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"We're getting the outside nice and dressed up," he said.

According to Cayuga County property records, Cummins bought the restaurant from its namesake, Cynthia Devaney, for $225,000 in December. Its 2022 full market value is $203,718.

Cummins, a real estate broker who lives in Lysander, told himself he would never buy a restaurant again after owning and operating the Cross Lake Inn & Marina in Cato about a decade ago. He also had stakes in the Cato Hotel, the Colonial Inn and Pirate's Landing in northern Cayuga County. But the former Devaney's presented a favorable opportunity, he said.

The restaurant, which opened as Devaney's in the early 2000s and closed in early 2020, reopened under Cummins with counter service instead of a wait staff. He also installed a soft ice cream machine inside and a pickup window, and is adding a pizza parlor and fryers within the next week. Future plans include an outside kitchenette and bar, possibly a Tiki bar for events like clambakes.

"We get a hell of a crowd there on Thursdays," said Cummins, who also recently purchased the Sunset Restaurant in Auburn. "Hopefully we can get something going."

Smith, of Throop, has purchased the 96 State St. restaurant from the Dello Stritto family, who have owned and operated Curley's since opening it in 1933.

According to Cayuga County property records, Smith purchased the property on Friday for $400,000. The restaurant includes a 1,700-square-foot mahogany deck overlooking the Owasco River.

Both will be renovated over the next few months, Smith told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV on Monday. The owner of Lakeside Construction, Smith said he wants to make the restaurant look as original as possible. For instance, to renovate the exterior, he has tracked down the kind of handmade clay bricks that were commonly used 100 years ago from a vendor in Elbridge, he said.

The result will "blow people's minds," Smith said.

"This is surreal to me, and an honor," he said. "So many people love this place, so to be part of bringing it back to the city means a lot to me."

Inside the restaurant, Smith and his wife, Jessica Smith, plan to shift the traditionally Italian menu toward more tavern fare. There will be a signature burger, which they want to become known as "the best burger in Auburn," he said. But they've purchased some favorite Curley's recipes from the Dello Strittos, including the pizza, breaded chicken and jojo potato fries.

The Red Suspender Room in the basement will return as well, Smith said, but possibly with some changes in its rental policy. Above Curley's, he wants to renovate the two three-bedroom apartments for either rental or use on Airbnb. They need a new sprinkler system, he said, but otherwise, he wants to preserve them as much as possible, particularly their "very impressive" woodwork.

Owning a restaurant has been a lifelong dream, Smith said. Still, neither he nor his wife have much experience working at one, so they plan to hire managers, cooks and other staff who can help them. That includes some former employees of the restaurant, who have reached out about returning. Smith can also turn for advice to his parents, who own a restaurant in the Catskills region.

The Dello Strittos have been "extremely kind" to Smith during the transition, he said, "even though it definitely wasn't easy for them." Three generations of the family ran the restaurant, beginning with founder Angelo "Curley" Dello Stritto. It closed in March 2020, when all restaurants across the state were limited to takeout and delivery due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The family listed the restaurant for sale for $625,000 in December. Its 2022 full market value is $367,400, according to Cayuga County property records.

Smith said work on the Curley's exterior will begin in a week or two. He hopes to reopen the restaurant within three to four months.

"So many people love it," he said. "I don't think it'll be hard getting people back in it."

There was only one other bidder for the restaurant, Cummins said, but they had "contingencies" for buying it. He declined to identify the other bidder.

About 100 people attended the auction, where several of the Sunset's contents were also sold. The priciest of them was an 8-foot Tiffany & Co. grandfather clock that sold for $7,000, Cummins said.

The auctioneer bought the Sunset with the intent of reselling it, he said. He already has five businesses, including the newly opened Seneca Riverside in Weedsport, formerly Devaney's.

"Did I need to buy it? No, I didn't," Cummins said. "If there was one more bid, I wouldn't have bought it."

In the meantime, Cummins is working to reopen the Sunset within the next couple months. He has already met with a contact about securing a license from the state Liquor Authority, he said. If the restaurant does open under his ownership, the food menu would be limited until he finds the right manager, chef and other personnel to run the business day to day.

The 8,200-square-foot restaurant is turnkey, Cummins said, so it doesn't need any major renovation work. He would like to start replacing some of the older equipment in the kitchen, and move the liquor room upstairs from the basement. He also plans on removing the old kitchen equipment from the property's 30-by-60-foot pole barn.

But if someone wants to buy Cummins' contract for the restaurant before he closes on it by Aug. 31, he's listening to offers.

"I'd sell, but I would like to profit," he said. "I think the property has tremendous potential. It's always done great business."

William and Helen Seloma Sedor opened the Sunset in 1933 and operated it for years. They were succeeded by their son, Peter Sedor, who ran the restaurant as a popular destination for banquets and other special dining occasions until he passed away in March 2020 at the age of 91. His wife, Mary Sedor, operated the Sunset after him but had to close it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restaurant was first listed for sale for $850,000 in January. According to Cayuga County property records, its 2022 full market value is $496,300.

"We’ve actually been looking at Auburn for quite some time now," Payne said in an email. "It’s incredibly unique and fits perfectly with what we’re looking for in a new community to join. With our stores in Rochester and Syracuse, adding another location in between to help 'bridge the gap' helps to bring our unique offering to even more customers who are between the two markets."

Founded in 1984 in Farmington by the Payne family, and still operated by them, CountryMax offers food and supplies for dogs, cats, birds, horses and other wildlife, as well as garden supplies, home décor, clothing and more. Brad Payne said the Auburn location will boast some unique features, including the newest version of the chain's in-store event space for birthdays and more, its newest self-serve dog wash stations, state-of-the-art climate-controlled pet rooms, one of CountryMax's largest nursery plant yards and an expanded selection of dog and cat food and supplies.

The 1561 Clark St. Road store, which the Payne family hopes to open in time for next year's lawn and garden season, will employ about 20 full- and part-time employees depending on the season. The store will also indirectly support the addition of more employees to CountryMax's facilities, transportation and operations teams across New York state, Brad Payne said.

Crews could be seen preparing the former Aldi in recent weeks. After 25 years there the discount grocery chain left the space, located near Fingerlakes Mall, for one in Auburn Plaza in February 2021. 

For more information about CountryMax, visit .

At the festival grounds with his grandson Adam, 12, and daughter-in-law Jessica, John Shaw said he has participated in the event year after year because is his late father Gene loved the festival, "so I kept doing this to make sure he had it." Shaw said Gene appreciated that it was a local happening and he liked the horses that are a part of the event and seeing the old-fashioned farming equipment get used.

"He just liked seeing this old stuff work again," Shaw said.

Shaw, one of the organizers for the event and a board member for the historical association back when the festival started, said the field behind the museum, where members of the draft horse club and others were going to harvest wheat, is on the land of his family's farm, Shaw Farms, although he is no longer a part of the farm. He noted that various other members were involved in the event Saturday.

Jessica said the festival is a fun community event.

"Everybody likes watching the old equipment run, everybody likes getting together," she said. 

Different parts of the day included a bouncy house, a cake wheel, threshing barn tours, and chicken barbecue from the King Ferry Fire Department. Among the vendors at the festival grounds were Bob and Shirley Kozlowski, who were selling honey. The Kozlowskis have a bee yard at their home, and their table at the event included a glass observation hive displaying an estimated 500 bees. Away from the vendors were Mandy Frink and her stepdaughter, Montana Marshall, with horses Bob and King. Frink and Marshall, both members of the draft horse club, were going to take part in the wheat harvesting set to occur after the parade.

"We enjoy sharing our horses with the public, so any time the draft house club has anything to do with the public, we come out and try and help teach other people about the animals," Frink said.

The parade featured various cars, tractors and some vehicles from different fire departments. Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck was among the people in the event. Children in some vehicles and floats tossed candy at the crowd. Siblings William and Kate Slaugh scurried to the sweets, each amassing a fair amount of goods in separate plastic bags. William, 5, and Kate, 3, were with their parents, Vince and Lindsey, and their younger sibling Colette, 1, was in a stroller.

Vince talked what he believes makes the event special, adding, "It's great to see the community's agricultural heritage on display."

"It's really the big annual event where the community comes together. Outside of schools, there aren't as many big events in this area, he said. "It's probably the biggest event of the year for the community."

Overstreet was arrested and charged by Auburn police twice in the spring, on May 19 and May 26. The case was reviewed by a grand jury and he has now been indicted.

The indictment alleges that five male minors, ages ranging from 12 to 15 at the time of the alleged incidents, were persuaded to engage in sexual performances that were digitally recorded and kept by Overstreet.

Rome Canzano, Overstreet's attorney, argued Thursday for Overstreet to be given the opportunity to post bail. Canzano noted Overstreet is 18 years old and has no prior criminal charges. Canzano also mentioned that Overstreet's family had previously posted bail for him after he was first arrested, but Overstreet was then arrested again and has been held in custody since.

"Obviously, he's aware these are extremely serious allegations," Canzano said.

The Cayuga County District Attorney's Office recommended Overstreet's bail be set at $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond. Cayuga County Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher Valdina said Overstreet had been charged with not only possessing sexual material of minors but was charged with inducing minors to commit sexual acts and "actually producing the pornography."

Leone ultimately set Overstreet's bail at $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond or $300,000 partially secured bond, higher than the recommendation from the district attorney's office.

The charges, according to the indictment, involved Overstreet allegedly possessing sexual material from minors and directing minors to send sexually explicit photos or videos of themselves. The crimes took place in Auburn in January, March and April. 

Auburn Police Department Detective Adam Rivers, asked in the spring about whether Auburn students were thought to be the alleged victims in the case after Overstreet's second arrest, told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV in an email that Overstreet "is not currently enrolled in school at Auburn High School so I believe students will not have an issue in the future."

A 2014 graduate of Auburn High School who had been living in California, Major was found and arrested in Iowa and was being held in federal custody with a detention hearing scheduled for Monday. But on Friday, the federal public defender's office in Iowa said Major waived his rights to such a hearing and also his rights to preliminary in the case.

The federal judge in Iowa ordered authorities to transport Major back to California, where the criminal case will proceed to a grand jury investigation

The FBI said Major convinced two women, including one he knew from Auburn, to make tens of thousands of dollars in purchases for him by claiming he couldn't make transactions due to the secret nature of his intelligence work. When both women attempted to cut ties with him, he sent them threatening messages, according to the criminal complaint.

The alleged victim from the Auburn area told investigators that she stopped communication with Major in October 2020, but he then began sending frequent texts and emails and attempted to call her up to 1,000 times per day. She reported the threatening messages to the Auburn Police Department in January 2021, but local law enforcement authorities said they could not investigate because the alleged conduct took place in California.

Major began reaching out to the alleged victim's father with the threatening messages, but he also at one point told the father he had arranged to reimburse the man's daughter. Major had his mother, who worked at Auburn Community Hospital with the alleged victim's father, write a check to her for $25,000. That checked bounced, and Major's mother was arrested in April 2021 for knowingly issuing a bad check. According to the FBI complaint, Michelle Major has been ordered to pay restitution of $100 per month for five years..

The federal investigation of Major began in June when the other alleged victim, a woman he met in San Francisco, filed a complaint with the FBI National Threat Operations Center.

The U.S. Attorney's Office had asked that Major continue to be held in custody, saying he is a flight risk and a threat to the safety of others. The stalking charge against Major is punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.

The Cayuga County Office of Real Property Services told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV it has no higher sale prices in its records.

According to the office, the previous most expensive sale of a home on the lake was 6653 E. Lake Road in the town of Owasco, which sold for $1,200,000 in 2007. The home at 363 Cottonwood Lane sold for $1,125,000 in 2015, and was sold along with the neighboring property at 367 Cottonwood Lane, which sold for an additional $300,000.

Karissa Thompson of  sold the home on behalf of previous owners the Buhl family. They custom-built the 4,200-square-foot home in 2013, the agency told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV. The family put the home in the market in hopes of downsizing, and after 46 days the home went under contract to a couple from New York City with ties to the area. 

Other highlights of the Scipio home include views of Owasco Lake through floor-to-ceiling windows and French doors, as well as 154 feet of waterfront. The home also has solar panels, a covered porch and deck, an outdoor shower and a double-sided fireplace. In its listing, the Real Estate Agency called the home a "truly private sanctuary and oasis."

The sale closed as the real estate market continues a surge that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the New York State Association of Realtors, median home sale prices $480,000 in May, an increase of 35.2% from the previous year and the 25th straight month the figure has increased year-over-year.

Copes was charged by the Auburn Police Department in the shooting of John Wesley Smith III, 37, of Syracuse, who was found dead in front of Swifty's Tavern in Auburn around 1:40 a.m. March 15. During arraignment in late May, Copes entered not guilty pleas to charges of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Acting Cayuga County District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci said at the time that Copes was "caught on video shooting and killing the victim."

In court Thursday, Rome Canzano, Copes' attorney, argued for the judge to set bail for his client, as she has been held at the Cayuga County Jail since being arraigned. Canzano said Copes has maintained that she had been in the process of moving while she was out of state earlier this year when police were searching for her and that she turned herself in to authorities in South Carolina when an arrest warrant was issued for her in Cayuga County. Canzano said Copes also indicated to him that she was "not a flight risk." 

Cayuga County Chief Assistant District Attorney Chris Valdina said Copes had fled to South Carolina. He argued against Copes receiving bail.

"She's facing a life sentence. I don't think (bail) is a good idea at all. She's a tremendous flight risk," Valdina said.

Leone ultimately remanded Copes back to the jail and did not set bail.

Grome Antonacci previously noted Copes is facing maximum sentences of 25 years to life in state prison for the murder charge and 15 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision on the weapon count, running concurrently.

Canzano also said in court Thursday that he has been unable to file motions because he doesn't have all of the discovery materials relevant to the case, saying there are "well over 1,000 pages" of discovery documents related to the case. Valdina said Canzano already had the "major parts" of the case, including videos and "major police reports." Leone gave the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office 45 days to gather all of the evidence so Canzano can file his motions.

Copes' next day in court is scheduled for Oct. 27.