A motion to disqualify the Chenango County District Attorney from prosecuting the murder case against Ganesh Ramsaran of New Berlin woman has been denied. The motion would have required the appointment of a special prosecutor from outside the district attorney’s office, due to an alleged conflict of interest with the defendant. Chenango county judge Frank Revoir denied the motion. Ramsaran has been charged with 2nd degree murder in connection with the murder of his wife Jennifer late last year, she had been reported missing by her husband, her body was found several months later in a wooded area in the town of Pharsalia.
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The Chenango County Sheriff’s department investigated a 1-vehicle accident on county road 2 in the town of Greene, at about 11:45 Tuesday morning. 24-year-old Jesse Ehlers of Greene left the pavement while operating a Jeep Cherokee, he struck an embankment & a tree. Ehlers & his passenger, 19 year old Makayla Heisler of Greene were not wearing seatbelts & were ejected from the vehicle, and suffered serious head and back injuries. Both were transported to Wilson memorial hospital in Johnson city, the cause of the accident was from unsafe speed for the curve in the road and road conditions.
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State Police at Oneonta arrested 29-year-old David Sparaco of Oneonta for Criminal Possession of Stolen Property. The arrest resulted from a complaint originating at Searle’s Garage in Davenport, who reported that several brake rotors & a radiator from a 1958 Mercury was stolen. Sparaco was arrested at Otsego Auto Crushers in Oneonta, when he tried to sell the stolen property as scrap metal. Sparaco faces future court action on the charges.
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A federal judge has set a trial date of December 2nd for a new fraud trial for former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. The 84-year-old Bruno’s 2 fraud convictions from 2009 were overturned on appeal. Bruno is accused of accepting $440,000 from a businessman for helping with state grants.
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Governor Cuomo announced the launch of “Every Student Present,” Tuesday, which is a public awareness campaign to help school leadership, parents, and communities promote school attendance. The campaign is focused on creating engaging school environments, using data to identify chronically absent students, and exploring ways to provide support that can help students and families. More information is available at everystudentpresent.org or governor.ny.gov.
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The state Public Service Commission is urging income-eligible consumers to sign up for a discount telephone service through a program aimed at making New Yorkers safer at home. The Lifeline program provides discounts for monthly residential phone bills for basic telephone service. New Yorkers already receiving other benefits including Food Stamps, Veterans’ Disability, SSI and Home Energy Assistance Program help are eligible. more information is available at AskPSC.com.
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Despite an overall drop in attendance at New York parks, Chenango Valley State Park had a steady flow of swimmers, campers, hikers, golfers and guests this summer. The park, in the Town of Fenton, recorded attendance of 94,136 from Memorial Day through Labor Day weekends — a decrease of just 158 from the same time period last year. At Oquaga Creek State Park, in northeastern Broome and Delaware counties, attendance dropped 10.2 percent this summer. Overall, officials attributed the slight attendance decline at parks across the state to a rainy start of the summer season.