Locals Show Outrage Towards National Grid's Rate Hike Proposal

By: Kevin Belbey (NCC News)

October 27, 2010 5:30 p.m.

Syracuse, N.Y.--Out of the two meetings held to discuss National Grid's request for a $361 million electric rate hike, 27 people got up and voiced their opinion. Out of that 27, 26 stand opposed to National Grid's plan to increase the rate customers pay for electric delivery service.

Mercedes Bloodworth, a resident of Syracuse's South Side and a member of Syracuse United Neighbors, spoke at the meetings and told the Public Service Commission that families will be forced to make sacrifices if the utility is raised any higher.

"They (families) are not going to be able to make payments and they're going to continue to have to make hard decisions when it comes to feeding their families and getting the medical attention they may need," said Bloodworth.

Deborah Warner, vice president for public policy and government relations at CenterState CEO, was the one speaker in favor of National Grid's request. She told the Public Service Commission that:

• The utility's regulated delivery revenues would see an increase of about 18 percent.
• National Grid has helped out local businesses.
• CenterState CEO believed the proposed electric rate hike should be approved

The Public Service Commission is expected to give a ruling on the rate hike in January.

Cicero Supervisor wants a vote to decide police department's future

by: Chet Davis (NCC News)

October 27, 2010 12:30 p.m.

Cicero, N.Y. – The future of the Cicero Police Department might be put on the hands of its taxpayers. Cicero Town Supervisor Judy Boyke wants the taxpayers to decide whether to keep or eliminate its police department.

Boyke plans to recommend the town board allow a local law to get rid of the police department and let the taxpayers vote. The town would need to have a public hearing before the board could vote on the law.

Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney recently told town officials to avoid the additional costs of a police department. Instead, Mahoney advised that Cicero rely on the county sheriff’s office and state police.

Cicero Police Chief Joseph Snell believes the sheriff’s office and the state police cannot match the work his department currently does. “Right now the state police and sheriffs do not have the man power not the staffing to provide the same level of service that we provide to out communities,” Snell said.

Snell went on to defend his department and the work it provides the community. "Every member of this department is dedicated to this community, committed to this community and the safety of this community," Snell said. "So the department is not pleased with the referendum to abolish the police department."

Cicero is expected to spend $1.69 million a year on public safety, for a police department with 12 full-time and 10 part-time officers.

Hancock Airport receives $500,000 in federal grant for cut-rate airlines

By Rochelle Scott (NCC News)

October 27, 2010, 7:40

SYRACUSE, NY - - The US Department of Transportation granted the Hancock International Airport a $500,000 incentive to help lure low-cost airlines. The award was made possible under the 2010 Small Community Air Service Development Program. Funds will be used to help with start-up costs of upcoming airlines, advertising and marketing.

Local business leaders and city officials alike have complained about the flight prices, some the highest in the nation.

Some of the new airlines to come are Southwest and AirTran. Lowering costs for recreational and local business is a top goal for the airport. Airport spokesperson, Christina Reale, says the airlines already present will have to make necessary steps to compete with these new fights.

“Our incentive benefits not just flights to come but ultimately in reducing the fares of flights present so as to benefit the community at large.” Reale.

On the horizon:

• Existing flights to add low-cost flights to their schedule
• Lessening of passenger traffic- $63 million project to ease congestion
• Central security screening site
• Reshuffling and merging procedure at both terminals

Team 4 Rundown Rationale

By: Kimberly Caruba (NCC News)

October 27, 2010, 7:28 p.m.

National Grid

Our lead story was about the reaction to National Grid's request for a $361 million dollar electric rate hike. National Grid wants to increase the rate customers pay for electric delivery service, but was met with disapproval by 26 of the 27 speakers that spoke at the public hearings about the rate hike. I felt that this story was a good choice for the lead as it affects a large number of people, is controversial, and was the most timely, local and important story that I had. This story was done as a recorded reporter wrap by Kevin Belbey.

Cigarette Trial

Our second story was a reader about the continuing legal battle between New York state and the Indian tribes, revolving around the desire of the state to apply a more than four dollar-per-pack sales tax on cigarettes sold by the tribes to non-Indian customers. I felt that this story was important as a large number of people smoke, and it is a very controversial issue whether or not imposing such taxes on the Indian's products is legal or ethical. I also felt that this story was a good one to follow the National Grid story as both were state/local stories and both had to do with increasing prices.

Cuomo Lead

The next story was another reader, this time about a new political poll that shows Democrat, Andrew Cuomo with a 20 point lead over Republican, Carl Paladino. I felt that this was an important story, as the New York governor's race is days away. Politics has been all over the news the past couple months, and the fact that the poll shows that the Democratic candidate is doing better than the Republican candidate I feel is newsworthy, considering that Democrats are expected to lose big this election season. This story was a nice way to keep the thread on a state level, and both this story and the previous story were political.

Oswego School Board

The following story was a live wrap about the Oswego School board deciding not to remove one of its board members and was done by Tim Killian. Although somewhat of a nuisance, the school board decided not to remove Francis Hoefer, even though he has accused several board members of not paying all of their school taxes and has a history of releasing confidential information and disrespecting some of his fellow board members. I felt that this story was news worthy because of its timeliness, controversy and relevance to area residents. It was a nice way to bring the thread from a state level back to a local focus.

Police Department

The next story was an anchor actuality done by Chet Davis, about the town of Cicero's meeting tonight to decide whether or not they should eliminate the town's police department. Public safety is always an important topic, especially since the country is experiencing a tense time in regards to worldwide safety. The decision to remove a police department I feel is something that should not be taken lightly, and that viewers should know what the outcomes of the decision would mean. This story was also a nice follow up to the previous story, as it deals with controversy and possible dismissal.

Transportation Safety

The next story was a reader about the National Transportation Safety Board's examination the next two days, of the safety of "code sharing" agreements between airlines. Last year, Continental Airlines was able to book passengers on the ill-fated Colgan Air flight that crashed in Buffalo because of code sharing. I felt that this was a good story to come next because it was expanding the thread from a local level to a more state level, so as to help with the transition to the national story that is coming next. I also thought that it was timely, and air safety has been an issue in the news. We ended up killing this reader during the show.

Midwest Storm

The next story was an anchor actuality done by Chet Davis, about the tornadoes and strong storms that have been sweeping through the midwest. I felt that this was an important story, as residents and students have family members across the country, and national disasters always receive extensive coverage. This story brought the thread to a national level, which was a good lead in to the story that was next. This story was timely and contained a lot of emotional quotes, which was a nice change of pace from the harder news stories we previously covered.

Glaxo

The next story was a reader about the British drug company, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, and its $750 million settlement over allegations that its subsidiary manufactured and sold adulterated drugs. The company manufactures the popular antidepressant Paxil, which I thought made it a relevant story considering that antidepressants are being prescribed more often to the increasingly busier American. It was also a nice way to end the block, because it kept things on a national level and was a reader which could be easily dropped if need be.

Popular Costumes

Our kicker was about the most popular Halloween costumes this year, which I thought fit in nicely with Halloween being this weekend. It was light hearted, and showed the shift in American culture towards a more reality-based lifestyle, as the most popular costumes this year are reality TV stars, The Situation, Pauly D, and Snookie, as well as singer Lady Gaga. This story was timely and fun.

Weather

Next we had the weather, and Chet read today, tonight, tomorrow and the weekend forecast.

He got us out perfectly on time.

And that was our show!

Public battles National Grid rate increases

By Callan Gray (NCC News)

October 27, 2010 7:05 p.m.

Syracuse, NY--Syracuse National Grid customers said no to the power company's first proposed rate hike in over a decade Tuesday night. They spoke out at a public hearing hosted by the Public Service Commission at the Onondaga County/ City of Syracuse Criminal Court House.

From the start, the crowd at the public hearing did not have kind words for National Grid.

“We need to get rid of Niagara Mohawk (cheers) and we need to get something else in here,” said Joanne Stevens of Syracuse United Neighbors.

When National Grid bought Niagara Mohawk in 2002 it began using a competitive transition charge to pay off the smaller company’s debt. National Grid now suggests extending the CTC past its 2011 expiration date to offset a nearly $390-million dollar per year increase in revenues from the delivery service. The company says the continuation of the charge will prevent customers from paying extra.

The plan is structured so although the delivery rate increases, as long as there is equal usage, the bottom line of a customer’s bill will not, according to National Grid spokesman Steve Brady.

“We understand the frustration, clearly the economy is not good,” said Brady. “It’s a very difficult time to do this, we struggled on when this had to be done. But that’s really why we structured the plan the way we did.”

National Grid’s goal to increase revenue is intended to help the company meet the rising cost of running the company.

Public Power

Central New York Public Power Coalition spokesman Steven Penn is not satisfied with National Grid’s plan and feels a long-term adjustment needs to be made.

“We’re not here to look to the PSC to look for a long term solution,” said Penn. “We’re here to look for a band-aid to keep rates from going up until we can transition to public power.”

Penn says public power would allow the city’s customers to gain control over energy rate increases.

“And in areas where we can’t set the policy, we have no democratic control,” says Penn. “So we don’t benefit in the area of cheaper rates, we don’t benefit in the form of taxes. Per utility dollar, public utilities -municipal utilities- pay a lot more back to their cities than do privately held corporations.”

What is Next?

The hearings conclude in Albany on Wednesday, Oct. 27. The public hearings are just half of a two-step process to resolve the issue that includes:

· Having engineers, accountants and economists provide expert technical testimony

· Holding public hearings in local communities

· Combining technical and public testimonies into a report for the PSC to review

· PSC evaluates the report along with the company’s proposal to increase rates

· PSC will rule on the rate increase in January

The community members who voiced opinions at the public hearing are asking the PSC to help get their voices heard.

“Who is looking out for us?” asked Syracuse resident Mercedes Bloodworth.

She was one voice among many, asking for help in the fight against National Grid’s rate hikes.

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Oswego School Board Votes to Keep Hoefer

by: Lauren Fabrizi (NCC News)
Oct. 27, 2010, 7:42 p.m.

OSWEGO, N.Y. - The Oswego School Board of Education voted Tuesday night to keep member, Francis Hoefer, on the board.

School Board member James Tschudy called for the removal of Francis Hoefer last month after Hoefer accused Tschudy and other board members of not paying enough school taxes.

Tschudy sought removal of Hoefer for his repeated votes to deny tenure to teachers and administrators, Tschudy said. But only two board members, including Tschudy, voted to remove Hoefer.

In 2004, Hoefer was removed from the board for violating board policy, Tschudy said.

Other reasons for Hoefer's removal in 2004 include:

• Revealing confidential information
• Disrespecting, defaming, and harassing board members
• Repeatedly voting against tenure for Oswego school district faculty and administration

The Oswego School Board paid $46,000 in legal fees to remove Hoefer from the board, Tschudy said. But he was reelected in May 2009.

Tschudy said that it would be too costly to remove Hoefer from the board again, and that many board members wanted to steer clear of a second removal.

"There are costs involved if the board would choose to initiate legal proceding for his removal," Tschudy said. "And I think that some board members felt that it was a cost they would prefer to avoid."

Oswego School Board Does Not Vote Off One Of Its Members

OSWEGO, NY-- The Oswego School Board voted Tuesday night against kicking off one of its members, Francis Hoefer. The meeting was planned a month ago, when Hoefer accused several board members of failing to pay school taxes.

One school board member, James Tschudy, called out for Hoefer's removal from the board. Although he seemed to have initial support, he was one of only two board members who voted to eliminate Hoefer. Tschudy said that this vote does not mean the conflict is over yet.

"There's always the possibility that the [education] commissioner may be approached, and another judgment would be forthcoming," Tschudy said.

Hoefer was previously voted off of the Oswego School Board in 2004. His violations included:

• Revealing confidential information
• Disrespecting School Board Members
• Harassing other Board Members
• Voting against tenure without considering facts of individual case

The legal process to remove Hoefer in 2004 cost the board $46,000. Tschudy believes that these costs influenced the board's vote this time around.

"Some board members felt this was a cost they'd prefer to avoid," Tshudy said.

Hoefer was reelected to the Oswego School Board in 2009, and is currently serving his three year term.

Customers Sound Off On National Grid's Proposed Rate Hike

by Maddie Dockery (NCC News)

Oct. 27, 2010, 5:30 p.m.

SYRACUSE, N.Y.- National Grid customers have been showing their outrage over a proposed $400 million rate hike.

The state Public Service Commission held two public hearings yesterday at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. in the Criminal Courts Building in Syracuse. Many people in the crowd brought signs, including one that said "Power for people, not profit."

National Grid has been criticized by PSC employees, who say the company should not be asking for more than $40 million, about one-ninth of the company's actual rate increase request. These hearings are part of an investigation by the PSC, who will ultimately rule on the rates this January.

Mercedes Bloodworth, an organizer for Syracuse United Neighbors, says it is the PSC's responsibility to the public to block this rate increase.

"We're asking you today, you know, to step up to the plate and do the job that you were hired to do and look out for our best interest," Bloodworth said.

A closer look at the proposal

National Grid's proposed rate increase aims to:

• Modernize and maintain field equipment
• Increase the allowed rate of return from 10.6 percent to 11.1 percent
• Pay off the debts that the company inherited when it bought Niagara Mohawk in 2002

The $400 million would come from a 20 percent increase in electric rates, which would go into effect in 2011.

Alphonso Davis, a former candidate for mayor, says that it would be "criminal" to raise the rates any higher during a recession.

"When you consider raising the rate do you look at the average of where people are financially," asked Davis. "The majority of the people it's going to hit, or the people it's going to hit the hardest are those individuals who can barely pay their bills right now."

National Grid understands the frustration

The company hasn't increased delivery rates in over a decade, and must now raise the price to keep up with the growing costs of business. National Grid spokesman Steve Brady says even with the delivery cost increase, customers' overall bills should not go up.

"That's really why we structured the plan the way we did," said Brady, "so that even if the delivery rate goes up, the bottom line bill would not increase assuming equal usage year over year."

Brady says that National Grid understands that its customers are frustrated, but the delivery rates must increase.

"The economy right now is not good," Brady said. "We really struggled with when this had to be done."

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Team 3 Rundown Rationale

Team 3 Rundown Rationale

Our team consisted of Gino Zarrillo as the anchor, Rochelle Scott as the live reporter, and Kevin Belbey as the recorded reporter.

A1: Headlines

I decided to take the three most relevant stories in the newscast and list them in the order that they were placed in the newscast. The National Grid story was very timely, the $500,000 federal grant awarded to Syracuse to help attract low-cost airlines to Hancock International Airport was a big local story over the past 24hrs, and the Tsunami in Indonesia is a huge and recent international disaster.

A2: National Grid

Kevin did a great job on his National Grid story. I put this story as the lede because I thought that its timeliness and controversy were very newsworthy locally. National Grid has been campaigning to the New York Public Service Commission to increase the rate that customers pay for electricity service. They want to hike rates up to $361 million dollars, but many residents of Syracuse are against this hike with these difficult economic times. The ruling will be decided in January. This was the most relevant story in the newscast and had excellent soundbites.

A3: Cigarette Tax

I put this reader in the newscast because, again, like the story above, it has to do with money, it is controversial, and it is local. New York wants to tax the Indian reservations in upstate New York for cigarette sold to non-Indian customers. Different Indian reservations are trying to block this tax and a judge in Buffalo has just extended a temporary order blocking the tax.

A4: Hancock Airport

Rochelle did a nice job with this piece. It was added last minute into the rundown because Rochelle needed a sound bite…so I was going to throw the story away and she would have done another…but she got a soundbite for this one just in time. I think this story is very relevant because, again it is very local, and it is good news for the Airport and deals with money: a federal grant. I have a flow going here with local stories and the money that is involved with each.

A5: Oswego School Board

This piece was not intended to go in this rundown….this was supposed to be a piece about how Onondaga County had a shortage of poll workers for election day next week…and I had readers set to follow that having to do with elections….but no one would talk to Gino about this issue….so he had to grab this Oswego story last-minute. It is relevant though in that it has to do with the local community. The Oswego school board Tuesday night voted not to try to throw Francis Hoefer off the board. School board members called for his removal from the school board last month after he accused some board members of not paying their fair share of school taxes…so it was an interesting story at least. Gino did a great job putting this together last minute.

A6: Election

This reader just discusses how Kristen Gillibrand is leading her republican rival Joe DioGuardi by 23 points ONE week before election day. Timely local story.

A7: Biden

Biden, who has been campaigning in New York City for Democrats, says that even though political pundits believe the republicans take over the House, Biden says that the democrats will hold onto both the House and the Senate. Relates to the election theme.

A8: Indonesia

Anchor actuality by Gino. Very nice job, with an interesting personal account of what was seen during the Tsunami, which made the piece personal and moving.

A9: Haiti Disease

This was a nice reader about the cholera outbreak in Haiti. It goes with the international disasters and tragedy theme. The only unfortunate thing was that the death toll number kept changing and as I was editing I forgot to update number of deaths…so it was blank …but I think that was the downside to any reader I had.

A10: we cut didn’t have time to read the study about NYC noise and how it affects our health.

Kicker:

It was about an attack ad that was sent out to voters in Southern California. The republican candidate sent out an ad to voters with his opponent’s face on it and a scratch-and-sniff patch that smelled like garbage. It was a silly and odd story, but in keeping with the election theme…which is why it stood out to me.

Weather:

That worked out great. Gino read today’s forecast, tonight’s, tomorrow’s, the current weekend’s, and current forecasts.

Close:

Gino got us out in time.

Floater 1:

This was a story about a Utica woman who was driving to endanger her child, (who was killed in the crash at the fault of her mother), five years ago. The woman was just sentenced three years in jail. It was new on the wires so I just threw it in there…we never needed to use it.

Election Inspectors Not Needed Anymore

By Andrew Kanell (NCC News)
Oct. 27, 2010, 12:10 p.m.

SYRACUSE, NY -- There were multiple reports earlier in the morning that the Onondaga County Board of Elections was looking for inspectors, but the Board is no longer seeking help.

Volunteers needed, then not

Board of Elections employee Eileen Long says some inspectors dropped out at the last minute, but their spots were quickly filled after the Board notified the media.

"We had quite a few cancellations, and right now our class is completely full so we are set for this year," she said. "We had the (announcement) out, but we're having additional classes this Sunday and that's already been filled."

New voting machines

Onondaga County will be using new voting machines for this election. The new inspectors will not be responsible for figuring out how to use the machines. They will only be tasked with making sure voters who need help get it, and maintaining privacy for voters.

---

Election day is next Tuesday, and it will be a long day for inspectors, who will spend over 16 hours at the voting sites.

Team 1 Rundown Rationale

By Ethan Kwassman (NCC News)

October 20, 2010, 12:25 pm

Our team consisted of Lauren as the anchor, Marquise as the live reporter, and Callan did the recorded wrap. The rundown and scripts were completed in a timely manner and the local and national stories flowed from one to another. We were in studio with some time for Lauren to review the script and to go over preliminary newscast essentiels. We were well prepared for the newscast, but we had to drop two national/international stories (Midwest Storms and Indonesia Disasters) because the actual time of one of our anchor-actualities was longer than its estimated duration. However, we were able to go into the break before the tease with an national anchor-actuality story. We ended the show slightly close to being on time. Our rundown consisted of:

Headlines:

I felt that the most newsworthy stories to tease in the headlines were National Grid's proposed rate hike, an Oswego school board's decision to not remove a member, and the Cicero Police Department on the verge of being abolished. Out of all the stories in the rundown, I felt that these were the "top" stories.

A2: National Grid

Callan did an excellent job covering this story. Syracuse National Grid customers are condemning the power company's first proposed rate hike in over a decade. Callan got very good crowd national sound as well as good soundcuts from people on both sides of the issue. This story served as a solid lead story because the public hearings were last night, it's a local story, and many people in the area care about this story. This story is also timely because the rate hike debates are ongoing.

A3: New Process Gear

The next story flowed nicely because it also concerned economic troubles in the Onondaga County area. We followed up the National Grid outrage story with New Process Gear, a DeWitt auto parts plant, laying off 220 workers in January. We stayed local and continued with another hard news story. This story is timely because it's another one of those economy being down stories and the plant recently informed the New York State Department of Labor about the job cuts.

A4: Oswego School Board

To keep it local, we followed with Lauren's anchor actuality about the Oswego School Board voting not to remove one of its board members. It was a smooth transition from the economy to a school vote story. It is a timely story because the vote was Tuesday night. It also would attract listeners since it involves controversy regarding the school board member violating board policy. Lauren was able to get a good soundcut from a school board member who voted to remove the member in question.

A5: Cicero Police Department

Next, we followed up one of our headline stories with another one. Marquise did a solid job on the live wrap about the Cicero Police Department on the verge of being abolished. The Cicero Town Supervisor is leaving the fate of the Police Department in the hands of voters. So, it's another voting story, which follows nicely from the Oswego School Board story. It also has good proximity because Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney told town officials that Cicero should avoid the additional cost of a police department and rely on the county sheriff's office and state police. Marquise got great soundcuts from the Cicero Chief of Police. This story was newsworthy and timely because these decisions are taking place now, and it's another hard news story.

A6: Former County Deputy

Keeping with local police related matters, we did a reader on an Onondaga County sheriff deputy, who resigned last month, being charged with sex crimes involving a 14-year-old boy. The locality of this story made it fit in the newscast.

A7: Bullying Study

Next, we jumped to a national news story, but it flowed nicely because it involved ethical issues like the previous story. Lauren did an excellent anchor-actuality on a national survey conducted by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, which found that 43 percent of students interviewed have been physically abused, taunted, or harassed. She got a good soundcut from Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who reached out to bullied students across the nation. This story is timely because of all the recent suicides related to bullying, and because the survey results were recently released. It's also newsworthy because it is certainly a human interest story.

A8: Midwest Storms

The next two national/international stories on the Midwest Storms, and the Indonesia Disasters, respectively, were nice readers written by Callan. However, we had to cut both of them because we ran out of time due to a longer-than-estimated anchor actuality early on. The Midwest Storms story flowed nicely from the Bullying Survey one because it's another national story. It was timely and definitely a top national story due to the amount of impact it's creating in a number of midwestern states.

A9: Indonesia Disasters

This international story had to be cut as well because of aforementioned timing issues. However, in the rundown, it flowed nicely from the Midwest Storm story because it's a storm-related story. The Indonesia Disaster is such an newsworthy story because of the timeliness of three disasters (earthquake, tsunami, and volcano eruption) occurring at roughly the same time. The impact is obviously a factor as well with 272 people having been reported dead and over 500 missing.

A10: TEASE B

Next, we teased the kicker and weather forecast.

B1 (Kicker): Michael Jackson

Our kicker was a story on pop legend Michael Jackson making $275 million in the past year, thus, earning him the title of Forbes' Richest Deceased Celebrity. It was soft news and interesting to the public because Jackson never held a spot on Forbes' annual Celebrity 100 list when he was alive. Also, many listeners are sure to perk up and listen when it's a story about Michael Jackson.

B2: Weather

Lauren read today and tonight's weather before getting to current weather. She started to read some of the filler for the weather forecast and that's maybe why we didn't end the newscast right on time. However, she was able to fit in the close.

Overall, the newscast was a success. Our team was well prepared and everybody made a significant contribution. Despite cutting two major national/international stories due to timing issues, we still got in one newsworthy national story (an anchor-actuality), and a good core of hard local news stories to round out the newscast. Our group was satisfied with how the broadcast turned out.

END OF SHOW

Floaters:

Syracuse Fire

We had to cut two stories anyway to end close to being on time, but we used a Syracuse fire story as a floater. Because there weren't many details on this story other than it being an early-morning fire at a two-family home in Syracuse's West End, it wasn't very newsworthy. Property damage was only outcome of the fire, but this story was good to have as an additional local story since it was timely.

Hancock International

We used another short reader as a floater in Hancock International Airport being awarded a $500,000 grant to create incentives to lure low-cost airlines. This story was timely and newsworthy for the Syracuse area. However, we pushed it to a floater story because we had planned to use it as an anchor-actuality but were unable to get a hold of anyone for a soundcut, and already had all of other stories mapped out. So, we didn't want to place this in the rundown because it may have ruined the flow of the newscast. It certainly could have been used if we needed time to fill, though.

Cicero supervisor letting the voters decide

Town Supervisor, Judy Boyke, plans to allow voters the option of keeping or doing away with the Cicero Police Department

by: Marquise Francis (NCC News)
Oct. 27, 2010 11:39am

Cicero, N.Y. - The Cicero Town Supervisor is leaving the fate of the Cicero Police Department in the hands of the voters, with money at the root of the compromise.

Town Supervisor, Judy Boyke, plans on recommending the town board discuss a local law to abolish the Cicero Police Department tonight putting all of the decision-making prowess on the taxpayers. "This is not to merge, " Boyke said. "Either we got one or we don't. It's going to be left up to the taxpayers to decide."

Joseph Snell, Cicero Chief of Police, opposes the idea of abolishing the department. "Every member of this department is dedicated to this community, committed to this community and the safety of this community," Snell said. "So the department is not pleased with the referendum to abolish the police department."

Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney has been in favor of the police department cut for some time believing that the taxpayers do not need to pay for a service the sheriff's and state police already provides, according to the Post Standard. "You'll see the savings," Mahoney said. "Part of the reason is if you have...a bigger department, we have the ability to be more flexible with schedules."

Chief Snell says the sheriff's office cannot provide the quality that his department can. "Right now the state police and sheriff's department do not have the man power nor the staffing to provide the same level of service that we provide to the communities," Snell said. "You only get what you pay for. You're only getting reactive policing. You're not getting enough cars to answer the calls."

The cost breakdown of the town if it began contracting with the county in 2011 is as follows:

• One deputy, from 7 am to 3 am - $656,659


• One deputy, aroud the clock - $874,223


• Two deputies, from 7 am to 3 am - $1,145,581


• Two deputies, aroud the clock - $1,580,710

Boyke says she wants the residents to decide what level of police service they want. "The county executive is telling me we don't need that much service, but who can make that decision?" Boyke said. "I'm not qualified to make that consensus. I want it to be up to the residents because it is the people of the town who recieve the service."

FDA Investigating Alcoholic Beverage "Four Loko"

SYRACUSE, NY -- News Channel 9 in Syracuse has reported that the beverage "Four Loko" is being investigated by the Food and Drug Administration. 24-ounce cans of the drink can be found in many convenience stores throughout Central New York.

Several local convenience store managers we talked to were reluctant to identify whether the drinks could pose health problems for consumers. When asked whether the drink was apotential health hazard, the manager of "A Plus Mini Mart" on North State St. had this response:

"We're just not allowed to comment on stuff like that."

Why are people that sell "Four Loko" bristling at the mention of it? The drink contains three or four times the amount of alcohol in a 12-ounce beer, and 3 times the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee. The manager of Express Mart on Erie Boulevard explains why he refuses to sell it.

"Well I'm pretty aware it's not a good drink to be selling and I've never really pursued it," he said. "But it doesn't have a good reputation. It's just nothing I ever really considered."

One thing each store manager who sold the drink said, despite the fact that that they sell it every day to consumers, was that they would never themselves try the beverage.

Should the FDA decide to ban "Four Loko," people could still mix similar caffeine and alcohol drinks on their own.

President Of High School Booster Club Arrested On Child Pornography Charges

Man e-mailed photographs to undercover officer

By Gino Zarrillo (NCC News)

Oct. 20, 2010, 9:00 p.m.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A North Syracuse man faces child pornography charges after he allegedly sent illicit photographs to an undercover officer, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Dolson arrested

Police officers have arrested Michael Dolson, 47, after he sent images depicting children as young as a year old in sexual contact with adults. Cameras, cell phones, and other digital equipment were seized when a search warrant was executed at Dolson's home on Maple Manor Drive in North Syracuse.

Dolson has pleaded not guilty to two counts of possessing and 13 counts of promoting the sexual performance of a child. It is not yet known if Dolson took any of the pictures himself.

Dolson involved with youth

Dolson is the president of the Cicero-North Syracuse Field Hockey Booster Club, which he started three years ago. He is not currently listed as a member on the club's website, nor is he employed by the school.

The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with more information the case is asked to contact Detective Rocco DePerno with the North Syracuse Police Department at 458-5670.

New Fayetteville-Manlius Contract

F-M school district and union pass new contract saving $500,000

by Kimberly Caruba (NCC News)

Oct. 20, 2010, 7:55 p.m.

MANLIUS, N.Y. - The Fayetteville-Manlius school district and its teachers' union have passed a new one year contract for the next school year that will save the district more than five-hundred-thousand dollars a year.

Raise reduction

The new contract cuts salary increases in half, with teachers now expecting a two percent raise for the 2011-2012 school year. The raise decrease is the only change between the current budget and next years.

A look at the decline in district salary increases:

• 2003, 4.25 %
• 2008, 4%
• 2011, 2%

Content union members

"I'm actually very happy with the new contract," said Kelly Fletcher, the union president. "We were able to maintain our health insurance and we had made some great strides in the last contract negotiations and this allows us to maintain those."

The union passed the new contract Oct. 13, with 200 yes votes and four no votes. Fletcher said that she did not think it was a hard decision for the other union members to make because they understand the situation they are in with the bad economy.

This year's contract ends June 30, 2011 and the new one takes effect July 1, 2011.

*picture unavailable

Jamesville-Dewitt school district residents approve $11.5 million plan by 86%

James-Dewitt school district approves plan for needed renovations.

by Rochelle Scott (NCC News)

Oct. 20, 2010

DEWITT, NY- In a vote Tuesday night, residents of this school district voted on a renovation plan with no immediate tax increase. The vote was won in a 467 to 74 voting approval. The district plans to borrow from state aid in Albany and use $500,000 from its capital reserve fund. J-D District Business Administrator, Tim Decker says that these repairs are greatly needed.

“The roofs are over twenty years old and badly need to be replaced. Central New York weather and years of wear and tear can do that.” Decker says.

Most of the money will go towards the fixing of the bus garage and roof leaks in both high schools and middle schools of the area. A total of $9.4 million will be used for that as well as renovations to three elementary schools.

Plan details are for:

· Bus loop repaving at the elementary school
· New bleachers on the football field
· Safety fence at the Lydon field
· Tennis court resurfacing

The school board also wishes for solar panel s to be installed in the near future on roofs. Decker says that it’s all worth the while for the students who benefit.

“Ultimately it’s for the students. Now they can focus on studying and learning and not worrying about a roof leaking around them.”

Team 4 Rundown Rationale

By Kevin Belbey (NCC News)
October 20, 2010, 7:30 p.m.

Team 4 consisted of myself, Kevin Belbey, as producer and Kimberly Caruba as anchor. We also used Tim Killian for our recorded wrap and Andrew Kanell.

A1: Headlines
For the Headlines, I teased three of the stories with soundbites—JD Schools, Governor’s Poll, and the Four Loko story. I tried to have the three stories dispersed a bit in the rundown instead of just teasing the first three stories.

A2: JD Schools
With no breaking national or local stories, I decided to lead with a story about Jamesville-Dewitt residents having approved an $11.5 million funding project for the school district. This was a recorded wrap by Tim Killian.

A3: New FM Contract
Keeping it local and education related, we went to Kimmie’s anchor-actuality about how the Fayetville-Manlius school district and its teacher’s union passed on contract for the next school year that will save the district more than $500,000 a year.

A4: Murder of 1991
The next story was about stayed local but moved away from education. This reader was about a man who is charged with strangling his wife back in 1991, but is finally facing trial in Onondaga County Court. His wife was also seven months pregnant when she was murdered nearly two decades ago.

A5: Governor’s Poll
The next story transitioned from local to state, and from here on out we covered stories on a bigger scale. This reader was about the newest Governor’s Poll that was released about an hour before we took air. The Siena College poll showed Carl Paladino’s support continuing to diminish, as 63% of likely voters said they would go to the polls for Andrew Cuomo on November 2nd.

A6: Four Loko
From the Governor’s Poll, we went to Andrew Kanell’s live wrap on a Four Loko story. Four Loko is a twenty-four ounce canned beverage which contains three or four times the amount of alcohol in a beer, and three times the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee. Andrew reported that the drink is currently under investigation by the FDA, and was able to do a good wrap even though some store owners were reluctant to comment.

A7: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Following the Four Loko story, we had another anchor-actuality by Kimmie which flowed well with the theme of things being banned at the national level. Her story was about the Justice Department continuing to fight Federal Judge Virginia Phillips refusal to delay her injunction on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Kimmie took a soundbite off of ABC Newscall from Service-Members Legal Defense Network spokesman Trevor Thomas.

A8: H. Clinton Gays
After the anchor-actuality, we had a reader about Hillary Clinton offering her support towards gay teenagers who are suffering from bullying through a videotaped message on YouTube. I thought this flowed well coming out of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” story.

A9: Obama Campaign Trail
The last story before the tease was a reader about Barack Obama starting his longest campaign trip of the season, hitting California, Nevada, Oregon, Minnesota, and Washington state. I planned on having a reader last in case we needed to drop it, and we did. Running a little over on time, this helped a bit getting us back where we needed to be.

A10: Tease
We had a quick tease, mentioning the kicker story and the weather

B1: Kicker-Lawsuits
The kicker was a reader about a federal prisoner who has filed more than 5,000 lawsuits while behind bars on everyone from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick to former President George W. Bush. Finally, a judge from Lexington, Kentucky ruled for prison officials to review and reject any outgoing mail sent by Jonathan Lee Riches, who has been in prison for nearly a decade after pleading guilty to an email credit card scam. Still a bit over on time, we cut the last two sentences from the kicker but the story still made sense without them.

B2: Weather
Kimmie finished up the newscast with the weather by reading tonight and tomorrow’s weather forecast, the forecast for the weekend, and the current temperature and conditions. Preparing to time out perfectly, the extra weather didn’t need to be read and Kimmie did a good job of checking out the clock as time ticked down.

End of Show
Kimmie read the close and finished our newscast on time.

Floater1: FDNY Ban
We did not need either floater, but we had two prepared just in case. The first was a twenty second reader about a federal judge barring New York City from hiring any more new firefighters. The judge criticized the fire department’s handling of a discrimination lawsuit.

Floater2: SU Hoops
The second floater was a ten second reader in case we were in need of a smaller story to kill some time. The story was about Syracuse University basketball being predicted to finish third in the Big East Conference early this morning at Media Day in New York City.

Team 2 Rundown Rationale

By Callan Gray (NCC News)

October 20, 2010 12:00 p.m.

Headlines

These headlines were picked because they addressed the top stories in our cast. The Jamesville-Dewitt school renovation story was included because it was our leading story and the most important to Syracuse community members. The headline about the polls actually encompassed both poll stories, effectively killing two birds with one stone. The last headline on the Four Loko story gave listeners a human interest story to look forward to, spicing up the heavy news rundown.


JD Schools

We started the news cast with the story about the Jamesville-Dewitt residents approving an $11.5 million funding project for renovations within the school district. We led with this story because it was timely and the most relevant to Syracuse area residents. The meeting approving the funding was Tuesday night, so by Wednesday morning even though it wasn't breaking news, it was something that people probably wouldn’t know about unless they attended the meeting. The funding plan also affected a large number of people in the Syracuse area; there are about 3,000 students in the JD school district. The story was interesting as well because the plan was approved by such a large percentage with a 467 to 64 passing vote.

Siena Poll

The next story we used was a reader about new Siena poll results released at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The results showed that Democrat Andrew Cuomo is ahead of Republican Carl Paladino in the New York State gubernatorial race. These results were definitely timely since they were released the morning of the cast. They are also timely because of the recent gubernatorial debate on Monday, which has attracted a lot of press because of the lack of focus and interesting comments made during it. Because this was a breaking news story we put it at the top of the cast. It also has local ties because Central New Yorkers vote in the election and should know where their candidates stand.

Schumer, Gillibrand

We followed with a second Siena poll story about the Senate race. The story showed that Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand were ahead of their respective competitors Jay Townsend and Joe DioGuardi. It flowed seamlessly from the last story about polls. We felt it necessary to do two separate stories on the Siena poll to keep the listener engaged and to help organize the statistics. By breaking it up, the listener does not tune out after the gubernatorial race results are read. This story was timely as well because the poll was released the morning of the newscast and while it is a state story it has local connections since Central New Yorkers vote for the Senators. It is also timely since the elections are in 2 weeks on November 2.

South Avenue Fire

We made a jump here to a story about a fire in Syracuse that firefighters had a hard time battling because of traffic. I put it fourth because while it occurred this morning, it was no longer a breaking story since the fire was out by the time of our cast. It was newsworthy enough to go at the top half of our rundown because it has human interest and was a day-of story. People may have seen the fire on their way to work since it happened in a traffic heavy zone and may want to know exactly what they saw. Traffic was eventually blocked off so commuters could be interested in why they had to take a detour and if it would be a problem on their trip home as well.

Four Loko

We made the transition from the fire story to another one that has to do with life risks. This story was about the dangers of an alcoholic-energy drink popular on college campuses that the state is considering banning. This was newsworthy because of the high number of colleges and universities in the Syracuse area. It is also interesting on a national level because the drink is being investigated by the FDA. It was not a particularly timely story, because investigations are still occurring and the state has not made a decision on the drink, but it is a decision that has the potential to affect businesses that carry the drink and residents who purchase it. This is a story that could have a follow up story when a decision about banning the drink is made.

Oil Spill Anniversary

This story highlighted the 6-month anniversary of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It flowed nicely out of the last story because it was health and consumer related. It addressed the issue that fishing has not completely returned to the area, which is relevant to Upstate New Yorkers and businesses that may have imported fish from the Gulf before and after the spill. The story is of national interest because it tells Americans that the cap placed on the well is not perfect and that the problem has not gone away. This story brought our newscast back up to the national level and acted as segue between the Four Loko story and the next story about gay rights in the army, which are completely unrelated.

Pentagon Gay Rights

This reader continued the national flow and discussed the Pentagon’s order that the military allow gays to enlist now that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has been repealed. It is a story that continues coverage of the aftermath of the repealed bill and is therefore timely. It is also timely since gay rights are a hot issue right now after the press attention of the gay teen suicides. We ended up having to cut half of the story due to time constrictions but the major points of the story were still broadcast. The portion we cut was a quote from a Pentagon spokesperson. This is a human interest story and is connected to the controversy about whether gays should be able to serve, making the story more intriguing to the listener.

Tease

We teased the 60-mile car chase in Binghamton and promoted the weather forecast.



Kicker- Car Chase

This story was used for the kicker because it is fun and not something you hear about every day. It was an unusual story about a woman who police chased for 60 miles down Interstate 90 Monday night after they caught her shoplifting. It was not the timeliest story but it had human interest and is pretty local since Binghamton is only about an hour away from Syracuse.

Weather

Our weather forecast was cut short because of time constraints so Dan did not read the weekend forecast, which we had prepared just in case we were under on time. Dan made it through the scheduled weather but we ended up going over on time because that was read in its entirety.

End of Show
We went over on time, which I think had to do with our newscast starting three minutes late because of technical difficulties. Once we were started, the director had us begin 30 seconds earlier than our postponed time. This made it difficult to keep track of time by the end of the newscast. The stories were well prepared nevertheless and Dan was a smooth anchor.


Floaters:
FDNY Discrimination
This story was originally in our newscast to help segue between the local fire and the gay rights story. Because of newsworthiness, our rundown was rearranged to put the most breaking stories first and this story ended up being out of place. It is a story about a judge barring New York City from hiring new firefighters after a dispute regarding a lawsuit with the fire department. It is newsworthy because the decision just happened and it has the element of conflict as well which makes it interesting to listeners.

Chrysler Recall
This reader addressed a new recall on certain models of Chrysler vehicles. The story made the second cut of the rundown but was eventually eliminated because it took us to :18 seconds under, which does not leave very much wiggle room. The choice to take it out of the rundown ended up being a smart one since we went over on time at the end. This story is of public interest since many American’s and Central New York residents own Chrysler vehicles. It is timely because the recall was announced today.