These are the top local stories of the past week.
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1 - A Truxton man wins the lottery and he couldn't be less excited
Truxton man wins $1M in lottery scratch-off game – "I have no idea what I'm gonna do with it," Donald McCall said after learning he won $ 1 million in a new lottery scratch-off game. "Lord knows I got enough family." McCall, who is also the town historian for Truxton, is 74 years old.
2 - Charges filed in hunting incident that left one man injured from a gunshot wound
Marathon man charged with assault, reckless endangerment in hunting incident – A Marathon man has been arrested in connection with an incident that occurred earlier this month in which a man who was hunting was shot by another man who was hunting in the same area.
Michael J. Quail, 53, of Fish Hill Road in Marathon, has been charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, a class D felony, and second-degree assault, also a class D felony (Photo: Cortland County Sheriff's Department)
3 - Virgil man accused of murder gets bail
Judge grants bail to Virgil man accused of killing 6-year-old daughter in crash – A Cortland County judge granted bail Tuesday to a Virgil man accused of killing his 6-year-old daughter in a car crash last April. Haynes received $100,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond.
4 - State funding will help fix aging infrastructure on Clinton Avenue
Cortland gets $1M grant for Clinton Avenue upgrades – New York State is expected to fund up to 25 percent of a project that involves repairing aging water and sewer lines beneath a major avenue in the city of Cortland. Several engineering studies have shown that the infrastructure beneath Clinton Avenue is deteriorating, according to one city official.
5 - Police: Bookkeeper for property management company wrote herself checks from the company
Cortland woman charged with stealing from employer – A Cortland woman is accused of stealing more than $20,000 from a property management company that she worked for, the Cortland Police Department announced Tuesday. Esther E. Bidwell, 57, of Sherman Road, was arrested Monday morning and charged with third-degree grand larceny and first-degree falsifying business records, both felonies. While working as a secretary for DLH Properties, Bidwell wrote checks to herself that totaled more than $23,000, according to Lt. Richard Troyer with the Cortland Police Department.
6 - Half a century later, Sheriff Lee Price retires from law enforcement
Cortland County Sheriff set to retire after 47-year tenure – After spending nearly half a century as a law enforcement officer in Cortland County, Lee Price is turning in his badge. Price was first appointed deputy sheriff in the department in 1968 and would go on to become a sergeant, lieutenant and an undersheriff before finally being elected sheriff in 2000.
Cortland County Sheriff Lee Price, left, receives the county flag from Jeremy Boylan, clerk of the Cortland County Legislature. Price is retiring at the end of this year and Boylan is leaving the legislature to work for Bailey Place Insurance (Peter Blanchard/Cortland Voice).
7 - Should New York State raise the age of criminal prosecution?
Cortland officials discuss merits, drawbacks of raising age of criminal prosecution – A forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Cortland County Wednesday night tackled the issue of whether or not 16-and 17-year-olds should be treated as juveniles in criminal cases. New York and North Carolina are the only two states where youthful offenders between the ages of 16 and 17 are prosecuted as adults.
From left, SUNY Cortland professor of philosophy Mechthild Nagel, Cortland County District Attorney Mark Suben, Cortland County Probation Director Lisa Cutia and City of Cortland Police Chief Michael Catalano (Peter Blanchard/Cortland Voice)
8 - A house burns down across the street from the Cortlandville Fire Department
Vacant house burns down near Cortlandville Fire Department – The Cortlandville Fire Department responded to a vacant house fire across the street from its main headquarters Saturday afternoon.
9 - Union rep. for county employees speaks out against pay raise for management
Pay raise for Cortland County management criticized by union rep. – Department heads and management employees in Cortland County government will receive a 1.5 percent raise in 2016 following a vote by the Cortland County Legislature Thursday night. The pay increase, which is tied to the county’s management compensation plan, was criticized by Colin Cummins, a CSEA union representative for more than 300 county employees.
10 - McGraw gets help from college students
SUNY Cortland students help McGraw manage water system – The village of McGraw can now efficiently manage any needed repairs or upgrades to its new $3 million public water distribution system, thanks to the diligent and trained efforts of two SUNY Cortland seniors.
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