水果派AV

The charge followed an investigation by the state comptroller's office and New York State Police. During Perkins' final three years as treasurer of the Morley Volunteer Fire Company in St. Lawrence County, she withdrew fire department funds at del Lago Resort & Casino and Turning Stone Resort Casino.听

The investigation also found Perkins wrote checks from the fire company's bank account to herself and kept other funds she should have deposited.听

According to the state comptroller's office, investigators matched deposits made by Perkins into her personal bank account with amounts paid to the fire company. She used the funds to cover personal expenses, including groceries.听

"Ms. Perkins diverted money meant to protect her community to line her own pockets," state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said. "Thanks to my partnership with District Attorney Greg Pasqua and the state police, she has now been held accountable and restitution ordered."聽

No words, nor windows, await those who approach the restaurant's black door. It bears only a full-size illustration of a fish and its flamelike wake, both the color of raw tuna.听

The Hidden Fish logo is similarly elusive, arranging what appears to be a maze from the letters of the restaurant's name.

Even the drink menu has a splash of mystery. Customers can begin their order by placing a Fortune Teller Miracle Fish, a thin piece of red cellophane, in their palm. The way the fish moves 鈥� its head, its tail, its whole body or not at all 鈥� reveals a quality about the holder, or so the children's party trick goes. Hidden Fish adds a step, assigning a drink to each quality that the holder can then enjoy.

The red fish idea was Weitsman's, said Jeff Knauss, one of three other partners in the restaurant along with Vinny and Noah Lobdell. Like all their ideas for Hidden Fish, the sense of discovery is by design.

Weitsman and Knauss began discussing a sushi restaurant as a "dream project" three years ago, Knauss told 水果派AV in December. Both travel frequently, and have dined at some of the country's best. When they saw the space at 7 Fennell St., a former doctor's office, they saw potential to give Skaneateles its own sushi destination in a setting that's "exclusive and really cool," Knauss said.

But what's most important for customers to discover at Hidden Fish when it opens in mid-January, Knauss continued, is the cuisine. It comes from Executive Chef Joseph Tran, whom the partners recruited through a national agency. They flew six finalists into Skaneateles for tasting interviews, and Tran 鈥� who's worked at restaurants in聽Minnesota, California and New Jersey 鈥� was "hands-down" the best.

"From the flavors to the presentation, it was phenomenal," Knauss said. "He blew us all away."

Tran described the restaurant's style of sushi to 水果派AV as "modern elevated ... familiar or old-school, but kind of new at the same time." Along with traditional rolls and sashimi, the menu will include more unique items like baked mussels and spicy tuna tostada. Tran compared the latter to nachos, mixing Japanese and Mexican cuisine. Drinks will include hot and cold sake, and signature cocktails.

The restaurant's fish will be flown in daily from around the world, Tran said. That focus on freshness means the menu will change seasonally, monthly and even weekly.听

"Want to make sure it's genuinely an exceptional experience every time someone comes through our doors," Knauss said. "An elevated sushi experience that doesn't really exist in upstate New York."

For that reason, Knauss and his partners expect Hidden Fish customers to come from not just central New York, but a much wider region. All four partners are residents of Skaneateles, so Knauss said they hope to bring "culinary diversity" to the community the way Weitsman and his wife, Kim, have with stylish Mexican restaurant Elephant and the Dove and historic fine dining spot The Krebs.听

Knauss and Weitsman are also partners in Clover's, the diner they opened in the former Johnny Angel's Heavenly Burger's in June 2022 in response to the closure of the beloved Hilltop Restaurant.

"It's important for us to have as many great food options as possible," Knauss said. "We want to grow the region, we want to attract great people to the region, and a big part of that is the food scene."

As they do at their other restaurants, Knauss said, he and Weitsman will donate all of their profits from Hidden Fish to local charities.

The restaurant's dining room and bar seat about 50, but two patio areas the partners hope to develop for warmer seasons will increase capacity by about 35. Standing in the finished interior in December 鈥� its clean wooden surfaces interrupted only by commissioned panels of moss and more illustrations with Japanese influence 鈥� Knauss said he was excited for the community to experience Hidden Fish.

"After a lot of hard work and some really great visioning it's come to life," Knauss said. "We're really proud of it."

"It doesn't look like it'd be dangerous," Kirk told 水果派AV. "It's not a super sharp curve, just a very faint one. But it's just enough that people come flying down the hill, hit it and lose control."

According to news reports, the driver of the car containing the students indeed lost control on that curve. The car flipped onto its side and crashed into a tree, killing a total of four and injuring two.

Fifty years after the deaths of those three Southern Cayuga students, another recent graduate of the school was killed in a car accident in Little Hollow: Kirk's 19-year-old daughter, Ana Moon Marsh.

Ana was driving eastbound on the road early the evening of Dec. 7 when she聽collided聽head-on with a westbound car that had crossed into her lane. Responders spent more than an hour removing Ana from her totaled car and giving her CPR, Kirk said. Her daughter was then airlifted to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. She聽passed away聽there, surrounded by family, four days later.

On Saturday, family, friends and the Southern Cayuga community will honor Ana at a memorial service at the high school. Kirk and her husband, Daryl, also plan a scholarship in their daughter's name.

But the Kirks hope to make Ana's death meaningful in one more way: They will ask the state to reduce the speed limit in Little Hollow. On Monday, they asking the New York State Department of Transportation to make the speed limit 45 mph, and to add flashing caution lights or a radar speed sign to the intersection with Burton Road, the site of a school bus stop.

Alicia said the petition was recommended to her by the town highway superintendents of Venice, where she lives, and Genoa. As of Thursday evening, it had 500 signatures and approval from several neighboring farms and other businesses. She hopes that show of community support will be enough to convince the state to agree to the reduction when the Kirks formally request it in the near future.

"The community is really what prompted me to do this," Alicia said. "Several people have come up to us and said, 'Please do something.' So we're hoping Ana's death will be the catalyst."

'Love and light'

Ana lived her 19 years of life to the absolute fullest, her mother said.

At Southern Cayuga, Ana was a member of the jazz band, senior band, and varsity soccer and basketball teams. She then began studying to become a physical therapist through a dual enrollment Ph.D. program at Cayuga Community and Le Moyne colleges. Despite her first-year course load, however, she still planned to come back to her alma mater for the school's winter concert on Dec. 13.

When the Southern Cayuga bands took the stage, Ana's baritone saxophone was front and center, bathed in light and surrounded by flowers. That's the kind of effect she had on people, Alicia said.

"Her friends were her family," she said. "If she loved you, she loved you to the absolute core of who she was. She was love and light. She was passionate about helping and being there for people."

Alicia recalled a time when a classmate of Ana's was having such a bad day, they lied down on the hard floor of Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES in Aurelius. As much as it hurt, Ana lied down next to them.

"She was the kid who would hurt herself to help anyone," Alicia continued, her voice hoarse with heartache. "She was just such a super stellar kid."

Ana left behind four younger siblings: Willow Marsh and Kaydence, Henry and Emberli Kirk. Willow, 17, was best friends with her older sister, and tearfully watched last month's concert with their parents instead of playing her trumpet on stage. The community has raised money to provide the family with counseling, Alicia said, and the Union Springs Lions Club will host a pancake breakfast fundraiser for the family as well. A GoFundMe by her cousins Erin Tones and Leah Chelist has also raised $27,000 that will go toward medical and funeral expenses that Alicia cannot yet begin to calculate.

"It's been crazy," she said of the support her family has received from the community since Ana's death. "Almost overwhelming."聽

A deadly history

For the Kirks, then, reducing the speed limit in Little Hollow is as much about giving back to the community supporting them as it is about making something meaningful out of their daughter's death.

One community member who would appreciate the reduction is Eileen Cunningham, who has lived in Little Hollow since 1999. She's seen cars drive off the road and catch fire, and heard just about every time a vehicle struck a deer. Even the annual Route 90 Garage Sale hasn't been safe from accidents, she told 水果派AV. When her son was in school, the bus driver was "scared to death" picking him up.

Cunningham also remembers the last fatality on the road before Ana. In 2012, Genoa firefighter Derek Kulis聽struck a tree with his pickup truck, killing him instantly. But the death that hits closest to home is Joseph Grant, who was in ninth grade at Southern Cayuga when he and two of his classmates died in the accident in Little Hollow in June 1973. Joseph's cousin John Grant is Cunningham's husband.

With that deadly history in mind, Cunningham reached out to the Department of Transportation as her son began waiting for the school bus in the early 2000s. State employees came to Genoa and collected traffic data, she said, but ultimately decided to widen the bridge at the center of Little Hollow instead of reducing the speed limit. That bridge would be the site of the collision that killed Ana.

Citing state Department of Motor Vehicles data, Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck told 水果派AV there were 24 crashes in Little Hollow between 2013 and 2022, 17 involving property damage and six involving personal injury. The top contributing factor was activity by deer and other animals, followed by slippery conditions and then speeding. No fatal accidents occurred in that time frame.

Schenck added that his office is still investigating last month's collision. The other driver, whom the office previously identified as Juldie Baker, 71, of King Ferry, continues to be treated for her injuries.

"I can't help but think if she'd been going 10 mph slower that would have given Ana time to see her and react," Alicia said. "That's my hope: Just slow people down. Think about what you're doing."

The Kirks aren't just thinking about the lives that could be saved by reducing the speed limit in Little Hollow, Alicia said. They're also thinking about the firefighters and medics who respond to the accidents they believe that segment of Route 90 causes. Ana briefly served in the Genoa Volunteer Fire Department, so some of the people who tried in vain to save her that evening were her friends.

"My heart just breaks for the people who were working on her," Alicia said. "So much trauma because of that stretch of road. I'm just hoping to save people from that in the future."

"He used my lack of life experience to make me comfortable, to make me feel important and make feel like I was special," she said. "I will never wake up without thinking of what happened."

Now hesitant to form relationships with adults, the victim said she knows the abuse was not her fault. Still, she continued, "There are times that I can't forgive myself for falling for his schemes."聽

Morrissey was then sentenced by Judge Thomas Leone to two years in state prison followed by 10 years of post-release supervision for the charge of first-degree sexual abuse (a class D felony) and one to three years in prison for disseminating indecent material to a minor (also a class D felony). For the misdemeanors of endangering the welfare of a child and official misconduct, Morrissey was sentenced to 364 days in the Cayuga County Jail, with that time merging with his other sentences. Morrissey聽admitted聽to the crimes in September, a week before he was scheduled to go on trial.

Cayuga County Senior Assistant District Attorney Heather De Stefano also read an impact statement Thursday from the victim's grandmother, who said she won't sleep until Morrisey is "off the street."

"Mr. Morrissey took advantage of his authority to victimize a child. This is one of the most disgusting acts that one can imagine," she said.听

Morrissey's attorney,聽George Hildebrandt,聽called his client's actions "a tremendous mistake in judgement" that brought dishonor to his family and the Auburn Police Department.听

Morrissey spoke on his own behalf before the sentencing as well, telling the victim, "I am truly sorry for the pain I caused you and your family."

"I'm ashamed of the actions and poor choices that I made," he said.

Leone expressed condolences to the victim and her family, and said Morrissey was being "held to a higher standard" because he is a former police officer.

The Cayuga County Sheriff's Office arrested Morrissey in March 2022 after an investigation began at the request of the Auburn Police Department. He was accused of grabbing the student's hand and placing it on his penis the month prior, as well as subjecting her to other sexual acts and having sexually explicit video conversations with her. When the allegations were made, the department immediately suspended Morrissey and removed him from school grounds. The department then fired him after an internal investigation concluded he pursued a relationship with the student.

After the victim impact statements were read Thursday, De Stefano praised the victim for her courage.

"She's a very smart young woman," she said, "and we wouldn't be here today without her."

Also in court

鈥� Tayonna Q. Albert, 26, was sentenced to five years of felony probation, starting with 30 days in the Cayuga County Jail, for third-degree grand larceny (a class D felony).

鈥⒙� Gregory C. Church, 55, of Ogdensburg, pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a class B felony) and driving while ability impaired by drugs, a misdemeanor, which is set to satisfy another third-degree criminal possession charge. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 25. The New York State Police previously said Church was found unconscious in his vehicle after a crash in Brutus in October. Emergency medical services personnel used Narcan on Church, who became conscious and was subsequently taken to Auburn Community Hospital. Approximately 56.3 grams of cocaine were found in the vehicle, police said, and Church was arrested after he was released from the hospital.

鈥� Courtney F. Donovan, 26, with a previously listed address of Lehigh Acres, Florida, had been facing two counts of second-degree robbery (a class C felony), but one of those robbery charges was reduced to third-degree robbery (a class D felony) due to a previous agreement, satisfying the other second-degree robbery count and a count of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. She was sentenced to 3.5 to seven years in prison for the third-degree robbery charge. She was also sentenced to five years in state prison followed by three years of post-release supervision for an unrelated fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance charge, with those sentences running concurrently.

鈥� Christopher M. Liddle, 36, of Fleming, was sentenced to two to four years for second-degree attempted assault (a class E felony).

鈥� Brandon M. Lowe, 37, of Auburn, was sentenced to eight years of state prison followed by nine years of post-release supervision for first-degree attempted rape (a class C felony), eight years of prison and five years of post-release supervision for second-degree burglary (also a class C felony), seven years of prison and nine years of post-release supervision for first-degree sexual abuse, 364 days in the Cayuga County Jail for the misdemeanors of second-degree criminal contempt and second-degree criminal trespass, 15 days in jail for second-degree harassment (a violation) and 1 1/3 to four years in prison for two counts of first-degree criminal contempt (a class E felony). All of those sentences will run concurrently.

鈥� Richard Potter, 21, of Auburn, was sentenced to two to four years in state prison for first-degree identity theft (a class D felony), which violated his probation for possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child (a class E felony).

鈥� Tito E. Rodriguez, 29, pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a class A felony). He is set to be sentenced March 21 and could potentially receive up to 20 years in prison.听

Executing the search warrants on Friday, the task force found and secured 801 grams of cocaine, 71.1 grams of cocaine base ("crack"), 27 grams of dimethylpentylone ("molly") and more than $2,000.听

Ingram was arrested and charged with first degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a class A-1 felony) and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a class B felony). Danielle Ray, 38, was also arrested on the same charges, and Alicia M. Warner, 34, was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a class A misdemeanor) and violating Public Health Law on imitation controlled substances (a class A misdemeanor).听

Ingram, who is on parole for a charge of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon until 2028, was transported to the Cayuga County Jail for centralized arraignment proceedings along with Ray on Saturday morning. The Cayuga County District Attorney's Office requested they be remanded to the custody of the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office until court proceedings. Warner was processed on her charges and released with an appearance ticket for court proceedings that will also be prosecuted by the district attorney's office.

The task force, comprised of members of the Auburn Police Department, New York State Police and Cayuga County Sheriff's Office, was assisted by the Auburn Police Department's Gun Involved Violence Elimination Team in the investigation. Anyone with additional information on the case is encouraged to call the task force at (315) 282-7540.

The birth went well, Palmer said, though it was stressful at the time.

"Women get through it," she said.听

Smith said meeting Brooklynn was a powerful experience.

"It was very overwhelming, at first, considering she's my firstborn," he said.

Brooklynn is Palmer's third child. Preston Pickering, 5 and Willow Pickering, 3, have not met their sibling yet, but Palmer is excited to introduce them.听

Palmer, who was hoping to get out of the hospital with Brooklynn later Tuesday or Wednesday, said she was happy to spend time with Smith and their child.

"I was overjoyed with happiness," she said.

The expo will showcase manure innovations in the Northeast, while bringing equipment, technology and expertise from around the world. In a Facebook post, Patterson Farms added that the event will feature vendors and demonstrations, with subjects including how nutrients are used on farms to improve soil health, reducing nutrient runoff and lowering commercial fertilizer usage.

Cohosting the expo will be the Cornell University College of Agriculture & Life Sciences PRO-DAIRY program and the University of Vermont Extension Northwest Crops and Soils program.

鈥淚n New York and Vermont, water quality is the backbone of manure management,鈥� said Kirsten Workman of PRO-DAIRY in an interview with Progressive Dairy magazine.

鈥淭he area鈥檚 challenging climate, soils and regulations have bred innovation in the Northeast. We鈥檙e always willing to try something new.鈥�

For more information, visit .

Surcharges paid by coin buyers will be provided to the Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati. If all the coins are sold, each site will receive $4.75 million.听

Karen Hill, president and CEO of Harriet Tubman Home, Inc., is hoping to sell coins at the Auburn site, especially during the busy summer tourism season. She told 水果派AV there are ongoing talks with the U.S. Mint about either selling the coins or providing visitors with order forms.听

"We'll make a real big push about it," Hill said. "We expect to be selling some t-shirts with the coins on them and other items that amplify the coin sales."聽

The Tubman commemorative coins excite collectors, Hill added, but they are hoping to reach "a broader customer base" to boost sales.听

With the proceeds from the coin sales, the Harriet Tubman Home could expand programming, hire additional staff or make improvements to the historic site, according to Hill.听

The commemorative coin program was proposed by members of Congress, including former U.S. Rep. John Katko, in 2020. The goal was to have the coins sold in the same year (2022) as the bicentennial of Tubman's birth. The bill did not advance in that Congress, but it passed in 2022 and was signed by President Joe Biden.听

The law authorizes the U.S. Mint to sell up to 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins and 750,000 clad half-dollar coins. Buyers will pay a $35 surcharge for the gold coins, $10 for the silver coins and $5 for the half-dollar coins.听

The U.S. Mint unveiled the coin designs in July 2023. The coins honor Tubman's efforts to free enslaved people and her service during the Civil War, when she led the Combahee River Raid.听

Hill is excited now that the public will be able to buy the coins.听

"It's just a wonderful way for people to be able to have some of Harriet Tubman's legacy in their family to pass down," she said.听

What is EnhanceFitness? Enhance is an evidence-based group exercise program that uses simple, easy-to-learn movements that motivate older adults to stay active. All ability levels are accommodated. Exercises focus on cardiovascular endurance, strength, flexibility and balance, which can help reduce the severity of arthritis symptoms and aid in preventing falls.

EnhanceFitness helps participants overcome the obstacles of living with arthritis. Program data reveals that 35% of participants saw improvement in physical functioning, and 26% experienced decreased falls. The program has also been shown to support fewer hospitalizations for participants vs. nonparticipants.

One prior study showed that adults participating in EnhanceFitness experienced significant improvement over six months in almost every dimension tested. Data shows that participants have significantly increased upper and lower body strength, balance and mobility. The data is remarkable in that it shows that this program has helped to reduce the incidence of disability by 43% over 18 months for participants who have arthritis. Additionally, data shows that a program like Enhance may reduce age鈥搑elated functional decline by 32%.

The Y has successfully run the Enhance program in the past, and this study will allow individuals to take advantage of this program at no cost should they participate in the study.

DEFT is an acronym for Delivery of EnhanceFitness Trial. The Enhance program is geared toward older individuals as a means of helping them become more active, energized and empowered for independent living. The DEFT study will take this a bit further. It will be open to individuals ages 18 and older who have a diagnosis of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, gout or lupus.

Preliminary data suggests that virtual EnhanceFitness classes are feasible and well-accepted by older adults. However, data that shows virtual EnhanceFitness has similar benefits to in-person EnhanceFitness has yet to be available. The trial participants here at the Auburn Y may attend in-person or virtual classes. In-person participants will meet at the Y three times a week for four months. Virtual participants will participate in remote classes via Zoom. Remote classes will also be one-hour classes held three times a week for four months. As part of the study, participants will be required to complete surveys either online or on paper before classes begin, after completing four months, and then again six and 12 months after finishing classes.

This program will run from 1 to 2 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Jan. 15 through May 3. There will be no class fee for participants enrolled in the study. The classes are also available to participants who wish to be separate from the study. In that case, the program will have a fee attached. To become part of the study or to learn more, contact our health and wellness director, Laura Clary, at (315) 990-0696 or laura@auburnymca.net.

As we reflect on the challenges and triumphs of the past year, we express our sincere gratitude to our members, volunteers and supporters who make the YMCA a thriving community. We look forward to the opportunities and possibilities that the new year brings.

The staff at the YMCA wishes you a Happy New Year! May it be filled with health, happiness and the pursuit of your dreams. Thank you for being a part of our community, and here's to a fantastic year ahead!

Legislators met Tuesday for the first time in 2024. The highlights of the reorganizational meeting included electing Aileen McNabb-Coleman as Legislature chairperson. McNabb-Coleman, D-Sennett, held the post for two years, in 2020 and 2021, and led the county through the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.听

In her first remarks as chair, McNabb-Coleman said it's time for a reset.听

"We're not settling for the status quo," she continued. "There are incredible opportunities before us and we, together, have the opportunity to shape our county's response. We're setting a new course for Cayuga County. We're going to work closely with the city of Auburn and regional partners to solve problems, innovate new ideas and leave the county better than we found it."聽

Legislator Ben Vitale, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, was elected vice chair and majority leader. Legislator Mark Strong, a Republican, was named minority leader.听

There were fewer legislators in the chamber because a change approved by voters in 2022 is now in effect. New district lines were drawn and the number of legislative seats was lowered from 15 to 11.听

Newcomers Jonathan Anna (District 1), Tom Winslow (District 3) and Stephanie DeVito (District 10) were sworn in for their first terms. The returning legislators include Robert Shea (District 4), Hans Pecher (District 6), Heidi Nightengale (District 8) Elane Daly (District 9) and Brian Muldrow (District 11).听

Democratic-endorsed lawmakers won seven of 11 seats to claim the majority. Over the past four years, Democrats and Republicans alternated control of the body. But Democrats are expected to be in power for the next four years.听

There was one resolution approved at the meeting to adopt the rules of order. The rules were changed to adjust the number of legislators and end the weighted voting system, which is unnecessary now that new district lines are in effect. Pecher, a Conservative who caucuses with the GOP, was the lone vote against approving the rules.听

In other news:听

鈥� Cayuga County Clerk Brian Scanlan, an independent who ran with the Democratic Party's backing, was sworn into office. He will serve a four-year term and succeeds longtime clerk Sue Dwyer, who retired after five terms.听

After Scanlan was sworn in, he administered the oaths of office to McNabb-Coleman, Strong and Vitale for their leadership posts.听

鈥� McNabb-Coleman surprised her predecessor, former Cayuga County Legislature Chairman David Gould, with a proclamation declaring Tuesday as David Gould Day in the county.听

The proclamation recognizes Gould's long career in law enforcement and public service. He served as county sheriff for 12 years and was county Legislature chair for the last two years.听