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A man is in critical condition at a Syracuse hospital following a crash involving a tractor-trailer in Moravia Wednesday morning, the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office said.
Sheriff Brian Schenck told The Citizen that a call came in around 5:59 a.m. about a tractor trailer going off the roadway at Tollgate Hill Road between Route 90 and Route 38 and over a small embankment. The male driver, who was the only person involved in the incident, was removed from the vehicle and flown by a LifeNet of New York helicopter to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse with serious injuries. Schenck said the driver was in critical condition.
Although the truck had been removed from the scene as of Wednesday afternoon, Schenck said Tollgate Hill Road from Route 90 to Route 38 was still closed in order for the Cayuga Count Highway Department to clean up the scene, including fixing a guardrail damaged in the incident.
The sheriff's office was still investigating what caused the driver to go off the roadway.
The Moravia Fire Department and the Locke Volunteer Fire Department were also at the scene, Schenck said, adding the state Department of Environmental Conservation Police responded. Schenck believes some fuel from the truck spilled. Four Town Ambulance also responded.
AUBURN — An woman who fired a gun in downtown said she plans to return as a better person after her release from prison.
Caitlyn Jacobs, 32, who had a previously listed address of Chapman Avenue, was in front of Judge Thomas Leone in Cayuga County Court Thursday.
The Auburn Police Department previously said at around 12:53 p.m. Feb. 18, members of the department were in the area of 189 Genesee St. when gunshots were heard coming from the area of 190 to 192 Genesee St. Officers went to the area to investigate and Jacobs was found to be in possession of a handgun after bring caught fleeing on foot. The investigation determined Jacobs had fired an illegally possessed handgun at an unoccupied vehicle behind 190 Genesee St.
She was originally charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class C felony, and then charged on June 29 with one count of second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A-II felony, and criminal possession of a firearm, a class E felony.
In court Thursday, Jacobs was sentenced to five years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision for the criminal possession of a weapon count and five years in prison plus five years of post-release supervision for the controlled substance charge, with both of those sentences running concurrently. Her plea satisfied the criminal possession of a firearm charge.
Before the decision, acting Cayuga County District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci said she felt Jacobs had not accepted responsibility for her actions in her pre-sentence investigation report, tried to minimize and rationalize her actions and "blamed everyone but herself." Grome Antonacci also mentioned that she heard the gunshot that day. Jacobs' attorney, James Hopkins, said he believed his client had expressed remorse and acknowledged her actions. Hopkins mentioned a post Jacobs had made on her Facebook page on Oct. 12, where she expressed regret ahead of her sentencing, apologizing to her family, friends and community.
"The hardest part of all of this is realizing how deeply my actions have affected all of you," she wrote. "After 31 years of having a clean record I made a few bad decisions that got me where I am now." She added that the wanted to "come back better than ever and spend the time taking responsibility for my actions and focusing on becoming a healthier me mentally, emotionally and physically."
Grome Antonnacci said she had seen the social media post. The DA's office recommended a sentence of seven years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision.
Jacobs spoke for herself before her sentence was announced, again noting her regret for her choices and how those actions have impacted the community.
"I want to start by apologizing to everyone," she said.
Leone acknowledged Jacobs' words but said he had been bothered by what Jacobs said according to her pre-sentence investigation report. He also noted he is "so sick of the gun violence" in the area, and said he had heard the gunshot at the courthouse at the time.
After a multi-year review process, a state board is poised to deliver its verdict on an energy company's proposal to build a 1,900-acre solar farm in northern Cayuga County.
And it may do so without any local representation.
The state Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment has issued a public notice that it will meet Oct. 27 to consider the 200-megawatt solar facility application from Next Era Energy, which has leases with landowners in the town of Conquest for its project. The siting board has a Nov. 1 deadline to make its final decision, following its declaration on that date in 2021 that Next Era's application was in order.
The proposed project, called Garnet Energy Center, would be among the largest solar farms in the state. In addition to installing hundreds of acres of solar arrays, NextEra would construct access roads, electric collection lines, a collection substation and electrical interconnection facilities, including a 345 kilovolt (kV) switchyard connecting its generated power to the nearby New York Power Authority Clay to Pannell transmission line.
WHAT: State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment to consider Next Era Energy's 200-megawatt solar facility application in the town of Conquest.
WHEN: 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 27
WHERE: 19th Floor Board Room of the Department of Public Service 19th Floor Board Room, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany and Department of Public Service Fourth Floor Board Room, 90 Church St., New York City.
ONLINE: The meeting will be webcast for viewing and listening purposes at www.dps.ny.gov/Webcasts.html.
Administrative law judges will make a recommendation to the siting board, which has the final say on whether the application is accepted.
The siting board supposed to have seven members. Five members are state officials or their designees: the chair of the Department of Public Service, the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, the commissioner of the Department of Health, the chair of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the Commissioner of Economic Development. The other two slots are reserved for residents in the municipality where the project is located and are referred to as the board's "ad hoc" members. Under the law, the Assembly speaker and the Senate majority leader are supposed to each make an appointment from the list of nominees submitted, but if they fail to do this within 30 days, the responsibility goes to the governor. If the governor does not take action within 15 days, then the siting board can move forward with its work without any local representatives on board.
After outcry from state and local officials late last year about the failure to have any ad hoc appointments established for the Conquest project, the Senate appointment was made in January when resident Ed Cook was accepted for one of the slots. But a couple of months later, the state Department of Public Service requested Cook's resignation from the board after it learned he has worked for the town of Conquest as a cemetery caretaker. That represented a conflict of interest.
Asked last week about the status of the ad hoc appointments, a department spokesman said in an email that "Governor Hochul continues to work with the Assembly and the Senate to identify appointments to the board."
Next Era's proposal has encountered opposition from a residents' group called the Rural Preservation and Net Conservation Benefit Coalition, which has raised concerns about the impact the project will have on the town's rural character and environment.
Sayre takes a photo during his tour.
Gregg Sayre, right, an administrative law judge, looks over farm land during a tour of the proposed solar farm in Conquest.
Opposition signs against a proposed 200-megawatt solar power generating facility in Conquest dot the route of an August tour taken by a state administrative law judge reviewing the project.
Gregg Sayre, second from right, an administrative law judge, joins officials from developer Next Era Energy, the town of Conquest and a concerned citizens group to tour site of proposed solar farm in the town on Thursday.
Tim Locastro will get a taste of playoff baseball.
The Auburn native is one of 26 players on the New York Yankees' roster for the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians. Game 1 is Tuesday.
The Yankees went with 14 position players, including Locastro, for the best-of-five series. The roster is headlined by Aaron Judge, who hit an American League record 62 home runs in the regular season. The club's 12 pitchers are led by ace Gerrit Cole, who will start Tuesday.
For Locastro, it's another career milestone. It's the first time he has been on a postseason roster in the majors. He was considered for a spot when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017 and 2018, but the Dodgers left him off the playoff roster.
He played parts of three seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks before being traded to the Yankees in July 2021. While the Yankees advanced to the wild-card game last season, Locastro was out after tearing his ACL two weeks after the trade.
Locastro gives the Yankees a speed option, especially late in games. He showcased his quickness on Sept. 22 against the Boston Red Sox. He stole a base and scored the tying run in a game the Yankees won 5-4. With the win, the Yankees clinched a playoff spot.
This season, Locastro has eight stolen bases in 10 attempts. He had eight hits in 43 at-bats, including two home runs.
If the Yankees defeat the Guardians in the ALDS, they will face either the Houston Astros or Seattle Mariners in the American League Championship Series. The winner of the ALCS advances to the World Series.
We are now over a month into our school year, and the rhythms and routines are settling in. Our students, faculty and staff are engaged and reestablishing norms and high expectations for what we hope to accomplish together as a learning community.
One of the things we are most proud of is the tremendous number of new faculty and staff we have been able to welcome this year. Continued community support of our budgets and strong advocacy efforts to get our fair share from Albany have paid off for our students, and we are excited to have them reap the benefits.
This year we welcome 85 new full-time staff to the Auburn Enlarged City School District. While many are filling in for staff members who have retired, we have added positions to address the social and emotional needs of our students and assist in learning recovery, which are both extremely necessary after our last three COVID-19-impacted school years. We have hired staff from as far away as Arizona and several others that are from here in Auburn looking forward to being educators in their hometown. We have both new graduates from the top teaching programs in the area and others who have many years of experience in other districts.
In order to get our new faculty and staff acclimated to our district and ready to serve our students, we provided a lengthy orientation program that included all the logistical information one would expect. We also added a tour of our community that included visits to each of our schools and the neighborhoods that surround them, as well as discussion of the unique history of Auburn. We feel strongly that our schools are the heart and soul of our community, and we are privileged to share all that Auburn has to offer with our new staff.
Mentorship and other support will happen throughout the year for all of our new staff members. We are excited to add this influx of energy and enthusiasm to the experience and expertise of our veteran staff.
Please join us in welcoming:
• Goel Bashiri, Emma Clark, Ruth Crissman, Carl Dorsogna, Sarah Harden-Marshall, Kathleen Hansen, Deserae Johnson, Johanna Leonardi, Leah Potter, Brian Scanlan, John Scanlan, Louis Spagnola, Joseph Woodruff and Sharon White to Auburn High School;
• Lesley Baker, Adam Barcia and Netta Blakes to Auburn Junior High School;
• Pam Alnutt, Shereasa Braxton, Shantel Chambers, Lucas Cupelli, Tammy Davis, Brian Festa, Sherrill Green, Heather Justian, Mackensey Martens, Caitlin McHugh, Jenette Mistretta, Emily Schiener, Suzanne Selvage, Linda Towel and Epiphany Woodruff to Casey Park Elementary;
• Twanda Turman and Jean Wiseman to Genesee Elementary;
• Karen Arpajian, Sarah Kehoskie, Holly Kline, Kirsten Neagle, Crystal Ross-Metarko and Alex Unruh to Herman Avenue Elementary;
• Michaela Breeze, Jamie Corey, Terri Donnelly, Holly Festa, Stacey Gannon, Heather Langdon, Jennifer Sova, Hayley Tasselmyer and Samantha Tortorici to Owasco Elementary;
• Andrea Birbilis, Connor Donovan, Sean Gerritse, Morgan Pinckney, Elizabeth Lader, Taylor Major, Elizabeth Plish, Margaret Reid, Ryan Shymkiw, Maria Staehr, Heather Sullivan, Alexandria Williams and Katherine Williams to Seward Elementary;
• And Craig Clark, Robert Dec, Scott DeChick, Susan Inagaki, Barrie MacClellan, Tonya Russell and Gabriel Volo to districtwide roles.
Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen
Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen
Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen
Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen
Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen
Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen
Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen
The Citizen's top 10 most-read stories of the week.
Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen
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