RE-ASSEMENT

A commitee led by Lockport Mayor Mike Tucker
interviewed four companies yesterday that have
shown an interest in taking on the City's property
re-evaluation next year. They are expected to
reccomend one of them to the Council next month.
The last city wide re-evaluation was done in 2001.
The Council set aside $100,000 in next year's
budget to start the process but it could cost
twice that much before it's all said and done.

GAS LEAK

Ten families were evacuated for about an hour in
Lockport yesterday morning after a contractor
apparently ruptured a natural gas line near
106 Independence Drive. Police and Fire and
NYSEG responded after a 9-1-1 call was received
at 9:02am. Officials said Mike Moyer of Wilson was
digging in a utility marked area and ruptured a
four inch plastic natural gas line. The area was
deemed safe around 10am. Police Chief Larry
Eggert said their main concern was that gas leaks
create static electricity and could cause an explosin.

MEMBER ITEMS FOR LOCKPORT POLICE

Three $50,000 member items for the Lockport Police
Department provided by State Senator George Maziarz
were accepted by the City Council Wednesday night.
One will go to buy taser electronic stun guns, another
will be used to buy in-car video systems, and the
third will pay the salary of the Resource Officer at the
high school. The Council also awarded a contract to
a West Seneca company to replace the roof at the
sludge pump station at the wastewater treatment plant.
Sahlem's Roofing and Siding will be paid just a
little over $12,000 for the work.

STOLEN TRUCK FOUND BURNED

A 2007 Chevy Avalanche that had been reported stolen
Tuesday by a 25 year old Lockport man was found
burned Wednesday in an apple orchard at the
intersection of Day and North Canal Roads. The
orchards owner told the Sheriff's department yesterday
a worker told him Wednesday he had found the truck
in the Eastern end of the orchard but he did not check
it out till yesterday morning. The $50,000 vehicle was
owned by a Grove Street man.

FALLS SCHOOL BOARD

The Niagara Falls School Board last night filled
five of the seven positions left vacant after they
fired workers September 24 for not living in the
District. The hires included a high school
counselor, a food service worker, a classroom
associates position, an information services
position, and a maintenance worker. An appointment
to hire a high school English teacher was yanked
from the agenda at the last minute. District
Human Resources Director Phil Mohr said the
Board wanted to talk about it some more and the
vacancy would be resolved at a future meeting.
A new computer application specialist still needs
to be found.

H-1 N-1 FLU

The State Public Employees Federation says
they are pleased the State has withdrawn a mandate
that all health care workers must get the H-1 N-1 flu
shot. The regulation imposed by the State Health
Department would have forced tens of thousands
of workers to get the shot by November 30th or
face possible disciplinary action including
termination. The Governor's office said the action
was taken so limited supplies can be used for
populations most at risk. Paterson said they were
told the State would only get 23 per cent of it's
anticipated supply by the end of the month. County
Health Director Dan Stapleton acknowledged the
shortage at yesterday's meeting of the County Board
of Health. He said they had received 1100 doses and
that 200 to 300 will be given to firefighters, EMT's,
and paramedics at a clinic November 6. He said
the clinic planned at Starpoint November 21 can
only go forward if they get enough vaccine. The
department said earlier this week they would need
about 4000 doses. Stapleton said they hope to have
a clinic at Newfane in early December and at Roy
Hart sometime after that. He said Starpoint was
chosen to kick off the effort because School
Superintendent Dog Whalen has been active in
cooperating with the Health Department.

CAMBRIA BREAK IN

A 43 year old Cambria woman says $550 in cash
and an Apple I-pod touch were taken from her
home on Saunders Settlement Road Wednesday
night. She said the cash was in her bedroom closet
hidden under a box...and the $300 I-pod was in the
living room in a pink case with hearts on it. Deputies
could find no sign of forced entry.

LIBRARY BOARD GETS NEW MEMBER

Former Falls City Court Judge Robert Restaino
is back on the City's Library Board. He's been
chosen to fill the vacancy left by the resignation
of Frank Roma. He will fill out the remainder of
his term which expires at the end of next year.
Restaino is the Judge who put 46 people in jail
when a cell phone went off in his courtroom
back in 2005. He was removed from the bench
last year by the State Commission on Judicial
Conduct and has since been serving as the
County's medicaid fraud specialist. He was on
the Library Board during the late 90's and has
continued to be involved in the Friends of the
Library group. Library Board member Don King
said the past controversey does not affect his
ability and compassion for libraries.

SEX OFFENDER NOW IN JAIL

The convicted sex offender who was moved from
the Falls to North Tonawanda over the summer is
now living in the County Jail. Fifty-two year old
James McKinney was arrested Monday after he
didn't show up for a program under the rules of
his parole. McKinney served a seven year prison
sentence for having sex with four girls under age 14
and was ordered to participate in a program called
Strict & Intensive Supervision & Treatment after
his release. A spokeswoman said they have 90
days to hold a hearing on revoking his parole
and he will stay in jail until the process is
completed. McKinney had been living in the
B Cozy Motel in NT, but Mayor Larry Soos said
yesterday the City was told he had been moved
from the motel last Friday.

LOCKPORT COMMON COUNCIL

Lockport lawmakers last night o-k'd a new sign
ordinance by a 6-0 vote. The new law replaces
the one passed last year and does away with
dictates on colors and the style of lettering
for signs in the downtown area. The Building
Inspections Department will have the power to
o-k most applications. The Planning Board will
only get involved if a proposed sign is larger
than what's specified in the law. They would make
a reccomendation to the Zoning Board which would
have the final say. The law limits electronic
message boards to South Transit and West,
Park and Lincoln Avenues. They may not change
more than once every 20 seconds and video,
animation, and flashing are prohibited. The
Council also voted 5-1 to renew the city's deal
with the SPCA for the rescue of stray cats and
dogs in the coming year. The "no" vote was cast
by Alderman John Lombardi. The Mayor announced
that he and the council have decided to let the Police
Department assign an officer to the Drug Enforcement
Agency Task Force in Buffalo. Tucker said that for
now, the department will not be permitted to hire
a replacement. That may change after they look
at the results next year. Police Chief Larry Eggert
estimates the city could get as mich as $30,000
a year from drug asset forefeitures.

BUDGET HEARING IN THE FALLS

Falls Fire Chief Bill MacKay at center stage in the
Falls yesterday as the City Council continued work
on next year's budget. And just like last year, he
told them they should consider replacing the 10th
Street Firehall. He suggested that a new facility be
built that could also house the department's
administrative offices. He said it would get two
older buildings with high energy costs off the rolls.
He said the 10th Street Hall is more than a hundred
years old and doesn't meet the standards of what's
required in a modern Fire Station. The Chief said the
City has applied for $3.4-million in stimulus money
to replace it but it would only pay for replacing
the Hall and not Administrative offices. An answer
on the grant request is not expected till Spring.
MacKay said the department's five halls are a
good fit for the city's size and he would not
reccomend closing any of them.

APPLICANCE REBATES

The State is trying to get $16.8-million in federal
stimulus money to pay you to replace your old
appliances. The cash would be used to fund
"The Great Appliance Swap Out" during the week
of February 14 next year. The Governor's office
saying those who buy energy efficent refrigerators,
washing machines, freezers, and dishwashers
could get refunds of $50 to $550 depending on
what they buy and whether they can prove they
recycled the old ones. The Governor's office says
it'll take at least 30 days before they will know whether
they are going to get the money.

TOWN OF LOCKPORT BOARD

Lawmakers in the Town of Lockport talked
Wednesday about building restrooms at Day
Road Park. They looked at a plan to buy a
prefabricated building from a company in
Oregon but Supervisor Marc Smith said no
action would be taken until they get a grant
to pay for it. With the shipping, it would cost
over $137,000. Smith also announced the
Town is dropping the idea of installing solar
panels on the roofs of three buildings. He said
the State's Energy Research and Development
Agency had lowered the reimbursement rate
from 90 to 80 per cent and it would now take too
long for them to pay for themselves. The Board
o-k'd a contract with the Lockport Soccer Club
allowing them to use Day Road Park next year
for games and practice. They also bought a
nearly $10,000 device from Lock City Supply.
It'll be used to find leaks in water lines.

EIGHTH GRADER ATTACKS TEACHER

An eighth grade student at Lockport's Wyndham
Lawn School is accused of throwing a chair at
her 50 year old teacher. The incident allegedly
took place just before 1pm Tuesday. The teacher
says the chair struck her in the neck. She said the
girl also threw a stool and a flower pot at her. The
stool struck her in the hip, the pot hit the wall. The
girl is charged as a juvenile with criminal mischief,
menacing, and reckless endangerment. The teacher
planned to get X-rays of her injuries.

ALUMINUM STOLEN IN WILSON

The owner of Savaco in Wilson telling Sheriff's
deputies he saw a white two door pick-up in the
parking lot of his business around 2:30 am
Wednesday. Dan King said the operators pulled
out as he was walking up the driveway. He
subsequently discovered that about $200 worth
of aluminum had been taken from covered bins
along the side of his building.

CARS ENTERED IN GASPORT

The Sheriff's Department says several vehicles in
the Cottage Street area of Royalton were entered
between 7pm Sunday and 8am Monday but only
one man wanted to file a report. A 73 year old said
both his car and garage were entered. He said $8 was
taken from the center console of the vehicle and a
Labatt 12 pack was missing from a refrigerator in
his garage. He found a 24 inch pry bar at the end
of his driveway.

WARRANT ISSUED FOR DOG DRAGGER

The Sheriff's department said Tuesday a 22 year
old Florida woman is suspected of being the one
who dragged a cocker spaniel puppy behind a car
in August. An arrest warrant has been issued for
Suzanne Nunn of Tampa. She's charged with the
misdeemeanor count of animal cruelty but won't
be arrested unless she returns to Western New
York. She allegedly told investigators she was
going to tie the dog to a tree but there were
thorns in the way so she placed the leash over the
car antenna. She says she later drove the car to
use a phone and forgot the dog was still attached
to the vehicle. The animal was dragged for nearly
a mile before another motorist got her to turn into
the parking lot of the K&K Food Store on Lake
Avenue where it was saved by Linda Tilton. She
told WLVL she believes Nunn's story but
says Nunn left the dog for dead. She said surveillance
video showed she drove around her lot twice
before she stopped and says she knew the dog
was not dead and still left. Tilton says Nunn has
not owned up to it, that investigators gave her
the opportunity to turn herself in. They told her
she would not go to jail and they would not
fine her if she did so..that she would get community
service but she has not come back and that's why
they issued the warrant, Tilton said she and
investigators knew for quite some time Nunn was
responsible but they needed to prove it.

H 1 N1 VIRUS

The County Health Department will hold it's first
vaccination clinic November 21 at Starpoint. The
department's public information officer Elaine
Roman expects they'll use 4,000 doses but the
Federal government has only sent a thousand so
far. School Superintendent Doug Whalen said
12 per cent of his students were absent yesterday.
That's about 8 per cent more than usual. The flu
is thought to be the main reason for the increase.

COUNTY LEGISLATURE

County lawmakers passed a resolution last
night asking the State to repeal expensive new
fees being charged to small business owners.
It was sponsored by Lewiston lawmaker
John Ceretto. The fees were doubled by the
State Legislature in this year's budget and
then they were doubled again when the State
required that all licenses be renewed on a two
year schedule. He says it resulted in a 300%
increase in costs to small businesses. He was
moved to sponsor the resolution by the owners
of the Little Yellow Chocolate House in Lewiston.
Owner Jonathon Boas said it was not fair to
new businesses that they have to pay, without
an option, for the additonal year for their
licensing fee. He said they hope to be in
business in 2011 but there are no guarantees
in life and it's not fair that they were already
charged the fee for the following year. The
resolution was co-sponsored by Lockport
representative Tony Nemi. He said if
Senators Antoine Thompson and Bill Stachowksi
got behind the effort, the fees could be rolled back.
Lawmakers also voted to endorse the Governor's
plan to spend more than $10-billion over the next
20 years to develop high speed rail but specified the
County should not be responsible for it's upkeep.
A proposal to pay Undersheriff Sam Muscarella
extra money for the time he served as Sheriff after
Tom Beilein's departure was sent to the Community
Safety & Security Commitee. Jason Cafarella
sponsored the resolution to pay Muscarella
over $5,000 for the extra work, but it's being opposed
by Pete Smolinski who chairs the Committee that'll
deal with the issue.

PENNEY COLLECTION

Local art collector Charles Rand Penney is
donating his entire collection of Niagara County
themed art and artifacts to the Erie Canal
Discovery Center. The 86 year old has lived
in Lockport since 1977. He never married and
has no one to pass it onto. Melissa Dunlap is
the Executive Director of the Historical Society,
which operates the Discovery Center. She
says the collection includes paintings by local
artists, an original marketing piece for the
Seven Sutherland Sisters, a lot of origional
lithographs and maps, Harrison radiator
products and marketing items, an entire
collection of Niagara County postcards, and
plates from Niagara Falls. Penney told WLVL
he started the collection about 30 years ago.
The Grigg Lewis Foundation has given the
History Center a $100,000 grant to support the
$250,000 renovation that'll be needed to house
the collection. They have also applied for a
$125,000 grant from the Greenway Commission
to cover the rest of the cost.

WILD ONES NIAGARA

About 25 people were at a meeting in the Falls
last night sponsored by a group called "Wild
Ones Niagara." They want the Greenway
Commission to pay for a study on removing some
or all of the Robert Moses Parkway and to restore
the area to it's natural state. A company they hired
to look at the result of such a move presented their
findings last night, Environmental Design and
Research said they could start a complete study in
January for $140,000. The proposal for it can be
found on the Greenway Commission's web site
and public comments are being accepted till the
end of the month. The Commission is expected to
decide by November 17 if the study would be
consistent with it's mission. If it is, Wild Ones
can try to get the money from one of the
Commission's committees.

NEWFANE SCHOOL BOARD

The Newfane School Board catching some flack
last night after they gave the job of administering a
federal grant to the Assistant Principal of the Early
Childhood Center. Sharon Smith will be paid
$10,000 to administer the Carol M. White grant.
It'll provide the district with about $500,000 over
three years for physical education programming.
Some members of CSEA local 782 were at the meeting
and told the Board Smith should not get the extra
cash because they have been working for two years
without a new contract. One member said others in
the Union have been asked to do extra work while
negotiations continue and they are not getting
anything extra. School Superintendent Gary
Pogorzelski said the Federal government requires
that someone be appointed to administer the grant.
Smith is also the grant writer for the district.

VIZIO T-V

A 20 year old Lockport man is facing a slew
of charges after he allegedly stole a 42 inch
Vizio TV from the home of relatives on Cherry
Street overnight Saturday. Justin Mitchell
Kane of 178 Pine was caught following a
short foot chase just after midnight Tuesday.
His relatives told police he might have done
it and police had gone to his apartment after
getting word he was there. They were talking to
his girlfriend on the porch when they heard
a crash and the sound of glass breaking coming
from the south side of the building. Kane had
jumped through a screen and storm window.
Police had the area secured and Kane saw
officers on Pine...a foot chase ensued and he
was eventually found hiding underneath a deck
at 156 High. The TV was found in the basement
at 178 Pine. Kane is charged with burglary,
grand larceny, possession of stolen property,
resisting arrest, trespassing, obstructing
governmental administration, and criminal
mischief.

STRICTER GUIDELINES & MAYBE A FULL TIME ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

Officials in the Lew Port School District reacted
yesterday to a so-called initiation of new varsity
soccer players held last month. A task force of
administrators and board members will look at
issuing a handbook for coaches giving them
stricter guidelines. They will also consider hiring
a full time athletic director to evaluate the coaches
and into starting a mandatory meeting for parents
before the start of each sports season. The so-called
hazing incident involved putting eggs and flour in
the hair of players and tossing raw meat at them.
Lewiston police did not charge anyone and no
players were physically harmed during the incident.

ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING

A Fire Marshall from the Falls was treated for a
superficial gunshot wound Tuesday after he
accidentallt shot himself in the right leg. Chief
Gregory Colangelo suffered the injury as he
tried to reholster his weapon just after 10am at
the North Forest Rod and Gun Club. He was
up and walking at the scene, but was taken to
ECMC where he was treated and released a
short time later.

CRIME STATS IN THE FALLS

Falls Police Superintendent John Chella
says overall crime is up 2.6 per cent in the
City for the first eight months of the year.
He submitted a report to the State last week
that showed rapes were up 6 percent and that
violent assaults had climbed by almost
8 per cent. Many of those are tied to domestic
violence. Chella said there has been
a 14 per cent drop in robberies and a 34 per cent
drop in stolen cars. He said the price of copper
has fallen over the past year... but those that had
been in jail for such offenses are now out and
have turned to car break-in's....which spiked
over the Summer. He said Tier 1 crimes ..
including murder, rape, robbery, aggravated
assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle
theft for all 8 months were down .03 per cent.

LOCKPORT FOOTBALL PLAYER CHARGED

A 17 year old member of the Lockport Lions facing
several charges after he allegedly attempted to
assault a woman in the Falls Saturday night.
Javeon Tomlinson of 283 North Transit is
accused of kicking in the womans door
around 6pm. He was located by police a short
time later and refused to stop for officers. He
was told he was under arrest and a foot chase
ensued. The junior reserve running back
escaped but was brought to police headquarters
by his parents. He was still wearing his #21 Lockport
Lions jersey. The victim requested a full order of
protetcion. The Lions lost to the Falls 21-14 when
they met Saturday afternoon.

LOCKPORT MAN CHARGED IN LANCASTER

An 85 year old Lockport man allegedly
ran a stop sign in Lancaster around 12:30
Sunday afternoon and struck a Jeep
operated by a 35 year old Alden woman.
William Gallagher of Minnick Road was
taken to ECMC with minor injuries. The
woman and her three young children were
all wearing seat belts and were taken to
Women & Childrens Hospital for observation.
Gallagher was charged with failing to stop
at the sign.

NO TRESPASSING!

A 65 year old Cambria man told the Sheriff's
Department Saturday 48 No Trespassing signs
were stolen in the past week from a property
he owns at 3137 Maple Road in Wilson. The
resident of Meahl Road also said a large
quantity of wood was stolen from the property
over the Summer. He added that about 200
No Trespassing signs had been taken over the
past year from his property on Meahl Road. He
estimated his loss at $3,000.

INTO A DITCH & INTO JAIL

A 20 year old Burt man was charged with DWI
after he drove his car into a ditch early
Sunday morning on Wilson Burt Road.
Robert Demorest Junior told deputies it
happened as he was driving home from a
party. He said a woman stopped and gave
him a ride home and that he had come back
in his dad's car to pull his vehicle out. That's
when a deputy stopped to see if he needed
help and noticed that Demorest showed signs
of being intoxicated. His blood alcohol content
allegedly measured .13 and he was charged with
DWI and failing to maintain the designated lane.
Both vehicles were towed from the scene and
DeMorest is due in Town of Newfane Court
Tuesday night.

DEER HEAD

A 19 year old Wheatfield woman called the
Sheriff's Department around 12:30 this morning
when she found a decapitated deer head on the
hood of her vehicle. Deputies said it was from
a male that had it's antlers cut from the skull cap.
The woman said she did not know when it was
left there and why anyone would do so. The car
had been parked in the family driveway at their
home on Homeyer Road. The vehicle was not
damaged.