A Tale Of Two Fires

Public safety officials in Utica released the results of two separate fire investigations yesterday. The first case involved the cause of last week's spectacular fire at the Matt's Brewery. The Observer-Dispatch has the details:

A welding project sparked Thursday's multimillion dollar blaze at F.X. Matt Brewing Co., officials said Tuesday.

Chief Fire Marshal Raymond Beck said the welding being done on the bottling facility's second floor created so much heat that it melted a nearby conveyor belt.

As the conveyor continued to melt and burn, however, it did not create any visible flames, Beck said. The burning belt then caused cardboard and plastic six-pack bindings to catch fire roughly 10 feet from the welding area, he said.

The second case involved the April Fools Day fire that claimed the lives of four Utica residents. Sadly, it appears the fire was intentionally set:

Fire and police investigators concluded the April 1 fire that killed four people and destroyed 1138 Whitesboro St. was ruled incendiary, officials said today.

Fire and police officials, however, did not specifically call the fire “arson,” since that is a criminal charge. And nobody has been charged at this point, police said.

“We have not ruled anybody out as a suspect,” said Daniel LaBella, Utica public safety commissioner and interim police chief.

The two-story building in West Utica was a “safe haven” for the homeless, the mentally deficient or people disowned by their families over the past 20 years, owner Donna Marano of Cold Brook previously said.

The differences between the two blazes come down to a lot more than one being accidental and the other intentional.

Within hours of the Matt's brewery fire politicians from across the area, and the state, were pledging their support and offering heartfelt condolences to the Matt family and their employees. Officials estimate the blaze caused close to $10 million in damage, making it the most costly fire in Utica's history, but thankfully no one was injured and there was no loss of life.

At tomorrow night's Saranac Thursday street party thousands of people are expected to celebrate the brewery's survival. The Varick Street crowd will be treated to a special proclamation from Utica's Mayor honoring Saranac's tenth anniversary and the brewery's recovery. Local television and radio stations, along with reporters from the O-D, will be on hand to cover the festivities and many of them will be broadcasting live from the event. A full brace of politicians will be in attendance, offering a variety of speeches and presentations praising the Matt family, the brewery employees, and the public safety personnel that responded to the fire.

The community will congratulate itself for coming together after a tragedy and a good time will be had by all.

The scene on Whitesboro Street won't be nearly as inspiring. No band will be playing, there will be no massive crowd thronging the street, and no one will be giving speeches. In place of the garish crowd control barriers at Saranac Thursday there's only some torn and tattered police tape surrounding the burned-out shell of a building.

The Governor will not be sending a representative to this place.

There will be no announcements of grandiose plans to redevelop the site.

A photo-op will not be held.

If you stop by at the charred remains of 1138 Whitesboro Street tomorrow night you'll be able to hear the sound of the brewery celebration on Varick street. After all, it's only five blocks away. Roughly 600 meters, if Google Maps is to be believed.

But some distances can't be measured by the markers on a map. Even in this age of casual satellite reconnaissance there are places in a city that remain hidden, a terra incognita obscured by something far more blinding than darkness or clouds. A secret terrain that goes unmapped and unremarked, covered by a dark shroud that no camera or millimeter wave radar can penetrate.

They can look, but they cannot see.

Update: I need to make a correction. It's not true, as I implied, that Governor David Paterson will be sending a representative to the Matt's Brewery on Thursday. It was announced this afternoon that he's coming himself.

Update: Thanks to Strikeslip for the link and the kind comments.

Arcuri's Family Values

The Auburn Citizen reports that Congressman Michael Arcuri will, not surprisingly, seek re-election. What is surprising is his chosen theme for the campaign: family values.

Family values were the focus Friday when Michael Arcuri announced he is seeking re-election to Congress.

“It's time to start talking about family values,” Arcuri, D-Utica, said outside city hall in Auburn Friday.

“Not the kind of family values from some Washington bureaucrat or some think tank that play more politically, but rather the kind of family values that matter to the people from upstate New York.”

This is, frankly, an amazing course of action. Mr. Arcuri has now opened the door to an examination of every sordid detail of his own "family values", a conversation that I didn't think he really wanted to have. His official biography is amazingly circumspect about the dissolution of his first marriage, but I have a feeling that the reason for his divorce could well become a campaign issue.

It is, after all, about "family values".

Update: A kind emailer suggests that Mr. Arcuri's "family values" are, indeed, the usual Washington version- universal single-payer health care, repeal of secret ballots in union elections, more entitlement funding, etc. It's the same re-framing approach designed to appeal to the so-called "values voters" that his campaign used in 2006. It's most emphatically *not* an invitation to question his marital fidelity, or lack thereof.

Another Big Nanotechnology Win!

The powers that be are spending close to $50 million dollars to convert a wooded parcel of land into a grassy lot in the vague hope it will become the Marcy Ultra-Mega-Super-Nanotech site. Mohawk Valley EDGE is simply delighted at all the "potential" the site has.

Meanwhile, the Albany Times-Union reports that the state's actual nanotechnology hub is about to receive another huge infusion of funding worth more than a billion dollars. That's billion, with a "b".

The Paterson administration is discussing a major economic development deal with IBM to enhance the global corporation's Fishkill chip manufacturing capabilities and expand research and development operations at the University at Albany's nanotechnology center, people close to the talks said Friday.

The deal, which could also include U Albany's east campus in Rensselaer County, is part of IBM's quest to develop its plant for the next generation of computer chip making.

It would come with heavy investments by the company and substantial support from the state, according to the sources. One of the sources pegged the overall investments well above $1 billion.

This move makes it abundantly clear that the state's investment in the Marcy site, such as it is, is nothing more than a sop tossed our way. Sure, politically connected construction firms will be able to enjoy a few years of pork-fueled success, but state government has clearly decided that the Albany area is, and will continue to be, the focus of real technological development. It's the same system of priorities that led to the disappointing Homeland Security Center at the airport and the incredible vanishing data center, both of which were supposed to generate hundreds of jobs using massive investments of tax dollars.

The real tragedy of the situation is that the millions of dollars earmarked for the Marcy site is desperately needed elsewhere in the area. Right now that money is being spent on the hope that someday a chip-fab company will need a lot with state-of-the-art sewer, water, and electrical infrastructure...and won't mind being isolated from the rest of the industrial and intellectual assets miles down the Thruway in the Albany area. For all the happy talk of a "nanotechnology corridor" stretching across upstate the truth is that any company with competent management is going to locate where the action is. And that ain't here, as the ol' timers would say.

In the meantime, area residents are asked to make due with crumbling sewer lines, a water system prone to running out of water, and a network of aging power lines draped from every available pole and building.

The Circus Is Coming To Town

Well, that didn't take long.

There are ominous rumblings from Utica City Hall that this week's Saranac Thursday is going to be a three-ring circus featuring a bevy of politicians, all smiling for the crowd and posing for the cameras. It might be shocking to some that the local gladhanders can turn a tragedy into a political opportunity, but never underestimate their ability to exploit a simple street party and turn it into a political rally.

There's going to be a lot of speechifying about Matt's importance to the community, helping them rebuild, and praising the police and fire department, but this is really about getting some face time and parasitically exploiting the goodwill that Matt's, and Saranac Thursday, have built up. They might even try to milk it for yet another ill-conceived "development plan" larded up with pork for the politically connected. After all, they can't really "help" without spending your tax dollars.

Let the show begin.

The Whole World Is Watching: Part Deux

The Observer-Dispatch has more about the local connection with the Mars Phoenix Lander:

More than a quarter of a million dollars and a year after completion, Custom Tool & Model Corp. celebrated the success of NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander Mission.

At a Friday news conference and reception for employees, John Piseck announced the success of Sunday’s mission thus far, and explained that several parts of the Lander were made in the village.

“The major part was the scoop,” he said, “which will be taking soil and ice samples from the planet’s surface for testing. Once I saw that arm move, I was so happy to see it in action.”

Since my posting about CTM early Thursday, and the O-D's story later that day, the lander has already made history:

It was the exhaust from the lander's twelve retrorockets - firing during the last few seconds of the spacecraft's touchdown last Sunday - that blew a mere 3 to 6 inches of Martian topsoil away and uncovered the patch of ice near one of the lander's three legs. The camera on the lander's robotic arm snapped images of the flat, gleaming slab.

Spacecraft flying in orbit high above the planet carry sensitive radar instruments that can probe as much as a yard or so beneath the Martian surface, and their signals have already indicated a broad layer of what Earth-bound scientists believe is buried ice in the planet's frigid far northern region where Phoenix was sent to explore.

But now, for the first time ever, Phoenix has apparently found it.

Dan LaBella: Man Of Action

Even in the midst of tragedy our local politicians can be relied on to provide comedic relief. The only thing funnier than Mr. LaBella's inane "Don't inhale the fire!" comment during the Matt's conflagration was his sheer buffoonery in comparison to actual public safety professionals. Just seconds after he mugged for the television cameras and reassured his adoring public that "The fire is under control," Chief Brooks stepped forward and pointed out that the fire definitely wasn't under control.

The look on LaBella's face was priceless.

Update: Holy smokes. I originally whipped up this graphic as a joke, but I've had enough people email me about actually getting T-shirts that I set up a Cafepress store with a couple of different versions of it. Here's what the revised graphic looks like:



If anyone wants to produce the shirts locally I'd be more than happy to whip up a Creative Commons non-profit license. Heck, if you're willing to donate the proceeds to charity you could probably just steal the graphic. Hint, hint.

Weekend Video: Utica 1941, Part 2

Hope your weekend is going well. Here's another one of Lou Barile's incredible videos recounting the history of Utica using vintage news footage. This one features some intriguing looks at the city's schools, including several that no longer longer exist.

Up From The Ashes

If you're driving through downtown Utica today chances are you'll still be able to smell the acrid stink of smoke from yesterday's fire at the F.X. Matt Brewery. The blaze was a terrible blow, but the Matt family has already announced they'll be rebuilding and, thankfully, no one was seriously injured.

As an aside, both the Observer-Dispatch and WKTV did an incredible job of keeping their websites constantly updated all through the fire. I'd link directly to their coverage, but they've been shifting clips and stories around so much that there's a good chance the links would be broken by the time you're reading this. Just click through on the links over to the left and I'm sure you'll find more continuing coverage of the disaster.

On a more cynical note, the local politicians will start milking this for all it's worth in 3...2...1...

Dropping The Match

New York Governor David Paterson just dropped a lit match in a room filled with gasoline. He's directed state agencies to start recognizing same-sex unions.

Gov. David A. Paterson has directed all state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, like Massachusetts, California and Canada.

In a directive issued on May 14, the governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, instructed the agencies that gay couples married elsewhere “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.”

The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses.

This is an important first step in finally getting government out of the marriage business. Paterson's move will, predictably, ignite a firestorm, but it is probably the only way to get the ossified power structures of the state to finally start dealing with the issue.

I know some of you reading this are probably agog at the idea of a Republican supporting the governor's actions. I can appreciate that intelligent people disagree with my point of view, but I think it's long overdue that we get rid of the whole idea of government approved marriages and replace it with civil unions. Why should the state have any role at all in what is, essentially, a religious ceremony? Transferring the traditional legal rights and obligations of marriage into the framework of civil unions would solve a multitude of problems while still allowing the faithful to enter into marriage via a simple checkbox. The important part is that individuals would be able to self-define the nature of their relationship instead of deferring to the state's power.

The Whole World Is Watching

See that little white blob in the picture there? That's one of the coolest things this area has ever been involved with.

What you're looking at is a picture taken from Mars orbit of the Phoenix Lander arriving on the red planet. That bright point is the lander itself, and if you look closely you can see the shroud lines leading up to the parachute that's helping it bleed off velocity on it's way to the ground. You can see an entire gallery of amazing photographs like that at the Phoenix Mars Mission official site.

Over the next several days the entire world is going to be watching that probe as it gets ready to carry out it's primary mission- using a robotic arm to dig into the martian surface and grab samples of soil and, hopefully, ice. The scoop that will be doing the digging, and the focus of the world's attention, was manufactured right here in Frankfort by the CTM Corporation. It's amazing that a local company is part of such an incredible mission, and even more impressive that it will be helping to answer questions about the possibility of life on Mars.

Congratulations to everyone at CTM. And who knows...maybe, just maybe, that scoop will be the point of first contact between humanity and an extraterrestrial lifeform. Even a speck of lichen under that dirt, as improbable as it might be, would profoundly change our place in the universe.

Not With A Bang, But A Whimper

So now that Utica mayor David Roefaro has payed off soon-to-be-ex-Chief Pylman, and handily placed the amazingly unqualified Dan LaBella in the top spot, what happens with the fruit of the Pylman investigation?

As Utica police Chief C. Allen Pylman prepares to retire this week, the Common Council investigation launched in January 2007 remains unresolved.

That month, for the first time in more than 30 years, the Common Council voted unanimously to exercise its investigatory powers.

At issue: Whether Pylman violated police department rules.

After the investigation stalled for almost a year, a newly-elected council in February voted to turn the investigation over to Mayor David Roefaro.

Roefaro has hundreds of pages of transcripts. On Tuesday, he said he does not know if the case would still proceed.

He said Pylman’s retirement has “absolutely nothing to do with the investigation.”

“Actually, we never even talked about the investigation,” Roefaro said.

That's a stunning admission considering Mr. Roefaro has spent well over a year, and thousands of dollars of city funds, trying to prove Chief Pylman was guilty of a crime or crimes worthy of attention from the state Attorney General. After all that he hasn't even discussed the issue with the man he openly accused of wrongdoing?

That's quite a passive-aggressive management style, don't you think?

During the investigation, closed-door testimony focused on a case of time-card falsification that led to the conviction of then-Sgt. James Franco. Testimony also included a review of a 2002 incident in which an investigator shot an unarmed drug suspect with a pellet gun, according to documents obtained last year by the O-D.

It's the details of those two incidents, and the involvement of Congressman Michael Arcuri, that I think had a lot to do with the eventual meltdown of the investigation and, perhaps, with the current buyout situation. You can read the transcript of Mr. Arcuri's testimony to the Common Council for yourself over here (PDF file).

The most interesting part, at least to me, is the contrast between the handling of the Franco forgery investigation and the later assault investigation, also involving a member of the Franco clan. In the first case Mr. Arcuri goes to great pains to justify a full criminal prosecution of Sgt. Franco despite Chief Pylman's assertion no crime has been committed:

Arcuri: Over time I continued to hear a great deal about this. I continued to hear it publicly, privately. I heard about it from police officers, I heard it from public officials. And it got to the point where I was concerned that perhaps there was something that needed to be looked into, which is without a double the role of the district attorney. We are not a police agency. We’re an investigatory agency. And our role is to basically work with police but not work for police or vice versa.

I contacted the chief and said that, “Chief, you know, we’re at the point now where I’m hearing too much about this, and, you know, people are complaining about it, and it’s probably a good time for me to look into it. We’ll look into it and if it’s as you say, there’ll be no problem. We took a look at it and it will confirm what you said, but at least we’ll have another pair of eyes looking at it.”

In the second case, Mr. Arcuri uncovers clear evidence that a crime was committed, but steadfastly refuses to prosecute the officer involved. It's a curious choice, since one would think a violent assault on a handcuffed suspect involves quite a bit more abuse of power than some forged paperwork. Even more questionable is Mr. Arcuri's refusal to prosecute after the suspect's accusation of torture revealed that documents involving the case had, in fact, been falsified.

So James Franco's falsification of records is worthy of prosecution, but Anthony Franco's assault on a suspect, and subsequent falsification of records to cover up the attack, isn't.

Odd? You bet. And I'm not the only one to think so, as Councilman Phillip's questioning the night Arcuri offered testimony attests:

COUNCILMEMBER PHILLIPS: The thing that I have, just like — and I — I have to say because Marshall Owens was an African-American was a — I have to state for the record because that’s how it comes back to me when they referred to, and, you know, what we went through with the Washington case and a few other things, it comes back to me as — from police officers on the scene that Anthony Franco shoot this kid with the pellet gun, okay. I think the number of times was six, okay.

I guess my — my question is, do you have the documents that were submitted to you in this case so that I can compare them to the documents that we have before us? Because as 30 years in this business, I can’t make sense out of why wasn’t an assault charge filed? I can understand the part of being pissed off with a gun pointed at you. And if we were in a battle, and it went off, chances are, I guess, I would — I would have accepted murdering this kid more than what I’m getting on this case. Because if you got a gun, I’m within my right to blow you away. I guess what I can’t understand, okay, that it’s not acceptable to me that you’re so mad that after you get the gun from him, you shoot him six times. That’s to me go beyond being — being something that I can turn my back to. To me that would have been — If we were charged with that as correction officers,somebody would have been charged with a crime, and the crime would have probably been assault. So I don’t know if you have records, what was submitted to you.

MR. ARCURI: Again, I think records are probably there. I don’t know. In — my recollection was that — I’m reasonably certain was that I saw was he shot once. And, you know, I may have — frankly, I may have made the wrong decision. I don’t know. But in looking at it at the time, weighing the circumstances, people I talk to and judging from the penalty that he was going to receive, that was — you know, try to put myself in both the place of both people in it.

Maybe I made the wrong decision, I don’t know. But I felt at the time and I continue to feel that the — what happened in that case was appropriate. I mean, I may have been wrong. It was a judgment call. But I felt that was the appropriate situation. And again, I — I could’ve been wrong.

Could've been wrong?

Mr. Arcuri's investigation produced clear evidence that the suspect in question was assaulted while kneeling and handcuffed. He was shot six times. When his accusations resulted in an investigation it was revealed that documents were falsified to cover up the assault. Despite all this no charges were ever filed.

Could've been wrong? Ya' think?

So what happens now? It's obviously pointless for the Pylman investigation, such as it is, to continue. Unfortunately, I have the feeling the extensive records of the investigation won't be released because they contain too much embarrassing material regarding both Mr. Roefaro and his good friend Congressman Arcuri. After all, it's clear there were active coverups of the three incidents the Common Council investigation focused on- the fraudulent police union election, the Franco forgeries, and the Franco assault.

Why would anyone shy away from another coverup?

The Long Reach Of Sauquoit Creek

Here in central New York, Sauquoit Creek's most recent claim to fame is as the site of the leaky pumping station that dumps millions of gallons of Oneida County's raw sewage into the Mohawk River. Which makes me a little sad for the students of Antioch High School in Illinois.

In our neighborhood, one high-school nickname that definitely is a one-of-a-kinder is Antioch High's "Sequoits."

In his book, "Why Mascots Have Tales," author Fred Willman tried to explain the Sequoit nickname.

He wrote the following: "The word Sequoit is a form of spelling of the Iroquois Indian word Sa-da-quoit, which was the name the Iroquois Indians gave to a stream that flows through Oneida County in New York state. In the Iroquois language, Sa-da-quoit literally means 'smooth pebbles in the bed of a stream.' When settlers moved into Oneida County, they modified the spelling and pronunciation of the stream to Sauquoit Creek."

Apparently, Antioch's first settlers, Darius and Thomas Gage, traveled west from Oneida County, and named the stream that ran past their land "Sequoit Creek" because it reminded them of Sauquoit Creek back home."

And that's how we got to "Sequoits."

Hopefully their Sequoit Creek isn't filled with as much feces as the one here in New York.

Pylman's Pricetag: Hefty

Utica Police Chief C. Allen Pylman has 250,000 reasons to love the city of Utica.

"In a mutual agreement between the city of Utica and Utica Police Chief C. Allen Pylman, after 37 years of service to our community he wishes to retire," Roefaro said.

Pylman became police chief in 2001 after serving with state police for a number of years. Pylman had a contract with the city and he will receive more than $249,000 in a payout. After taxes that figure will be about $180,000.

WKTV has a few more details:

Mayor David Roefaro has appointed current Public Safety Commissioner, Daniel LaBella, as acting Police Chief until further notice. Roefaro says LaBella will act in dual capacity as Public Safety Commissioner and Police Chief for the time being.

Roefaro also addressed the rumor, stating that it is true, that he is petitioning the state of New York to make the Police Chief position a non-civil service position. This means that a civil service examination would not have to be taken or passed in order for someone to take the Chief position on a regular basis.

So Pylman gets a $250,000 payout and the city of Utica now has a police chief that, allegedly, couldn't even pass the exam for Sergeant. Oh, and Mayor Roefaro is doing everything in his power to remove even the basic civil service qualifications required for the post, presumably so someone unable to meet them can take over the position permanently.

It would appear the Roefaro "Friends and Family" employment plan is setting it's sights pretty high.

Update: That was fast. An anonymous emailer claims that all the paperwork surrounding the Pylman "investigation" has already vanished. That sounds a little iffy to me, since I think multiple copies have already been made, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were fenced off for "privacy" reasons.

Update: Here's the alleged narrative- "It's all Julian's fault!" It's already been arranged that the other high-scorers on the Chief's test will be leaving the department with hefty payouts of their own. That's going to be a major chunk of change, so Mayor Roefaro, purely for reasons of fiscal responsibility, will have LaBella take over "until the financial crisis is resolved".

Update: From the November 8, 2007 Observer-Dispatch:

Mayor-elect David Roefaro won't consider buying Utica police Chief C. Allen Pylman out of his 18-year contract, he said Wednesday.

Whoops!

Update: A kind emailer points out that Dan LaBella isn't actually the interim police Chief. During an interview on WKTV Mr. LaBella stated, in his inimitable speaking style, that he'll be the "intrum chiff for dose guys".

Pylman's Pricetag: Part Deux

Here's what I've heard in the last 24 hours. Take it for what it's worth.

1. Pylman's departure is being very carefully choreographed by the powers that be.

2. Ka-ching! Pylman is getting a big ol' wad of cash.

3. The Common Council investigation into Pylman will be officially closed and all the transcripts and paperwork will, indeed, be dropped into the memory hole. One person I talked to said getting rid of that "report" is more important than getting rid of Pylman, hence the payout.

4. They really are suprised that Pylman's departure is generating a stink in some quarters and think it's part of an "anti-cop" agenda.

5. Here's some real crazy talk- Pylman had some kind of involvement with the state "Troopergate" affair that Attorney General Cuomo is currently investigating.

Update:

6. There might be an announcement tomorrow (Tuesday), but the real action is going to go down on Thursday. That's when Pylman will hold, or be part of, a press conference to offer up the spin that he was waiting to leave until the Lindsey murder trial and sentencing was completed. He'll be offering up a huge speech at the sentencing, followed by the press conference.

7. The big "award" last week was just prep work for this week's shenanigans.

8. Pylman's settlement is big. Really big.

Pylman's Pricetag

It looks as though Utica Police Chief C. Allen Pylman will be stepping down, but the details of how much it's going to cost the city are a bit hazy beyond "lots".

Keep in mind that a year ago Councilman David Roefaro stated that the Common Council's investigation into Chief Pylman had uncovered evidence, presumably of criminal activity, that needed to be sent to the State Attorney General. Now Mayor Roefaro is cutting him a check and sending him on his way.

Curious, that.

Update: WKTV says it's a done deal, but they don't have a pricetage either.

Update: The Observer-Dispatch put a story up just before midnight:

Mayor David Roefaro plans to make an announcement this week regarding the city’s police chief.

The mayor said he’s received media inquiries about Utica police Chief C. Allen Pylman’s tenure with the department. Roefaro wouldn’t elaborate on the nature of the announcement.

“It is regarding that matter, and it’s really all I can say right now,” he said Sunday. When he returns Tuesday to City Hall, Roefaro said he has to consult with the Corporation Counsel. He will make an announcement Tuesday or Thursday, he said.

If the city is going to pay off Pylman to keep quiet...er...I mean compensate him for the remainder of his contract, there's a good chance they'll be dropping all the documents and testimony collected by the council into the memory hole. Which means a Utica police officer was able to assault a handcuffed suspect, falsify his report about the assault, and get away with it.

Unbelievable.