Posted on Friday, 9 of May , 2008 at 7:04 pm
COMMENTARY
By June Maxam
© North Country Gazette 
PINELLAS COUNTY, FLA—Pinellas-Pasco state attorney Bernie McCabe holds a grudge and acts childishly and vindictively if he doesn’t get his own way, utilizing his position to get even with state employees in personal disputes.
Just ask Moses Jordan. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Florida, Government, Opinion, Police, Politics, Schiavo
Posted on Friday, 9 of May , 2008 at 6:00 pm
QUEENS—A 27-year-old unemployed security guard has been charged with attempting to meet for sexual relations a person he had met online and whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. The alleged victim was actually a New York City Police Department undercover detective assigned to its Vice Enforcement Division. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime
Posted on Friday, 9 of May , 2008 at 5:53 pm
TALLAHASSEE, FL – A consumer advisory has been issued by Florida Attorney General Bill McCullum cautioning Florida consumers about potential risks associated with unsecured wireless internet connections. The advisory, originally issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), warns consumers about hackers, viruses and other potential issues caused by using unsecured wireless connections to the internet. (Read more…)
Category: Consumers, Technology
Posted on Friday, 9 of May , 2008 at 5:48 pm
NEW YORK—A former shop steward and delegate of Local 157 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones to five months in prison and five months of home confinement. (Read more…)
Category: Business, Courts, Crime
Posted on Friday, 9 of May , 2008 at 5:33 pm
BROOKLYN—A Brooklyn man has been convicted on 20 of the 22 counts he was charged with in a multi-million dollar human tissue theft conspiracy. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Health, New York State
Posted on Friday, 9 of May , 2008 at 5:24 pm
QUEENS–A Queens Village resident who is a member of the Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department and a former member of the Glen Oaks Volunteer Ambulance Corps has been charged with the statutory rape of a 16-year-old girl at motels in Queens and on Long Island and with the online possession of child pornography. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime
Posted on Friday, 9 of May , 2008 at 5:17 pm
McARTHUR, OHIO—He shared his Little Debbie snack cake with another inmate in a residential community corrections program. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Ohio
Posted on Friday, 9 of May , 2008 at 4:42 pm
CLEVELAND—Elsebeth Baumgartner was ordered to begin her eight year prison term for intimidating a judge Friday after Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold revoked her bond. (Read more…)
Category: Constitution, Courts, Crime, Ohio
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 11:04 pm
ALBANY—Two Clifton park men have been sentenced to federal prison for two years and ordered to make restitution in the amount of $887,311 to victim banks for their participation in a mortgage and tax fraud scheme. (Read more…)
Category: Business, Consumers, Courts, Crime, New York State
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 9:51 pm
SCHENECTADY—Liza Kaczmarek, wife of former Schenectady Police Chief Gregory T. Kaczmarek, and his stepson, Miles Smith, are among the 24 people accused of taking part in a highly organized narcotics distribution organization which the Attorney General’s office says is operating in the Capital District and supplied from Long Island. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Government, New York State, Police
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 9:17 pm
ALBANY—Nearly $109 million in new state funding is being made available to support stem cell research initiatives in New York, according to an announcement Thursday by Gov. David Paterson. The funding represents the second round of available funding from the state’s 11-year, $600 million stem cell research initiative that was approved as part of last year’s state budget. (Read more…)
Category: Consumers, Disabled, Elder Care, Government, Health, New York State
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 9:03 pm
JEFFERSON COUNTY—A Jefferson County woman is guilty of stealing $15,000 from the Oxbow Fire Department. (Read more…)
Category: Adirondacks, Courts, Crime
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 8:51 pm
GLENVILLE—The Glenville police officer who was arrested for allegedly shooting out a streetlight with a “potato gun” and setting fire to two boxes of road flares in the parking lot of the police department will have the charges dismissed if he stays out of trouble for the next six months. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Police
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 8:41 pm
WASHINGTON — As millions of Americans begin receiving their economic stimulus payments, the Internal Revenue Service released a list of the most-frequently-asked questions –– and answers –– that people now are asking. (Read more…)
Category: Calendar, Consumers, Government, Nationwide, Taxes
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 8:27 pm
COMMENTARY
PINELLAS COUNTY, FLA—A year ago this week, 34-year-old Daniel Bradley Young died after seven Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies attempted to take him into custody—-by tasering him. (Read more…)
Category: Constitution, Courts, Crime, Florida, Government, Ohio, Opinion, Police
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 4:51 pm
The shocking abuse of “downer” cows occurs not just at slaughter plants but may be an everyday happening at livestock auctions and stockyards around the country—the midpoints between farm and slaughter—as shown in an expanding undercover investigation by The Humane Society of the United States. (Read more…)
Category: Animals, Business, Consumers, Government, Health, Nationwide
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 4:44 pm
GARDEN CITY—An employee of a fire protection company has pleaded guilty in Nassau County Court to multiple felonies in connection with bilking his employer out of more than $228,000. (Read more…)
Category: Business, Courts, Crime
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 4:36 pm
INSIDE THE FIRST AMENDMENT
By Charles C. Haynes
First Amendment Center At a charter school in Minnesota, what should have been a “call the lawyers” dispute over religion in the classroom has escalated into a “call the FBI” imbroglio involving death threats against school officials. (Read more…)
Category: Constitution, Courts, Education, First Amendment, Media, Religion
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 4:33 pm
BROOKLYN—Eight leaders, members, and associates of a violent robbery crew have been indicted for their participation in more than 100 armed robberies of narcotics traffickers along the East coast of the United States that netted more than 750 kilograms of cocaine and $4 million in drug proceeds. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, New York State, Police
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 4:24 pm
NEW YORK—Two former principals of Olympia Mortgage Corporation, a Brooklyn-based mortgage lender, have been indicted on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and bank fraud. (Read more…)
Category: Business, Consumers, Courts, Crime, New York State
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 4:17 pm
ALBANY—The Civil Service Employees Association, (CSEA) has reached a tentative agreement with the New York State Office of Court Administration on a new contract covering more than 6,000 non-judicial employees in the state’s Unified Court System. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Government, New York State
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 4:13 pm
ALBANY—A new voluntary program that ensures the pets of hospitalized patients will be given proper care while the patient focuses on his or her health and well being has been announced by The New York State Bar Association’s Special Committee on Animals and the Law. (Read more…)
Category: Animals, Consumers, Disabled, Good News, Health, New York State
Posted on Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 4:04 pm
ALBANY—The state Attorney General’s office has reached settlement agreements with a western New York law firm and a Capital Region attorney ending improper employment arrangements with school districts and various Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). The agreements also rescind all public benefits wrongfully received. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Education, Government, New York State
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 10:50 pm
WHITE PLAINS—White Plains pharmacist Ivan Romero, 39, has pleaded guilty to illegally distributing Oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, without a valid prescription. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 8:16 pm
ALBANY—On the day the investigation of the New York State Police being conducted by the state Attorney General’s office was announced to the media, April 1, “affirmative steps were taken by New York Power Authority personnel to purposefully destroy responsive information, specifically emails on the Blackberry of Daniel Wiese”. (Read more…)
Category: Crime, Government, Media, New York State, Police, Politics
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 7:04 pm
ALBANY—A revitalized long-term marketing strategy for the iconic “I LOVE NY” brand campaign has been announced by Gov. David Paterson. This fresh makeover, led by Empire State Development (ESD), will take one of the world’s most well-known, signature brands in a new direction that will help increase New York State tourism from 155 million visitors in 2006 to 200 million by 2020 and boost direct tourism spending to $60 billion annually. (Read more…)
Category: Adirondacks, Business, Consumers, Government, New York State, Recreation
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 6:58 pm
ALBANY—Three more attorneys had their membership in the New York State and Local Retirement System revoked by the state comptroller’s office and and two other attorneys and an accountant had their retirement system service credit rescinded. (Read more…)
Category: Business, Courts, Government, New York State
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 6:52 pm
ALBANY—If environmentalists have their way, instead of burning papers in your backyard, you’ll soon be paying $1 or $2 per bag to dispose of paper products at the landfill. (Read more…)
Category: Adirondacks, Consumers, Environment, Government, New York State
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 6:45 pm
ALBANY—A state Office of Children and Family Services employee was arrested Wednesday in connection with a Workers’ Compensation scam the state Inspector General says netted him nearly $6,000. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Government, New York State
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 6:38 pm
QUEENSBURY—Three men, including one who said he is a citizen a Poland, have been arrested on various drug charges following a lengthy drug investigation, the seizure of over six ounces of cocaine valued at over $17,000, cash and several motor vehicles. (Read more…)
Category: Adirondacks, Courts, Crime, Warren County
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 5:38 pm
An operation that offered “free trials” of its herbal products, including smoking cessation patches, has agreed to halt its allegedly deceptive practices, pending trial. (Read more…)
Category: Business, Consumers, Courts, Health, Nationwide, Technology
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 10:24 am
OCEANSIDE, CA—A child protection organization is being taken to court by student exchange placement agencies due to efforts to protect foreign exchange students. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Education, Family, Nationwide
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 8:53 am
COMMENTARY
By O. Forbes of Tampa, Fla.
To say this incident (the death of Thomas Tipton after he was tasered by officers of the Clearwater Police Department) was an aberration would be similar to comparing grapefruits to hand grenades. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Florida, Government, Nationwide, Opinion, Police
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 8:35 am
COMMENTARY
By June Maxam
PINELLAS COUNTY, FLA—Between June 2001 and June 2007, there were at least 245 cases of deaths of subjects soon after having been shocked using Tasers. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Florida, Government, Police
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 10:55 pm
QUEENSBURY—Four people are under arrest, accused of stealing CDs from area businesses for resale at the local FYE store to obtain money to support a heroin habit. (Read more…)
Category: Adirondacks, Courts, Crime, Warren County
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 10:10 pm
NIAGARA FALLS—People who received tattoos from John Portik III of Niagara Falls should be tested for bloodborne diseases, the State, Niagara County and Erie County health departments announced Tuesday. (Read more…)
Category: Consumers, Government, Health, New York State
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 10:04 pm
SUFFOLK COUNTY— Shellfish harvesting in certain bays in Long Island Sound have been temporarily closed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation due to the detection of a marine biotoxin. (Read more…)
Category: Environment, New York State
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 9:48 pm
SANDUSKY, OHIO—Two Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers have been fired after one of the troopers took a picture of another dressed in an outfit resembling that of the Ku Klux Klan the day before Dr. Martin Luther King Day in January. (Read more…)
Category: Government, Ohio, Police
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 9:32 pm
ERIE COUNTY, OHIO—Michael Gravelle, convicted with his wife in February 2007 of abusing their 11-disabled children and forcing them to sleep in wire and wooden cages, failed to appear in Sandusky Municipal Court Monday on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Family, Ohio
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 8:58 pm
MIAMI, FLA—The Norwegian Cruise Line Limited has been charged under federal shipping laws with grossly negligent operation of the S.S. Norway, thereby placing the lives and property of persons on board the vessel at risk, and thereby leading to the death of at least one individual. (Read more…)
Category: Business, Courts, Crime, Florida, Government
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 8:25 pm
ALBANY– To assist New Yorkers with the task of getting their legal documents current and in order, the New York State Bar Association’s Elder Law Section is focusing its 2008 Mitchell Rabbino Decision Making Day programs on helping elderly New Yorkers answer the question, “Is Your Legal House in Order?” (Read more…)
Category: Consumers, Courts, Elder Care, New York State
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 8:19 pm
BUFFALO—A Buffalo area man has been sentenced to jail for defying a court order banning him from operating as a home improvement contractor. (Read more…)
Category: Business, Consumers, Courts, Crime, New York State
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 8:07 pm
WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have halted the illegal conduct of an adult Web site that sent spam with false or misleading header information, that failed to include an opt-out mechanism, and that failed to include a valid postal address, all in violation of federal law. (Read more…)
Category: Business, Consumers, Courts, Crime, Technology
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 7:42 pm
WASHINGTON, DC—First he sued because he lost his pants, now he’s suing because he lost his job. (Read more…)
Category: Courts
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 7:18 pm
COMMENTARY
By Pamela F. Hennessy
The Associated Press reported on May 5, 2008 that an influential group of physicians has now recommended a sort of laundry-list of individuals who should not be given life-saving medical treatment, in the event of a pandemic. Made up of medical intelligentsia, the Center for Disease Control and the Department of Homeland Security, this reporting body has fingered lives they now consider unworthy should the bottom drop out. (Read more…)
Category: Disabled, Elder Care, Florida, Government, Health, Media, Nationwide, Opinion, Politics, Schiavo
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 6:06 pm
Spotlight, a new radio show which will tell you the good, the bad and the ugly within the credit industry and what you can do as a consumer to protect yourself, will air Thursday May 8 at 1 p.m. Eastern time on BlogTalk Radio. (Read more…)
Category: Consumers, Entertainment, Good News
Posted on Tuesday, 6 of May , 2008 at 12:17 pm
QUEENSBURY—A Mexican alien faces deportation after Wal-Mart employees accused him of trying to steal a necklace valued at $8. (Read more…)
Category: Adirondacks, Courts, Crime, Warren County
Posted on Monday, 5 of May , 2008 at 9:02 pm
FROM THE INSIDE
COMMENTARY
By Jack Carroll
I’m back, folks! In response to overwhelming demand, I have decided to resurrect the ever-popular “From the Inside” column. Okay, perhaps the popularity is a bit questionable. And as far as the demand, my wife recently informed me that one or two people have asked her about the column, but that’s all the encouragement I needed. In any event, here we go. (Read more…)
Category: Constitution, Courts, Crime, Government, New York State, Opinion
Posted on Monday, 5 of May , 2008 at 7:44 pm
NEW YORK– Legislation to combat the creation, distribution, and sale of illegally recorded movies in New York State is being promoted by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. (Read more…)
Category: Consumers, Courts, Crime, Entertainment, Government, New York State
Posted on Monday, 5 of May , 2008 at 7:37 pm
AUSTIN, TX— A day-long Summit on Wrongful Convictions will be held Thursday, May 8 at the State Capitol in Austin to determine the causes of wrongful convictions in Texas and identify reforms that can prevent them. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Government, Police, Politics
Posted on Monday, 5 of May , 2008 at 7:27 pm
ROCHESTER–Out of more than 3,000 prescribed drugs in upstate New York last year, 10 brand-name drugs accounted for more than $1 billion in spending, or nearly 20 percent of the total amount spent on prescription medications, according to a new report issued by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. (Read more…)
Category: Consumers, Elder Care, Government, Health, Insurance, New York State
Posted on Monday, 5 of May , 2008 at 7:16 pm
WESTCHESTER—A Connecticut woman has been charged with allegedly forging the signature of an attorney and a state Supreme Court justice on a fraudulent court decision. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime
Posted on Monday, 5 of May , 2008 at 6:38 pm
LAKE GEORGE—The owner of the Lone Bull Pancake & Steak House on Lake Shore Drive has had his driver’s license suspended as a result of drunk driving charges and is likely facing Grand Jury action for the alleged assault of a police officer. (Read more…)
Category: Adirondacks, Business, Courts, Crime, Police, Warren County
Posted on Monday, 5 of May , 2008 at 4:34 pm
COMMENTARY
QUEENSBURY—The Glens Falls Post-Star has become an albatross to the fair administration of justice in Warren County—and so has Warren County Court Judge John S. Hall who seems to forget that as a judge he is supposed to be the impartial arbiter of facts—not an arm of the prosecution. (Read more…)
Category: Adirondacks, Constitution, Courts, Crime, Government, Media, New York State, Opinion, Police, Warren County
Posted on Sunday, 4 of May , 2008 at 8:52 pm
QUEENSBURY—The mother of a baby boy who was beaten to death by her roommate last November will go to trial this week in Warren County Court to answer charges of manslaughter and reckless endangerment in connection with her son’s death. (Read more…)
Category: Adirondacks, Courts, Crime, Family, New York State, Police, Warren County
Posted on Sunday, 4 of May , 2008 at 8:32 pm
KENANSVILLE, NC – An innocent man who spent 14 years on North Carolina’s death row after being wrongfully convicted for a 1987 murder was be released from prison Friday. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Government
Posted on Sunday, 4 of May , 2008 at 8:25 pm
TALLAHASSEE, FL—A former Hospice Medicaid Coordinator was taken into custody on charges that she had been stealing money from her patients’ bank accounts. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Crime, Florida, Health
Posted on Sunday, 4 of May , 2008 at 2:31 pm
WASHINGTON, DC–A scathing indictment of toothless judicial ethics standards and the closed-door systems charged with disciplining judges, HALT’s 2008 Judicial Accountability Report Card issued grades to all 50 states, D.C. and the federal circuits on May 1, Law Day. (Read more…)
Category: Courts, Government, Nationwide, Opinion, Reviews
Posted on Sunday, 4 of May , 2008 at 1:48 pm
Has Mother’s Day snuck up on you again? Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 11.
Treat Mom to something special this year and help her get a jump start on the spring season with the latest clothing, accessories, beauty products or other special gift from the affiliate advertisers of The North Country Gazette. (Read more…)
Category: Calendar, Consumers, Family,