Teens Charged with CyberBullying

Nine Massachusettes teenagers were charged with cyberbullying
after taunting Phoebe Prince, an Irish immigrant who committed suicide after three months of torment by students at South Hadley High School.

Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel says Prince was harrassed for dating an older football player and the relationship ended weeks before she took her own life.

The 15-year-old committed suicide in January and two out of the 9 that are charged with cyberbullying also face statutory rape charges.

Target Sponsors Syracuse School Library Makeover

One of three Syracuse elementery School libraries will recieve a makeover thanks to Target and the Heart of America Foundation.

Representatives will tour Elmwood, Bellvue and Meachem Elementary Schools to decide which school will recieve the makeover.

The Heart of America Foundation's “READesign” library makeover program brings new books, technology and paint to the winning school. Students at the school that gets the makeover each will receive seven books for their home libraries. The two runner-ups will recieve $1000 in new books for their libraries.

The Heart of American Foundation’s mission is to “teach the values at the heart of America and to help people, particularly children, learn that they help themselves when they help others."

A Look at the First Forecast

This Afternoon: A slight chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 49. North wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tonight: A chance of rain, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. North wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Moscow Subway Bombing Kills 37

Senior Russian officials say two female terrorists from the troubled Northern Caucasus could be behind two deadly explosions that ripped through Moscow's subway during morning rush hour. The first blast occurred at the metro station near the headquarters of the Russian State Security Service. The second blast struck at the back of the train as people were getting on at the Park Kultury stop. This attack comes six months after President Medvedev declared an end to Russia's "counter-terrorism operations" in Chechnya, in a bid to "further normalise the situation" after 15 years of conflict that claimed more than 100,000 lives and left it in ruins.

153 Miners Still Trapped in Chinese Mine

After 24 hours of no communication, 153 miners are still stuck in the state-owned Wangjialing coal mine in northern China after a flood broke out.

The flood may have started when miners accidentally broke into a network of old, water-filled shafts.

Thousands of rescue workers are attempting to drain out enough water to reach the trapped miners.

China's State Administration of Work Safety said 261 workers
were inside the mine when it flooded, and 108 escaped or were
rescued. It is still unclear whether the trapped miners survived the flood.

Syracuse University Announces Commencement Speaker

The JP Morgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, will deliver the commencement address to the 2010 graduates of Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF. Named to the 2009 Time 100 list, Time Magazine’s annual feature on the world’s most influential people, Dimon is one of the most respected leaders in the financial industry, maintaining JPMorgan Chase as a global leader in financial services throughout the recent bank crisis, while demonstrating leadership focused on a sense of corporate and social responsibility. Jamie Dimon is scheduled to speak on Saturday, May 16th.

Cicero-North Syracuse Students Win Third Place in Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Car Competition in Houston

After taking second overall and ending the day as the "hydrogen fuel leader" on Saturday, the Cicero-North Syracuse High School Performance Engineering Team took third place out of 39 teams at the national Shell Eco-Marathon Americas 2010 Competition in Houston.

The team won first place in the hydrogen fuel-cell classification after building a car that was 40 pounds lighter and more aerodynamic than last year's creation.

The students participating are Kevin Thyne, Joe Scheuer, Michele “Mike” Madonna, Max Desousa, Nick Pietricola, Dan Pietricola, Steve Cusumano, Michael Ann Baker, Alex Julian and Tyler Mannise.

The team was led by Cicero-North Syracuse technology education teacher Marty Miner

Hancock Airport To Add More Flights To Chicago

American Eagle, an affiliate of American Airlines, will add two more daily flights from Syracuse to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said.

Starting April 6th, there will be a total of five daily roundtrip flights from Syracuse to Chicago.

There will be a total of 50 seats on each flight.

Rascal Flatts Headlines New York State Fair

Rascal Flatts performs in the
New York State Fair on September 24, 2010 making this trip their second appearance to the fair grounds since 2006. The country band stepped on the music scene nearly a decade ago and topped the country music charts with ballads such as "Melt" and "These Days. The electric group was nominated for Best Country Performance by a Group or Duo for "Bless the Broken Road.

Kelly Pickler an American Idol Finalist will open for the show along with "Nashville Star" winner Chris Young. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 10. Tickets cost $65 and $55 and will be available at the New York State Fair Box Office and through Ticketmaster.

Syracuse Mayor argues for sales tax revenue helping city

Reported by NCC's Matt Rivers:

Each year Onondaga County collects sales tax and distrbiutes it to towns and cities in its jurisdiction. This year's proposal, however, has created controversy.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner made an appearance at the County Legislature's sales tax committee meeting this morning. She made her case arguing for the city to continue receving a large share of sales tax revenue.

A proposal from Chief Fiscal Officer James Rowley calls for the county to keep more of the revenue for itself.

Last year, the county made about $200 million from the tax. Currently, syracuse has a $35 million budget defecit. Miner says any decrease in the city's share could hurt progress in both education and medical improvements.

This morning's meeting was the fourth of five such discussions the committee has scheduled. officials say a new sales tax sharing plan could be in place by May 1.

Liverpool woman going to jail for home invation plot

A Liverpool woman who admitted to setting up a home invasion that led to the death of her husband and another man was sentenced to 10 years in prison today.

Michelle Sears Lashomb pleaded guilty to a burglary charge earlier this year, and received the 10 year sentence in County Court this morning.

The two men who were killed, Wade Brown and Thomas Lashomb, were shot by Jeffrey Bush at his home in North Syracuse last September after Michelle Lashomb enticed the men to break in.

Michelle Sears Lashomb admitted to being inside the home with Bush prior to the home invasion, and was sending texts to her husband who was waiting outside.

Police say Bush was acting in self defense, and not charged.

Governor hopeful visit Central New York

Central New York played host to gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio today.

Lazio -- hoping to recieve the Republican nomination -- made a stop in Auburn this morning to have breakfast with area republican and conservative leaders and then will speak at Cornell University in Ithaca this afternoon.

State senate unveils budget plan

The New York Senate could pass Governor David Paterson's budget as early as today without the new soda tax.

The almost new tax or fee free budget includes cuts in health and education funding.

The state is facing a $9.2 billion debt and the senate wants to raise money through a $200 million increase in the amount of taxes collected on cigarettes sold by Indian tribes. The plan also expands the legal hours of operation - and the variety of games available - at the state's video slot machine parlors.

If the Senate approves the resolution, the Assembly is expected to follow with a plan of its own. Then conference committees will hammer out a compromise.

The Senate plan casts aside a proposal to sell wine in grocery stores.

Paterson's $134 billion budget proposal included $1.1 billion in school cuts and $1 billion in health care cuts. The senate's budget includes nearly all of the governor's health and education cuts.

While the resolution is expected to come to a vote today, it could easily be pushed back to tomorrow.

Inside the budget:

http://www.nysenate.gov/initiative/budget2010

I-81 Open, but that doesn't mean no more detours

Syracuse - As one roadway headache went away this weekend with the re-opening of I-81 North through the city, another starts today.

A bridge replacement project on Erie Blvd. West as it crosses West St. began today. The project had been delayed by the city until the I-81 debacle had been resolved.

The bridge as West St. off-ramp are scheduled to be closed through September.

Oswego woman charged with killing ex-cop husband

OSWEGO (AP) - A 69-year-old Oswego woman has been charged with shooting to death her husband, a former police officer.

Oswego County Undersheriff Robert Lighthall says Joyce Malone is being held without bail after being charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of 74-year-old Ralph Malone.

Sheriff's deputies say Malone's body was found in the couple's town of Oswego home Friday evening. Authorities aren't releasing a motive.

Ralph Malone worked as a city of Oswego police officer from 1965-73. He and his wife ran a gun shop that closed in 1995. Police say several guns were found inside their home.

Morning commute on I-81 returns to normal in Syracuse

Syracuse - With the northbound lanes of Interstate 81 through Syracuse re-open, thousands of drivers were able to travel freely through the city this morning.

The state transportation department reopened a 1-mile section of Interstate 81's northbound lanes early Saturday afternoon.

The agency shut down that stretch on Feb. 26 when bricks began falling from a dilapidated building next to the highway. The closure forced detours for about 50,000 motorists who use the highway each day.

The building demolition is expected to be completely torn down by midweek, with cleanup work to take another couple weeks.

New Yorkers favor medical marijuana, poll says

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A new poll reports half of New York voters support legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The Siena Research Institute shows 50 percent back legalization, while 41 percent are opposed and 9 percent say they don't have enough information.

The support falls heavily along political lines. 72 percent of those who support legalization consider themselves liberal. Meanwhile, over 60 percent of those opposed are conservative.

NY State Grocery Store and Wine

NY is one of 15 states that limit wine sales to liquor stores but this proposed budget would open up these sales. Now I tried to talk to grocery stores today to get their take--but none were willing to go on camera.

New York state is considering allowing grocery stores to sell wine to generate an estimated $250 million in sate revenue. But what would this mean for local liquor stores like Pascale's?

"We would be immediately looking to negotiate with our landlord to cut space by 50% and cut third of our employees," said Brian Hughes, the owner of Pascale's Liquor store.

Hughes says statewide between 1000 and 13 hundred liquor stores would probably have to close . This means the loss of five to seven thousand jobs. He thinks those jobs were not be recouped.

"Grocery stores aren't going to hire more people they are going to use the same people they have stocking the shelves," said Hughes.

Last month governor Paterson put the state budget deficit at 8.2 billion dollars. the wine sales bill will not raise taxes--- instead the additional revenue will come from franchising and license fees. Hughes is also concerned about minor and drinking, if wine becomes available at grocery stores.


"Groceries account for 91% of sales to minors and all they ave is beer right now so you're going to give them an alcohol that's three to four times stronger," Hughes said.

"I think it would be convenient but probably easier access to those underage," said Barbra Serle, a customer at Pascale's liquor store.

Grocery stores becoming that one stop shop may be convenient for some but others see it differently.

"Going to become the home depot of wines you'll have people walking around aimlessly trying to find what they want," said Greg Ambier, and employee of Pascale's Liquor Store.

And Pascale's owner points out--grocery stores cannot offered the personalized service he can..
"I recommend pinot noir,"

The vote will come April 1st to decide if grocery stores will be adding wine to their shelves.

*Reported by N-C-C reporter Patrice Innocenti.

Route 81 Closure Update

The highway has been closed for a week and a half and now there finally seems to be some progress on Route 81. NCC's Lara Bryn Greenberg will be live with an update on NCC News at 4:00 p.m. where the Department of Environmental Conservtion is clearing waste from the demolished building that is delaying your commute.

Varsity Pizza Sign

People on Marshall Street looking for a slice of pizza might be confused this afternoon. The neon sign that usually hangs above Varsity was removed and hauled away this morning. But don't worry...the pizza joint isn't closing, the original sign is just being fixed. It has hung above Varsity since 1926. The owner expects the sign to be back above the entrance tomorrow or Wednesday.

Coming up at 4:00 - Should Paterson Leave Office?

In a little more than a week, Governor David Paterson is receiving less support from residents to stay in office. A Quinnipiac University poll shows 46% of New Yorkers want Paterson to finish his term, that's down from 61% last Tuesday.

NCC's Chris Shepherd talks with people around Syracuse University to find out what they think the Governor should do.

Social Networking Impacts College Athletics

Social networking has changed many things in life, not just how we keep in touch with old friends. Coming up on NCC News at 4:00 p.m. NCC's Devon Heinen sits down with a Syracuse University coach to talk about social networking's impact on the college game.

Tompkins County D.A. Ditches Case

Gwen Wilkinson, the Tompkins Country District Attorney, says her office will no longer be involved in the investigation of the death of Shawn Greenwood. Ithaca Police shot and killed the 29-year-old in late Feb. while attempting to search Greenwood's car for drugs. Wilkinson requested a special prosecutor be appointed to the case. She said in a statement that the interests of justice would be best served if her office stepped down.

Syracuse Basketball's New Ranking

The NCAA Men's Basketball rankings were released just moments ago. Syracuse University's No. 1 ranking was short-lived with their loss to Louisville Saturday afternoon. The SU Men's Basketball Team is now ranked third in the nation behind Kansas who moved up to first and Kentucky who moved up one spot to second in the AP Basketball Rankings.

Syracuse will be in New York City this week for the Big East Tournament. They play Thursday at noon at Madison Square Garden.

The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll has not been released yet. For the latest rankings tune in to NCC News at 4:00 p.m.

Doc's Little Gem: Get the scoop at 4:40

Doc's Little Gem Diner in Syracuse may be closing.

N-C-C Reporter Melanie Diaz will be there live at 4:40 to give us an update on whether or not you will be able to eat your favorite breakfast at Doc's in the near future.

Spring is in the Air: Coming up at 4:00

The Syracuse University campus came alive this weekend, whether it was taking a walk with the dog, doing some shopping on marshall street or simply eating a meal outside people couldn't have been happier with the weather.

"Im looking forward to spring, I hate winter so this is wonderful," said SU Student, Sabrina Young.

The forecast looks optimistic with temperatures remaining in the 40's for the remainder of the week. NCC's Justin Leonard will have the latest on what to expect coming up at 4:00 p.m.

Doc's Little Gem

Doc's Little Gem Diner -- The greasy spoon that's been around since 1955 is in danger of closing -- that is, if somebody doesn't buy it. I got a chance to talk to Doc.. his employees.. and some customers today. They all hope the diner can stay open -- and remain an icon to the Syracuse community.

"I've been here 12 years, 5 months, 8 days and just an hour and 35 minutes short of the eighth day," said Doc Goode.

Doc Goode has owned his Little Gem Diner for 12 years now, but he's close to losing it. After filing for bankruptcy last year, he's now looking for someone to buy his business. He says he needs an expansion to accommodate his customers and bring in extra business.

"On weekends I can do enough business basically just on a Saturday and Sunday to kept his place going if I had adequate accommodations, but that's it, it's the accommodations. Five weeks ago, I had to turn away sixty people in less than 20 minutes because they came in I had people standing, and they didn't want to wait for a table. And I understand that," said Goode.

Customers become regulars at Doc's. Lary Puschler has been going for over thirty years.

"This is my favorite spot. There's other places in town, but this is the best place I think there is in town. I like these kinds of places, you know you don't find any ole, diner type, stainless steel type diners any more. They're few and far between," said Puschler.

Heather Williams, another customer, comes weekly.

"It's sad for the community. We used to come here a lot, when I was in college and we used to come here in the evenings, just late at night and it was great," said Williams.

And to the staff at Little Gem Diner, their customers are family.

"When somebody doesn't come in for a couple days, we actually try to find them. What's wrong? Are they sick, did something happen, did they go on vacation without telling us? You know that kind of stuff, it's really a personal place for people," said Williams.

Many people are hoping to keep this place around.

"Somebody please buy it, and run it, I don't want to see it, I don't want to see it close," said Natalie Palmer, a frequent customer at doc's. "Yeah, it is, it's a wonderful place."

*Reported by N-C-C reporter Melanie Diaz.

Earthquake in Turkey

Image courtesy of foutunecity.com

A massive earthquake struck eastern Turkey early Monday morning, killing 51 people and injuring 34. The 6.0 magnitude quake hit at 4:32 a.m. near the village of Basyurt. The quake destroyed villages while people were sleeping. The damage appears to be worse in the neighboring village of Okcular where at least 15 of the villages 900 residents were killed.

The deadly quake is one of many which has struck countries around the world this year.

Nigeria Violence

Photo courtesey of operationbreakthesilence.com

Officials and human rights groups in Nigeria say that 500 people died this weekend due to ethnic violence.

The events took place in Plateau State, in the central city of Jos. The victims were Christians killed by rampaging Muslim Herdsman.

According to Government officials, many victims were attacked with weapons such as machetes as they fled their homes.

The violence is apparently a reprisal for similar attacks on Muslims in Jan.

According to human rights workers ethnic and religous violence between Christian and Muslims groups has been a proublem for many years.

Obama Healthcare

This afternoon, Obama made a speech at Arcadia University trying to gain support for his health plan.

The speech accused the insurance industry of putting profits before people.

"We need to give families and businesses more control over their own health care. And, that's why we need to pass health care reform."

Later this week, Obama will travel to St. Louis, in the swing state of Missouri, to continue pressing his case.

The Whitehouse says the president hopes to see his controversial health care reform bill approved by March 18th.

E. Genesee Shooting

Syracuse Police are still looking for a man who allegedly shot a man who was sitting in a car along East Genesee Street.

Police say the victim, 27-year-old Verdel Hills of Syracuse, was traveling down east Genesee when another car pulled up beside him and started shooting. Hills was shot in the head around 11 p.m. last night. He was taken to University Hospital where he died early Monday morning.



Police are interviewing the other people in the car with the victim at the time of the shooting.



Anyone with information is asked to call the police at 315-442-5222.

Police Make Arrest in String of Purse Thefts

A Cicero man has been arrested in connection with a string of purse thefts around Central New York. DeWitt Police say Charles Blasco, 41, was arrested Saturday after police were called to Shoppingtown Mall for a report of a stolen purse at the Sears store. Surveillance video showed a white male, driving a purple GMC Jimmy, had stolen the purse.

Police located Blasco on Erie Boulevard and attempted to pull him over. He refused to stop and led members of the DeWitt Police, East Syracuse Police and Syracuse Police, on a chase throughout the city.

Blasco lost control of his car and crashed near Westcott Street. Blasco was taken into custody and taken to Crouse Hospital to be treated. Blasco was then arraigned on charges of grand larceny, resisting arrest, unlawfully fleeing police and reckless driving. He is being held at the Justice Center on $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond. He is due back in court on March 11th.

Police say a female passenger in the SUV ran off and was not caught. Property from at least three additional victims was located in the vehicle.

NY Wine Sales Update: coming up at 4:40

New York remains one of the 15 states that limit wine sales to liquor stores. But the proposed 2010-11 budget would open sales to grocery stores to generate an estimated $250 million in revenue from new liquor licenses.

N-C-C reporter Patrice Innocenti has more details about how this is going to affect the C-N-Y area during the 4:40 news cast.

State Considers Dropping Some Regents Exams

The State Department of Education will meet today to discuss the future of the New York State Regents Exams. The state's $8 billion budget deficit has led education officials to contemplate eliminating 13 of the 17 tests to save money.

The eliminated exams could include tests for math, social studies, geography and foreign languages. Eliminating the translation of exams to other languages, excluding Spanish, and only offering the exams in June are other ideas being considered. Officials say the cuts could save more than $13 million.

The State Education Board says eliminating tests is a worst case scenario. Currently, all New York State high school students are required to take the exam to complete their diploma.

Olympic Issues

Seventeen days of Olympic Games have drawn in viewers from around the world. Ninety seven million watched NBCU's Vancouver Winter Games during the first 2 days of coverage. Over the course of the games several issues caught the eyes of millions.

Rick Burton the former US Olympic Committee Chief Marketing Officer who is currently teaching Sports Management at Syracuse University says, "the unfortunate thing for the games has been the death of the luger on the day of the Opening Ceremonies." Burton adds, "if that death happened perhaps later in the Games, they wouldn't have the same cloud hanging over their heads."

Despite other issues including the weather, Burton said, "The games, sport in general, always belongs to the athletes. Not to the people who put the games on and not to those of us who watch. The athletes, I think are giving us the performances of their lives."

Increasing Number of SU Applications

Fall 2010 Syracuse University reports a 9 percent overall increase in undergraduate applications. This has set a record of 22,661 applications.

Donald Saleh, SU vice president for enrollment management said, "this year we experienced quite a substantial increase." Saleh added, this increase can be attributed to a marketing and outreach admissions campaign as well as having well know alumni.

The economy may not seem to be a factor yet with the high number of students applying but SU has seen more student applying for tuition assistance.

Don't be discouraged by the high number of applications, Saleh says, "SU plans to accept enough students to meet its target of 3,300 freshmen, about 50 more than last year's class.

(Photo: Business Week)

SU Basketball Fans Have A lot to Celebrate About

Syracuse Orange is now ranked number one seed in the NCAA Tournament since 1980. Receiving 59 first-place votes from the national media panel to make the jump from fourth.

Ryan Marfurt Syracuse University Sophomore says, "never through in my four years I would see the Basketball team at number one. It kind of makes you think they will win the National Championship."

SU Orange defeated 8th ranked Villanova at the Carrier Dome on Saturday. A record number of fans topping 34,616 witnessed a great victory. And today they are still celebrating.

"It's nothing like I've ever felt before, it's awesome, it's so cool I don't know if words can describe it," Conor Hillman, Syracuse University Junior.

There are two more games left for the men's basketball team in the regular season. Tuesday they will play St. John's at the Dome and Saturday away against Louisville.

(Photo: The Post Standard)

SU Students Safe After Chile Earthquake

Syracuse University Abroad reports that the twenty-one students studying in Chile during the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit this past weekend are safe.

There are nineteen undergraduate students and two graduate students from SU currently in Chile. Even though SU'S abroad program is based 200 miles from the earthquake in Santiago, Jon Booth, executive director of SU Abroad said, "some of the students do not have electricity or Internet access. But all of the students currently have access to water and, within the next 24 to 48 hours, all are expected to have electricity and the Internet again."


"During the 2007-8 academic year, Chile was the 19th most popular destination for study abroad, attracting 2,739 students from colleges in the United States", according to the Institute of International Education.


Two days after the earthquake hit the death toll reached more than 700 people in Chile.

(Photo AP)

A New Life in Cicero For Haitian Brothers

Three brothers, Mackenson, MacKenzie and MacKenley Nerilus have been adopted by a Cicero family. Three years ago the brother's home was destroyed by a hurricane in Haiti and their mother turned to an orphanage in Port-au-Prince to care for her sons. Paul and Julie Rumo of Cicero saw the brothers for the first time last year. Paul Rumo said that the orphanage was planning on separating the three brothers but they decided to keep the brothers together.

What's next for these children? Julie Rumo says, "a little bit at a time we just let them go out into the community to see what's out there." The Rumo's also have two biological children who are welcoming their new brothers into their family. Emily Rumo, their sixteen year old sister said how they all love to play together. "Sledding and running around this loop right here is our daily thing. They just love to chase. They play hide and seek and they just run and run and run."

According to the Haiti Adoption, new adoption applications are not being processed. They also report, "in 2008, U.S. citizens adopted approximately 301 children from Haiti."

For more information on the adoption process you can visit Haiti Adoption.

Picture by Gary Walts / The Post-Standard

How Are Colleges Handling Sexual Assault on their Campuses

What kind of punishment do these attackers receive? According to a new study, there's not enough. An investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and National Public Radio found, "the attackers are most often given a slap on the wrist, if any punishment at all. As a result, victims might end up feeling abused twice, once by the attacker and a second time by the system."

Are these attackers receiving the right punishment?

"Colleges seldom expel men who are found 'responsible' for sexual assault; indeed, these schools permanently kicked out only 10 to 25 percent of such students." (Poynter Online)

According to "Fraternities of Fear: Gang Rape, Male Bonding, and the Silencing of Women” at least 1 in 4 college women will be the victim of a sexual assault during her academic career.

U.S. Department of Justice reports in 2000, "one in five will experience rape or attempted rape in their four-year college term.

(Photo: CN College News)