February 2006

Grand Larceny Indictment - Tracy Baxter @ 1:12 pm EST
A contractor has been indicted for grand larceny for allegedly taking thousands of dollars but failing to repair a fire-damaged home. The Ulster County District Attorney's office says 46 year old Salvatore LaValle of Kingston stole between 65 and 75 thousand dollars from Doreen Peone. Her Town of Saugerties home was destroyed by fire in April of 2005. The District Attorney's office says LaValle took payments for the job but never did the repair work. His former partner Sebastian Crapanzano was cleared of any wrongdoing.

K-F-C Fire - Tracy Baxter @ 1:08 pm EST
More than just chicken was cooking at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kingston Wednesday evening. A fire that began in the kitchen badly damaged the interior of the building at Albany and Foxhall Avenues. Investigators say the fire started behind the fryer but the exact cause hadn't been pinpointed. The combination of fire and smoke damage will mean all the food inside will have to be destroyed. The restaurant is expected to stay closed for the next couple of days.

Officer Indicted - Tracy Baxter @ 1:03 pm EST
A Kingston City police officer has been indicted for vehicular assault and driving while under the influence of alcohol in connection with an accident last October. 37 year old David Morris of Kingston was off duty at the time of the two-car collision on Route 9W. An investigation determined that his car veered into the opposite lane and hit an on-coming car. Both Morris and the other driver were seriously hurt.

Trial Date - Tracy Baxter @ 1:00 pm EST
The man accused of shooting up the Hudson Valley Mall in the Town of Ulster last February will be getting his day in court beginning in April. Robert Bonelli will go on trial on charges contained in an 18-count indictment including felony assault and reckless endangerment. He was arrested after allegedly firing about 60 rounds from a rifle inside the mall, injuring two people. State Supreme Court Justice Michael Kavanaugh will preside over the case, with jury selection to begin April 24th. Bonelli faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Hit & Run Investigation - Tracy Baxter @ 1:17 pm EST
Police in Monticello are looking for the driver of a vehicle that hit a pedestrian Saturday night...and then drove off. Police say it happened at 10:45pm at the intersection of Park and Richmond Avenues. That's where officers found 57 year old Richard Crenshaw of Monticello laying in the roadway. He's being treated for head and leg injuries at Catskill Regional Medical Center.

Shooting Arrest - Tracy Baxter @ 1:15 pm EST
Poughkeepsie city police say they're not sure what sparked a shooting incident late Saturday that left a 33 year old man in serious condition with multiple gunshot wounds. The victim...who was not identified...was found on the sidewalk outside the Tubman Terrace apartment complex. Less than an hour later, police charged 33 year old David Brooks of Poughkeepsie with the shooting. He was ordered held on 40 thousand dollars bail on a charge of first degree assault.

Anonymous Gift - Tracy Baxter @ 1:12 pm EST
Who says Christmas comes only once a year. SUNY New Paltz has gotten a ten thousand dollar gift....given by an anonymous donor...for the new leadership and team building lab on campus. The lab will be in the newly-renovated Van Den Berg Hall. It will allow New Paltz students to practice team building and leadership skills in a classroom setting.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Pataki Surgery - Tracy Baxter @ 12:38 pm EST
Governor Pataki is recovering from surgery...after having his appendix removed Thursday morning. The governor's spokesman says the surgery at Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Westchester County seems to have gone fine. The governor began having abdominal pains Wednesday. Pataki has cancelled a political trip Friday to New Hampshire, which is the traditional site of the first presidential primary.

Phone Records - Tracy Baxter @ 12:34 pm EST
Personal telephone records containing the numbers you've dialed and the calls you've received...can legally be bought on the internet for less than a hundred dollars. A bill now in the state legislature would change that. The bill would ban phone companies from releasing personal telephone account records to anyone except the account holder and prevent third parties from selling the records. Supporters expect the bill to pass this year. According to the New York Public Interest Research Group, there have been as many as 40 different web sites selling personal telephone records.

Grand Larceny Charge - Tracy Baxter @ 12:30 pm EST
A former store manager in Monticello has been charged with failing to deposit store receipts in a safe and pocketing the money instead. 31 year old Aaron Jansson ...the former store manager for Aldi Food Store in the Mountain Mall on East Broadway...was charged with grand larceny after police say he failed to deposit 11 hundred dollars in the safe on Saturday. He was picked up Wednesday and will be in Village Court Friday.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Race Scandal - Tracy Baxter @ 3:24 pm EST
The race for the Republican nomination to run for Governor is heating up....with allegations of blackmail and a secret divorce being thrown around. Republican John Faso....a former Assemblyman...is denying reports that he threatoned to divulge the impending divorce of fellow Republican candidate Pat Manning unless the Dutchess County Assemblyman left the race. Manning is accusing Faso of threatoning to spread a story that Manning was getting a divorce and dating another woman. Faso called that allegation absolutely untrue. The story was being played out in the New York tabloids. Both Manning and Faso are trying to get the Republican and Conservative Party endorsements to run for Governor in November.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Drug Dealing - Tracy Baxter @ 1:19 pm EST
Middletown City Police officers got the call Thursday ...a report of a violent domestic dispute in an apartment at David Moore Heights off Genung Street...a man was threatoning to kill his girlfriend. But after securing the scene, officers noticed drugs and they returned with a search warrant. They seized about 200 bags of marijuana as well as cocaine, drug material and suspected drug money. Apartment residents Lillian Rosado and Kendrich Feliz are facing felony drug possession charges. Police say neighbors told them the apartment has long been the scene of local drug dealing.

Derailment - Tracy Baxter @ 1:03 pm EST
The Friday morning commute on the Port Jervis Rail Line was behind schedule because a Norfolk-Southern freight box car carrying lumber that was being moved, jumped the track and hit another rail car before rolling onto its side....blocking the main line near the Campbell Hall train station. It happpened shortly after 11 Thursday night. No one got hurt. Crews were working Friday morning to get the car uprighted and out of the way. Commuter trains could get through the area but had to be switched to another track and that led to the morning delays. The accident did some slight track damage that was to be repaired once the box car was removed. Metro North was predicting a normal commute for riders Friday evening.

Stolen Money - Tracy Baxter @ 12:58 pm EST
The Acting President of an area little league has been charged with stealing thousands of dollars from the organization. State Police say an investigation led to the arrest of 40 year old Linda Aracci of Liberty...the Acting President of the Liberty Little League. She was released on ten thousand dollars bond after being charged with grand larceny and forgery. State Police say they were called in when Little League officials discovered the missing money. Police say Aracci took money from the league's checking account by forging the signatures of other league board members. At least 7 thousand dollars was reportedly stolen.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

New School - Tracy Baxter @ 12:30 pm EST
The site hasn't been selected yet but the De LaSalle Christian Brothers say they're going to create the San Miguel Academy in the City of Newburgh ....a school for at-risk boys in grades 5 through 8. The De LaSalle Christian Brothers say their school will be patterned after the Saint Patrick's Boys High School that closed in Newburgh in 1969. They hope to have their school opened by September. It has the backing of Newburgh Mayor Nick Valentine, a graduate of St. Patrick's in 1968.

Mold Report - Tracy Baxter @ 12:25 pm EST
If you have children in the Liberty School District, you may want to go to next Monday's school board meeting. That's when a report will be released on mold and air quality issues in Liberty's Middle and Elementary schools. The problems came to light late last year in a report from the National Institute for Occupational Safety that found serious moisture and mold problems that were apparently leading to health problems among students and teachers. Monday's meeting will begin at 7:30pm in the Liberty High School Cafeteria.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Bouncer Charged - Tracy Baxter @ 12:44 pm EST
A New Paltz man....who was working as a bouncer at a nightspot in Greene County ...has been charged with causing the injuries that led to the death of a patron early Sunday morning. State Police have charged 27 year old Thomas Sebald with criminally negligent homicide. Investigators say Sebald was working at the Hunter Village Inn and forcibly removed a patron who was having an argument with another person. According to police, Sebald shoved the person out a rear door onto a porch. 45 year old Peter Shine of Oakdale New York then apparently fell off the porch and died after he hit his head on a car bumper. Sebald is due in Village of Hunter Court Tuesday. He is reportedly employed as a social studies teacher in the Monroe-Woodbury School District.

Armed Robbery - Tracy Baxter @ 12:39 pm EST
Police in the Town of Newburgh are looking for the man who robbed a local convenience store at knifepoint early Monday morning. The man...with a bandana covering his face...threatoned the clerk at the Cumberland Farms store on Route 17K shortly after midnight. Police say he ran off with about 200 dollars and cigarettes.

Apartments Burn - Tracy Baxter @ 12:37 pm EST
Investigators say an electrical short was the cause of a fire early Sunday morning that gutted two apartments and damaged a third in the village of Ellenville. Fire Chief Fred Dupont said 12 people were left homeless after the fire broke out in the one-story building at number 7 North Main Street. There were no injuries.

Gang Graffiti - Tracy Baxter @ 12:34 pm EST
Police say they've caught up with a graffiti artist...who they say...was responsible for spray painting several Monticello buildings. Investigators say several video surveillance tapes led them to 18 year old Alan Charles of Monticello. He's accused of painting gang graffiti at Monticello High School and in the lobby of the Carriage House Apartments. The vandalism took place in January of 2005. Police say other youths are believed to be involved and more arrests are expected.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Resentenced - Tracy Baxter @ 1:18 pm EST
A Pine Bush man was resentenced Friday in Orange County Court....but the outcome was the same. Eric Schrader was sentenced to the maximum 7 years in prison for an assault in 2002. The man he beat and kicked....28 year old Bradley Moore ....died 3 months after the incident. Following the trial Schrader was found not guilty of murder but guilty of assault and was sentenced to 7 years. But an Appellate Court ruled that he must be resentenced because of improper remarks made by the judge. Schrader's attorney had hoped he'd get a lighter sentence of time already served.

Bartender Charged - Tracy Baxter @ 10:20 am EST
An area bartender is facing criminal charges for serving alcohol to two underage young men....one of whom died later in a car crash in Walden. 45 year old Michael Bartle of Montgomery, a bartender at Copperfield's Restaurant, was charged with two counts of unlawfully dealing with a child. State Police say their investigation revealed that Bartle served 19 year old Christopher Devitt of Middletown and 18 year old Bryan Steinard of Walden prior to the January 21st crash that took the life of Steinard. Devitt remains in Westchester Medical Center. Bartle was released pending a February 15th court appearance.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Driver Killed - Tracy Baxter @ 12:36 pm EST
An Ulster County man died Wednesday evening after his vehicle was rear-ended and burst into flames. It happened on Route 32 in the Town of Rosendale. State Police say a Jeep driven by 51 year old Robert Vivona of Rosendale had stopped on 32 and was waiting for traffic to clear so he could make a left turn. That's when he was hit from behind by a pick-up truck driven by 64 year old Charles Phillips of Bloomington. Police say Vivona's vehicle burst into flames. Passing motorists and emergency personnel were not able to get him out of the wreckage in time.