State Police arrested 36-year-old Cristal Cartelli & 38 year old Curtis Webb of Sidney on a variety of charges including drug possession. The arrests occurred after Cartelli failed to stop at a stop sign on State Route 206 in Bainbridge, Troopers recovered heroin & marijuana during a search & they found that Cartelli was wanted on a warrant in Vestal & Webb was wanted on a warrant in Sidney. Cartelli & Webb were arraigned & were both remanded to the Chenango County jail on bail, pending court action on April 26th.
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State Police at Sidney arrested 35 year old Melissa Bateman of Unadilla for the felony aggravated DWI with a child less than 16 years old, plus criminal possession of a controlled substance and other traffic violations. The arrest occurred after troopers responded to a 1-car accident on State Route 7 in the Town of Unadilla, Bateman is accused of driving while impaired by drugs when she drove off the roadway and struck a guide rail, one of her passengers was a 14-year-old girl. Bateman was found to unlawfully possess 7 prescription pills. Bateman was issued tickets returnable to the Town of Unadilla court on April 11th.
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State lawmakers are wrapping up negotiations on the state budget plan, which is due on Friday. Assemblyman Bill Magee thinks that a good amount of the agricultural budget cuts will be restored:

(Magee 3-29-16)

Magee chairs the Assembly Agriculture Committee, he said that the Governor usually makes cuts in his original executive budget in January & most if not all of the cuts are restored each year.
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Governor Cuomo announced New York State is providing 235 police departments and sheriffs’ offices with state-of-the-art radar units, investing more than $343,000 to replace old or obsolete devices. This is the first time in nearly 2 decades that the state has provided this funding, which will allow agencies to more effectively target reckless drivers. The need for new technology was identified by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services Highway Safety Technology Unit, which annually performs preventative maintenance and repairs on about 5,500 radar devices, many were too costly to repair, others lacked an ‘instant on’ feature and some were too large for newer-model police cruisers.
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State Police arrested 46-year-old Christopher Purdy of Oneonta for DWI and other traffic tickets. State Police observed Purdy speeding at 80 miles per hour on I-88, Purdy refused to submit to a breath test to determine his blood alcohol content. He was arraigned in the Town of Oneonta court and was released after posting $400 bail. Purdy’s next court date in the Town of Milford is on April 5th.
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Governor Cuomo announced that he is deploying the Department of Financial Services’ Mobile Command Center to help eligible New Yorkers prepare and file their taxes for free. The unit will be making stops at locations throughout Upstate New York from April 4 through April 9, between the hours of 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.: Locally, the event will be held on Wednesday, April 6th in Oneonta at the Foothills Performing Arts Center.
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Congressman Chris Gibson will be in Delaware County today. At Noon, Gibson will tour the Delaware County Solid Waste Management Center in Hamden, at 2:00 he will participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Delhi Rehabilitation & Nursing Center & at 4:00 PM, he will help honor Delaware County veterans Douglas Lee Thomson and Charles Groff and present medals to their families, at the Delaware County Public Safety Building in Delhi.
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Governor Cuomo signed an executive order banning all non-essential state travel to North Carolina. The ban follows North Carolina’s enactment of a law which bars transgender individuals from using restrooms appropriate for their gender identities, excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from state anti-discrimination protections, and prohibits municipalities from extending those protections to LGBT citizens.
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A meeting will be held today of the Prevention Coalition for Heroin Substance Abuse at 6:30 pm at the Sidney High School this evening, spokesperson Lorraine Keckeisen explains:

(Lorraine Keckeisen 3-29-16)

Keckeisen said that they are seeking input from faith-based community leaders; law enforcement; policy makers; school leaders and student body; business people and concerned community people at tonight’s meeting in the Sidney High School Library.
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The American Red Cross invites individuals to donate blood today in Norwich. Today’s blood donation opportunities will be in Norwich from 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM at the BOCES of Chenango County, on Country Rd 32. To schedule an appointment to donate blood, download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS.
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