水果派AV

The Auburn Castle, the 1871 Gothic revival mansion at 45 Owasco St., does not appear to have undergone any significant work since it was bought聽for $368,500 in October 2020.

According to Cayuga County property records, the mansion was bought by a Suzanne Cranmer. But she represents the actual buyer, according to broker Michael DeRosa, who arranged an auction for the mansion that attracted more than 350 bids. Neither Cranmer nor the buyer, whom DeRosa declined to identify on the record, responded to requests for comment on the mansion by 水果派AV.

Much work was done on the mansion by its previous owner, Patrick Collier Connelly, who bought it in 2017 and popularized the Auburn Castle name by maintaining a page for the restoration on Facebook. The mansion was designed by Nelson Hamblin to resemble the manors of Scotland, the native country of its first occupants, Auburn Woolen Mill Superintendent Samuel Laurie and his wife, Jeanie.

While the castle sits quiet 鈥� and rumors stir once more this Halloween season that it's haunted 鈥� the restoration of another historic Auburn mansion is moving ahead of schedule.

The Seymour mansion at 113 North St. received its certificate of occupancy in July, two years after the 1861 mansion was bought聽for $50,000 by James and Katie Joynt of Doylesburg, Pennsylvania.

Like the Auburn Castle, the Seymour mansion made headlines in the months prior to its sale. The Joynts were among more than 200 who submitted offers to the city of Auburn, which owned the property, after a marketing campaign coordinated by DeRosa. Among those interested were Netflix star and influencer Christine McConnell, who visited the mansion in December 2019.

After they acquired the property, the Joynts set a timeline of five to six years for restoring it, James told 水果派AV on Tuesday. But the mansion should be ready for them and their children to move in even sooner. That's perhaps because the residents are also the restorers: Aside from a contractor who repaired the mansion's four furnaces, all the work there has been "Joynt labor," James said.

"I've got very talented kids," he said, noting that two of his and Katie's eight children are carpenters.

The Joynts have been working on the whole 6,000-square-foot Victorian mansion at once, James continued, both stabilizing it and stripping away the apartments where its most recent occupants lived.

Two apartments have been removed, including one that filled a single room of the mansion with a living room, dining room, bedroom, kitchen and bath, as well as drop ceilings. Another apartment and two kitchens have also been removed. The Joynts repaired all the plaster in the mansion to seal it, from the bottom of the curved wooden staircase to the attic, and caulked over every room.

The mansion's bats have been evicted as well, James said.

"It's one big family house now, instead of six different apartments," he said.聽"I suppose we've just sort of been chipping away at the whole thing. We're approaching everything slow and steady."

Outside the mansion, the family has fixed the stone front steps, repointed the brickwork, landscaped half of the overgrown yard, and cut down seven ash trees killed by the emerald ash borer. As they decide what to plant they're referring to old gardening books, James said, hoping to find what thrived on the 1-acre property when the mansion was built for Auburn banker James S. Seymour.聽

The Joynts know a little about planting, having managed Amish produce co-op Path Valley Farms. They've sold their farm in Pennsylvania, James said, as they transition to living in the mansion. He now spends most of his time in Auburn, where Katie grew up, n茅e Klink, and has grandparents. Some of her childhood friends in the Rochester area are thinking about moving back, James added.

"If we didn't like it here as much as we do, I don't think they would think about coming back," he said. "But we love it and we advertise it as much as we can. It's wonderful."

Before the Joynts can call their new Auburn home completed, however, there's still much work left on their list. Many of the mansion's rooms need to be trimmed out, and the floors need to be refinished. The two-story carriage house behind the mansion is a "year four" item, James said. The family also has to figure out how to manage its space, as the rooms are large but limited in number.

Still, James doesn't foresee any major challenges in what's been a faster, cheaper restoration than he expected.

"The mansion actually wasn't in as bad a shape as I imagined," he said. "Everything that was wrong had to be fixed, but most of it was just that 鈥� fixing it."

When deputies with the sheriff's office arrived, it appeared based on their observations that Kuhn, a corporal with the custody division of the sheriff's office who was off-duty at the time of the incident, was "under the influence of alcohol," Schenck said.

Kuhn, who was the only person in the pickup truck, was charged with driving while intoxicated-first offense, a misdemeanor, Schenck said. He was also issued tickets for moving from a lane unsafely, operating an unregistered motor vehicle and having an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.

The sheriff said he was limited in what he could say about how the office is handling potential disciplinary action because it is a personnel matter, but did confirm that Kuhn will be placed on administrative leave.

it responded to the crash, in which the driver was extricated and taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse by the Four Town First Aid Squad. Eighteen department members and four chiefs were at the scene, the fire department said. Kuhn remained in the hospital as of Thursday afternoon, Schenck said.

Dispatchers said the people in the residence were displaced and American Red Cross was called in to assist them. The Cayuga County Sheriff's Office, New York State Police and Cayuga County Emergency Management Office, with a collapsed tool trailer, were also at the scene, 911 added.

Schenck said the incident is still under investigation and that anyone with information is asked to call (315) 253-1179.

John Fall Sr., Geddes Police Department chief, told 水果派AV Tuesday that investigators secured an arrest warrant for Otterstatter on two counts of third-degree burglary, a class D felony, and two counts of petit larceny, a misdemeanor, earlier this month.

Fall said an investigation determined that at around 1:17 p.m. Sept. 4, Otterstatter allegedly left Wegmans in Fairmount "without rendering payment" for $138.49 worth of goods. Nine days later at 10:17 a.m., Sept. 13, Otterstatter allegedly left that same Wegmans without paying for $276.58 in merchandise. Fall said Otterstatter used a self-checkout machine but did not scan most of the items he possessed.

The loss prevention officer for the Fairmount location filed a report with Geddes police on Sept. 15 regarding both incidents, Fall said, adding that the Fairmount store's loss prevention officer said he was familiar with Otterstatter due to unspecified incidents at the Wegmans in Auburn.

Wegmans had banned Otterstatter from all of its locations for a two-year period, effective on March 16, Fall said. The two burglary charges stem from him allegedly stealing items on those dates earlier this month while the ban was in effect.

Otterstatter declined to speak with 水果派AV about the case, but issued the following statement in an email: "Upon speaking with my attorney this morning, I鈥檝e been advised to inform you that I have not committed any crimes, nor have I in my nearly 52 years of life, and should not speak with you about this active case."

Auburn Police Chief James Slayton said in an email Tuesday that he is not aware of any incidents reported to the APD regarding Otterstatter and the Auburn Wegmans.

Slayton told 水果派AV that the Geddes Police Department reached out to the APD on Sept. 22 about its warrant for Otterstatter and asked if the APD would attempt to pick him up because he has a business in Auburn. The APD arrested Otterstatter at the restaurant at around 12:55 p.m. Sept. 22. Auburn police met Geddes police halfway between the two municipalities to transfer Otterstatter to the Geddes department's custody that same day. Fall said Otterstatter was later arraigned at the Onondaga County centralized arraignment court.

Otterstatter pursued one of two four-year seats for Auburn City Council in 2021. Running as a Republican, he did not win a seat, garnering the fewest votes out of the four candidates on the ballot.

During the campaign, Otterstatter said he had formerly served as a commander with the Weld County Sheriff's Office in Colorado and cited his experience in law enforcement as something that could help the city. Otterstatter has continued to criticize city government on occasion on his .

The Cayuga County Sheriff's Office confirmed Friday that Walczyk, 65, died after a collision with a delivery van in Aurelius Aug. 31.

Robert Franklin, detective lieutenant with the sheriff's office and commander of the criminal investigation division, said a 2007 Honda motorcycle, operated by Walczyk, was northbound on Fuller Road at around 1:13 p.m. when it collided with a van, driven by Seth Kasarda, 23, of Camillus, that was turning into a driveway.聽

Walczyk was taken to Auburn Community Hospital via ambulance and later succumbed to his injuries. Kasarda, the only person in the van, was not injured. Franklin said the sheriff's office's accident reconstruction unit recreated the incident, with results pending. Any charges are pending the results of the overall investigation, Franklin said.

Since Walczyk's death, Perkins and others remember him as devoted to his community and to helping others. In addition to being a life member of the fire department because he served for over 25 years, Walczyk was also a member of the Aurelius Town Board at the time of his death. Perkins said Walczyk had previously been a town fire commissioner, adding he believes Walczyk had been with the fire department for around 40 years.

The chief said he knew Walczyk for over 30 years and that his selflessness served as an example to the fire department and "he set a standard for the fire department in being a community servant." Perkins praised Walczyk's dedication.

"He's in his 60s, he's retired, it would have been very easy for him to say, 'I'm going to stay in bed at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning and let the younger people handle it,'" Perkins said. "He was still very, very active, still getting up, answering alarms up in the middle of the night, still answering alarms during the day."

Walczyk's steadfast inclination to assist others is what made him a good firefighter, Perkins said.

"It didn't matter if your car was broke down, you needed to borrow $20, you needed help fixing something in your house. He was just a very, very kind聽 person that was extremely willing to help anybody, whether he knew you or not, a perfect stranger to somebody who was a longtime friend. He was that kind of guy," Perkins added.

Walczyk's helpful nature was present earlier this spring, when Aurelius received a lot of rain and people were having issues with their basements. The fire department was called at one point to a woman's house who was having problems with the sump pump in her basement. The department determined the sump pump wasn't working and "did everything we could to try and get that sump pump working," although it was evident the woman was going to either need to acquire parts for it or get a new sump pump.聽

Since Walczyk owned a lot of rental properties in the area and had performed plumbing, carpentry work and more, Perkins said, the department figured Walczyk might have a sump pump or parts for one. Perkins called Walczyk, and he went over to the woman's house, free of charge, on at least three occasions because she was having difficulties. At one point, Walczyk gave the woman his cell phone number so she could call him when an issue arose, Perkins said.

The past few days have been "extremely difficult" for Perkins and the Aurelius fire department, he said. The department responded to the collision Walczyk was involved, but did not know he was there at first.聽

"We're a volunteer organization, there's not a lot of us, we're a very tight-knit group. It's bad enough that we have to go to these incidents and the tragedy, but it compounds the situation, makes it exponentially worse when it's one of your own people, you show up and realize who it is and you have to help," Perkins said.

Perkins is not sure he will ever meet another person like Walczyk again.

"I think everybody that volunteers to do whatever they volunteer to do, whether it's a firefighter, volunteering for the church or whatever, is very selfless, but I don't know that I will have the opportunity to meet a more caring and selfless person than Tom ... I thank him for teaching us that, living his life as that, making that example for us to live our lives by," Perkins said.

On the morning of Sept. 1, the fire department changed its profile picture to include a black band saying "LIFE MEMBER" and the No. 70, which was Walczyk's badge number.

Walczyk submitted a letter to the editor during his 2019 campaign for the town council seat, saying "I know what the town is like and what it can be. I'm not one to 'follow the crowd' and will never be classified as someone to sit on the sidelines. I ask questions. I listen to people to find out how a decision will impact ALL the people of the town聽鈥� not just a select few."

Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck told 水果派AV Friday he knew Walczyk well.

"He was a very active member of the community, very active member of the Aurelius fire department," Schenck said. "He was a dedicated public servant and he will certainly be missed."

Bower noted various vendors and not-for-profit organizations wanted to get involved this year. In addition, around 1,800 items had already been donated by that afternoon, she said, adding that people bring goods to the TomatoFest tables scattered around the event, so she anticipated that number would rise to around 1,900 by about 5 p.m. She said she was thrilled by the support, noting that gearing up for TomatoFest is essentially a yearlong process.

"We're going to be happy and excited for the rest of the year," she said. "We will have achieved our goal."

While the total amount of money raised Saturday will be determined by December, she said she believes around $10,000 has been collected already. Bower said that while she is happy about the donations, she feels the TomatoFest event is also about family fun.

"A family can come and be entertained, have their children do activities and also be entertained for an entire day, for free," she said.

Musical acts rocked out on a large stage on one end of the event at Genesee Street, but different performers could be found downtown as well. A strong crowd gathered around Nate "Nate the Great" Marshall as he did everything at different points from singing to juggling to playing an instrument while balancing an object on his nose. Activities such as seeing different creatures at MaxMan Reptile Rescue could also be found, with couple Dylan Ward-Richardson and Ayeesha Lamb and their daughter Annica Ward-Richardson, 10 months old, among those looking at a tortoise and other reptiles.

Friends Bill Kendall and Jolina Cutilo, with Kendall's dog, Freddie, on a leash, said they enjoyed the event. On their way to getting some food, Kendall described what he believed the appeal of the festivities was.

"It's a community event, end of the summer, people just want something to do," he said. "The weather's fantastic, it's a perfect day."

Cutilo also added what she thought brought people out.

"Good food and drinks, everybody's there," she said.

Auburn defeated East Syracuse Minoa 12-6 in overtime on Friday, leaning on a handful of defensive stops deep in its own territory.聽

It was a gutsy victory for a young Maroons squad, who rebounded after last week's thumping at Fayetteville-Manlius.聽

Dave Moskov credited the team's defense for not only forcing an overtime situation, but playing its best when the chips were down.聽

"All the credit goes to (defensive coordinator Matt Moskov)," Dave Moskov said. "You give him some film聽鈥� we didn't have much on F-M last week聽鈥� and he can break it down and figure out what to do. Take away their first score, the defense was outstanding all night long."

A touchdown with 27 seconds left in the second quarter by Auburn's Lee Joyner secured a 6-6 tie at halftime. That'd be the final score of regulation, though it was not for lack of chances.聽

Multiple times in the second half, the Spartans advanced deep in Auburn territory but failed to punch the ball into the end zone.聽

The biggest stop came in the fourth quarter. At the beginning of that final frame, ESM had second-and-3 from the Auburn 5 but were pushed backward on consecutive plays by junior lineman Dom London (14 tackles, three sacks) and freshman linebacker Christian London (nine tackles). That led to a turnover on downs.聽

Auburn failed to score on the ensuing drive, pushing the game to overtime.聽

In high school overtime, each team has at least one possession that begins with a first-and-10 from the opposing 20-yard line. The Maroons won the toss and elected to go second.聽

"We just wanted to see what they would do," Moskov said. "They have a kicker, so maybe we would've forced them into a (field goal attempt). We don't have much of a kicking game, so we would've tried to score a touchdown and go for two anyway, but it just worked out."

The plan worked. Dom London sacked Spartans quarterback Nick Commisso on the first two downs, forcing a third-and-20. An incomplete pass on third down and a tackle at the line of scrimmage on fourth down ended ESM's lone overtime possession.聽

Kemauri Perry was Auburn's most explosive offensive player all night, and he was rewarded with the bulk of the work on the Maroons' possession. On the winning play of the game, Perry took a toss to the left and found the seam to the end zone from the 1-yard line.聽

Auburn's primary tailback finished with 172 yards on 35 rushing attempts. Joyner added 32 yards on seven carries, and was also credited with a pair of sacks on defense.聽

"Perry was the workhorse tonight," Moskov said. "The game plan this week was to establish the run. We've got some young offensive linemen who are big and physical. Kemauri showed us some good things last week. That was the No. 1 goal to establish him with the ground game."

Through the start of the season, Moskov has preached the youthfulness of his team. Though pre-snap penalties were far too common for his liking, he thinks Friday's dramatic win can be a building block for the team.聽

Auburn (1-1) will host Watertown next week with a chance to break over .500.聽

"This will be tremendous for their confidence," Moskov said. "A lot of these kids have never been a part of a win. We've been selling them on a vision, which is something they've only heard about or maybe saw from the student section last year. To get that payoff tonight, those messages sink in."

Acting District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci said in a news release that evidence in a three-day trial showed that Decker consistently violated numerous court issued orders of protection in favor of the victim, his ex-wife.

On April 5, 2021, Decker left a written note on the woman鈥檚 vehicle. On five occasions in 2021, he sent numerous text messages to the victim, and on Dec. 2, 2021, he followed her to a bowling alley. "All of these actions were in direct violation of a duly served full stay away order of protection," Grome Antonacci said.

The jury of six women and six men deliberated for just under two hours. Senior Assistant District Attorney Heather De Stefano handled the trial, with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Amanda Casselman. Decker faces up to 9 1/3 to 28 years in prison and was sent to the Cayuga County Jail with no bail. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2023.

鈥淲e are pleased with the jury鈥檚 verdict and commend them for the time and consideration they gave listening to and reviewing the evidence throughout the trial," Grome Antonacci said. "We hope that this conviction provides the victim with justice and allows her to continue to heal after a lengthy ordeal with the defendant. We understand that it takes a great deal of strength to come forward, especially as a victim of domestic violence.鈥�

"We realized we weren't approaching safety correctly. People were getting hurt," she said. "We were working harder and making less money, and it was stressing everyone out."

The costs of worker's compensation and equipment repair continued to increase until 2020. After a computer virus forced the company offline for several weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic began in the U.S. in March. For months, half of Page's clients told the company they couldn't accommodate trucks. So the Tituses took the opportunity to bring their business into the body shop.

They didn't just want to make Page more profitable, said Piper, the company's chief financial officer. They wanted to reimagine trucking in a new way 鈥� one their competitors may not be willing to.

"This industry historically runs hard, but that isn't how it has to be," she said. "We want to say to drivers, you don't have to work 70 hours a week. This job doesn't have to suck your life."

The result of those repairs is a $12 million new building and several new facilities spanning that building and Page's longtime one on Trombley Road, just off Route 34 and New York State Thruway Exit 40. The company will host a grand opening celebration for its workforce of 220 on Saturday. The building opened a year ago, but the celebration was delayed due to COVID-19.

The main part of the new building is an eight-bay heavy duty repair facility. About 8,500 square feet, it boasts a state-of-the-art exhaust system that limits exposure to fumes. There is also plenty of natural light, which Titus said was intended to give Page's mechanics peace of mind. A bridge across the top of the shop, meanwhile, allows people to watch repairs from a safe distance.聽

With that space and light, employee wellness was an emphasis of the new facility. It's even more of an emphasis at Page's new $2 million Driver Care Center, which opened in the company's old building. The facility is for Page's 350 drivers, many of whom are over-the-road, and offers them sleeping rooms, bathrooms, a movie room, a kitchen, a living room and a quiet room.

"Most of these guys' trucks are mobile homes on wheels. This way they can get a shower that's not at a truck stop," Piper said. "It helps reinforce our message to our drivers that they're our priority."

The needs of other employees influenced the facilities as well. A new quiet room is available for all who need it, but Piper noted it should be particularly helpful for nursing mothers tired of having to use a bathroom. Page's office is staffed by more than 60% women, she added. For mechanics, the fact they're often covered in grease was considered when designing facilities like the kitchen.

The company's old building is also the site of new training facilities, including a Department of Labor diesel mechanic apprenticeship lab. The lab is halfway done, Titus said. Page hopes to create mechanics, drivers and more trucking professionals, and not necessarily for its own workforce. In that respect, Titus sees the company as having "an opportunity to be stewards of the business."

Titus said Page has already met two of three job creation requirements of a $1.2 million state grant it is聽receiving聽through the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council to support the new facilities. Similarly, she has already seen the benefits of the company's new "culture of care" since starting to implement it a few years ago. With programs like profit sharing and budgeting resources helping them financially and the new facilities helping them physically and mentally, Page employees feel safer talking about change, she said, if only because they've seen it there firsthand.

"We see the trajectory for giving individuals and ultimately families the ownership to chart their own course," she said. "To have the job be enriching, not just an exchange of services."

The hunter reported that the man had 鈥渃hecked鈥� the group鈥檚 hunting licenses and firearms, took down their information, and proceeded to confiscate a .22 rifle before leaving the area.

The DEC said in a news release that the hunters were leery but complied and managed to take a brief video of the man who was questioning them.

The DEC said that the impersonator later emailed the group claiming the rifle was unlawful.

Using the short video clip and the email address used to contact the hunters, an investigator was able to positively identify the subject as Zachary Harvey, 24, of Weedsport.

Officers tracked down Harvey, took him into custody without incident and聽 recovered the stolen firearm, the DEC said. Harvey was charged with two counts of criminal impersonation, two counts of grand larceny, and one count of criminal possession of stolen property, all felonies. He was taken to the Cayuga County Jail pending arraignment, and the DEC said the investigation is continuing.

The DEC reported that in 2021, 282 Environmental Conservation Police Officers and investigators across the state responded to 26,207 calls and worked on cases that resulted in 11,562 tickets or arrests for violations ranging from deer poaching to solid waste dumping, illegal mining, the black market pet trade, and excessive emissions violations.

Morrissey, who used to be a school resource officer, was arrested by the Cayuga Country Sheriff's Office on March 3 on the sexual abuse, misconduct and endangering charges following an investigation started the day before at the request of the APD. The sheriff's office said at the time that Morrissey engaged in "repeated inappropriate conduct with a student occurring in and around the City of Auburn including Auburn High School where he was serving as a School Resource Officer." Morrissey has been out on $25,000 cash bail. The disseminating indecent material charge was added in the indictment.

George Hildebrandt, Morrissey's attorney, said Thursday that his client was pleading not guilty to the charges. Cayuga County Senior Assistant District Attorney Heather De Stefano said there weren't any changes warranting changing Morrissey's bail but noted the district attorney's office was ready to go to trial. Leone told Morrissey he needed to go before him for a pre-trial conference on Thursday, Oct. 13 and that he needed to stay in contact with Hildebrandt and "not get into trouble."

The indictment alleges that in February, Morrissey subjected a child who was 14 at the time "to sexual contact by forcible compulsion when he grabbed her hand and placed it on his penis." In describing the disseminating indecent material charge, the indictment said Morrissey "engaged in video call conversations with (the underaged victim) which were sexually explicit in nature."

When Morrissey appeared in Auburn City Court March 8, Judge David Thurston denied a request from Hildebrandt to dismiss the felony sexual abuse charge. The APD聽announced March 24 that Morrissey had been fired and that "a result of the internal investigation into this alleged relationship with the minor student, it was determined that overwhelming evidence exists to support that Morrissey was in fact pursuing and engaging in a relationship with the student." The department said that upon being made aware of the allegations against Morrissey, he was immediately removed from school grounds and suspended from employment. He was hired as a police officer on March 10, 2016, the department said, and was assigned to the Auburn Enlarged City School District as a school resource officer in 2018.

"Morrissey鈥檚 actions are in direct conflict with everything we expect from an officer with the Auburn Police Department," the APD said in a news release at the time of Morrissey's firing. "The Auburn Police Department members and administration will strive forward with our dedicated and ethical personnel to overcome the actions of one officer to continue the excellent service our community expects."