Really Random Ramblings

My Word!

I am using a trial version of Microsoft Office 2010 and the Word program includes the option to post to my blog directly from Word so I am trying it out. I will be very interested to see how this works out.

I downloaded the Microsoft Office 2010 suite so that I could take courses to learn the latest versions of Word and Excel. This is part of a free program offered by my library called Universal Class. I think that I have provided a link to the paid version of this service so I suggest that if you are interested in taking free classes online from a choice of about 500 courses, go to the website of your local library system and see if they participate in Universal Class. It is easy to register and you take the classes at your own pace with up to 6 months to complete a course. I just completed lesson 1 of 13 and have found it to be quite informative and easy to use.

Now to see if I have really posted this blog entry!

UPDATE: IT WORKED!!

GOOD RIDDANCE: Pan Am 103 Bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi is Dead

I can't say that this news gives me great joy but it does give me great satisfaction. This horrible act of terrorism brought great pain to the Syracuse community that is still felt here to this day.

Photo courtesy The Syracuse Post-Standard (www.syracuse.com)

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer who was the only person ever convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, died at home in Tripoli Sunday, nearly three years after he was released from a Scottish prison to the outrage of the relatives of the attack's 270 victims. He was 60.

Scotland released al-Megrahi on Aug. 20, 2009, on compassionate grounds to let him return home to die after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. At the time, doctors predicted he had only three months to live.

Anger over the release was further stoked by the hero's welcome he received on his arrival in Libya - and by subsequent allegations that London had sought his release to preserve business interests in the oil-rich North African nation, strongly denied by the British and Scottish governments.

Al-Megrahi insisted he was innocent, but he kept a strict silence after his release, living in the family villa surrounded by high walls in a posh Tripoli neighborhood, mostly bedridden or taking a few steps with a cane. Libyan authorities sealed him off from public access. When the one-year anniversary of his release passed, some who visited him said al-Megrahi bitterly mused that the world was rooting for him to die.

His son, Khaled al-Megrahi, confirmed that he died in Tripoli in a telephone interview but hung up before giving more details.

Saad Nasser al-Megrahi, a relative and a member of the ruling National Transitional Council, said al-Megrahi's health had seriously deteriorated in recent days and he died of cancer-related complications.

Among those killed in the Pan Am bombing were 35 Syracuse University students, one Colgate University student, two students from Oswego State, and a couple from Clay

MORE FROM THE SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD.

Stabbing Incident at Downtown Syracuse Bus Stop Has Me Wondering About the Future Transit Hub

The following story has created some concerns on my part, which I will share further down. First, read the following:

Syracuse, NY -- Syracuse police are investigating a stabbing at Fayette and South Salina streets this afternoon.

A man was stabbed at 1:03 p.m. on the southeast
corner of Fayette and South Salina streets near the Centro bus stop. The man was stabbed multiple times in front of the Rite Aid store, Sgt. Tom Connellan said. The victim ran across the street and collapsed on the northwest corner.

 

Photo courtesy of the Syracuse Post-Standard (www.syracuse.com)

The victim, who has not been identified, had been in an altercation with up to three men in front of the Rite Aid, Connellan said.

"These guys walked up on him or got out of a car and attacked him," Connellan said.

The victim was "extremely serious," Connellan said. "When he left here, he was suffering traumatic cardiac arrest."

Complete (and updated) story here.

This incident yesterday got me thinking about Downtown Syracuse and, more specifically, the corners of South Salina Street and Fayette Street that make up what has been known for decades as Centro's "Common Center"....and what kind of security will be present at the new  Centro Transit Hub when it is supposed to open in late June. I am hoping that there will be police stationed at or near the center during the hours of operation. The last thing we need there is the possibility of violence similar to what took place at Common Center. Time will tell.

The new location is about 3 or 4 blocks south of Common Center and an additional concern, unrelated to the safety issue, is how the new bus routes will be configured through Downtown....will buses still stop at Salina and Fayette even though it will no longer be the main bus stop? I am assuming that the answer is yes because of all the businesses in the area....it will just be less congested because the buses will no longer "line up" at that intersection. We shall see.

The Transit Hub will certainly be a more comfortable place to transfer from one bus to another since there will be protection from the elements and I also like the idea of there being a permanent designated bay for each bus route. This should prevent any confusion about where to wait for any particular bus.

Here's a video tour of what the Transit Hub should look like. When it eventually opens I will check it out and share my thoughts (and video).

 

Cell Out

I am a regular reader of Mark Evanier's blog News From ME and he recently linked to this article about how cell phones have evolved over the years. The scary thing is that it won't be long until today's state of the art phones become as outdated as the phones that are pictured.

Can You Dig it?

 

There have been some things happening at the little park that is located just a few yards from my house. Martineau Park, to be specific. A sign with the park's name on it was installed a few weeks ago, along with a pair of benches. The other day the City of Syracuse began a new project in the park.

Friday morning, right after the grass in the park had been mowed and trimmed, heavy-duty equipment moved in and began to dig up the sidewalk on the south side of the park. This was not unexpected. The sidewalk has been in pretty bad shape for years and really needed to go. I'm not sure if it will be replaced or filled in with more turf. Time will tell.

For anybody who may be interested, here are some photos of the work that went on in my neighborhood Friday morning.

As the work on the park continues and the trees fully bloom. I will post again on the progress. In the meantime, here is a video walk through the park that I recorded a couple of weeks ago. (Yes, I realize that I made a typo when I titled the video on YouTube. It should be A Walk in Martineau Park. Sue me.)

 

 

 

R.I.P., Dick Clark....1929 - 2012

We lost a true broadcasting icon today with the death of Dick Clark from a massive heart attack at the age of 82. His passing has been big news, of course, and it is being felt keenly here in Syracuse. Dick Clark was a graduate of Syracuse University and was a disk jockey on local radio station WOLF, hosting the popular late night program Sandman Serenade. His ties to Central NY also included work at Utica radio station WRUN and tv station WKTV before moving on to Philadelphia tv station WFIL, where he would become the host of a local program called American Bandstand. The rest, of course, is history.

Besides American Bandstand, Clark will be remembered for other programs such as $10,000 Pyramid (which would become $25,000 Pyramid and then $100,000 Pyramid), TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes (with Ed McMahon), The American Music Awards, Dick Clark's Live Wednesday (an atypical failure) and, of course, New Year's Rockin' Eve.

 It was New Year's Rockin' Eve that would eventually show America a vulnerable Dick Clark after he suffered a debilitating stroke that would force him to miss the broadcast in December 2005. He returned the following year, looking gaunt and speaking with slurred speech. It was somewhat jarring to hear how he now sounded but as a stroke patient myself (my own stroke also affected my right side but not my speech), I admired his tenacity and his obvious hard work in his recovery. He would return 5 more times to ring in the New Year (with most of the hosting chores done by Ryan Seacrest).

New Year's Eve just won't feel the same again.

So long!

A Snowball's Chance in....Rochester? Part lll

Looks like Rochester, NY will indeed be the winner of the Golden Snowball Award this year, with Syracuse in second place for a change. This photo from 9wsyr.com shows the snow totals as of today, April 3rd, and Rochester leads the race by six and a half inches of the white stuff.

photo courtesy of 9wsyr.com

Of course, Mother Nature has been known to throw some curveballs our way, including the infamous Mother's Day snowstorm of 1996, so I hope I'm not jinxing things....but here's hoping the Golden Snowball Award is getting a new home!

 

March (Weather) Madness

Around this time of year, I usually am totally fed up with Winter. Glaring at each snowflake that falls, cursing the local meteorologists and wondering when the temperatures will finally start to warm up is the norm. But not this year....2012 has turned out to be the year of the Winter That Pretty Much Wasn't. Our average hig temperature for March 18 is around 42 degrees but today was not your typical March 18 in Syracuse, as we shattered the previous record high of 72 degrees. Here's a screen shot I captured from my computer at 4:26 this afternoon:

This week won't be your typical entrance into Spring in Syracuse, either:

weather graphic courtesy 9wsyr.com

You will notice that there will be a 20 degree drop in the projected high temperatures between Wednesday (which happens to be my birthday) and Sunday. Such a downturn in temperatures would usually be very unwelcome in late March but the high of 62 on Sunday is still way above normal.

I'm not sure at this point what the weather conditions will be at the very end of the month but since March came in like a lamb, instead of going out like a lion -  it just may go out like a kitten.

 

A Snowball's Chance in....Rochester? Part ll

Back on February 14 I shared this post about how Rochester was on track to defeat Syracuse in the race for the Goldn Snowball Award. It is now March 13 and it still looks like that will happen. At the moment, however, that race is stalled by Mother Nature's apparent inability to remember that it is still Winter. 

As I type this, the temperature in Syracuse is 61 degrees with a precicted high temperature of 67 degrees. Yesterday we set a record with a high temperature of 68 degrees and one local meteorologist is saying that this warming trend could last for another 2 weeks. Syracuse could very well have the least snowy Winter on record if this continues and I'm sure that Rochester is in the same situation.

Yesterday's Syracuse Post-Standard published this article which contained the following information:

Mark Hare, a metropolitan columnist for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, is a student of the cruel late-season history of baseball. Told Sunday that his city might finally wrest away the Golden Snowball from Syracuse, Hare responded with a baseball parallel.

“I don’t know,” he said. “To me, it has the feel of a Red Sox collapse. It’s like you’re ahead by six games on Sept. 1, and everything looks good ...”

And then — say it ain’t so — Syracuse gets a foot of snow.

That hardly seemed probable Sunday, with the Clinton Square ice rink turned into one big puddle. Rochester, at 56.1 inches, had the most seasonal snowfall of any big city in the state. Syracuse, once behind by more than a foot, remained within striking distance at 50.6. Binghamton was at 42.8 inches and Buffalo at 35.1, while New York City — which piled up more than 60 inches a year ago — had a grand total of 7.4 inches.

Could the Golden Snowball finally leave Syracuse City Hall? That was the idea when it was created nine years ago by Rosanne Anthony, owner of the A-1 Trophy shop on the North Side. “I figured if you were going to have the kind of winters we have,” Anthony said, “you might as well have fun with it.”

She envisioned a little presentation every spring, where the mayor of the new state champion would accept the trophy. What she didn’t anticipate was a hometown dynasty. Since 2002 — when Buffalo had the most snow of any big city in New York — Syracuse has blown away the competition. Last winter was especially impressive: We had 179 inches of snow, the most snowfall for any large city in North America.

This year, everything turned upside-down. To finish off a winter of remarkably modest Upstate snowfall, the forecast for March is unusually mild, according to Jon Hitchcock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Buffalo. “For the next two weeks, it looks very warm with no chance of snow,” Hitchcock said.

While that doesn’t preclude snow in April or even May — anyone who had a kid in Little League will recall the April storm of 2007 that pushed back opening day — it certainly makes a Rochester victory seem likely.

I think it's about time for Rochester to share the honor of being a Golden Snow Ball winner - and just to share the wealth, maybe next year they can pass it on to Buffalo.

 

 

More Thoughts on Davy Jones, Including Tributes From the Remaining Monkees

It has been a little less than a week since Davy Jones died (it still feels strange to write those words) and I find myself surprised at how the news impacted me. During these last 5 days since I wrote this I have been trying to articulate my feelings about my reaction and I think this article by Mitch Albom really sums everything up.

Of course, no tribute to Davy Jones would be complete without the words of fellow Monkees Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz.

 Michael Nesmith wrote on his Facebook page:

"So many lovely and heartfelt messages of condolence and sympathy, I don't know what to say, except my sincere thank you to all. I share and appreciate your feelings. 

"But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. While it is jarring, and sometimes seems unjust, or strange, this transition we call dying and death is a constant in the mortal experience that we know almost nothing about. 

"I am of the mind that it is a transition and I carry with me a certainty of the continuity of existence. While I don't exactly know what happens in these times, there is an ongoing sense of life that reaches in my mind out far beyond the near horizons of mortality and into the reaches of infinity."

"That David has stepped beyond my view causes me the sadness that it does many of you. I will miss him, but I won't abandon him to mortality. 

"I will think of him as existing within the animating life that insures existence. I will think of him and his family with that gentle regard in spite of all the contrary appearances on the mortal plane.

"David's spirit and soul live well in my heart, among all the lovely people, who remember with me the good times, and the healing times, that were created for so many, including us. I have fond memories. I wish him safe travels."

Peter Tork shared some memories of Davy with Joe Causi of CBS.FM in NYC and told a very funny story about the first time the foursome met for lunch. I wasn't able to embed the audio clip but it will pop up in a new window when you click here.

 Micky appeared on Piers Morgan Tonight to pay tribute to Davy. 

 

 Micky's recollections are the perfect way to conclude this post.

 

R.I.P. Davy Jones...December 30,1945 - February 29, 2012

 

Today a piece of my youth died with the passing of Davy Jones from a heart attack at the age of 66. Like may people my age, I grew up watching The Monkees. Even though Davy was not my favorite Monkee (I had a crush on Micky Dolenz), I am stunned and have not yet fully absorbed this sad news. 

There was more to Davy than The Monkees. He played the Artful Dodger in the Broadway production of Oliver! and he and the cast appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on the evening of February 9, 1946, the same evening as The Beatles. From that broadcast, here are Davy Jones and Georgia Brown performing "I'd Do Anything". Since posting this I have discovered that this video could not be embedded....the link within the video box will take you directly to YouTube.

 

Davy recorded an album in 1965 titled David Jones and here he is on Shindig with one of the songs from that LP, "What Are We Going to Do?"

 

Of course, Davy will always be best remembered for The Monkees, which aired on NBC from 1966 - 1968. Davy playedthe heartthrob who literally had stars in his eyes.

 

 Of course, every episode included a song or two...and the second season featured performance videos such as this one, "Cuddly Toy", with Davy doing another song and dance.

 

Davy even got to do a song-and-dance number, "Daddy's Song", in the Monkees movie, Head....this was choreographed by Toni Basil, who is seen here dancing with Davy. Oh - check out who appears after the song is finished.

 

Davy's last performance was on February 19 in Oklahoma. The night before, he took the stage at B.B, King's Blues Club in NYC and finished that appearance with the song he is most identified with, "Daydream Believer".

 

Rest In Peace, Davy.

 

A Snowball's Chance in....Rochester?

 

 

According to the calendar, it is Winter but here in Syracuse, NY this year you would hardly know it. We have had a mild Winter, to say the least.  In fact, we have had the least amount of snowfall ever for the season at 36.2 inches so far. 3 feet. That's it. Not that I am complaining, mind you. Last Winter we had just over 172 inches of snow - a little more than 14 feet of the white stuff. Another Winter that gave Syracuse the honor of winning the Golden Snowball Award.

According to this article in the Syracuse Post-Standard, we are now 5.1 inches of snow behind Rochester, NY and it things continue this way, we could lose the trophy to them:

Syracuse, NY – Usually, the odds of Syracuse losing the Golden Snowball are as long as a snowball’s survival in Hades.

But Syracuse could be in danger of losing the trophy awarded to the big Upstate New York city that receives the most snow in a single season.

The lake-effect snowstorm that hit the Finger Lakes region Sunday dumped 10.3 inches of snow on Rochester through midnight, according to the National Weather Service. That brought Rochester’s seasonal total to 41.1 inches, vaulting the city past Syracuse.

Syracuse Hancock International Airport received a measly 3.3 inches from the storm, bringing the seasonal total at Syracuse’s official weather station to 36.2 inches.

“That was a little shocking,” said Patrick DeCoursey, the Fremont resident who runs GoldenSnowball.com, referring to Rochester’s charge. The website keeps tabs on snowfall for the five cities in the contest.

As far as I am concerned, they can have it! After all, we shouldn't be greedy and hog the award every year. Right?

Finally! A New Post! With a Video Greeting!

I promised myself at the beginning of the year that I was going to post here more often. I am writing this on the evening of February 6th, 2012 so I guess I've failed somewhat at keeping that resolution. I am going to do my best to blog more often.

The reason for doing this particular post is that I discovered that I can record a video through Facebook and then embed it to this blog. I thought that I would give it a try and see how it works out. The video and audio quality are not the greatest but that's what happens when you buy a web cam at Rite-Aid....swear! 

February 7, 2012 UPDATE:

I embedded a video from Facebook last night....and then managed to delete it, sending it to forever reside with the missing socks from the dryer.  In the meantime, I found that I could record videos with my web cam on YouTube - and in better quality than the ones I do on Facebook. I've decided that instread of doing another video from there, I'll stick with YouTube so here is my first test video:

 

And here - finally! - is my Video Greeting:

 

I'll get better at the videos....Promise!

A Favorite Childhood Christmas Memory

 

photo from the Onondaga Historical Association collection

One of my favorite memories of Christmas was taking the bus to downtown Syracuse with my parents when they went to do their Christmas shopping. The streets and stores were festively decorated and my sister and I knew that at some point we would make that special visit to the E.W. Edwards and Sons Department Store Toyland.

Toyland at Edwards wasn't just the toy department where we would visit with Santa Claus to tell him that we had been good all year and to ask him to bring us what we wanted for Christmas. It was more than that. It was a magical place where we got to take a ride on the Rocket Ship - the monorail that took us on an exciting journey, circling above Toyland. Other than Christmas morning, this was the highlight of the holiday season! 

Sadly, E.W. Edwards was demolished in 1972 and the rest of the big department stores have also disappeared over time but I will always have fond memories of the downtown Syracuse of my childhood, especially at Christmas.

I went searching online and found more photos of the monorail.

Here's an ad for the Toyland Rocket Ship.

And here is what downtown Syracuse looked like on December 23, 1963.

photo from the Onondaga Historical Association collection

You can read about memories of the monorail and Santa here, here, here and here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A Fine Mess

The events of the last 10 days of the Bernie Fine sexual abuse allegations - these last 3 days in particular - are mind-numbing, to say the least. The story keeps getting worse and worse....and I have a feeling that will grow even more worse before everything dies down. The drama involves Fine, accusers Bobby Davis and his step-brother Mike Lang, SU Basketball coach Jim Boeheim, District Attorney William Fizpatrick. Police Chief Frank Fowler, Mayor Stephanie Miner, third accuser Zach Tomaselli and Fine's wife Laurie.

When the news broke on November 17 that Syracuse University Basketball assistant coach Bernie Fine had been accused of sexual abuse by Bobby Davis in an ESPN interview, the conventional wisdom was skepticism. After all, Davis was claiming the circumstances occurred during the 1980's until 2000 when Davis was 28 years old:

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse University placed associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine on administrative leave Thursday night after a former SU ball boy accused Fine of years of sexual abuse at Fine’s home and office and on basketball team road trips.

Bobby Davis, 39, who lived in Fine’s basement as a teen, alleged in interviews with The Post-Standard in 2002 that Fine first physically restrained him and touched his penis when Davis was 12 or 13 years old.

After ESPN aired a story Thursday night about those allegations and Syracuse police confirmed they had launched an investigation, SU put Fine on leave.

Davis told The Post-Standard that Fine initiated sexual contact with him from the mid-1980s until 2000, when Davis, then 28, began pushing Fine away whenever Fine tried to touch him.

Read the initial Syracuse Post-Standard story.

S.U. head coach Jim Boeheim defended Fine:

Jim Boeheim, who attended Syracuse University with Bernie Fine back in the 1960s, has known his trusted basketball aide for going on 50 years now. And he is absolutely convinced that beneath the smoke of these awful accusations against Fine no fire will be found.

"This is alleged to have occurred ... what?” Boeheim asked late Thursday night. “Twenty years ago? Am I in the right neighborhood? It might be 26 years ago? So, we are supposed to what? Stop the presses 26 years later? For a false allegation? For what I absolutely believe is a false allegation? I know he's lying about me seeing him in his hotel room. That's a lie. If he's going to tell one lie, I'm sure there's a few more of them.”

Boeheim was speaking of Bobby Davis, the 39-year-old man who has declared that Fine, SU's assistant basketball coach for 36 seasons, molested him on hundreds of occasions over a period of some 15 years beginning when Davis was 12 or 13. Specifically, Boeheim was referencing the charge by Davis that he, Boeheim, had seen Davis on multiple occasions in Fine’s hotel room on Orange basketball road trips.

"I never have been in Bernie Fine's hotel room in my life,” Boeheim said. “This is what, 16 to 18 years ago, or whatever it is? But I don't recall ever walking into any of my assistant coaches' rooms. Now, could I have once ... one time? I have a pretty good recollection of things, but I don't ever recollect ever walking into Bernie Fine's hotel room. Ever.”

Full story here.

 On November 18, Fine issued the following statement:

"Simply put, these allegations are patently false in every aspect. The fact is these allegations have been thoroughly investigated multiple times. When evaluating the veracity of these accusations, please keep in mind that credible media outlets were approached in the past to publicize these false allegations and declined to do so. I fully cooperated with all past inquires.

"Sadly, we live in an allegation-based society and an internet age where in a matter of minutes one's life long reputation can be severely damaged. I am confident that, as in the past, a review of these allegations will be discredited and restore my reputation. I hope the latest review of these allegations will be conducted expeditiously.

"Finally, I appreciate the Chancellor's statement that I should be accorded a fair opportunity to defend myself against these accusations. I fully intend to do so. There should never be a rush to judgment when someone's personal integrity and career are on the line."

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick announced that he wanted to know why his office was never contacted about Davis's allegations:

Syracuse, NY -- A day after child-molesting allegations against associate basketball coach Bernie Fine rocked Syracuse University, attention turned Friday to SU’s investigation into the claims six years ago.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick questioned why SU officials never notified his office of the complaint in 2005, when the university’s law firm conducted a four-month investigation. Nor, Fitzpatrick said, did Syracuse police notify his office in 2002 or 2003, when the alleged victim, former SU ball boy Bobby Davis, said he spoke to a detective.

“I want to know who knew what, what they knew, what they did about it and what they didn’t do about it,” Fitzpatrick said.

Full story here.

Fitzpatrick took further action three days later:

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A showdown looms Tuesday between the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office and the Syracuse Police Department over the records relating to the sexual abuse allegations against Associate Syracuse University Coach Bernie Fine.

On Monday, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick went to court and obtained a subpoena requiring the police to turn over the records from 2002 to the present for presentation to a grand jury today, he said.

But when that subpoena was delivered to Deputy Chief Shawn Broton, it was greeted with an obscenity, the district attorney said. “I’ve never seen this happen in my history with the DA’s office,” Fitzpatrick said of the refusal of the police department to cooperate with the prosecution.

Full story here.

 On November 23 two stories were published by the Syracuse Post-Standard that would add fuel to the fire. The first story began with the following:

Syracuse, N.Y. -- It’s been nearly 10 years since Danielle Roach first encouraged her friend Bobby Davis to tell police that he’d been sexually molested by Syracuse University associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine, but she still can’t tell the story without breaking down.

In a pink bathrobe in the basement-turned-playroom of her Camillus home Tuesday afternoon, Roach, 37, said she knows she and Davis are two voices telling a horrific tale about a man known and respected by many.

“There are going to be hundreds of people that can come and speak well of Bernie because Bernie didn’t abuse everybody,” Roach said. “And he certainly didn’t say hey, come and watch this and come and see what this dark side of me is.”

Full story here.

The second story began thusly:

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Former Syracuse University ball boy Bobby Davis went to Syracuse police in 2002 with child-molesting allegations against associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine.

Davis talked to a detective for about five minutes and provided the names of other possible victims, he said. He heard nothing from police for nine years.

His former girlfriend says she tried to take Davis’s allegations to the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office that same year. Prosecutors never returned her phone calls, she says.

The inaction of police and prosecutors nearly a decade ago was revealed Tuesday in a sworn statement Syracuse police took from the ex-girlfriend, Danielle Roach.

Full story here.

D.A. Fitzpatrick exploded later that morning with a tirade that would be greeted with a statement from Mayor Stephanie Miner in the afternoon:

Syracuse, NY - District Attorney William Fitzpatrick today accused Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler and Deputy Chief Shawn Broton of criminally "leaking" a witness affidavit in the Bernie Fine case in an effort to embarrass the prosecutor's office.

"This should frighten every person in the city of Syracuse," Fitzpatrick said. He went on to accuse Fowler of implementing new procedures restricting prosecution access to all reports in the possession of police and to suggest police officials may be responsible for the vandalism of one of his investigator's cars.

"You do not have a police chief. You have a fiefdom," Fitzpatrick angrily claimed in a late morning press conference in his office.

Full story here.

The next two days were relatively quiet but feces hit the centrifuge on Friday when authorities raided Bernie Fine's home in a search for evidence:

Town of DeWitt, NY -- Police from several agencies this afternoon began searching the home of Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine.

Four state troopers stood at 2:25 p.m at the foot of the driveway at Fine's home at 7001 Tiffany Circle. Other officers could be seen outside the house; three appeared to be looking through a trash can as Fine's wife, Laurie, stood nearby.

A Syracuse Police crime scene van was parked up the driveway near the home. Three marked state police cars and three marked city police cruisers were parked on the street. So were six or more civilian vehicles, although it was uncertain which belonged to police and which to media.

A state police officer said several agencies were executing a search warrant. The search began about 1:45 p.m., he said.

Full story here.

If Friday's news wasn't bad enough, two more stories would break on Sunday morning. The first brought word of a third accuser:

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A third accuser told police Wednesday that Syracuse University associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine sexually abused him as a child.

That revelation prompted authorities to search Fine's home two days later, a source said.

Zach Tomaselli, 23, of Lewiston, Maine, told Syracuse police that Fine molested him in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room when Tomaselli was 13 years old.

Syracuse police detectives Raul Santana and Clark Farry interviewed Tomaselli, who grew up 78 miles north of Syracuse, for more than four hours Wednesday afternoon in Albany, Tomaselli said.

Tomaselli — who is facing sexual assault charges in Maine involving a 14-year-old boy — said he signed a police affidavit on Wednesday accusing Fine of molesting him in the Pittsburgh hotel the night before an SU game against Pitt.

Full story here.

It wouldn't be long until a bombshell dropped:

The wife of Syracuse University associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine said in a tape-recorded phone conversation that she had concerns her husband was abusing boys but felt she couldn't stop it, according to ESPN.

Bobby Davis, the man who first accused Fine of molesting him in the mid-1980s and 1990s, legally tape-recorded the phone call with Laurie Fine in 2002, according to ESPN. Davis gave the tape to ESPN in 2003, but the network said it didn't report the allegations because no one else would corroborate his story at the time. The Post-Standard was also contacted by Davis, but did not publish the allegations at the time.

On the tape given to ESPN, Laurie Fine tried to explain why she didn't feel she could stop the abuse: "If it was another girl like I told you, it would be easy to step in because you know what you're up against. ... (When) it's another guy, you can't compete with that. It's just wrong, and you were a kid. You're a man now, but you were a kid then."

Davis' stepbrother, Michael Lang, came forward to make similar allegations of abuse earlier this month, and SU placed Fine on leave. Fine, of DeWitt, is now being investigated by SU, Syracuse police and the U.S. Secret Service. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick and Syracuse police have been battling over records in the case, and experts told The Post-Standard that the investigation is turning into a "circus."

Full story here.

Now comes the inevitable news that Bernie Fine has been fired by SU:

Syracuse, NY -- Syracuse University tonight fired longtime assistant men's basketball coach Bernie Fine amid accusations he molested several young boys.

In a one sentence statement, SU's senior vice president for public affairs Kevin Quinn announced the termination at 7:39 p.m.

“At the direction of Chancellor (Nancy) Cantor, Bernie Fine’s employment with Syracuse University has been terminated, effective immediately.”

Fine had been on administrative leave since Nov. 17, after ESPN aired a story from one of his accusers, Bobby Davis.

The firing ends a long tenure for the assistant coach.

Full story here.

Bernie Fine was my Business Education teacher when I was in high school but I have no specific memories or stories about him - not that they would matter at this point. I've seen Laurie Fine on a local morning tv show a few times and there was something about her that always struck me as odd but I could never put my finger on what it was - I may have the answer now. I have no idea how much is true and how much is false. I will try to not to judge until all the facts have been revealed. All I know is that nobody will emerge from this story unscathed. It is a sad story for Syracuse and for everybody involved.

UPDATE -  Jim Boeheim issued the following statement tonight:

“The allegations that have come forth today are disturbing and deeply troubling," he wrote in a statement released on Facebook. "I am personally very shocked because I have never witnessed any of the activities that have been alleged. I believe the university took the appropriate step tonight.

"What is most important is that this matter be fully investigated and that anyone with information be supported to come forward so that the truth can be found. I deeply regret any statements I made that might have inhibited that from occurring or been insensitive to victims of abuse.”

 

 

Town Clerk Who Refuses to Sign Marriage Licenses For Same-Sex Couples RE-ELECTED

I was really hoping that the voters would have more common sense but, sadly. they have spoken.

From the Syracuse Post-Standard:

Incumbent Rose Marie Belforti on Tuesday won re-election as town clerk in Ledyard in a race that divided townspeople and drew national attention over her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

Belforti, a Republican, defeated Ed Easter, of Aurora, who launched a write-in candidacy some six weeks ago after learning of his opponent’s stance against the state’s recently passed Marriage Equality Act.

Belforti’s position polarized residents in this mostly rural town of about 1,900 residents on the east side of Cayuga Lake. The township includes the village of Aurora, home to Wells College. By mid-afternoon nearly one-third of the town’s 951 registered voters had cast their ballots at the town office building, an election official there said. In all nearly 500 residents had voted by the time polls closed at 9 p.m. The story was written about in The New York Times and The Huffington Post after it first appeared in The Post-Standard. The dispute also attracted national advocates from both sides of the issue.

Please Help Fund My Very Talented Friend Michael Airington's Hilarious Show 'OH MY GOODNESS...It's Paul Lynde!'

Michael Airington has a terrific one-man show that he does as the late actor/comedian Paul Lynde. Michael doesn't just impersonate Paul Lynde....he channels him! Michael is planning to take the show on tour in 2012 and is trying to raise funds to acheive that goal - "We need to raise $50.000 or more to get this show to NYC for the Performing Arts Center Convention and to Prepare for a national tour. We need to Construct a new Square that travels . We need to have a new Wig made. We need a new laptop for the show Cues and Sound FX..and we need Rehearsal and time and to be able to travel to NYC in January."

Read more about Michael and 'OH MY GOODNESS....It's Paul Lynde!' here at Kickstarter.com. All the information is there about now you can pledge to contribute to the effort and what you will receive in return for your pledge - anything from tickets to the show to dinner with Michael Airington and Bruce Vilanch.

Here is Michael's video presentation about the show:

 

Check out this promotional video with clips from an early workshop performance:

 

I realize that times are tough right now but if you would like to support a truly talented performer and make the tour a reality, please pledge whatever amount you can. Michael is an amazing performer (and a terrific person) and he deserves to be seen in as many venues as possible. Thank you!

 

The Final Friends Of Old Time Radio Convention Approaches

This year year I will be attending my 32nd and final Friends of Old Time Radio convention from October 20 through October 22 in Newark, NJ. This is actually the 36th FOTR convention but my best friend Walt Mitchell and I began attending in 1979. It has become my favorite event of the year and we always look forward to the next convention as soon as the latest one is over.

This year it comes to an end. The fact that this will be the final FOTR convention is starting to hit home. It will be a bittersweet weekend and the end of an era. However, I refuse to give in to sadness over the demise - not yet, anyway. This will be a weekend for celebrating the Golden Age of Radio - and for celebrating friendships made over the years.

I will attempt to post some blogs from the convention as time allows - if during the convention, definitely when I am home and savoring the memories. Until then, I am sharing an article about the final FOTR convention from, of all places, The Huffington Post.

From 1920 until the mid-1950s, no other medium unified America like radio.

Unlike newspapers, which were regionally focused, radio dramas like "The Lone Ranger," comedy shows like "Jack Benny" and variety shows like "Major Bowes' Amateur Hour" connected millions of Americans in a way they hadn't before.

With the advent of television, radio's impact decreased until finally in 1962, the "Golden Age of Radio" officially ended when CBS radio canceled "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar," a radio drama about an insurance investigator.

Top 40, news and talk radio filled the void left by the demise of what came to be called "old-time radio," but a few vocal supporters kept, to paraphrase the opening of "The Lone Ranger," returning to the thrilling days of yesteryear by collecting tapes of old radio shows and hosting conventions where the actors on classic shows reenacted episodes live in front of an appreciative audience.

One of the most popular of those events has been the annual Friends Of Old Time Radio Convention, which, for 36 years, has attracted hundreds of people to Newark, N.J., to see, in the flesh, the people that made radio the theatre of the mind.

FULL STORY HERE.

Ledyard Town Clerk Rose Marie Belforti's Refusal to Issue Marriage Licenses to Same- Sex Couples Supported by Christian Group (VIDEO)

Rose Marie Belforti certainly has the right to her personal beliefs but she does not have the right to let those beliefs affect her elected position as town clerk. Since she is a Government employee, this is a violation of Church and State.

I disagree with her position that same-sex couples should not be allowed the same civil rights that I am allowed. She should perform all of her duties or resign....or be voted out of office next month.

A fundamental Christian lobbying group is behind a video on “YouTube’’ in which Ledyard Town Clerk Rose Marie Belforti explains why she believes she should not have to comply with a state law and issue same-sex marriage licenses.

In the video – filmed at her Ledyard farm -- Belforti talks for about two and one-half minutes on her position, which has drawn heavy criticism, a possible lawsuit and an opponent to her reelection bid.

“I am a Christian. The Bible tells me that marriage is between a man and a woman so I don’t feel I can endorse the new (state) law. I don’t feel it is right,’’ Belforti says on the video.

 

Read more from the Syracuse Post-Standard.

 

UPDATE: Town Clerk Who Refuses to Issue Marriage Licenses to Same-Sex Couples to Be Challenged in November Election

I hope she is overwhelmingly voted out of office!

Ledyard Town Clerk Rose Marie Belforti, who has gained national attention for her opposition to issuing licenses for same-sex marriages, now faces a write-in opponent in November’s election.

Ed Easter, a registered Republican from Aurora, confirmed Friday that he is going to try to unseat Belforti because she refuses to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Belforti had been running unopposed.

“I don’t think an elected official should be able to pick and choose what they do,’’ Easter said. “If she were a member of PETA would she not issue hunting licenses? Would that be OK?’’

Belforti has cited her Christian religious beliefs in refusing to abide by the state’s Marriage Equality Act. The law, which was enacted in July, requires town clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Failure to comply is a misdemeanor.

More from Syracuse.com.

Read the editorial from the Syracuse Post-Standard.

 

Town Clerk Refuses to Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses Due to Religeous Beliefs

On June 25th I posted this blog entry about NY legalizing same-sex marriage. The law took effect on July 24th and Town Clerks all over the state began to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. There were a handful of clerks who resigned their positions rather than go against their personal beliefs that homosexuality is a sin, but most accepted the new law with no objections.

Well, almost no objections.

LEDYARD, N.Y. — Rose Marie Belforti is a 57-year-old cheese maker, the elected town clerk in this sprawling Finger Lakes farming community and a self-described Bible-believing Christian. She believes that God has condemned homosexuality as a sin, so she does not want to sign same-sex marriage licenses; instead, she has arranged for a deputy to issue all marriage licenses by appointment.

But when a lesbian couple who own a farm near here showed up at the town hall last month, the women said they were unwilling to wait.

Now Ms. Belforti is at the heart of an emerging test case, as national advocacy groups look to Ledyard for an answer to how the state balances a religious freedom claim by a local official against a civil rights claim by a same-sex couple.

Ms. Belforti, represented by a Christian legal advocacy group based in Arizona, the Alliance Defense Fund, is arguing that state law requires New York to accommodate her religious beliefs.

“New York law protects my right to hold both my job and my beliefs,” she said in an interview last week, pausing briefly to collect $50 from a resident planning to take 20 loads of refuse to the town dump. “I’m not supposed to have to leave my beliefs at the door at my government job.”

But the couple, Deirdre DiBiaggio and Katie Carmichael of Miami, are arguing that the law requires all clerks in New York to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The couple are being represented by a liberal advocacy organization, People for the American Way, based in Washington.

“Gay people have fought so long and hard to get these civil rights,” said Ms. Carmichael, 53, a filmmaker. “To have her basically telling us to get in the back of the line is just not acceptable."

Read the complete NY Times story here.

I have no stake in this matter but is my opinion that if Ms. Belforti is unwilling to perform her job, she should step aside in favor of someone who will. This is discrimination and it should not be tolerated.

One other thing. I find it interesting that somebody who is against gays looks kinda butch.

9/11/2001 - The Day Everything Changed

 

For me, September 11, 2001 dawned as a day of change. It was the first day of new ownership of the company where I worked in Syracuse, NY. There was an air of uncertainty about our future. A couple of executives from the company's headquarters would be visiting and we were all wondering what the day would bring. Everybody knew that our new owners had already bought (and susequently closed) another local company that had been a competitor - those of us who had worked at that business were espcially uneasy, worried that we would eventually be put out of work again. It wouldn't be long before those thoughts would be just a footnote to the day.

I was the receptionist at our company and as usual, I had been busy answering the phone, greeting visitors and sending faxes. At around 9:15 somebody told me that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. I assumed that it was a couple of small planes that may have collided, hitting one of the buildings, with the probability that some lives had been lost. As some of my co-workers gravitated toward the conference room not too far behind my work station to watch the news reports on tv, it soon became clear to me that it was far worse than that.

I could hear some of the news accounts coming from the conference room but I did not get up from my desk to watch so I decided to go online to see what had happened.  I was not prepared for what was on the computer screen....I don't think this is the exact image that  I saw but it's pretty close:

I was stunned by the horrific display and I then remembered a brief news items I had heard in Auguest about how Al-Queda had hinted that something would happen soon. It didn't mean anything at the time, of course, but now all I could think was, "Osama bin Laden is behind this." It wasn't long before the news came that another plane had crashed into the Pentagon. I think that's when I really started to worry. What the hell else was going to be attacked? It was all surreal.

I suddenly thought about a friend of mine who worked in NY City but quickly remembered that his daily commute from New Jersey brought him into Penn Station, far from the WTC and his work day began at 8:00am, so there was no need to be concerned about his safety. 

I took my morning break and stepped outside where I heard a F-16 fighter jet flying out of Hancock Air Base. I returned to my desk and it wasn't long before I heard gasps coming from the conference room. The South Tower had collapsed into rubble. The phones were pretty quiet so after a while I went over to the doorway of the confernce room and watched as the North Tower fell. Then there were the reports of a plane that was still missing.....Flight 93, which would crash in Shanksville, PA after the passengers fought back against the highjackers.

Thankfully, there were no other attacks that day but the fear that something more could happen lingered throughout the day. I don't remember much about that afternoon except that I hurried home from work to watch more of the news coverage and look at the evening newspaper. There were unforgettable images that appeared in the papers in the next couple of days and here are a few of them:

The dust covered woman

The body of Father Mychal Judge being removed from the ruins.

The falling man

  

The members of the FDNY raising the flag that had flown atop the WTC.

The only direct way that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 affected my life would occur a few weeks later when I flew down to JFK Airport on my way to Newark, NJ. (JetBlue did not fly to Newark at the time) When I arrived at the airport in Syracuse, the first matter of business was having my suitcase opened and thoroughly examined before checking it in. I then went through security where something (my watch, I believe) set off the metal detector. I was wanded and then insrtucted to step into a nearby room where a female security officer patted me down. Once it was determined that I was not a threat, I was allowed to proceed to the boarding area to wait for my plane. It was then that I saw a National Guardsman patrolling the corridor and carrying a rifle. That was a bit unnerving. When we were called to board the plane we were told that people would be chosen at random to have their carry-on luggage searched. Naturally, I was one of the people in that group. That didn't take long and nothing I had posed a problem. The flight was flawless and we actually arrived at JFK early.

I took a bus from JFK to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC and as we approached the ciry, I saw the Empire State Building lit up in red, white and blue. I found myself with tears in my eyes and I wondered how things would be when I stepped off that bus in front of the terminal. As it turned out, the city still had it's exciting energy and everything felt surprisingly normal. That was my first real feeling that NYC was going to recover from that tragic day.

NYC and the rest of the nation did indeed recover but, of course, many things have changed since 9/11. We have been at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. We had the color-coded terror alerts. Homeland Security and the TSA have made air travel difficult in many ways. There are emotional scars that remain from that day for many people that will never completely heal, although the killing of Osama bin Laden this past May gave some measure of closure to the events of 10 years ago.

It has been a decade since that horrific day and yet sometimes it almost feeles as though it happened last week. Our day-to-day lives go on as normal and that is a good thing. But those of us who were shocked by the attacks will always remember where we were when we heard the news....and we must never forget.

 

 

 

Hey, Hey....25 Years Ago the Monkees Reunited

 
25 years ago tonight, Michael Nesmith walked onto the stage at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles and finally reunited with fellow Monkees Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Peter Tork. Here's how Entetainment Tonight covered the occasion:

 

And here is the entire performance:

 

Pan Am 103 Bomber Near Death?

I may be earning some bad Karma for saying this but I really hope this is true and that he is suffering. I live in Syracuse, NY and on December 21, 1988 Pam Am Flight 103 was blown out of the sky, killing all on board and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. 35 of those who died were Syracuse University foreign exchange students and 4 others from Central NY also died in the bombing. This was a terrible shock to the community and the tragic event is observed every year on the SU campus.

Word is that Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the convicted bomber, is near death from prostate cancer. You will remember that he was released from a British prison in 2009 because supposedly had only 3 months to live. It's been a lot more than 3 months and to be toally honest, I am skeptical about the current reports of his imminent demise - especially since this news comes so soon after the downfall of former Lybian dictator Muammar Gaddafi. To me, the timing just seems a little suspect. But maybe the reports are true.

For what it is worth, I am sharing the following news story:

CNN’s Nic Robertson is an extremely well regarded reporter especially in areas of war and intense conflict. This weekend he reinforced his reputation by tracking down Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, also known as the convicted bomber of PanAm flight 103, who was found responsible for the deaths 270 individuals when the jetliner crashed over Lockerbie, Scotland. al-Megrahi was found in a coma, surrounded by family and in a lavish compound.

 

Two years ago, al-Megrahi had been giving a “compassionate” release from British prison and allowed to return to Libya; the convicted bomber had developed prostate cancer and was expected to only live another three months. Because he was still alive, some suggested that his medical ills were some sort of ruse, and that his release was inappropriate. In fact, the British government admitted in a report that it was a mistake to release the convicted bomber at all.

So in the past few weeks as the Gaddafi regime had been toppled by NATO supported rebels, many in the media openly wondered whatever became of al-Megrahi, many suggesting that the was actually quite healthy and probably had fled. So kudos to Robertson for actually tracking down the convicted bomber and finding him in a state that appears to be very near death.

See the CNN video report here.

 

The King is Dead....Finally!

Burger King has let those of us who are creeped out by their King mascot have it our way.

A popular king has been dethroned in a whopper of a marketing move.

The Burger King mascot - the iconic, almost-creepy character with the oversized head who never said a word or changed expression - will no longer reign over the fast food chain's TV commercials, the company announced Friday.

A new national ad campaign is being rolled out Saturday that focuses on Burger King's latest menu item, the California Whopper.

Here's the new commercial

 

More from THE NY DAILY NEWS