ORDA PURSUING 2012 YOUTH WINTER OLYMPICS

Lake Placid would be able to make a strong bid to host the first-ever Winter Youth Olympics in 2012, said Olympic Regional Development Authority Board Vice Chairman Serge Lussi at Tuesday’s ORDA board meeting.

Currently, 10 countries from four continents are bidding to host the Summer Youth Olympics to be held in 2010 with a winter games slated to follow in 2012.

Envisioned as a smaller-scale Winter Games, the youth Olympics will feature world-class amateur athletes – aged between 13 and 18 – from around the globe.

Lake Placid has hosted two Winter Olympics and next year will play host to the 28th annual Empire State Winter Games, which will draw thousands of athletes from across the state.

But before Lake Placid can put itself forward as a candidate city, it will need permission from the U.S. Olympic Committee which will select one city to name for consideration by the International Olympic Committee.

What makes Lake Placid particularly competitive is the stipulation by the IOC that no new facilities be constructed for the purpose of the youth games.  Lussi noted that few cities, aside from other past hosts of the Olympics such as Salt Lake City, meet that criteria.

“We could have the Youth Olympic games this winter if we really had to,” he said.

The U.S. Olympic Committee is scheduled to select its candidate city next spring.

In other news from Tuesday’s meeting, construction bids on ORDA's 81,000 square-foot conference center – to be built over the existing Lussi Rink – will be accepted on November 26 with planners hoping to break ground this coming February.

According to a time line shown to the ORDA board, the $20 million facility will be open for business by September of 2009.

Olympic Authority marketing director, Fran Sayers, noted that while only 6 percent of ORDA's business is through corporate and social convention events, the nation's ski areas are rapidly moving into the conference business to remain competitive. She said increased passenger air service from the Plattsburgh International Airport should help reduce the perception that Lake Placid is too remote for corporate retreats and industry conventions.

“The distance from major metro areas can be a liability that will be lessened as Plattsburgh airport ramps up its service,” she said.

ORDA is also teaming up with the Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau and convention centers in Albany and Niagara Falls to collaborate with marketing New York State as a convention destination.

“We feel that a team approach will make this project successful,” said Robert Hammond, ORDA's director of planning and construction.

ORDA planners are also touting the design's green features such as cisterns designed to catch rainwater to reduce water use, more energy efficient heating and cooling systems and a gray water system that will recycle run-off from the ice rink to help conserve water and reduce energy use.

-Jacob Resneck

HUNTER SHOT BY HIS OWN GUN IN LONG LAKE

A Gloversville man was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after he was shot by his own gun while hunting in the Long Lake area.

State Police say 35 year-old Joseph P. Christiano was hunting grouse in the Moose Pond area with a shotgun loaded with birdshot when the gun fell out of his shoulder holster.

He told police that the gun struck a rock on the ground and discharged one round of birdshot into his lower abdomen.

Christiano was taken by a private vehicle to the State Police station in Tupper Lake.  The Tupper Lake Rescue Squad responded and Christiano was transported by ambulance to Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake.

Information on his condition was not immediately available.

State Police say the incident remains under investigation.

-Chris Knight

TL MAN KILLED IN FALL FROM LADDER

A Tupper Lake man died Monday after he fell from a ladder while working at his home.

State Police Investigator Dennis Dwyer says 74-year old Jerry C. Lines was pressure washing his home when he fell approximately 14 feet from a ladder that had been placed on top of scaffolding.  The incident took place at approximately 1:30 p.m., although Dwyer said no one witnessed the accident.

An autopsy performed Tuesday at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake by Dr. C. Francis Varga determined Lines’ cause of death to be multiple blunt traumatic injuries due to a fall.

Franklin County Coroner Martin Hughes pronounced Lines dead at the scene. The death was ruled accidental.

-Mike Fritts

ESSEX COUNTY TO PAY DONALDSON’S LEGAL FEES

Essex County has reportedly agreed to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees spent by County Manager Cliff Donaldson in defending himself against a lawsuit that tried to remove him from office.

The county Board of Supervisors Finance Committee met to discuss the payment, estimated at $13,000, in executive session on Monday.  No action was taken after the closed-door meeting, but county Attorney Daniel Manning told the Plattsburgh Press-Republican that Donaldson will be paid.

“We’re going to pay it,” he said.  “The court ordered payment of reasonable legal fees.”

The decision should hold off an attempt by Donaldson’s attorney to hold the county in contempt of court for failing to reimburse him.  Manning said he believes that motion will be withdrawn.

A judge ruled April 12 that the county pay Donaldson’s legal fees.

He had been sued in 2005 by then-Board of Supervisors Chairman George Canon of Newcomb who wanted to remove Donaldson from office for residing outside Essex County.  But the suit was dismissed because Canon filed it without the support of the rest of the county board.

At the time of the lawsuit Donaldson lived in the Franklin County side of the Village of Saranac Lake.  He’s since changed his official residence to Essex County.

-Chris Knight

TUPPER SEWER PLANT UPGRADES MOVE FORWARD

The Tupper Lake Village Board authorized Mayor Mickey Desmarais to sign a contract this week with the Department of Environmental Conservation for an $875,000 grant.

The funding, for improvements to the village’s wastewater treatment system, was first announced by former Governor George Pataki last November.

The lion’s share of the money would be used for upgrades to the sewer plant, said Water and Wastewater Superintendent Bob Fuller. “We had to implement a plan on how we would spend that money to improve the wastewater quality,” said Fuller.

He said they’re planning to replace equipment and add more units for additional treatment. 

Fuller also said they’d probably upgrade one of the pumps located on Demars Boulevard due to additional flows coming from a newly created sewer district and the possibility of additional flows should the Adirondack Club and Resort project move forward.

In other business, the village board gave permission to Police Chief Tom Fee to buy a pair of free standing 911 phones so long as the town approves the purchase of an additional call box.

Fee said the phones would be placed in front of the village offices, at the entrance to the fire hall and at the town offices on Demars Boulevard.  “I think it’s imperative you get one over to the fire department considering that you have talking about that possibly being an unmanned station,” said Fee.

Fee said it would cost $2,885 for three phones, which would be directly wired to the county 911 center in Malone. Fee said he’d also like to have one installed at the town beach.

“Sometimes you’ve got to bite the bullet for public safety,” said Trustee Tim Larkin.

Trustee Earl Fletcher said he was concerned the phones could be prone to vandalism but Fee said they are virtually indestructible.

Trustee Larkin added that video cameras could serve as a deterrent to would-be vandals.

-Mike Fritts

DEC FOREST RANGERS SEARCH AND RESCUE CALLS

Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers responded to several search and rescue calls in the last few weeks.

On Sunday, September 30 at approximately 1:40 a.m. the DEC forest ranger stationed in Blue Mountain Lake was contacted by an individual reporting his girlfriend, 21 year-old Jamie Bazan of Syracuse, had injured her lower leg while hiking the Northville-Placid Trail. Forest rangers located Bazan, packaged and carried her to the north end of Tirrell Pond where she was flown out by Helms Air Service. After landing in Long Lake, Bazan was transported by Long Lake Ambulance Squad to Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake.

On October 6 at around 11 p.m. DEC dispatch was notified by state police that 48 year-old Neil Shapiero of Scotia and two others were lost after a hike on Seward Mountain in the Town of Harrietstown. The group had made a wrong turn and got lost on a series of roadways on private land. Rangers made cell phone contact with Mr. Shapiero, and the hiking party was eventually located.  The group retuned to their campsite in good condition by 2:30 a.m.

Also on October 6, Washington County 911 notified DEC dispatch at 7:30 p.m. about two individuals lost in the Lake George Wild Forest in the Town of Fort Ann. 18 year-old Andrew Lewis and a hiking companion had been overcome by darkness while hiking the summit of Sleeping Beauty Mountain. Without a flashlight they were unable to proceed. Forest Rangers located the two at approximately 1 p.m. after speaking with Lewis via cell phone. They were escorted back to the trailhead.

On October 8 at 4 p.m. forest rangers joined New York State Police and Warren County Sheriff’s Deputies in a search for 40 year-old Paul Morris of Granville, New York. His family was reportedly concerned about his health and welfare. He was last seen entering the woods at the Eleventh Mountain trailhead in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness, Town of Johnsburg.  Forest Rangers and a DEC Conservation Officer K-9 Unit encountered Morris attempting to return to his vehicle. He was escorted to the trailhead and turned over to the Warren County Sheriff’s Department.

On October 9 at roughly 7:35 p.m. DEC dispatch received a call that 18 year-old Matt Ersing of West Falls was overdue from a hiking trip in the Brown’s Tract Pond area, Pigeon Lake Wilderness in the Town of Long Lake. Rangers searched through the night but were enable to locate Ersing. Search efforts began at first light the following day and at approximately 11:30 a.m. he was found in good condition near Shallow Lake. Ersing was escorted out of the woods and reunited with his family.

Also in the past couple weeks DEC Forest Rangers in Region 5 along with local volunteer fire departments worked to suppress five wildland fires that burned approximately 6.3 acres.

-Mike Fritts

MURDER SUSPECT FOUND HIDING IN UTICA APARTMENT

A man being sought in the death of his aunt was being held without bail Tuesday after he was found hiding in a Utica apartment, state police said.

36 year-old Jack Allen Jr. of Constable was arraigned late Monday on a charge of third-degree robbery for a holdup at a convenience store in Verona, west of Utica.

Allen was scheduled to return to court Friday for a felony hearing. State police said late Tuesday that he also will face homicide charges.

Allen was taken into custody without incident after police received an anonymous tip about where he was.

State police believe Allen killed his aunt, 45 year-old Mary Allen, in their home in Constable and then stole her car. Her body was found Sunday.

Allen was caught on video tape entering the convenience store, where he approached the counter to purchase a pack of gum and then pushed the clerk out of the way and grabbed an undisclosed amount of cash from the register, according to state police. Allen did not show a weapon at the Verona store, troopers said. The clerk was not hurt.

Police said Allen's parents live in the Oneida-Rome area.

An autopsy conducted Tuesday found that Mary Allen died from multiple blunt force trauma to the head, and the Franklin County coroner ruled her death a homicide.

Jack Allen, who is Mary Allen's nephew by marriage, had been living with her for the past month.

Mary Allen was last seen alive on Friday. A motive for the killing remained under investigation.

Allen has not yet been charged with his aunt's murder. State police said his case would likely be presented to a Franklin County grand jury.

-AP wire reports

POLICE AND FIRE REPORT

Two local men were arrested Monday after DEC Environmental Conservation Officers and State Police investigated a report they were illegally hunting in the Ray Brook area.  Police say 18 year-old George W. Setzer of Lake Placid and 22 year-old Gregory J. Hayward of Saranac Lake saw a deer near the former redemption center in Ray Brook and allegedly shot at the animal.  A person doing yard work nearby filed a complaint with DEC saying he was almost hit by the gunfire.  After an investigation, Setzer was charged by police with second-degree reckless endangerment.  He was also issued tickets for alleged violations of environmental conservation law including discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling and hunting after hours.  Hayward was issued tickets for discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, discharge of a firearm from a public highway, hunting without a license, hunting after hours and other environmental conservation violations.  Both men were issued tickets to appear in Town of North Elba Court on October 22.

Saranac Lake Police arrested 20 year-old Whitney M. Lasher of Saranac Lake at 10 p.m. Tuesday night.  She was charged with third-degree falsely reporting an incident and making a punishable false written statement.  Police say Lasher allegedly falsely reported an incident to police and made a false written statement.  She was processed and released on an appearance ticket returnable to village court October 22.

Lake Placid firefighters were called Tuesday to State Route 73 near the North Country School for a motor vehicle accident.  One truck and 19 members responded at 3:58 p.m.  No injuries were reported.  Firefighters returned to the fire station by 5:17 p.m.