1st — The Oneida prison is among the seven state facilities Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Thursday he will start closing after 60 days from now to save money as New York’s inmate population continues to drop. Oneida, in the city’s outer district, has about 939 inmates and approximately 500 employees.
2nd — The defense attorney for accused gunman James D. Newbill said the 41-year-old man never intended to harm law enforcers or make them fear for their lives. Newbill, of 9110 Meadowbrook Drive, is charged with three felony counts of menacing a police officer after a stand-off outside his home on June 21.
3rd — Davidson Management Group will make a request to the Zoning Board of Appeals as part of its plan to build its new auto sales facility at 5871 Rome-Taberg Road. The rough plan submitted to the board shows that the West Rome Drive-In movie theater screen on west side of the parcel would be removed to make way for the dealership and its parking area, while the screen on the east side would remain.
4th — Mostly sunny skies and scorching temperatures made the perfect recipe for fun in the water at Sylvan Beach over the Fourth of July weekend. Village Administrator Joseph Benedict said the beach town hosted an "overflow crowd."
5th — Job losses from the closing of a state prison in south Rome is another in a series of economic hits since Griffiss Air Force Base closed in 1995. Oneida Correctional Facility has about 500 employees and it is too early to know how many of them will be able to transfer to other state prisons or be laid off, according to the governor’s office.
6th — Giant Hogweed has again reared its white flowery head in Oneida and other counties of New York and the state Department of Environmental Conservation is cautioning residents to be careful not to come in contact with the noxious weed. The plant, with flowers the size of umbrellas and sap that causes blisters and possible blindness, is spreading across state.
7th — The city will use almost $331,000 in federal block grant money to spruce up a section of East Dominick Street and continue efforts along North James Street.
8th — Waves of thick blue-green algae along Sylvan and Verona beaches have made the east shore of the lake "murky" and "slimy" and could keep swimmers at bay through the hot weekend ahead. Oneida County health officials suspended swimming earlier Thursday afternoon, pending results of tests for possible toxins.
9th — Kathy Corr, mother of slain New Hartford Police Officer Joseph D. Corr, is going to ask that the three men convicted of her son’s death receive life in prison without parole. Marion Pegese, 37, Robert Ward, 32, and Toussaint Davis, 43, are scheduled for sentencing Tuesday in Federal Court in Syracuse.
10th — The 34th annual Boilermaker Road Race in Utica draws 13,000 runners, with 11,043 finishing.
11th — Local officials continue to press Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for an explanation of why the Oneida Correctional Facility is south Rome is one of seven targeted for closure later this year. Cuomo has been asked to detail the criteria used in weighing which of the 65 state prisons and detention facilities will be shuttered to save money in light of the state’s strapped finances and declining state inmate population.
12th — When faced for possibly the last time with the three men convicted of killing her son — New Hartford Police Officer Joseph D. Corr — Kathy Corr told them to "rot in hell." Walter R. Richardson is the man who shot her son and he is already dead. Marion Pegese, Robert Ward and Toussaint Davis were convicted as accomplices to the murder. All three were sentenced to life in prison without parole.
13th — The man accused of murdering Sheriff’s Deputy Kurt B. Wyman is now in the custody of the sheriff at the Oneida County jail infirmary. Christian M. Patterson, age 40, is under one-on-one supervision as he awaits a felony exam or an indictment from the grand jury.
14th — Michael Besaw, 52, of Ava, was both intoxicated and possibly mentally unstable when he telephoned at least two regional 9-1-1 Centers and threatened individual police officers and a local judge. His threats led to the third standoff between a single man and law enforcers in the past six weeks.
15th — Stephen M. DeProspero, 37, of 1400 Franklyn St., convicted of sexually abusing a young, autistic boy and capturing the abuse on film, was sentenced to 40 years in prison today. DeProspero was a caregiver at the state Developmental Disabilities Services Offices group home in New Hartford when he sexually abused the 10-year-old boy between September 2006 and December 2007, authorities said.
16th — One of the three men convicted in the gruesome 1979 Tri-Willow murders in the Town of Lee is back. William R. Hanna, now 77-years-old, was transferred to the Mohawk Correctional Facility in south Rome on July 8 to receive advanced medical care at the Walsh Regional Medical Unit, said Linda Foglia, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
17th — An $11.5 million construction project, part of Phase III of the Camden Central School District renovations plan, is under way at the high school. The work includes expansion of the cafeteria that will double the room’s capacity, a new kitchen and additions to the foyer and auditorium.
18th — Seeking a Hollywood star to play the part of Gen. Nicholas Herkimer is part of a new full-length motion picture project being financed by the Oneida Indian Nation to tell the story of the Oneidas’ alliance with American colonists during the Revolutionary War.
19th — One child is dead and one man is injured after a stabbing on Premo Avenue in Sherrill this morning. The female victim, sources at the scene said, was a twin about 6 years old.
20th — The mother of slain 6-year-old Lauren Sylvia Belius was not alone in her grief Tuesday night. More than 100 friends, neighbors and strangers gathered at the gazebo in Sherrill City Park to hold a candlelight vigil for the lost little girl. David L. Trebilcock, age 30, formerly of Rome, remains hospitalized this morning. Trebilcock is Allison Belius’ live-in boyfriend. He suffered wounds of his own from the knife when Belius tried to save her daughter, investigators said.
21st — Indium Corp. hopes to open a manufacturing plant in the West Rome Industrial Park — renovating the former ConMed building at 5836 Success Drive — and create 30 jobs over time.
22nd — Free swimming at Tosti pool will continue through the weekend because of the heat wave, Rome’s Parks Department said today. Normally, Tosti pool on Sixth Street is not open on Sundays. As the mercury climbed to a record 99 degrees Thursday, Tosti was busy with a total of 380 swimmers over the course of the day.
23rd — The state is spending $5.5 million to improve busy Route 28 in Woodgate, Town of Forestport, and some area residents want two safety features to be part of the investment. Don Olney, age 75, of 1208 Bear Creek Road, has created the Safe and Sane Drivers Committee to lobby for two changes that he said will make the Route 28 approach to seasonal attractions in the Adirondacks safer.
24th — About 100 people will gather Monday at the events center at the Oneidas’ Turning Stone casino and resort for the day-long public casting call for the "First Allies" movie, which focuses on the Oneidas’ alliance with American colonists during the Revolutionary War.
25th — Dr. Gangadhar Madupu was found guilty in City Court this morning of sexually abusing a female patient during a medical exam. Madupu, 55, of 807 Beech St., was previously acquitted of similar charges during a City Court trial in March.
26th — It was standing room only in the courtroom.for the arraignment of accused child-killer David L. Trebilcock. He pled not guilty.
27th — As of today Oneida and neighboring Herkimer County have now seen a total of three tornadoes in 2011 alone. A crew from the National Weather Service in Binghamton declared that a part of a brief, violent windstorm that downed scores of trees and cut electrical service to thousands early Tuesday afternoon was indeed a tornado.
28th — Bids for a major renovation at Gansevoort Elementary School are above project estimates, but Rome school district officials aim to find room for air conditioning as an additional alternate feature. Apparent low bids that were opened Wednesday for basic construction total just under $6.2 million.
29th — He said "Jesus told him to do it." That was what Public Defender Frank Nebush said his client, David L. Trebilcock, has told him the reasoning was behind stabbing 6-year-old Lauren Belius multiple times with a kitchen knife the morning of July 19 inside their Primo Avenue, Sherrill, home.
30th — The eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus was found in two pools of mosquitoes, Oswego County Health Department officials announced Friday. One sample was collected at Toad Harbor/Big Bay Swamp in West Monroe. The second was taken from the northeast section of the Town of Palermo.
31st — Sunny skies for the big parade and a serene evening for music and fireworks graced the opening weekend of Rome’s signature celebration of summer, Honor America Days. Thousands of spectators lined city streets for Saturday’s 13-division parade.
