OUT OF WORK

The County's unemployment rate hit 10.9 per
cent in January according to figures released
yesterday by the State Labor Department. That
was up 2 1/2 points from December and 3 1/2
points more than it was a year ago. The jobless
rate across Western New York averages about
9 per cent. The State's jobless rate increased
by 0.4 per cent to 7 per cent. Officials say more than
125,000 residents lost their job in the last six months
and nearly half a million people are now receiving
benefits.

ROBINS TO QUIT COUNCIL

Falls Council Chairman Chris Robins says he will not
run for another term this Fall. He told the Gazette he
wants to spend more time with his family, that he's
finding it more and more difficult to balance his role
as a Councilman with that of a father. He and his wife
Chandra have two young sons ages 3 & 4. He said he
wanted to be able to watch them play baseball without
hearing from fellow parents about the needs of the City.
He said he wanted to have dinner with his family without
answering phone calls about potholes and plowing.
Robins said hemade the announcement early so he could
spend the last 9 months in office focusing on issues
affecting the City and not politics.

MARSHAWN LYNCH

Bills running back Marshawn Lynch plead guilty
yesterday to a misdemeanor gun charge in California.
The 22 year old was sentenced to 80 hours of community
service and three years probation in Los Angeles County
Superior Court. In a statement released through his
attorney, Lynch said he was embarassed he placed
himself in such a situation. He apologized to his family,
the Bills, his teammates, the community, and League
Commissioner Roger Goodell. The Bills also released
a statement saying Lynch had accepted responsibility
for his actions and the league is now reviewing the
matter under the NFL personal conduct policy.

HOME INVASION

The Sheriff's Department says a 79 year old
Errik Road woman was awakened just after
midnight today by a man that shined a green
tinted flashlight on her bed. She told deputies
she screamed, the man ran out of the room,
and she heard some sort of vehicle leave the
area. Deputies think it was an all-terrain vehicle
that had been reported stolen about a half hour
before from a barn in the 6100 block of Baer Road.
They found ATV tracks on the womans driveway
and on the lawn east of her home. The State Police
are also investigating an attempted burglary on the
same road reported prior to the theft of the ATV.
The Sheriff's department says a rear garage door
window was broken to gain entry into the home
on Errik Road...and the man then forced open
a door leading into the kitchen. It appears nothing
was taken. Deputies were unable to put a chopper
in the air to search for the suspect, but they say
there is a possible person of interest in the case.
The State Police are asking anyone with information
to call 434-5588.

BROKOB

County Court Judge Matt Murphy yesterday sentenced
Mitchell Brokob to 25 years to life for abducting and
sexually assaulting a 12 year old North Tonawanda girl
last year. Murphy told the 41 year old he was an evil
man and Assistant D-A Elizabeth Donatello said Brokob
is the monster every parent fears. A letter from the victim
was also read in court. The girl said Brokob is evil and
should not be let out of prison. Brokob and his attorneys
said nothing. Brokob still has to be sentenced May 27
on federal pornography charges. Judge Richard Arcara
is expected to impose a concurrent 20 year sentence
under a plea deal worked out between county and
federal prosecutors. There were some tears shed during
yesterday's proceedings.

ANELLO

The nephew of former Falls mayor Vince Anello
plead guilty to a drug felony yesterday in County
Court. Twenty-nine year old Phillip Anello
admitted he sold .22 ounces of cocaine in a bar
in October 2007 and made two similiar deals the
following month. Anello was arrested in November
2007 when police seized about $5,000 worth of
cocaine, hydrocodone, and marijuana from his
17th Street home. He could receive up to 4 years
in prison when he's sentenced April 30 by Judge
Sara Sheldon Sperrezza.

FAKE CRACK

A 41 year old Falls man is being held on $30,000
bail in the County Jail after he allegedly robbed
two teens who sold him fake crack cocaine.
Police say James Robinson of 15th Street
pointed a gun at the two boys around 4pm
Wednesday inside a 24th Street apartment house.
He wanted his money back after the two teens...
ages 16 &17....sold him the phony crack
the day before. Robinson is also on probation for
stabbing his fiance in September 2007. The judge
added $10,000 to his bail for that violation. No
charges were filed against the teens.

NEW COMMANDER AT AIR BASE

The Falls air base will get a new commander over
the weekend. Colonel Allan Swartzmiller will take
over from Colonel Reinhard Schmidt in a change of
command ceremony Sunday. Swartzmiller most
recently served as the Operations Group Commander
of the 934th Airlift Wing at the Minneapolis-St. Paul
air reserve station. Schmidt has been at the base for
two years, his future assignment was not announced.

NEWFANE MAN SENTENCED

An 18 year old Newfane man was sentenced to one
to three years in prison yesterday. Jared Sopiak
of Ide Road plead guilty to charges he broke into
a vacant house on Baer Road in Cambria last
July 10, and to violating his probation for a previous
attempted burglary in March 2007 at a garage on
Fuller Road. Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrezza said she
would reccommend that Sopiak be sent to the State's
six month boot camp style shock incarceration
program. Sopiak was arrested again about two
months ago for another Newfane burglary. That
case is still open.

TIMKEY

A 20 year old Town of Tonawanda man was charged
yesterday with stabbing Timkey Limousine owner
Bill Timkey late Sunday in the Woodlands Mobile
Home Park. Nicholas Cortese was arraigned before
Town of Lockport Justice Raymond Schilling on
three felony counts, one for attempted robbery
and two others of first degree assault. He plead
not guilty and is being held on $50,000 cash bail or
$100,000 property.

TOWN HALL MEETING

The Governor addressed a wide array of issues
during a nearly 70-minute Town Hall Meeting
last night in the Falls. It was hosted by channel
4's Jackie Walker and featured questions e-mailed
to the TV station and from members of the audience
at the Doris Jones Family Resource Center. Walker
and audience members wanted to know why the
State wasn't making the same sacrificies as the
taxpayers. Paterson said he had cut eductaion and
health care and was getting attacked by unions in
ads on radio and TV. He also said no agreement
had been reached with the Senecas during an afternoon
meeting on the cigarette tax issue...but he said,
they made a proposal to level the playing field that
was new to him and his staff would look it over. He
had a nearly five minute exchange with Rus Thompson
about doing away with the tolls on the Grand Island
bridges, and admitted that some of the stimulus money
would be used to hire more State workers because
they were needed to process unemployment claims.
He said he could not guarantee a Bass Pro shop would
be built in Buffalo but said the State was still committed
to providing $21-million dollars for the project. Paterson
listened as a woman complained about the worsening
state of the streets in the Falls and that the State
takes too much of the casino money and all of the
revenue from the State Parks.

CANAL ROAD BREAK-IN

Over $16,000 worth of jewelery and electronics
were taken yesterday in a home burglary on
East Canal Road in the Town of Lockport. The
50 year old victim telling deputies it happened
between 8:30 am and 3pm. She said an outside
garage door was unlocked and the inside door
leading into the home was forced open. A $5,000
diamond bracelet, a $3,000 gold and diamond watch,
and a $2,000 pair of diamond earrings were taken...
along with a Sony digitial camera, a Sony camcorder,
and a 20 inch Sony flat screen TV. The victim said
a large flat screen TV in the living room would also have
been taken but the perpatrators were apparently
unable to get it off it's wall mount.

SCHOOL BUS ACCIDENT

A bus driver and 13 students were hurt yesterday when
a school bus allegedly rear endeda minivan around 2:30
at the intersection of Saunders Settlement and Bridgeman
Roads. The bus driver, 36 year old Dorothy Bartlett of the
Town of Niagara, was charged with following too closely.
The mini-van was operated by 18 year old Adam Clabo.
He and his passenger, 17 year old Steven Seyler are
both students at Niagara Wheatfield High School. Lewiston
police said the accident happened as Clabo was stopped in the
Eastbound lane on Saunders Settlement waiting to turn onto
Bridgeman. They described the mini van as heavily damaged.
Bartlett told police she had been distracted by her passengers.
The injured were treated and released at Mount Saint Mary's
and the Falls Medical Center. The others were evaluated and
released to their parents. The accident closed Saunders
Settlement in front of Smokin Joe's for three hours.

NON JURY TRIAL

The brother of former Falls mayor Vince Anello
agreed yesterday to let a judge decide whether he
was guilty of causing a disturbance during a City
Council meeting back in October 2007. Matteo Anello
was arrested during the public comment section as
he was attempting to talk about anti-Italian remarks
allegedly made by Councilmember Bob Anderson.
Anello's non jury trial will take place April 22.

LOCKPORT COMMON COUNCIL

Lockport alderman Pat Schrader told the Common
Council last night he plans to hold a formal public
hearing April 1 on his plans to rezone South Transit.
He wants to create a new type of zoning, the
Neighborhood Commercial General Residence District.
It would allow for the commercial use or re-use of
existing homes but not permit more large businesses
to come in. The existing Lockport Plaza and the two
chain drug stores would be grabndfathered in and not
be affected. It would also allow the residential development
of buildings up to eight units. Schrader says the changes
will tie in with the planned makeover of the Transit North
corridor. The Council o-k'd the purchase of a $49,000
dump truck with a snowplow and salt spreader and
a $37,500 utility truck for the Water Department. They
voted to seek bids for a new pumper for the Fire
Department but there's no guarantee they'll buy it.
The Council received a bid for a new one last year
but failed to act on it. Schrader said he would bring in
a mechanic to testify about the poor condition of two
trucks the city bought in 1987.

LIBRARY HELP

The State will provide almost $200,000 for
infrastructureimprovements to libraries around
the County. Assemblywoman Francine Del Monte
says over $132,000 will pay for the rehabilitation
of historic windows, new storm windows, and
air conditioning at the LaSalle branch in the Falls.
The Newfane Public Library will get about $10,000
for insulation and vinyl siding, plus the replacement
of 9 windows and 3 entrance doors, new exterior
lighting, a new book drop, and handicapped parking.
The NIOGA library system will receive over $54,000.
It'll go to buy and install new servers and software,
a new security system, expanded parking, new sidewalks,
and new computers for a training room.

TRESPASSING

Lockport police set up a perimeter on Niagara Street
around 9:30 yesterday morning after an alleged
trespasser ran from officers and jumped a fence.
Likeem Wright of 263 North Transit is charged
with obstructing governmental administration and
trespassing. Police said the owner of a Niagara
Street home called and said a black male was in his
fenced in backyard near a shed. Wright was caught a
short time after police set up the perimeter.

FOUND PROPERTY

Lockport police recovered a moped yesterday that
had been chained to a tree in a wooded area off
State Road. They were alerted to it's prescence
by a walker who said it had been there since at least
February. Police said the moped was originally red
but had been painted gray. It has about 400 miles on
it and they're trying to find the owner.

COUNTY LEGISLATURE

A resolution opposing a request for a 13%
NYPA rate hike was just one of several passed
last night at the Courthouse aimed at reining in
the New York Power Authority. Lawmaker
Andrea McNulty called the request a hidden tax
and said NYPA was forced to ask for the increase
because the Governor had taken $750-million
of the surplus and dumped it into the State's
general fund. Lawmakers also passed others
demanding that at least one seat on NYPA's
board should always be filled by a Niagara
County resident....that an audit should be
done of NYPA by the State Comptroller....
and that the State should use the profits from
the Power Project to set up a special economic
development fund that would be controlled by the
County. The Legislature also o-k'd a list of
169 projects to submit to the federal government
for stimulus funding, Economic Development
Commissioner Sam Ferraro said the list would
go directly to the President and our Congressional
delegation. The State is supposed to get $24.6-
billion but Majority Leader Rick Updegrove
said he understood there may be some money
left over in Washington for discretionary spending
above and beyond the State limit.

STRUGGLE DURING SENTENCING

A 26 year old Lockport man struggled with security
officers yesterday after being sentenced to 17 years
in prison by County Judge Matt Murphy. Kenneth
Rouse of Prospect Street managed to throw an elbow
at an officer even though he was handcuffed and his
ankles were chained together. Three officers shoved
him into a chair and it fell backwards as Rouse continued
to struggle. He was in court to be sentenced for stabbing
39 year old Mark Rivera during a break in at his home in
February 2008. He had also been charged with sexually
assaulting a young Royalton girl in January 2008 but that
charge was changed to attempted third degree burlary
as part of a plea deal. Rouse accepted it because
he did not want to register as a sex offender.

PATERSON

The Governor will meet with Seneca Nation leaders
in Amherst at 4:30 today on the cigarette tax issue.
He told the Buffalo News he was not going to
negotiate in the press when a reporter questioned
him about possible solutions to the dispute. Paterson
also said he would meet with his Upstate Economic
Development team tomorrow to talk about the future
of the Bass Pro shop in Buffalo. He said he had been
assured it remains very promising. The Governor will
be in the Falls at 5:30 today for a Town Hall Meeting
on the state's financial problems. The doors to the
Doris Jones Family Resource Building will open
at 4:30. Seating is limited and on a first come first
serve basis.

JEX FUNDRAISER

The E-mail circulating around Lockport last week
that said the owner of the Lockport Dunkin Donuts
refused to put up a flyer about the death of Lockport
soldier Albert Jex has turned out to be untrue. Owner
Rumit Patel says he told the person he could place
the flyer on a community billboard in the store located
near a trash basket. That was misunderstood and Patel
says he went to the funeral home to pay his respects and
talked to the family. He decided to donate all the money
from hot coffee sold today (March 4) from 7am till 4pm
to the family. Jex's widow will use the money to attend
an Army service honoring her husband and the others
killed in a roadside bombing in Mosul Iraq February 9.

SIXTH GRADER FACING DRUG CHARGES

A sixth grade student at a Falls elementary school
was arrested on drug charges Tuesday morning.
Officials at Cataract Elementary say the boy was
found with 25 white pills marked with M-358.
He told police he took them from hios uncle because
he knew they were worth money. He was charged as
a juvenile with felony third degree criminal
possession of a controlled substance and criminal
sale of a controlled substance. Police said the pills
are a narcotic pain killer.

CITY COUNCIL HOPEFUL

A fourth grade teacher at Harry Abate School says
she will run for one of the three seats on the Falls
City Council up for election this year. Democrat
Kristen Grandinetti says she will make a formal
announcement April 2 at a reception at the Como.
The Falls native has two masters degrees from
Niagara University in education and school
administration. She released a statement saying
she feels the tide is about to turn in our city and
she wants to be on the team that brings about the
rebirth. Two of the three seats up for election are
held by teachers Sam Fruscione and Chris Robins.
The other is held by Charley Walker.

GASPORT WOMAN KILLED IN ACCIDENT

A 21 year old Gasport woman was killed last night
when her car collided with a tractor trailer on Transit
Road. Amherst Police say it happened just before 7
in front of the Swormville Fire Department. Kahlea
Hendel was extricated from her white Pontiac Grand
Am by members of that fire department and taken to
Millard Fillmore Suburban where she was pronounced
dead around 8:15. Police said she was going North
on Transit when she crossed over the center line in
front of the tractor trailer. It was driven by 56 year old
Jeffrey Senn of Grand Island. He was also taken to
Millard and was treated for back pain. Anyone who
may have witnessed the crash is asked to call Amherst
Police at 689-1355.

HIT & RUN IN THE FALLS

A 36 year old Falls man to be forcibly carried out of
his home early Monday as he was being arrested on
DWI and hit and run charges. George Drinks Junior
also had to be physically subdued. A North Avenue
woman said he struck her parked car in her driveway
and then drove across her lawn. Police followed a trail
of engine fluid for several blocks to the 2200 hundred
block of Ontario Avenue where Drinks ran into his house
as officers approached. He's facing a total of seven
charges. His passenger, 37 year old Lester Streeter
of Ninth Street was charged with obstructing
governmental administration and disorderly conduct.
Police said both men were highly intoxicated.

LAWSUIT TO GO FORWARD

The Falls woman who suffered a fractured
skull and other injuries when she struggled
with police during a domestic violence incident
last year was sentenced to 40 hours of
community service Monday. Thirty-two year old
Jaquida Coleman of Hyde Park Boulevard says
she is not dropping her civil suit against the city
over her treatment by police. She plead guilty to
two counts of disorderly conduct after cutting a
deal with County prosecutors last November.
Coleman was injured in February 2008 while
struggling with police outside her apartment.
Officer Kenneth Redmond was investigating a
domestic incident involing her sister. He says
he used his flashlight for defense to throw her
off balance but it accidentally crashed into her
head. Her attorney expects the case will go to
federal court sometime in the next couple of
months.

C ITY OF LOCKPORT PARKING RAMP

A Buffalo design firm told a Lockport committee
Monday they could have a preliminary design
ready in about three months to replace the Main
Street parking ramp. Foit Albert Associates
estimates it'll cost about $3-million to tear down
the current structure and $5-million to build a
two floor underground ramp with a park above
it. Mayor Mike Tcuker said the City doesn't have
that kind of money sitting around and they would look
for grants but they may have to borrow it. He said
it was a project that had to be done and they needed
to move along on it. He said they wanted to have
everything in place before starting. The plan is to
have it done by 2010. The preliminary design
will be paid for with money in the unappropriated fund balance.

CAIN

The mother of convicted County gang leader
David Cain Junior was sentenced Monday to six
months of home confinement for tampering with a
witness in her son's case. Fifty-five year old Ann
Cain of Barker got a break because she's suffering
from terminal lung cancer. Her doctor says she has
about a year to live. Judge Richard Arcara sentenced
her to five years probation with six months of home
confinement. She was found guilty in a four day
trial in September 2006. Officials say she repeatedly
told a witness to lie to investigators the year before.
Her lawyer said she would be permitted to go to work
and to leave her home for medical treatment.

SIGN

A 53 year old Falls woman told police Sunday she
would take down a racially charged sign that she
had put up on the fence of her 25th Street home.
The handwritten sign said "I rent three bedrooms to
white people Niagara Falls." The woman told police
she put the sign up after someone tried to break into
her home. She agreed to remove it under protest,
telling officers she could do what she wanted because
she lives in America. Police said they had received
complaints about the sign. The officer said she had
7 more she was planning to put up.

FACT FINDERS

A State appointed third party fact finder will be
called in to resolve the three year contract
stalemate between N-C-C-C and it's 164-member
faculty association. College President Doctor
James Klyczek said the two sides agreed to the
decision because they have not been able to
agree on a multitude of issues including pay and
health insurance. The contract expired at the
end of August 2006. Association President JoeColosi
said faculty morale is as low as he's seen it in his
36 years at the school.

SCHUMER WANTS RE-EXAMINATION

Senator Chuck Schumer called on FEMA yesterday
to re-examine the homes included in the Wheatfield
flood plain map. He wrote Acting FEMA Administrator
Nancy Ward complaining that nearly 400 families and
business owners still face the propsect of an annual
flood insurance bill that could cost more than $1100.
He called on the agency to re-examine the homes by
using the existing study.

TWO SUSPECTS IN TIMKEY STABBING

A man and a woman wanted in connection with Sunday
night's stabbing of Lockport Limousine owner Bill
Timkey are being held by the Sheriff's Department.
Sheriff Jim Voutour said the pair were picked up about
2pm Monday by Amherst Police. He said they were at
Sweet Melody's on Transit Road in East Amherst when
the woman was picked up by her mother and taken to
Amherst Police. The man took off running through
fields off Millersport Highway but was caught after a
15-20 minute search. Voutour said the man had two
outstanding warrants....one for a parole violation..
and the other for a robbery in Lewiston. He said no
charges have been filed yet in the Timkey case , that
they wanted to build a good case for prosecution.
Timkey was stabbed in the stomach and is in stable
condition at ECMC. Voutour said he visited him
Monday night and Timkey was still weak from the attack.

BAR FIGHT

Nobody wanted to file charges after Sheriff's
deputies showed up at a fight around 7 o'clock
Sunday night at the Time Out Two Bar on
Main Street in Newfane. A 19 year old said he
had been struck in the face with a closed fist
but refused medical treatment and did not
want to file charges. Deputies said there were
multiple parties in the parking lot when they
arrived and everybody was yelling and screaming
at each other.

POLAR BEAR SWIM

A record number of swimmers...807 in all...braved the
cold waters of Lake Ontario Sunday for the 40th
annual Polar Bear Day Swim. Participants from as
far away as Syracuse and Canada took part...raising
about $20,000 for the Lions Club. The water
temperature was 33 degrees while the air temperature
hovered around 20.

LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN CAMP

A break-in was discovered yesterday in a cottage at the
Lighthouse Christian Camp in Barker. The owner found
a south side window broken out and an interior door was
pried open. He said drawers had been opened but it appeared
nothing was missing. He estimated the damage to the door and
window at $250. The Sheriff's Department says other cottages
in the park have also been broken into and reported to the
Barker Police Department.

TIMKEY STABBED

Fifty-seven year old William Timkey Junior is in
stable condition at ECMC after being stabbed
in the stomach around 10:30 last night during
an attempted robbery. It happened in the
Woodlands Mobile Home Park. Timkey told
deputies he picked up a white male and a
white female in his cab from the NOCO gas station on
South Transit. He said the two sat behind him
and, as he was driving on Fernwood Drive, the
male reached from behind and stabbed him in
the stomach. Timkey opened the door,
jumped from the moving vehicle, and ran to
1069 Fernwood where he banged on doors and
windows screaming for help. The two suspects
fled from the scene as the Caravan continued East
eventually striking a fence on the frontyard at
1074 Fernwood. Timkey said the man was about
6 foot 2, and wore a dark knit hat and a dark jacket
with a hood. The femalewas described as about
5 foot 6, with a medium build and dirty blonde hair.
The knit hat was found in the roadway, The NOCO
station gave deputies surveillance videos of the
two suspects, the phone book they used, and
a pair of gloves the man was possibly wearing.
K-9 units were dispatched to the scene. Anyone
with information is asked to call Investigator
Paul Perkins at 438-3409.