Area HazMat teams were called to 54 South Street in Walton this morning, for a reported gas leak at the Waste-water treatment plant. State Route 10 was closed from the village of Walton to the Beerston area, and there were some evacuations. WCDO NEWS will have more details as they become available.
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New York State is now accepting applications from companies interested in testing or demonstrating autonomous vehicles on public roads. New legislation allows for testing autonomous technology through a year-long pilot program. Applications for testing may be submitted by manufacturers, all vehicles will also have to comply with federal safety standards as well as State inspection standards, and a person holding a valid driver license must be present in the driver’s seat at all times while it is operated on public highways. Testing results must be sent to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles no later than March 1, 2018. The law permitting demonstrations will expire April 1, 2018.
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State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced settlements with 6 ticket brokers that illegally purchased and resold hundreds of thousands of tickets in New York State since 2011, including on popular ticket resale platforms like StubHub and Vivid Seats. 5 of the companies violated New York’s ticket laws by using illegal ticket “bots” to purchase large numbers of tickets on websites such as Ticketmaster.com before the tickets could be obtained by consumers, then resold them at a large profit. The settlements require the six companies to pay a combined total of $4.19 million in penalties, a separate settlement was reached with Componica of Iowa, that developed software libraries used by ticket bots to try to get around security tests used by ticket selling websites.
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State Senator Jim Seward announced that he has signed on as the co-prime sponsor of legislation to fast track the start of ridesharing services in New York State. The bill would allow transportation network companies to begin operating in time for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Ridesharing regulations were included in the recently adopted state budget, but the law allowed Uber & Lyft to begin operating on July 9th. The new legislation would allow ride sharing to start on June 29th.
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The Chenango United Way is doing their annual ‘2017 Annual Personal Hygiene Collection’ throughout the end of the month of May. Items that are being accepted are shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes, feminine products, diapers, baby wipes and baby shampoo. Full size is preferred. Items can be dropped off at NBT Bank branches, Guernsey Memorial Library and at the United Way office at 83 North Broad Street in Norwich. More information is available at 334-8815.
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New York State’s tourism industry set new records for total number of visitors, economic impact and direct spending in 2016. a record 239 million visitors traveled to New York State, generating an economic impact of $104.8 billion, visitors generated an all-time high $64.8 billion in direct spending.
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The Town of Unadilla Highway Department announced that they would have their Spring Clean Up on Thursday May 18th this year, from 6:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Items will be accepted at the Town Highway Garage on County Highway 3, they will accept white goods, scrap metal, electronics, waste oil & up to six tires, more information is available at 369-5466.
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A public education session will be held at the Unadilla Fire Station tonight, where residents of the Village and Town of Unadilla can learn about Community Choice Aggregation, which is a new residential bulk electricity-purchasing program. Unadilla Mayor Dave Welch comments:

(Dave Welch 5-11-17)

The session will be held at 7 PM at Fire Station on Clifton Street. Residents are encouraged to bring their questions and electricity bills. More information is available at megacca.org to learn more.
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State Police arrested 69-year-old Leroy Bigelow of Little Falls, for Criminal Sexual Act, 2 counts of Sexual Abuse and 2 counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child. Bigelow is accused of having sexual contact with 2 different victims less than 11 years old while in the Town of Guilford. Bigelow was arraigned in the Town of Guilford Court and was remanded to the Chenango County Jail on $50,000 cash bail.
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Animal Adventure Park announced that they will delay their opening day due to the weekend storm. The park had planned to open the gates on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM; the opening has been postponed to Monday, at 10:00 AM. Due to the weather, a number of species would be off exhibit and indoors for their safety if the opening occurred on Saturday. Animal Adventure Park recently became an international known park as the live stream of April The Giraffe giving birth was watched by Million worldwide.
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During Trauma Awareness Month in May, the American Red Cross urges eligible donors to help ensure that blood is available for patients with traumatic injuries and other serious medical needs by donating blood. A Blood drive will be held in Sidney today from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at SFCU on Union Street & in Walton from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Walton O’Neil High School. Donors of all types are currently needed, Donation appointments can be scheduled by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS.
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