1st — Rates are rising for Time Warner Cable customers. Some customers will see their bills grow an average 4.29 percent starting in December.
2nd — Pointing to a defense of insanity, accused child-killer David L. Trebilcock, 30, has decided to let a jury hear his off-the-cuff statements that God and Jesus told him to stab 6-year-old Lauren Belius to death.
3rd — The Common Council unanimously approved Mayor James F. Brown’s 2012 budget without change, but members warned of big costs on the horizon relating to continually rising pension obligations and federal orders to protect Rome’s open-water reservoirs.
4th — Utica Police are investigating the suspicious death of the owner of the Davis Motel in north Utica as a possible homicide. The body of motel owner Linda Turner, age 68, was found in a building on the property sometime around 9 a.m. Thursday, said Police Chief Mark Williams.
5th — Utica police have ruled the death of a North Utica motel owner a homicide and want the public’s assistance in locating victim Linda Turner’s black 2001 Toyota Solara convertible.
6th — Aviation Commissioner W. Vernon Gray III wants to switch six of his buildings at Griffiss business park, including three that now utilize steam, to heating systems that are fueled by less costly natural gas. Gray says utility costs are his second highest expense, at about $800,000.
7th — Protestors holding signs declaring "Dog-killers go to jail" and "Stop animal abuse in its tracks" greeted former state trooper Anthony Randazzo outside the county courthouse in Utica this morning. Randazzo rejected a plea offer in the shooting death of a German Shepherd on the Trenton Greenbelt trails on Aug. 24.
8th — A convicted serial rapist wanted by Utica Police for violating parole was pulled over near Montoursville, Pa. Monday evening while driving a stolen car belonging to the city’s latest homicide victim. Pennsylvania State Police conducted a traffic stop on a black 2001 Toyota Solara that was found to belong to Linda Mae Turner, 68. Her funeral was today.
9th — For the first time in more than 60 years, Rome voters have rejected a sitting mayor’s bid for re-election — if a 190 vote lead holds up. Third-party challenger Joseph R. Fusco Jr., age 53, appears to have toppled two-term Republican incumbent James F. Brown.
10th — Wednesday afternoon temperatures hit a high of 70 degrees. While mild weather may return next week, 70-degree temps probably won’t be back until next spring, according to Meteorologist Mitch Gilt, with the National Weather Service in Binghamton.
11th — For two years, state officials said convicted rapist Robert W. Blainey was a model parolee. Police accuse Blainey of targeting and raping the murdered owner of the Davis Motel on Nov. 3. Authorities said Blainey, age 45, skipped out on a meeting with his parole officer on Sept. 26, and hid around the city of Utica.
12th — Rome Memorial Hospital is phasing out its licensed practical nursing positions in acute care by yearend, which will eliminate 12 LPN jobs, the hospital said Friday. The positions will be replaced by registered nurses, due to increased complexity of patient care, the hospital said.
13th — Employment and local economic impact at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Rome site rose slightly for the fiscal year completed in September, including a total regional impact of over $288 million that was up 1.4 percent.
14th — The long-dormant fire training tower at Griffiss was put to the torch today in a fire training exercise for 13 members of the airport’s brigade and five others from area volunteer fire departments.
15th — Following the death of one of its employees in a silo, Harbor Point Mineral Products of Utica has been cited for 21 workplace safety violations by the federal Occupational Safety & Hazard Administration. Craig Bernier, 24, of Mohawk, was walking across the stored grain when he sank to his death on May 11, according to OSHA.
16th — If absentee ballots from three of the Rome’s seven wards are a trend, it looks like Conservative Party candidate Joseph R. Fusco Jr.’s 161-machine vote plurality will be enough for him to defeat Republican incumbent James F. Brown. As of noon 63 of 286 absentees had been counted at the Board of Elections office in Utica.
17th — With an 81-vote "mandate" in hand, Rome mayor-elect Joseph R. Fusco Jr. is preparing to take office. Meanwhile, the Republican incumbent is calling for a recount rather than issuing a statement of concession.
18th — The season’s first measurable snowfall that jolted the area overnight won’t be sticking around long, after causing slick road conditions and accidents especially in the northern part of Oneida County that saw about a foot of the white stuff, courtesy of snow bands from Lake Ontario.
19th — The approximately 25 jobs that the Valutek company will create when it moves to a SUNYIT site will be mainly new local hirings, with pay in the $30,000-$70,000 range depending on the position, says President Greg Heiland.
20th — Oneida Indian Nation employees (about 4,500) are sharing $5 million in bonus payments, just in time for the holiday shopping season. The nation is the largest employer in Oneida and Madison counties.
21st — The Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority will keep tipping fees at the same level for at least another year under a proposed $21,025,000 budget for next year. Haulers would continue to pay $72.15 a ton for trash delivered to authority facilities, like the one off River Road.
22nd — There are no more votes to count in the Rome mayoral election, but the county Board of Elections still will not certify Joseph R. Fusco Jr. as winner until next week, according to Democratic Commissioner Carolann Cardone. The board, which is still re-canvassing other elections, will certify all elections by the Dec. 3 deadline.
23rd — New York Yankees pitcher, Native American Joba Chamberlain, will ride atop the Oneida Indian Nation’s float, "The True Spirit of Thanksgiving," in the 85th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday.
24th — Fifty-six Stokes Elementary School students participated in the project to benefit the Rome Rescue Mission Welcome Hall, making 36 pumpkin pies for the mission’s Thanksgiving feast.
25th — One person is believed to have been stabbed and at least five more were injured or trampled after Black Friday shoppers brawled at Wal-Mart just after midnight. A Rome man has already been charged for disorderly conduct, with more arrests pending, law enforcers said.
26th — Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-NY, has called upon the Department of Justice to provide more recent pictures of sex offenders. Schumer’s push comes after Robert Blainey, a convicted sex offender free on parole, allegedly raped and killed 68-year-old Linda M. Turner, owner of the Davis Motel on Herkimer Road in Utica. The mug shot of Blainey released to the public, meant to help identify him so he could be captured, was out-of-date and not an accurate representation of his current appearance.
27th — Better late than never for Rome school Superintendent Jeffrey P. Simons to collect on his winning car-wash bet with Utica district Superintendent Bruce Karam, over two months after Rome Free Academy’s Sept. 23 football victory over Proctor High School.
28th — The 64-year-old hunter who went missing last week died from hypothermia after suffering complications from a pre-existing medical condition. Sheriff’s deputies said Richard J. Knight, of Butler Road, Town of Paris, died of natural causes, and was found in a field near his home on Friday, Nov. 25.
29th — Fire in the old, abandoned Rome Cable Building Monday night may have been intentionally set. Officials are investigating that possibility after they determined that the flames were contained to a single storage area in the northwest corner of the building in south Rome.
30th — Mayor-elect Joseph R. Fusco is more confident than ever that enough of his 81-vote majority will withstand court scrutiny next week to make the Conservative Party candidate Rome’s 39th chief executive. A county Board of Elections official said today that the initial results should hold up.
