These are the top local stories of the past week.
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1 – Patrick Perfetti seals win in Cortland County District Attorney race
With absentee ballots counted, Perfetti secures victory in Cortland County DA race — Patrick Perfetti safely declared victory in the race for Cortland County District Attorney after all of the absentee ballots were counted. Officials at the Cortland County Board of Elections finished counting 1,322 absentee ballots on Tuesday. Perfetti had held a slim margin of victory over incumbent DA Mark Suben, securing 167 more votes than the Democrat.
Patrick Perfetti with his wife, Carol, at the Cortland County Republican Committee headquarters on Port Watson Street, Cortland. (Photo: Peter Blanchard/Cortland Voice)
2 – Dryden man killed in Virgil crash
Authorities identify driver in fatal Virgil crash — A Dryden man has been identified as the sole victim in a car accident in the town of Virgil Monday night, the Cortland County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday. Thomas Rochat, 59, was traveling north on Kohne Road in a 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer Monday night when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a culvert, causing the vehicle to roll over, authorities said.
Emergency crews at the scene of a fatal car crash on Kohne Road in the town of Virgil Monday night (Photo: Peter Blanchard/Cortland Voice)
3 – Sheriff wants a bigger jail
Cortland County Sheriff: New jail facility should have 200-bed capacity — Cortland County Sheriff Mark Helms, who attended Thursday’s meeting of the jail committee, said county legislators should consider expanding the project from the originally proposed 150-bed jail to a facility that could hold at least 200 inmates. “I think you seriously need to consider looking at 200 [beds], which I can show you we will need in the future,” Helms told the committee. “Let me work on helping to pay for this so the taxpayers don’t have to." Helms said he would provide more information at the next committee meeting.
The Cortland County Jail, constructed in 1990, is an overcrowded and outdated facility, according to some local law enforcement officials (Photo: Peter Blanchard/Cortland Voice)
4 – Frank & Mary's in the spotlight
Cortland's Frank and Mary's Diner tops list of New York State diners — Frank and Mary's is the best diner in New York State, according to a recent ranking by the website Only In Your State. Located at 10 Port Watson Street, this rustic diner has been operating in Cortland since 1954.
Photo courtesy of Frank and Mary's diner website.
5 – College investigates racist graffiti
SUNY Cortland police investigating racist graffiti on campus — Police at SUNY Cortland are investigating two separate instances where racist graffiti was written on the wall of an academic building on campus following the November presidential election. In an email to college students, faculty and staff sent out last Wednesday — one day after Election Day — SUNY Cortland President Erik Bitterbaum said that the University Police Department is investigating the incidents.
6 – City considers tightening meth cleanup law
Cortland looks to set higher standard for cleaning up meth labs — Members of Cortland Common Council got a first look Tuesday night at a proposed law that would impose more stringent regulations for cleaning up city residences where methamphetamine was produced. The proposed legislation would allow the Cortland Fire Department to prevent the re-occupancy of city residences where meth was produced until testing “shows the premises to be free of Methamphetamine Lab residue,” the law reads.
Cortland City Hall (Cortland Voice file photo)
7 – Coach gets hall of fame nod
SUNY Cortland head coach Joe Brown inducted into New York State Baseball Hall of Fame — Cortland baseball head coach Joe Brown was inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame during the organization's annual awards luncheon Sunday, Nov. 13 in Troy, N.Y. Brown was among a group of honorees that included, among others, former major league players Willie Randolph, John Franco, David Palmer and the late John Cerutti, current New York Yankees television announcer Michael Kay, and the 2016 Little League World Series championship team from Maine-Endwell Little League.
Joe Brown speaking at the New York State Baseball of Fame annual awards luncheon, Sunday, Nov. 13, Troy, N.Y. (Photo by Micheal Clock)
8 – Cortland man on parole gets five years on drug-related charges
Cortland parolee sentenced to five years in prison — A Cortland man who was arrested on a parole violation in April was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison, according to officials in the Cortland County Clerk's office. William R. Clark, 28, was arrested on April 8 on charges of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.
William R. Clark (Photo: New York State Police)
9 – Cortland hospital gets new equipment
PHOTOS: Cortland Regional Medical Center installs $2.2 million MRI machine — On Tuesday morning, work crews installed a new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine at Cortland Regional Medical Center. The machine, located at the main hospital, will replace the West Road Outpatient magnet.
A construction crane lowers a new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine at Cortland Regional Medical Center Tuesday morning (Photo by Molly Lane)
10 – Allman Brothers Band member speaks out against Trump
Report: After Homer gig, Butch Trucks plans to leave America for good — Butch Trucks, one of the founding members of the Allman Brothers Band, is slated to perform with his band at the Center for the Arts of Homer on Thursday. Not long after the concert is over, Trucks tells Syracuse.com, he and his wife plan to leave the country, saying the couple can't live in America while Donald Trump is president.
