Authorities are still investigating the cause of a garage fire which occurred on Friday at 11 Mitchell St., in Norwich. The owner of the two door garage, adjacent to Denny’s Liquors, noticed smoke escaping from the building and the Norwich Fire Department was called. Once first responders were on the scene the fire was knocked out in minutes, preventing any serious damage to the building and its contents. After the fire was extinguished the Norwich Fire Department remained on site to make sure the fire would not re-ignite as well as to investigate the cause. At this point authorities have not yet been able to determine to cause of the fire. The building did not have running electricity and had reportedly not been entered into for some time.

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Shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday night, An off road motorcycle accident occured approximately a mile off of Mt. Pleasant Rd., in Bainbridge. The driver of the vehicle sustained a head injury and was transported to the Sidney airport and then was airlifted via a LifeNet helicopter to the UHS Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City.

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The City of Norwich will be closing some streets for paving over the next few days.  Today the West end of Conkey Ave from Elm to Locust will be closed as well as Merrill St.  Tomorrow On Wednesday, Rexford St. will be closed from the railroad tracks to Silver St. and Pleasant St. will be closed from North Broad to King Street.  On Thursday Cole Drive will be closed. No traffic will be permitted on any of these streets for the better part of the day.  Also, on Tuesday next week, The Chenango County Department of Public Works will close a section of County Road 33, between County Road 36 (Norwich-Guilford Road) and County Road 34 (Springvale Road), in the Town of Norwich. This closure will be in place until the required culvert replacement work is completed. Local traffic will be allowed access to their homes; however they will be required to travel away from the project for the closure period.

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Police arrested a Johnson City man they said broke into an apartment and strangled the man living there.  Johnson City Police said it started when a dog bit 26 year old Jamell Jones in the leg at 7:30 pm on Thursday outside of 180 Harrison St.  Jones tried to retaliate and attacked the dog.  The dog’s owner tried to stop Jones but Jones struck him in the face several times.  Another man tried to stop Jones and the victim ran back into his apartment.  Jones chased him inside and strangled him until he became unconscious.  Officials charged Jones with burglary and strangulation, both felonies.  He was sent to Broome County Jail without bail.

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A 25-year-old Corning woman is accused of shoplifting at the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City while five children were in her care.  Kristina A. Slyter allegedly stole $1,000 in property from the Sears store.  Slyter was charged with a felony count of fourth-degree grand larceny and five misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child.  Slyter was arraigned in Village of Johnson City Court and was remanded to the Broome County jail.

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New York State has begun issuing new driver’s licenses that have more than 30 new security features, making them nearly impossible to fake.  For drivers under 21, the new licenses are vertical rather than horizontal. That feature gives bouncers, bartenders and clerks an easier time identifying those younger than 18 or 21 for sales of tobacco and alcohol.  The new licenses will be introduced over the next eight years as drivers’ current licenses expire or when new drivers get them. The licenses are laser engraved with a “grayscale” appearance, with a black and white photo.  Four offices in Albany, Poughkeepsie, North Syracuse and Schenectady have already begun issuing the new format license with all DMV offices expected to be online by the end of September.

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The City of Binghamton was one of 90 cities chosen across the nation to become a preferred sustainable community.  Being a sustainable community means the city gets an extra three points added to its score when applying for funding from the Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection.