage. More than
$16-million was involved and his victims included 50 priests,
churches, religious orders, and cemetery associations. Piccoli
owns Gen-See Capitol Corporation in Williamsville. He was
arraigned before federal judge Jerimiah McCarthy and
released without bail. He'll be back in court Tuesday.

UPSTATE CAUCUS

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter has formed a new
caucus to fight for the interests of Upstate. It's composed
of the 11 members in the House from Upstate, 9 Democrats
and 2 Republicans. They say they will work together to
improve the economy of the region. Slaughter said a
challenging road lies ahead, that the current economic crisis
has compounded problems that have been developing in
each of their districts for years. They had their first meeting
yesterday and talked about the region's infrastructure needs.

CAROLINE KENNEDY

The Governor telling the Buffalo News Caroline Kennedy's
lack of elected office experience does not help her in her
quest to take Hillary's seat in the Senate. Paterson said
there are 10 to 15 good candidates. Congressman Brian
Higgins is still in the running. Paterson asked him to fill
out a background questionaire. No such request was
made to Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown....though Paterson
told the paper he would still be talking with him. He's
obviously a long shot at this point.

TWINS

The State will decide if two twin girls at Roy Hart will
be able to play basketball. Kevin Harrington moved
from Lockport to Gasport last November and ran into
difficulties when he tried to enroll the twins, Jenna & Kim,
in the district. The State Education Department said the
girls could attend Roy Hart in December and Harrington
said he signed a deal with the District saying they could
only participate in sports or extracurricular activities
if the State said so. School Chief Paul Bona told the
Union Sun & Journal the issue is the permanent
residency of the girls. He said the decision is up
to State Education Commissioner Richard Mills. He
said they're awaiting his decision. The Board will also
hold meetings January 20, 22, & 23 so residents can
meet with the candidates to replace Bona when he
retires in June. Those meetings will run from 5:30 till
6:15 in the High School Media Center.

PARTY

A 50 year old Pendleton man telling Sheriff's deputies
yesterday his 18 year old daughter held a party at his
house Monday night while he was out of town. She
told him numerous individuals crashed it and the
gathering got out of control. She told everybody to
leave and after they did....$700 in cash was missing
along with about $2,300 worth of other stuff....including
an $800 Dell lap top, two video cameras, and a $400 set
of binoculars.

CITY OF LOCKPORT COUNCIL SESSION

Lockport lawmakers voted Wednesday night to buy
$50,000 worth of equipment that'll allow for more remote
control readings of water meters in the city. The meters
will come from Lock City Supply and cost $171 apiece.
The city has been gradually making the switch for
years. Less than half of the process is complete. The
Council also o-k'd an increase in the cost of new
buildings at the water and sewer plants. They'll cost
$397,000, about $18,000 more than originally thought.
The structures will house new emergency generators
recently purchased from Delphi. Lawmakers also
approved the Mayors reappointments of Jimmy
Gugliuzza to the Police Board, Pete Robinson to
the Fire Board, Patricia George to the Cable Commission,
and David Pynn to the Plumbing Board.

NEW DEPUTY SUPERVISOR

Town of Lockport Supervisor Marc Smith last night
appointed councilmember Mark Crocker as deputy
Supervisor. Deborah Gaskill had held the position for
the past three years. Crocker will get $9,000 more a
year for the extra work. Attorney Brad Marble was
appointed as an alternate member of the Planning Board.
The Council o-k'd buying a used 2004 Chevy pick-up from
Heinrich Chevrolet for $13,700. A plow will be attached.
It'll come from Niagara Performance Auto & Truck.

KEMP

Former Bills quarterback, Congressman, and Housing Secretary
Jack Kemp is battling cancer. The 73 year old released a
statement Wednesday. He said he has cancer of an
undetermined nature that will require further procedures
to determine the best course of action. Several sources close
to him describing Kemp's situation as "serious." One said the
problem first manifested itself as pain in his hip. Kemp's
current staffers and former Erie County Executive Ed Rutkowski
all emphasized doctors have yet to completelt identify the cancer
and the diagnostic procedures that lie ahead.

ANELLO

A jury will decide whether the brother of former Falls Mayor
Vince Anello is guilty of disorderly conduct and resisting
arrest. Sixty-one year old Matteo Anello was arrested in
October 2007 as he tried to speak during a Council meeting.
He was attempting to accuse then Council-President Bob
Anderson of making Italian ethnic slurs against his brother.
Anello rejected a non jury trial yesterday. His case will be
heard March 4.

OLCOTT

The Sheriff's Department is investigating the theft of
thousands of dollars worth of jewlery, coins, and liquor from
a home on Washington Street in Olcott.. The victims had gone
to Florida December 19 and a cousin was given a key to take
care of their pets. She discovered the break-in December 22.
The victims returned last Friday and began to tally up their
losses. About $200 in Canadian coins were missing along
with another bag of assorted coins, heirloom jewelry, and
six bottles of liquor.

MATIAS

A 23 year old Lockport woman was charged with endangering
the welfare of a child and resisting arrest around 10am Tuesday
after she allegedly left her three year old son alone in her
apartment at 22 Walnut. Sonia Matias told Police she left to
walk her daughter to school and was only gone a few minutes.
She allegedly became agitated when told she was being
arrested and tried to pull away as officers tried to cuff her.
The boy was turned over to Child Protective Services.

ROYALTON

A Royalton man says about $23,000 worth of tools and
equipment were taken from his garage between 6pm
Tuesday and 2am Wednesday. The victim lives on
Kayner Road. He told Sheriff's deputies he got home to
find his garage door open. The missing items included
a Snapon tool box containing about $20,000 worth of
tools. He said a $700 air hose and air tools were gone
along with a generator, air compressor, drill, and
three chainsaws.

PARKING PROBLEMS

Lockport Judge Tom Dimillo yesterday gave an Irving Street
woman another month to resolve her parking problems. Doretha
Hahn is fighting a charge of illegal parking at her home at 72 Irving.
She's been parking on the city right of way for the past 20 years
but was hit with a zoning violation charge last year. The Judge
gave Hahn the extra time because she said the Common Council
is expected to take up the issue sometime this month. City
prosecutor Matt Brooks maintained the law had already been
broken and said he wanted a guilty plea from Hahn or for Dimillo
to set a trial date. Dimillo adjourned the case till February 10.

PENDLETON

Pendleton Councilmember Joe Frawley told the Town Board
last night he would tender his resignation today. He was upset
after the Board voted 3-2 to appoint the Lockport law firm of
Seaman Jones Hogan & Brooks as the new Town attorney.
Frawley said it was not right and that previous attorney Andrea
Sammarco had done an excellent job for the past five years. The
three votes to make the change were cast by Martin Korkuc,
David Leible, and Ron Morrison. Frawley had wanted to postpone
the decision until interviews were conducted with the other
applicants, but the three voted down any such move.

WEATHER

The National Weather Service has extended the Winter
Weather Advisory till 5am Thursday. Periods of snow
are expected tonight. One to three inches could fall
on top of the icy mess we received early Wednesday.
More snow ...another 1 to 3 inches is possible Thursday
as another front goes though. Today's weather closed
Lockport Schools.

HOUSE FIRE

Several fire companies tackled a blaze in a 2 story brick
home just after 10 this morning at 6818 Erica Lane in the
Town of Lockport. The blaze was reported by the
homeowner and declared under control shortly after
11. WLVL's Steve Wallace says there was massive
damage to the interior of the structure and it looked
like the blaze started in the rear corner of the second story...
as the burn was most severe in that area. The homeowner
did save the family dog.

WEATHER ADVISORY

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather
advisory for tonight and Wednesday. Light snow is expected
to start this evening and change to freezing rain and sleet
overnight. An inch or two of snow is expected along with
a tenth of an inch of ice. The freezing precipitation is
expected to still be around early tomorrow morning and
change to rain for a period before changing back to snow
late in the afternoon. The advisory runs from 8pm tonight
thru 5pm Wednesday.

TRAFFIC STOP/STALKING

A 38 year old Lewiston man was charged with stalking
following a traffic stop Sunday morning on East Canal
Road in Pendleton. Sheriff's deputies say they found a
notebook is his car containing a list of woman's names.
There was a brief paragraph about each one. Several
other items were also found described as sexual in
nature. John Salvalzo of Meyers Hill Road was pulled
over around 11:30 for failing to come to a complete
stop at a stop sign. Deputies also discovered he was
wanted on an active warrant for criminal contempt. The
notebook and other items will be reviewed by
investigators.

990 ACCIDENT FOLLOW-UP

The children of a Lockport woman that was killed Sunday
night in an accident on the 990 were released from Woman
And Childrens Hospital Monday afternoon. Eleven year old
Keanan Lacey and his 4 year old sister, Kaylee, suffered bumps
and bruises. The rollover crash killed their mother, 31 year old
Jennifer Lacey of Dysinger Road. Amherst Police said all
three were wearing seat belts. Jennifer Lacey died of massive
head trauma when the roof caved in when her 2002 Suzuki
Grand Vitara tumbled over and over after sliding off the
right side of the road. The accident happened on the
overpass at North French Road and was caused by freezing
drizzle. Lacey was a single mom and her parents live in
Medina.

CABLE INCREASES

Time Warner Cable plans to increase prices for all their services
effective February 1. The hike follows a deal they made with Lin
Broadcasting last Fall to keep channels 4 & 23 on the system....
and another recently struck with Viacom to keep 18 of their cable
channels. Basic broadcast service will cost $10, standard basic
$61.14, digital basic $63.95, and DVR service will cost a dollar
more. The "All the Best" package consisting of digitial cable,
high speed internet, and phone service will go up by $6 a month.
There'll also be a $6 increase for those subscribing to any two of
the three services. Time Warner says you can lock in the prices
for the packages for two years if you sign a commitment by the end
of the month not to cancel.

PATERSON TO HOLD TOWN HALL MEETINGS

The Governor will hold a series of Town Hall meetings across
Upstate following tomorrow's "State of the State" address.
Paterson's office announced Monday he would spend a portion
of the next six weeks travelling throughout Upstate to hear the
concerns of everyday residents and to deliver his agenda for the
coming year. His office also said he would not deliver a
seperate address on the "State of Upstate" this year. The first
Town Hall meeting will be held Sunday in Watertown. At least
three more will be held in Western New York, the Finger Lakes
region, and in the Southern Tier.

NIAGARA FALLS COUNCIL MEETING

As expected, lawmakers in the Falls yesterday chose Chris
Robbins as Council President. His 4 year old son Aidan held
the bible for him during the swearing-in ceremony. His wife,
Chandra Foote and their other three year old son Carson
looked on. During the short meeting that followed, the Council
o-k'd increases to electrical permit fees and established seperate
price scales for residential, commercial, and industrial properties.
The changes update fees for electrical outlets, service
installations, electrical inspections, and the installation of security
and fire alarms. The resolution was sponsored by outgoing
President Sam Frusicone. The average fee increase across the
board is $5. During the afternoon work session, the City's
Economic Development Director said Joseph Anderson would
need to get an o-k from the Planning Board and the Zoning Board
before he can open a snow tubing hill and synthetic ice rink downtown.
Peter Kay said Anderson switched the operation from a temporary to
more permanent structure and it would require permits. City officials
had originally said it's temporary nature would allow him to operate it
during a 180-day window.

NEWFANE BURGLARIES

Three members of a Lockport family were among 14 people
arrested in the past couple of weeks in connection with a
series of burglaries over the past several months in Newfane.
Twenty-two year old Nick Pearce and 20 year old Shane Pearce
allegedly took part in a break-in at the K&M Storage Facility on
Lockport-Olcott Road. A wall was knocked down and a
snowmobile and two A-T-V's were taken. They're charged with
burglary and grand larceny. Their 18 year old sister, Michelle,
is accused of intimidating witnesses. The three live on Ridge
Road. Four residents of Fuller Road were also arrested.
Eighteen year old Bryan Ketch is charged with possessing
stolen property. Nineteen year old Travis Jefferson with
burglary, grand larceny, and possession of stolen property.
Nineteen year old Devon Hall and 18 year old Josh Mellot
were charged with burglary and grand larceny. The others
include 18 year old James Carvey of Charlottsville Road. He's
facing two counts each of burglary and grand larceny. Twenty
year old Andy Wruck of Lockport Olcott Road is charged with
burglary and grand larceny, as is 18 year old Gregory Pease of
McKee Road. Another 18 year old, Jared Sopiak of Ide Road
is charged with burglary and petit larceny. Deputies say two
16 year old's and a 17 year old were also arrested. All were
arraigned in town court. The State Police assisted the
Sheriff's Department in the investigation. More arrests are
expected.

SUPERMARKET THEFTS

Falls Police are looking for three men who snatched a woman's
purse around 2pm yesterday as she was loading groceries
into her car at the Portage Road Tops. The victim lives on
20th Street. She said one of the three grabbed her purse from
her cart and they all fled on foot. The purse contained about
$900 as well as numerous prescription medications and a
credit card. Earlier on Saturday, another Falls woman told
Sheriff's Deputies her wallet was missing when she tried to
check out of the Save-a-Lot Store in the Summit Mall about 2:30.
The victim said she wasn't sure if she had left it on a counter at
the Bon Ton or whether it had been taken while she was
in the supermarket. She said she got a call from her bank
moments later inquiring about a $900 purchase at the
Amherst Wal Mart. She also learned that two women tried
to use it at two other stores in Amherst. The wallet also contained
about $200 in cash and $300 in Diners Club cards.

MICHAEL DOXEY

Bail is expected to be set sometime today for a 21 year old
Lockport man accused of attacking his girlfriend around 1am
today. Michael Doxey of 141 Pine is charged with harassment
and coercin. The victim said he struck her in the face and
grabbed her by the arms. She said he threatened to have her
"taken care of" if she called Police. They said there were
visible cuts on her upper and lower lips. The woman requested
an order of protection from Doxey and members of his family.

CYNTHIA BIANCO

The sister of outgoing Falls School Chief Carmen Granto
takes over today as interim School Superintendent. Cynthia
Bianco is the Deputy Superintendent and hopes to get the
job full time. The Board of Eductaion is currently conducting
a nationwide search and she's submitted her application.

NEW COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Chris Robbins is expected to be elected President of the
Niagara Falls City Council tonight. He'll replace Sam Fruscione
whose held the post for the past year. Robbins says he'll
concentrate on downtown tourism including the proposed
N-C-C-C Culinary Institute. He'll also try to get the City a
larger share of the casino revenue and work to foster better
communication between the Council and the Mayor.

PENDLETON HOUSE FIRE

A fire started by a turkey fryer last night did a substantial amount
of damage to a home at 6851 East Canal Road in Pendleton.
Forty-nine year old Bob Lanternier told Sheriff's deputies he was
cooking the turkey in a fryer on his back covered porch around
5:30 and went inside to watch TV. He said he saw the rear wall
on fire a few minutes later. He said he had to kick out a side
window to get out of the house because the front door is barred
and the rear door was covered in flames. The blaze was fought by
the Wendelville Fire Department with help from Swarmsville, Rapids,
South Lockport, and North Amherst. No damage estimate was
provided but firefighters said the home was fully engulfed in
flames and smoke when they arrived.

LOCKPORT WOMAN KILLED ON THE 990

A 31 year old Lockport woman was pronounced dead at the scene
last night following an accident on the 990 near North French Road
in Amherst. Jennifer Lacey was going South when her vehicle
careened off a guardrail around 8:15. It went down an embankment
and witnesses told police it went end over end several times before
landing on it's roof in the Southbound ramp. Two children in the
vehicle were taken to Womens & Childrens Hospital. They're
identified as 11 year old Keanan Lacey and 4 year old Kaylee Lacey.
There's no report on their condition. Police said several other cars
went off the 990 about the same time due to the icy road conditions.
Anyone who may have seen the accident is asked to call Lieutenant
John Olesko or Investigator Carl Fischer at 689-1355.