TaDa! It's The Magic Tax

Crowds cheered, snow white doves burst into the sky, and a beam of purest sunshine shone down from the heavens this morning. Why? "Picente proposes sales-tax drop"

Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr., announced this morning at a news conference he will propose a reduction in Oneida County’s sales tax to an 8.75 percent rate that would go into effect by Dec. 1.

The legislation would have to be passed by the county and state Legislature by September 1.

There is a possibility the sales tax could drop to 8.5 percent by the end of 2008, if the county is in a stable position to do so, Picente said.

Except, of course, Picente isn't proposing a sales tax drop at all. The "emergency, short-term, honest-we're-only-gonna-keep-it-until-the-crisis-is-over medicaid tax" ends this November, sending Oneida County back to a sales tax rate of 8%.

Mr. Picente is advocating a tax increase.

Update: WKTV is on board with the "tax cut" too.

Currently, in Oneida County, residents pay a sales tax of 9%, which happens to be the highest of any county in the state. But, if Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente has his way, you'll start to pay 8.75%.

Picente tells NEWSChannel 2, lowering the sales tax will add revenue that would be dedicated to county purposes. He says the county can afford to do this because of Oneida County's near $13 million surplus. However, he's not ruling out property tax increases in the future.

Again, the increased sales tax was supposed to be a "temporary" measure. It ends on November 30, 2007. Nothing is getting "lowered". Mr. Picente is asking the residents of Oneida County to pay a new tax that just happens to start the day after the old one ends.

Ten Weeks And Counting

The Utica Common Council's investigation into city Police Chief C. Allen Pylman effectively ended February 23, 2007. That's the day Council attorney Anthony Garramone resigned from his position for "health reasons".

It has now been over ten weeks since the last witness testified, but the Council continues to stall a resolution of the investigation by claiming there hasn't been enough time to "transcribe" testimony.

Clearly, the Council's administrative staff is incompetent and should be fired immediately. It's hard to believe that tax dollars are being spent on an employee or employees that obviously lied about their stenographic and transcription skills, but the Council needs to accept that they were indeed bamboozled and respond with a clear message that even civil service employees are expected to meet basic standards of competence.

Unless, of course, it's not Council's secretarial staff that is incompetent.

Everyone Loves Joette

Any idea what's going on with Joette Mancuso of "Joette's Gifts"? In the last few hours I've had at least six visitors from across the state that arrived via Google searches for "Joette Mancuso". Maybe she turned state's evidence. Heh.

Changes Afoot For The O-D Online?

It's not exactly a surprise, but the sale of the Observer-Dispatch to Gatehouse Media is now finalized.

The sale of the Observer-Dispatch to GateHouse Media Inc. was closed Monday, ending 85 years of ownership by Gannett Co. Inc.

Fairport-based GateHouse purchased the O-D and three other newspapers from Gannett for $410 million. The two companies first announced the deal nearly three weeks ago.

“The newspaper that we’ll produce will only get better,” said O-D President and Publisher Donna M. Donovan after a Monday morning meeting with employees. “And that doesn’t change, regardless of who owns it.”

It will be interesting to see how this impacts their online product. I haven't really poked around their server, since that would be...uh...ethically questionable, but it looks like they're still using the Gannet Online architecture, including remote script execution via the Gannet servers, to manage things. Unless the purchase includes some kind of hosting agreement they'll eventually have to move to a new server. That means a new architecture and content suite, which should keep the online staff busy for a while, and probably means a makeover for the paper's layout. Some of the Gatehouse papers have rather bland websites, but I thought this one actually has a better layout than the existing O-D site.

I'm Late To The Party

Thankfully, someone stayed sober over the weekend and didn't let their blogs go to pot. Joe Politics has a two-fer tackling the Julian/Meola Felonious Face-Off and Mr. Arcuri's potential challengers.

The first was a story I was hoping someone would write, but never expected it would come from them. It describes how both candidates for Mayor of Utica have a checkered legal past. They wrote the story down the middle and basically laid out the facts and then had "real" people say that it won't have a major impact on their decision. The best part was the comments after the online story. One reader said what we all were thinking.

"...who are these people who question why voters would consider criminal convictions of candidates. Are you kidding me?? Julian was arrested by Pylman; Meola was in a multimillion dollar fencing operation. Is there NO ONE ELSE ??....And Julian and Meola can understand why anyone would be interested in their criminal convictions ?? Are each of them suffering from some brain disorder ??"

Meanwhile, over at Fault Lines, Strikeslip gives me way too much credit for hacking the Meola story. How I wish that were true. If they really want a fun story I can't imagine anything more amusing than taking a serious look at Larry Tanoury's online antics. Particularly in light of his family history. Apples falling from trees, and all that.

The Usual Suspects

It says a lot about a city when the candidates for mayor can compare notes on who has the more impressive rap sheet.

When city voters go to the polls this fall, they may be choosing between two mayoral candidates who've both had brushes with the law.

But several residents interviewed Friday said the candidates' stand on city issues is more important than past troubles. And both Republican Mayor Tim Julian and Democratic Common Councilman Frank Meola, D-4, said they would not raise the opposing candidate's prior arrest as an election issue.

The Observer-Dispatch and other media outlets have reported in the past on the arrests -- both at the time they occurred and subsequently when both men ran for political office.

•In 1995, state police charged Julian with felony criminal possession of stolen property while investigating two men who were selling stolen tools. Julian eventually pleaded down to a violation - the equivalent of a parking ticket - and paid a $250 fine.

As a violation, the file on the case is closed by statute. Julian said he didn't know the tools were stolen.

•In 2000, Meola and 25 other people were identified as participating in a Utica-based shoplifting ring that authorities said fenced more than $35 million worth of retail goods from stores in an 11-county area. Meola pleaded guilty to fourth-degree conspiracy, a felony.

Meola served no jail time for the offense and was placed on five years probation, but that ended after about two years because he'd complied with all the conditions of his sentence.

So there you have it. Tim "The Tool Man" Julian and Frank "Stickyfingers" Meola in a felonious face-off for the future of Utica. God help us all.

What I'd really like to see is an article taking a detailed look at what exactly happened in both cases, since there's a notable dearth of information on the subject. In Julian's case, as the O-D article points out, the same investigation that lead to his felony arrest also netted GOP Chairman Wayne Brooks. Oh, and they were both cuffed and processed by a relatively obscure state police major by the name of C. Allen Pylman.

Let that sink in. I'll wait.

Ready?

Now that you've had some time to think about it I suspect you're just as curious as I am about what happened back in 1995. Sadly, the O-D doesn't provide any background by reprinting contemporary articles from the time of the arrests, which leaves a lot of questions unanswered and would, nudge, nudge, make for a great follow-up article. Who was the guy with the stolen tools? Where did he get them from? How did Brooks and Julian end up buying them? What did they buy and how much did they pay? How were they able to plead a felony arrest down to, amazingly, a violation?

These are all questions that I'm sure have very interesting answers.

Speaking of interesting answers, here's Mr. Meola explaining why being part of an organized crime ring shouldn't impact his chances of election:

Meola said his arrest is in the past and that he trusts voters will recognize how he's fought to improve the city.

"I've acknowledged what I did was wrong. Many good people, day-to-day, make mistakes," Meola said. "I hope we move on and don't dwell on the past. We all make mistakes and learn from them."

I'm a good person. I've made mistakes. But I think my lapsed inspection sticker kinda pales in comparison to a guy that was allegedly moving millions of dollars in stolen merchandise.

Again, the O-D doesn't provide any real background for the story and leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Considering both these guys want to be Mayor of the city, a position that brings with it control of millions of dollars, I'd sure like to know more about the actual case. What exactly was Mr. Meola's position within the crime ring? How long was he part of it? How much stolen merchandise did he actually handle? Which stores did Mr. Meola and his partners in crime steal from? Did he pay restitution to the merchants he ripped off? Did the crime ring he was part of have any ties to established organized crime families?

These are all questions that need to be answered, and I hope the O-D is up to the task. Both Julian and Meola need to be held accountable for their criminal activity, and writing off either incident as a "youthful indiscretion" is the worst kind of white washing. These guys were grown ups, not kids. Voters need to see the full picture of what they were involved in if they're going to make an informed choice this fall.

To be honest, I'm more uncomfortable with the idea of Mr. Meola holding any kind of elective office than Julian. And believe me, that's damning Julian with faint praise. Frank Meola was part of an organized group that ripped off people for millions of dollars. He was in deep, he was in for an extended period of time, and he was quite literally living a life of crime. Is it beyond the pale that his relationship with his former conspirators didn't end in 2000?

2008 Rematch?

It's deja vu, all over again.

It could be Meier vs. Arcuri again in 2008.

Former state Sen. Raymond Meier, a Republican from Western, says he's considering a rematch against the man who defeated him in last year's race for Congress, former Oneida County District Attorney Michael Arcuri.

"I haven't decided yet," said Meier, who is now a private attorney. "But I do think it's a decision I would probably make before the end of the summer."

If he does run, it's likely he'll have the backing of the Oneida County Republican Party.

"I'm sure Ray would certainly be my first choice," Republican Chairman Mark Scheidelman said.

Upon reading this, I'm almost tempted to invoke Ronald Reagan's Eleventh Commandment and just let it slide. Luckily, Mr. Arcuri provided me with the motivation to go on:

"The things I promised, I delivered on," Arcuri said. "NYRI, minimum wage, doing what I could to oppose the war, I've done that. Education, student loan reform. All of the things we've talked about we've done."

Er..no. You haven't. Not a single piece of legislation dealing with any of these issues has been enacted into law. Bills have been passed, to be sure, but despite having complete control of both houses of Congress Mr. Arcuri's party has been unable to send a single finished bill regarding any of them to the President's desk.

Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zip.

They're all trapped in legislative limbo, that terrible emptiness between the House and Senate where legislation just kind of floats around until congressional staffers get around to hammering it into shape. About the only legislation they have been able to pass is the emergency appropriations bill for Iraq, and that ended up being larded with so much pork that even many Democrats were embarrassed by it.

But I digress.

I think Ray Meier is a good and decent man. I also think he's considerably smarter than Mike "New York is not a border state" Arcuri. That's why I found the total meltdown of his campaign, primarily at the hands of the NRCC, so damnably infuriating. I, and a lot of other Republicans, never felt like we were anything more than a source of funds during the 2006 race. The campaign never generated a sense of urgency or excitement and, as far as I know, never made any attempt to reach out and motivate party members at the local level. I don't blame Mr. Meier for that, since I think it was an inevitable result of the kind of top-down effort the party was running, but I think he needs to take a good, hard look at what happened in 2006 in order to avoid having the same thing happen in 2008.

Ack!

Sweet Jebus. I take some time off to play with fire and booze it up over the weekend and the floodgates open. I gots some catchin' up to do.

Burn, Baby, Burn

I love to grill. And that's why my back hurts.

I've spent the last few hours chainsawing some immense tree limbs that came crashing down at a friend's house during February's storms. His home was once a farm, and the property has quite a few stands of mature oaks and maples as well as a the remnants of an orchard with apple and pear trees. When the spring thaw started the ground was littered with downed branches, but we were able to clean up most of them during the stretch of nice weather we had two weeks ago.

That experience gave me a real appreciation for just how tough our ancestors were.

It was back-breaking work, even though we had chainsaws, a motorized log splitter, and a truck with an impressive hunk of Japanese iron under the hood to haul the logs to the woodpile. I can't imagine how physically demanding the job would have been with pure muscle power. Which is rather shameful, since I know my grandparents did exactly that for years and they were, to put it politely, rather delicate of frame. I'm over a foot taller than either of them, and my son is already two inches taller than I am, but by the time we stacked the last log of the day we were both ready to collapse.

Sad, really, to realize you're made of softer stuff than the steel and leather of your sweet lil' granpapa and mama.

Tonight we finished up the job we started two weeks ago. All the straight and true limbs were already seasoning in neat little stacks for next winter, leaving nothing but the truly sorry specimens for collection. Bent, gnarled hunks of wood that even a carbon steel blade attached to a 2000 p.s.i. hydraulic ram couldn't split. Well, it could, but the result would be chunks of misshapen shrapnel spraying every which way while a gang of shrieking idiots dove for cover. No, these sorry dregs of wood can't be used for firewood. Too many knots, kinks, and twists for that, but there's still something of value in the wood.

Some of the larger chunks will spend a year or two in the back of the garage before paying a visit to a bandsaw and, like magic, they'll be transformed. The same tortured grain that makes them unfit for firewood makes them perfect for woodwork, where their contorted swirls can come alive under a buffing of linseed oil and wax. The rest, all the lumpy little nuggets too small for anything else or so buckled and bent that they aren't stable enough for woodwork, will undergo another transformation. We'll load them into a steel drum connected to a nest of pipes, utter a few chants for good luck, and then practice a little ol' school alchemy:

Nasty wood + fire - oxygen = charcoal.

The kind of charcoal God intended, not those hideous artificial abominations called "briquettes" made from compressed fly ash, sawdust, melamine, and glue. Okay, they don't really have melamine in them, at least as far as I know, but who knows? If the Chinese are willing to put plastic scrap in food products the mind boggles at what could end up in something like a briquette.

No thanks. We'll spend the weekend swilling beer and swapping lies while the charcoal cooks, cools, and then gets bagged up in burlap sacks, just like in the old days. When it's all done we'll have enough black gold to fuel a summer's worth of grilling and barbecue and an ample supply of sweet, flavorful wood chips for smoking food.

It's going to be a great summer.

Note: If you're curious how backyard charcoal manufacturing works there's a great write-up about the process over here. I wish our half-assed setup looked half as nice.

The Other Woman

During the discussion about a possible serial killer operating in and around Utica I mentioned my vague recollection of a dead woman discovered floating in a hot tub. Some astute readers later identified the woman in question as Tenesha Sessoms, who died under questionable circumstances back in December of 2006. While she doesn't match the profile of the hypothetical serial killer's other victims (she was black while they were slim, petite, brunette caucasians) her death is just as tragic and equally puzzling.

Troopers found the body of Tanesha Sessoms in a Jacuzzi at 2363 Oneida St. after the homeowner, Christopher Roberts, reported the death around 6:30 a.m. Saturday, investigators said.

As state police await final autopsy and toxicology results to determine how Sessoms, of Steuben Street, died, police were questioning whether medicinal or recreational drug use had anything to do with her death. They also were trying to obtain Sessoms’ medical records.

In the meantime, investigators have not yet ruled out foul play, they said.

According to investigators, Sessoms arrived at Roberts’ residence late Friday night and she was in the Jacuzzi sometime before Roberts went to bed shortly after midnight. Roberts then discovered Sessoms’ body when he awoke several hours later.

Police were still looking into how Sessoms and Roberts knew each other.

According to this News 10 Now story the discovery of Ms. Sessom's body lead to the arrest of Mr. Roberts on multiple drug counts:

Tuesday, police arrested Roberts charges for possessing, selling, and growing marijuana. Police seized 250 plants and other equipment from his home, street valued at about $200,000.

They said Roberts is very important to the investigation of Sessoms' death.

"He was the last person to see her alive, so certainly he is a person that is very important to this investigation. At this point, I will say he has been very limited in his cooperation regarding this investigation," said Troop D Lieutenant David Krause.

A third story from an unknown source (Post-Standard? Rome Sentinel?) repeats most of the second article's details, but adds the revelation that Mr. Roberts was moving a considerable amount of cocaine:

As investigators await final autopsy and toxicology results that could take between two and four weeks, all possible causes for Sessoms death are being explored, said state police Lt. David Krause of the Oneida barracks. Sessoms’ death was reported by Roberts’ neighbor around 6:15 a.m. Saturday after Roberts found Sessoms in a hot tub on his back porch, Krause said.

“At this point, I wouldn’t even call it a suspicious death,” Krause said.
In the meantime, investigators have said one avenue they were looking at was whether medicinal or recreational drug use had anything to do with her death.

Roberts was charged with felony counts of third-degree criminal possession of marijuana and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, as well as misdemeanor counts of unlawfully growing marijuana and criminal possession of a controlled substance, Krause said.

Within the first 48-hours surrounding the investigation into Sessoms’ death, Krause said Roberts allegedly provided another person with cocaine.

Roberts is in the Oneida County jail on $30,000 bail awaiting a felony hearing Monday in Paris Town Court, police said.

I can't find anything about the disposition of the case after Mr. Roberts' felony hearing.

You're A Dirty Whore, But I Mean That In The Nicest Way

Utica's most volatile broadcaster may find himself out of a job...again. I understand he's had yet another blowup with a female co-worker, and this time it might end up in a courtroom instead of with an in-studio confrontation. Losing his current gig would make it particularly difficult to meet his child support obligations, considering the number of out-of-wedlock births he's responsible for.

It's Huuuuuuuge!

Billy Fucillo's uniquely inane commercials are getting a little national attention.

We are somewhat confused by and in awe of Mr. Fuccillo. We were certainly not aware that heaven was "very similar to Ridge Road In Greece." Yet, we accept it as fact with little or no backtalk.

Some of the comments are priceless:

Unfortunately, that ass clown has dealerships, and those ridiculous commercials, here in Albany, NY, too. I'd never buy anything from any business that makes me scramble for the remote when their annoying commercials spew from my TV.

Mitt Romney Is Unfit For The Office Of President

I like to think of myself as an open-minded man, but there comes a time when you have to take a stand. One of the founding principles of our nation is that every American is entitled to the basic freedoms enshrined in the words of our constitution- freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the freedom to follow the belief system of your choice. I never thought there would come a day when I would encounter a public figure with beliefs so abhorrent, so outside the mainstream, that I would find myself enraged beyond words.

Sadly, that day has come.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has revealed something that, at the very least, should disqualify him from consideration for the office of President. I can accept that he and I have different politics. I can accept that he and I have different faiths. What I can't accept is his enthusiastic embrace of something every decent American should denounce.

When asked his favorite novel in an interview shown yesterday on the Fox News Channel, Mitt Romney pointed to “Battlefield Earth,” a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. That book was turned into a film by John Travolta, a Scientologist.

A spokesman said later it was one of Mr. Romney’s favorite novels.
“I’m not in favor of his religion by any means,” Mr. Romney, a Mormon, said. “But he wrote a book called ‘Battlefield Earth’ that was a very fun science-fiction book.” Asked about his favorite book, Mr. Romney cited the Bible.

"Battlefield Earth"? It's cool that you're into sci-fi, and "Battlefield Earth" most assuredly qualifies as sci-fi instead of the slightly-more-reputable-but-still-a-little-iffy science fiction, but couldn't you pick something a little less hacktastic? If you like the pulpy adventure thing you should check out the books Hubbard ripped...er, was inspired by, Doc Smith's Lensman series. They start out fighting with machine pistols and end up using entire solar systems as weapons! How cool is that?

If you're into the post-apocalyptic vibe "Earth Abides" is a classic. Or how about"Alas, Babylon"? If you want full-blown soul destroying hopelessness there's always "On the Beach". Heck, I'd even recommend Stephen King's "The Stand" or Robert McCammon's "Swan Song", but people would rightfully be leery of a presidential candidate that enjoyed either of those, if you know what I mean.

Anything but "Battlefield Earth".

The Truth Is Out There

Was the attack on the San Francisco freeway system of 4/29 a simple accident? Or something far more sinister?

The “official story” from “official government sources” is that weekend a lone gas truck driver crashed a single tanker loaded with 8,600 gallons of unleaded gasoline into a guardrail in what they say was an ordinary accident. Unfortunately there are too many questionable statements, too many conflicting reports, and too many outright impossibilities for any serious, thoughtful individual to take this “official report” seriously.

Let’s review the facts.

* The bridge should have easily withstood the thermal stress caused by pools of burning auto fuel.
* If steel from those overpasses did soften or melt, I’m sure we can all agree that this was certainly not due to auto fuel fires of any kind, let alone the briefly burning fire under that bridge.
* 800º C is near the maximum flame temperature of hydrocarbons burning in air without pre-heating or pressurization of the air, well below the melting temperature of steel.
* It is impossible for fire to melt steel.
* The section of the bridge appears to have fallen straight down, exactly as it would have from demolition charges.

We can only hope Utica's resident conspiracy theorists apply their investigative abilities to this breaking story. Truth out, homies!

Ding!

The clock has run out for the Oneida Nation and the state of New York.

The federal government will reconsider its approval of Turning Stone casino in June now that the state and Oneida Indian Nation have missed a deadline to stall the decision.

Monday was the last day for the state and Oneida nation to submit a joint request to postpone the reconsideration while they negotiate a new casino agreement. Without that joint request, the Department of Interior will now decide by June 14 whether to nullify its approval of the 1993 agreement that allowed Turning Stone to open.

The state and nation wrote separate letters Monday to the secretary of the interior. Both argued, in vastly different ways, that the agency had no power to reconsider the agreement, or compact. The nation said the agreement is valid and can't be revisited 14 years after it was first approved. The state argued that the Interior Department can't reconsider an agreement because it was never valid in the first place because it was not ratified by the state Legislature.

As Gov. Spitzer might put it, "Day one, everything changes. Except for the stuff that doesn't."