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DeRosa told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV he purchased the mansion so he can eventually sell it to someone who will restore it. He's no stranger to selling historic properties, having brokered the sale of the Auburn Castle and the Seymour mansion in Auburn, among others. But he has yet to decide how he'll market this one, as he's currently doing "due diligence," he said.

"I stepped into the charm of this historic property, and will be contributing to the preservation of an important piece of history," he said. 

Built in 1865, the Selover mansion is three stories and 5,054 square feet, with six bedrooms and two bathrooms. The brick Second Empire structure sits on .25 acres. Interior highlights include original hardwood floors, 10-foot wooden pocket doors, and a mahogany curved staircase that crosses all three floors and features intricately carved chestnut newel posts.

The mansion takes its name from William Selover, a prominent Moravia stone mill owner. He based its design on a pattern book of Victorian styles by A.J. Bicknell. So did his business partner, Frank Williamson, who built a nearly identical mansion at the corner of Church and William streets. At one point after Selover's residency, the mansion was a Veterans of Foreign Wars post.

The mansion's most recent owners, Du Mars and Irving, purchased it in 1993 while living in Manhattan, DeRosa said. They intended to make it their retirement home, but it required too much renovation. After turning on the heat caused the pipes to burst, spreading water damage throughout the walls and ceilings, the owners gutted the entire structure. That is how the mansion remains today, DeRosa said. Its next owner will also inherit an unused boiler in the basement that was never installed, as well as a hole dug there for an inground pool. 

DeRosa formed Selover Mansion Inc. to buy the property so he can sell the corporation itself to the buyer. That way, he explained, the buyer can remain anonymous. Before he begins marketing the mansion, however, he wants to reach out to the community to help him fill in its history. He plans to set up a Facebook page where people can post stories, pictures and more.

DeRosa added that he plans to continue acquiring historic properties like the Selover mansion, and putting them on the path to reclaiming their past glory.

"I want to help protect, preserve and restore what was once built in America that presently remains vacant," he said. "These (are) masterpieces of construction."

Over those years, Strohm saw intense action in Nazi territory four times: In Morocco in November 1942, in Italy in July 1943 and September 1943, and in France in August 1944. 

One of Cayuga County's last surviving World War II veterans, Strohm was repeatedly called a hero for his years of service. But he didn't believe that's true, he told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV.

"To me, the hero is the guy left laying on the beach, not the one who came back," he said. "They're the heroes."

After the war, Strohm settled in Auburn, where he started a family and worked at International Harvester and the American Locomotive Co. He also became active with several community organizations, including Polish Falcons and St. Hyacinth and Holy Family churches. Wegmans was his "second home," he joked, as he spent most mornings at the store's café, chatting with friends.

In his later years, Strohm had became so well-known in the community that his Oct. 12 birthday was celebrated with parades of cars and emergency vehicles past his Nelson Street home.

One reason Strohm was so well-known was his World War II veteran hats, which he was rarely seen without. Proud but not boastful of his service, he also stayed close with fellow veterans of World War II and other wars in the Cayuga County area. In 2017, he took a bus trip with some of them to see the war memorials of Washington, D.C., through Operation Enduring Gratitude.

"It is a crushing loss for the Operation Enduring Gratitude family," the organization on Facebook, "and all those whose lives were improved by knowing this great man."

"While we do maintain our sense of humor, the City of Auburn does not condone the creation or circulation of false information. The intentional misrepresentation of the law and the forgery of the signature of an elected official are illegal acts and should be taken seriously," Mason said, referring to the forged signature of Mayor Michael Quill on the letter and its use of the city's official letterhead.

While people have contacted the city about the letter, Mason continued, many of them did so understanding that it was probably fake.

Dated March 28, the letter tells residents that the new law was prompted by complaints from a citizen at Auburn City Council meetings in August and November. 

"Her concern was domestic animals (i.e. canines and felines) with exposed genitals. Her concerned was shared by many. It is an uncomfortable and difficult situation for a parent, grandparent or guardian to have to explain to their ward when they are questioned about canine and feline genitals," the letter says. "The City of Auburn researched this issue and found that many local veterinarians are also concerned about the damage the elements in Upstate NY present to our pets and their sensitive areas. Further researched showed that many cities, towns and villages across New York State and the New England States have made it mandatory that our domestic animals wear pants to cover their genitals, protect them from the elements and to deter unwanted mating."

The letter goes on to say the law, Local Law No. 66K9_2022, will take effect on April 15. The letter also says the city is contracting with Pet Pants, Inc. to provide discounts to pet owners who need to purchase pants. The only Pet Pants, Inc. was incorporated in Maryland in 1997 but dissolved two years later, according to the state's business registry.

The origin of the letter is unclear. Every picture of it shared on social media appears to be the same, as they all share the same blue markup shape over the recipient's address. Despite inquiries on social media, Ë®¹ûÅÉAV has been unable to identify anyone who actually received a physical copy of the letter. If you did, or know someone who did, please contact citizennews@lee.net.

Copes was wanted in connection with the shooting death of John Wesley Smith III, 37, of Syracuse, who was found dead in front of Swifty's Tavern on Perrine Street at about 1:40 a.m on March 15.

The APD said on March 24, that Copes was a "person of interest" in the case and asked for assistance from the public in tracking her down, noting that she may have fled the state and was known to have connections to people in North Carolina, Texas, Michigan, Georgia and Florida, among other places. Days later, the agency issued another press release that labeled her as a suspect in the homicide.

The APD said Tuesday that the Cayuga County District Attorney’s Office was facilitating her transfer back to New York to be formally charged.

The APD would not comment on a possible motive for the shooting or whether anyone else is believed to have fired a weapon at the homicide scene, saying that the investigation is still ongoing, and that further information may be released in the future.

The APD thanked agencies involved in assisting with the investigation and attempting to locate Copes, including the Cayuga County District Attorney’s Office, Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, United States Marshall’s Service, Texas Rangers and various North Carolina and Virginia law enforcement agencies and others.

Police continue to encourage anyone with additional information relative to this investigation to contact the Auburn Police Department’s lead Detective Sean DeRosa at (315) 255-4706 or sderosa@auburnny.gov or communitywatch@auburnny.gov.

Kim Jones, chair of the Friends of Emerson Park Board of Directors, told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV the group formed in hopes of "bringing life back to Emerson Park."

"It used to be a lot more than what it is now," she said. "It's still beautiful, but it's underutilized."

After forming in September, the group held its first cleanup at the park in October. About 50 volunteers took part and showed interest in continuing to help the group, Jones said.

The Friends of Emerson Park has also received support from many sponsors and community members, Co-chair Karissa Thompson told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV. A February bottle and can drive at Bag O' Nickels, for instance, about $400 for the group. The grand prize of the Easter egg hunt, meanwhile, was donated by the Auburn Shop With a Cop program.

That support will help the group as it works to get its foot in the door with visitors and volunteers alike during its first summer, Thompson added.

"We just want to create awareness that Emerson Park is here and bring it back to when we were all kids," she said. "We can make it a beautiful landing place for our community."

The group hopes its efforts to revitalize the park complement those of the county, which is in the midst of a $16 million effort to redevelop Deauville Island with a "destination playground," performing arts stage and more. The operators of the park's pavilion, A&M Catering, will  a Return to the Lake Dance there the evening of Saturday, May 7.

The Friends of Emerson Park will host a spring cleanup that afternoon. Along with its movies and concerts, other planned events include drop-in recreation and wellness on Tuesday nights with activities like cornhole, yoga and flower arranging, a Docktoberfest in September to raise money to fix the park's boat launch, and another fall cleanup.

"We want to show that we can put on some pretty awesome events at Emerson Park and get the community as involved as we can," Thompson said.

Doug Dello Stritto, Cayuga County's parks maintenance supervisor, told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV the new group is a "vital backbone" to the county's ownership of the park, which dates back to its donation by Fred L. Emerson in 1944. The 135-acre park was previously known as Enna Jennick Park and Lakeside Park, and included a merry-go-round, roller coaster and more attractions.

The group's efforts will build on a steady increase in attendance at the park over the past decade, from 250,000 to an estimated 290,000, though it dipped in 2020 due to COVID-19.

"They've been great to work with," Dello Stritto said. "From supporting our existing events to being a great conduit to suggest and help us produce public engagement."