Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell announced that 27-year-old Aizaz Siddiqui of Binghamton pleaded guilty in City of Binghamton Court Friday to leaving the scene of an accident, in connection with the December 3rd 2016 death of Binghamton University student Stefani Lineva. Siddiqui hit Lineva on State Route 434 in Binghamton, she was pronounced dead at Wilson Hospital. Siddiqui will be sentenced on August 4th.
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Delaware County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested a Sidney Central School Special Education teacher following an investigation by Deputies, State Police, and Sidney Central School administrators. Deputies arrested 48-year-old James Lewis, Jr. of Otego, for 2 counts of Forcible Touching and 3 counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child. Lewis is accused of inappropriately touching 2 male special education students in the school on different occasions during the last week of April. Lewis surrendered to Deputies on Wednesday afternoon; he was arraigned in the Village of Sidney Court where he was released on recognizance pending further court action.
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The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office arrested 52-year-old Vincent Beadle of Norwich for harassment and criminal mischief, following the report of a domestic dispute in the Town of Norwich. Beadle allegedly subjected the female victim to physical contact and prevented her from calling 911. Beadle was arraigned in the Town of Norwich Court and released on his own recognizance, pending court action in the Town of Norwich Court at a later date.
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51-year-old James Starnes of Binghamton will serve 30 years to life in prison for sexually abusing 3 girls. Starnes sexually abused the 9, 12 and 14 year old girls since 2013, he was convicted in March in Broome County Court felony predatory sexual assault, criminal sexual assault, rape, sexual abuse and course of sexual conduct against a child.
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Governor Cuomo today announced $87 million in grants are available to municipalities and not-for-profit corporations for water quality improvement projects. The program provides grants for projects that improve water quality, protect drinking water sources, reduce polluted runoff, and restore habitats in New York’s waterbodies. The grants are administered by the State DEC and made available through Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council initiative.
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The Chenango County Sheriffs department participated in the April 28th National Drug Take Back event. The Sheriff’s Office recovered approximately 150 pounds of prescription medication at drop off locations in New Berlin, Guilford, as well as the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office. Residents may continue to turn in their prescription medication at the Sheriff’s Office Monday through Friday from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm.
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Governor Cuomo has been pushing for local governments to consolidate services, in an effort to bring down property taxes. Local Assemblyman Cliff Crouch spent many years in Bainbridge & Chenango County Government; he said that local governments were forced to begin doing this almost 30 years ago:
(Cliff Crouch 5-8-17)
Crouch said that bigger savings would likely come if the state stopped passing on costly mandates to local municipalities that arrive without state money to implement the mandates.
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Chenango County Sheriff’s office arrested 54-year-old Kenneth Kenyon of Smithville Flats for Menacing & Unlawful imprisonment. Members of the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office and the New York State Police responded to a residence in the Town of Smithville for a report of a domestic incident, Kenyon was arraigned in the Town of Smithville court and remanded to the custody of the Chenango County Correctional Facility with $5000 bail pending future court action.
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New York union dues are now fully tax deductible under a state budget provision backed by Governor Cuomo, who signed the bill into law on Friday. A limitation built into the law prevented many union workers from applying the deduction, but the state’s new budget agreement removed those limitations at the state level. The bill will affect about 500,000 union workers in public and private sectors and will cost the state about $35 million.
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Governor Cuomo announced that the possible repeal of the Affordable Care act would adversely affect 2.7 million New Yorkers. Over 1 Million New Yorkers Face Significant Loss of Health Care Coverage Under House GOP Plan The cost of the repeal would mean that Over $4.5 Billion would be Shifted to State, Local Governments and Hospitals, $400 Million in Tax Credits would be lost to Purchase Health Insurance. The Department of Health’s Analysis is Available at health.ny.gov.