CROSSWALK

The annual Lockport Cross Walk was held Friday
at six churches in the City. The procession started
at noon at Emmanuel United Methodist Church at
75 East Avenue. The other stops included the first
AME Church at 123 South Street, First English
Lutheran at 185 Locust, Grace Episcopal at 100
Genesee, Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church at
5 Saxton, First Presbyterian at 21 Church, and the
Lockport United Church of Christ. Particpants
focused on a different them at each stop and a
formal reading of The Passion of Christ according
to the gospel of Luke was held at the final stop.
The cross was provided by Saint Mary's and it
was carried by different people from stop to stop.
It's difficult to say how many people took part
because they could come and go as their schedule
permits. The walk took about three hours to
complete.

SUGARTOWN

The State Health Department is continuing to
pound away at getting you to embrace that
proposed tax on sugary soft drinks. They released
a report from the journal "Health Affairs" that
said it would likely reduce soda consumption and
obesity among young people. The Rand Corporation
study was paid for by the Federal government and
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It included
more than 7,000 children whose activities were
followed between kindergarten and the fifth grade.
State Health Commissioner Doctor Richard Daines
also noted the Syrcause Post Standard has become the
sixth major newspaper in the State to support the
tax. An editorial says it's not about limiting
consumer choice or burdening taxpayers....it's
an opportunity for New York to take a leadership
role in combatting obesity and it's related ills.

CODE VIOLATIONS IN THE FALLS

The owners of 47 properties on Main Street
in the Falls were cited last weekend for code
violations during an enforcement blitz. Acting
Inspections Commissioner Dennis Virtuoso
says notices were sent out this week directing
them to correct the violations by May 1 or they
could be hauled into Housing Court and face
charges. Four inspectors conducted the blitz
last Saturday on Main between Lewiston Road
and the Rainbow Bridge. They looked at the front
and back of 129 structures but did not go inside.
Most of the violations were found between Niagara
and Linwood Avenues. They included missing
gutters, broken windows, rotted eaves and
facades, and garbage and debris on the premises.

GREATER LOCKPORT DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

The owner of Lockport's Rubberform Recycled
Products told the city's development agency
Thursday they probably won't be able to make their
monthly payments that are due starting this
month. Bill Robbins also said they're looking
at moving to another location in the County after
their lease runs out on their current location on
Michigan Street. He said they've looked at a
couple of buildings in the City and will defintely
stay in the county. The company owes the GLDC
$225,000. They have allowed them to make
interest only payments of $680 three times in the
last 17 months. Robbins said they just signed
a deal with a company to make loading dock
bumpers out of old conveyer belts and it should
bring in more than a million dollars a year.
The GLDC also agreed to lend another $40,000
to the holding company operating Harrison Place.
It'll be used to pay operations and maintenance
bills that are due before rents are collected. The
agency now has $315,000 invested in the complex.

DEL RIO

An unemployed Falls minister was advised yesterday
to remove his clercial collar when he's looking for a
job to help him pay back the money he stole from a
Cataract City church. Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrezza
also reduced Peter Del Rio's minimum monthly
payments to the church from $400 to $200. The 51
year old was previously found guilty of stealing over
$44,000 from Saint Paul's United Methodist between
2004 and 2006. Sperrezza said she was sure that, when
Del Rio was job hunting, his clerical collar shocked the
heck out of people when they discovered he had been
convicted of a felony. Del Rio was in court because he
couldn't make the minimum monthly restitution
payments. He said he's been turned down for
numerous jobs, and the judge said the collar might
be the problem.

FEE INCREASES

Officials from the State;s Office of Parks, Recreation,
and Historic Preservation identified $4-million in
fee increases yesterday that'll take effect for the
2010 season. The increased revenues are built into
their 2010-2011 fiscal year budget plan that calls for
closing and reduced operations at dozens of State
Parks and historic sites and they will not change the
number of locations set for cutbacks. Greens fees will
increase by varying amounts at golf courses, there'll
be a hike in vehicle use fees at "flagship" parks like
Fort Niagara, and out of state visitors will face a
surcharge when using campsites or if they rent a
cottage or cabin.

BICYCLE PATROL

Two Lockport men were charged with possession
of marijuana last night after they were allegedly
caught smoking the drug by officers on bicycle
patrol. Twenty-one year old Raymond Jackson
of 61 Genesee and 37 year old Antoine Ewing of
796 East High were among four people standing
in front of 4 Walnut. Officers said they could smell
buring marijuana as they rode by and after an
extensive search they found a small hand rolled
cigar with marijuana inside. During questioning,
they say they also found a suspected piece of cocaine
that was sitting on a porch within an arms length
of the four people. They said Jackson appeared
to be trying to hide it when he was told to sit down
on the steps. Jackson and Ewing were both charged
with possession of marijuana. Additional charges
are pending against Jackson after testing is
completed on the suspected cocaine. Police also
confiscated $480 in cash from Ewing.

WOMAN CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING A POLICE OFFICER

A 34 year old Lockport woman turned herself into
police yesterday on charges stemming from an incident
last Thursday at her home on Morton Place. Ruby
Clayton is charged with assaulting a police officer,
resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental
administration. Officers went to her home after a
friend called and said Clayton had taken an unknown
amount of pills and did not want to go to the hospital.
Clayton allegedly was argumentative and uncooperative,
told police to get out, and said she just wanted to be
left alone. She allegedly came at officers in a
threatening manner when the Fire Department told
her she had to go to the hospital. She is accused of
striking an officer in the jaw as she was forcibly
taken into custody and transported to the hospital.

PENSION PADDING

State Senator George Maziarz says he supports
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's efforts to investigate
pension padding in state and local governments. The
Senator joined Cuomo yesterday at a press conference
at the UB Law School where recent expansions in the
investigation were highlighted. Maziarz said public
employees are playing a dangerous and costly game when
they inflate their pensions by accruing an unusually
high amount of overtime in their final working years.
He said the Attorney General is absolutely right to be
going after these abuses. Maziarz said it's not only
unethical, but it adds to the heavy tax burden that's
driving businesses and jobs away. Cumo said taxpayers
could save close to $500-million over 20 years if just
one percent of inflated pensions costs are eliminated.

ACCIDENT

A Lockport woman was treated for facial injuries and
a 54 year old Wilson man was charged with DWI following
a motorcycle accident around 3am Thursday on Gooding
Street in Lockport. Jeffrey Routly was also charged with
vehicle assault two, unreasonable speed, and improper
lane use. Police found debris in the road on Gooding about
150 feet east of Glenwood. They found Routly and the
woman next to a motorcycle on the side of a residence.
Routly told them he had crashed his bike and the girl
needs help. Roxanne Rivers of Niagara Street in Lockport
was taken to ENH-Lockport.