The Otsego County Sheriff’s Department arrested 25-year-old Charles Hall of Edmeston for criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a weapon & criminally using drug paraphernalia. Police seized cocaine, Psychedelic mushrooms, Suboxone films, liquid steroids, prescription painkillers, heroin, amphetamines and marijuana, as well as scales and bag. 31-year-old Misty Mojica of South New Berlin was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. The state DEC police issued Hall a ticket for having an untagged deer. Hall was arraigned & was remanded to the Otsego county jail on $25,000 bail.
——————————————
Commerce Chenango announced that the “Lunch with Senator Tom Libous” in Greene has been rescheduled. . The lunch will be held at the Sherwood Hotel at 25 Genesee Street, in Greene on march 14th at 11:30 AM. Senator Libous will talk with members on legislative action in Albany, RSVP’s are requested by March 7th at 334-1402.
————————————————
The State Department of Transportation will auction 5 parcels of land in Broome, Delaware and Otsego counties next month as part of the state’s Surplus Property Program aimed at returning properties to the citizens. Each parcel was acquired by the state for highway improvements. The land is no longer needed for transportation purposes and will be available for purchase by public auction, on Thursday, March 20th at 10:30 AM in the DOT Regional Office, at the State Office Building at 44 Hawley Street in Binghamton, in room 1005. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. The auction is open to the public. The 5 properties to be sold are listed at dot.ny.gov/r9surplus.
————————————-
Local sales tax collections, of $14.9 billion, grew by $739 million in 2013, an increase of 5.2 percent from 2012, according to a report by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. The increase outpaced annual growth rates of 3.3 percent in 2012 and 5 percent in 2011, as well as the 15-year annual average growth of 4.5 percent. During this same period, sales tax collections also grew in 43 of New York’s 57 counties
——————————
US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand told federal officials the Empire State needs its bees to pollinate crops. Gillibrand wrote Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to ask him to expand the department’s efforts to revive bee populations in New York and the Northeast. Gillibrand said beekeepers in New York last year lost an average of 30 percent of their hives to Colony Collapse Disorder, in which honeybees suddenly disappear or die. The losses could affect apple and other crops in New York. The state has about 52,000 beehives
——————————–
State Police at Sidney arrested 34-year-old Justin Parsons of Afton, for 2nd degree Harassment following a dispute at the Great American store on Main Street in Afton. Parsons is accused of pushing & punching another person in the store; he was arraigned in town of Afton Court and sent to the Chenango County Jail on $250 bail.
——————————————
Governor Cuomo unveiled a revamped department of motor vehicle website, at dmv.ny.gov. The redesigned website will allow customers to order replacement driver licenses and renew registration on mobile devices, make online reservations for DMV visits, as well as more easily utilize 35 other DMV services online. Additionally, users can sign up for mobile alerts to be reminded when registration and vehicle inspection deadlines approach.