THE POST-STANDARD Tuesday, April 5, 2011 THE POST-STANDARD PAGE A-3

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by e-mail to citynews@syracuse.com
Votes on Aubertine
are expected today
The two candidates in
last year’s race for the 48th
Senate District will face
each other again today as
the state Senate takes up the
nomination of Darrel Au-
bertine as agriculture com-
missioner.
Aubertine, a Democrat,
lost his seat to Sen. Patty
Ritchie, R-Oswegatchie,
who now chairs the Senate
Agriculture Committee.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo an-
nounced Aubertine’s nomi-
nation to head the Depart-
ment of Agriculture and
Markets — which oversees
the New York State Fair —
in January.
Ritchie’s committee will
oversee Aubertine’s first
confirmation hearing,
scheduled for 10 a.m. The
Senate Finance Committee,
LOC AL
ESM reveals which 26.2 jobs face layoffs
Board of Education adopts the board March 21. Since ESM Superintendent Donna it’s important to remember port and one transportation
then, the state Legislature ap- DeSiato. ‘‘This year has been these are real people who are parts/inventory.
budget with fewer cuts proved a budget that restored a tremendous challenge. We affected, not just positions. These cuts are based on en-
than initially proposed. almost $530,000 in state aid to continue to look at every pos- There will be 12.5 instruc- rollment reductions, restructur-
ESM. sible way we can save tional posts cut: an elementary ing or program needs.
By Elizabeth Doran The district is still seeing a money.’’ teacher, a 0.5 high school li- Superintendent Donna De-
Staff writer 13.43 percent decrease in state The proposed budget to go brarian, two middle school Siato has said the cuts would
The East Syracuse Minoa aid, a loss of about $3 million, before the voters is teachers, a K-12 physical edu- have been more widespread if
Board of Education on Mon- in the 2011-12 budget, but the $71,801,068, down $213,724 cation teacher, a K-12 reading it weren’t for the wage freeze
day night adopted a revised restoration of some aid helped from the current budget of teacher and seven pre-K to 12 and other concessions made by
proposed 2011-12 budget, save nearly five positions. $72,014,792. teaching assistants. administrators, teachers and
which calls for fewer layoffs The district is actually cut- At the noninstructional custodial staff. Those conces-
ESM also is using some of ting about 42 positions, with level, 13.7 positions are elimi- sions saved about $700,000,
and a further reduction in the the restored aid to lower the
tax levy increase than original- tax levy increase to 1.89 per- 26.2 of those being reduced nated under the proposed bud- she said.
ly proposed. through layoffs, and the rest get. These are a bus aide, copy A middle-school summer
cent, instead of the 1.93 per- through attrition. aide, driver messenger, in- program also is being restored
The revised budget calls for cent increase first proposed. DeSiato presented a list of formation aide, two library under the revised spending
laying off 26.2 positions rather This year’s tax levy increase positions to be cut under the aides, a teacher’s aide, 1.7 typ- plan, DeSiato said.
than the 31 suggested when was 2.01 percent. proposed budget. The district ists, two duplicating machine A public hearing on the
the superintendent first pres- ‘‘We are glad for it, but it didn’t release specifics on the operators, a graphics techni- budget will be held 6 p.m.
ented the tentative budget to wasn’t a lot of money,’’ said cuts prior to this. DeSiato said cian, one technology PC sup- May 9.

Police
chaired by Sen. John De-
Francisco, R-Syracuse, will
vote on the nomination at

target
11 a.m. The full Senate is
expected to vote at 3 p.m.

Woman accused over

prescription drugs
A second person has
been charged in an Oswego
Police investigation of ille-
gal prescription drug traf-
ficking, police said.
Tina L. Lucas, 38, of 143
Weller Road, Volney, was
charged Friday with single
counts of second-, third-
and fourth-degree criminal
possession of a controlled
substance, police said. She
also was charged with three
counts of fifth-degree crim-
inal possession of a con-
trolled substance. All are
felonies.
Lucas was arraigned in
Volney town court and or-
dered held without bail at
the Oswego County Correc-
tional Facility pending a re-
turn to court next Monday.
Richard D. Timian Jr.,
42, of the same address,
was charged Friday with six
attempted-drug-possession
counts, all felonies, as the
result of the investigation.
The charges followed a
search of the home last
texting
drivers
Campaign of zero tolerance
for distracted driving is
Friday through April 16.
By Douglass Dowty
Staff writer
As the last distracted-driv-
ing blitz kicks off this week in
Syracuse, local and statewide
officials pledged to keep up
the enforcement long after the
special campaign ends.
‘‘What you do in that split
second can change your life
and the lives of others forev-
er,’’ said Michael Fleischer,
director of the state Thruway
Authority.
Mike Greenlar / The Post-Standard Fleischer was among nearly
PRECIOUS DIXIE, 8, holds a sign showing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while sitting next to her mother, Connie Ed- 20 state officials and law en-
wards, both of Syracuse, at a rally to defend education and demand economic justice Monday at Dr. Martin Luther forcement officers who attend-
King School in Syracuse. Monday was the 43rd anniversary of the day King was assassinated. In his final speech he ed a news event Monday at
proclaimed that ‘‘without economic justice there can be no civil rights.’’ See a video at syracuse.com/videos. Syracuse’s Public Safety
Building to launch the last

A Call to Create Opportunities

week during which police
seized more than 650 pills,
including Oxycodone, Hy-
drocodone and Methadone,
$2,000 in cash, and items to
transport and distribute
drugs, police said.
Child protection
forums begin today
A series of four commu-
nity forums sponsored by
the Oswego County Child
Protection Advisory Coun-
cil kicks off today.
The council wants public
input on child protection is-
sues in Oswego County.
The first forum will be
from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the
Lura Sharp Elementary
Students, parents, teachers and oth-
ers gathered Monday to mark the 43rd
anniversary of civil rights leader Mar-
tin Luther King Jr.’s death with a de-
mand for better economic and educa-
tional opportunities.
The rally was held at Dr. King Ele-
mentary School on East Raynor Ave-
nue in Syracuse, and speakers included
the school’s principal, Patricia Floyd-
Echols, and Helen Hudson, co-founder
POST-STANDARD ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
of the local chapter for Mothers
Against Gun Violence.
The rally’s goal was to call for more
local jobs and better funding for city
schools to fight the high dropout rates,
said David Van Arsdale, a rally organ-
izer and professor at Onondaga Com-
munity College.
‘‘We have to create a better commu-
nity that can sustain its residents,’’
Van Arsdale said.
citywide enforcement detail.
Three previous campaigns
have resulted in about 7,000
people charged with texting or
phoning while driving, said
state police Maj. Donald De-
Throughout Central New York, pro- Pass. A $300,000 federal grant
union rallies also took place along paid for agencies across Onon-
daga County to offer overtime
roadsides Monday to support union-
ized government workers in Wisconsin to officers for the special en-
and Ohio. Gabe Rosetti, of Elbridge, forcement details.
the business manager for Laborers ‘‘Understand, there will be a
Local 633, said the rallies were held zero tolerance policy,’’ DePass
on the anniversary of King’s death, be- said. ‘‘No excuses, no excep-
cause King wanted to see a strong tions. We will continue to do
middle class and working class. enforcement until everyone
— Staff report gets it.’’
Syracuse Police Chief Frank
Fowler pointed out that those
ticketed for distracted driving
face fines of $100 or more and

He engineers futures with encouragement

School cafeteria, Lake
Street, Pulaski.
The council has adopted
the theme ‘‘Our County,
Our Children, Our Future,
Our Responsibility.’’ To-
day’s meeting will be host-
ed by Marshall Marshall,
chairman of the Child Pro-
tection Advisory Council
and superintendent of the
Pulaski school district, and
Stewart Amell, superinten-
dent of the Sandy Creek
school district.
Additional community
forums have been sched-
uled for April 13 at the
Scriba Town Justice Cen-
ter; April 28 at the Fulton
Municipal Building, 141 S.
First St., Fulton; and May 3
at Millard Hawk Primary
School cafeteria, Central
Square.
For information, email
cpac@oswegocounty.org or
call the Department of So-
cial Services at 963-5435.
Grant fights housing
discrimination in CNY
The Fair Housing Coun-
cil of Central New York
Inc. has won a $323,870
grant from the U.S. Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban
Development to help com-
bat housing discrimination
in a six-county region.
The grant was part of
more than $40 million
awarded nationwide.
— Staff reports
Peter Plumley is honored
for his work bringing
youth, science together.
By Lorenzo Arguello
Contributing writer
Peter Plumley has a vivid
memory of when he was 6
years old and traveled to Chi-
cago with his father to visit
The Museum of Science and
Industry.
‘‘It was like it happened
yesterday, in my mind,’’ he
said.
Plumley, 60, can recall
looking through the periscope
of a German U-boat on display
in the museum.
The visit was part of Plum-
ley’s lifelong love of learning
and discovery.
As a child, he always partic-
ipated in his school’s science
fair. Growing up on a farm
near Schenectady, Plumley’s
projects ranged from dissect-
ing a cow’s head to examining
the growth of corn.
As an adult, he’s worked for
more than two decades to in-
still this same love of learning
in kids.
Plumley is being honored
with a 2011 Post-Standard
Achievement Award for work
as director of the Greater Syra-
cuse Scholastic Science Fair,
PETER PLUMLEY is the director of the Greater Syracuse Scholastic Science Fair and is exhibits
project manager at The MOST. Plumley has been recognized for his work with a Post-Stan-
dard Achievement Award. The science fair was held last month at Solvay High School.
as exhibits project manager at
the Milton J. Rubenstein Mu-
seum of Science and Technol-
ogy and as leader of a number
other activities. His work at
the MOST includes hosting
science competitions for kids.
‘‘He just puts kids first like
no one I’ve ever seen before,’’
said Thomas Frawley, a retired
high school technology teacher
from Fulton who has worked
closely with Plumley on nu-
merous youth engineering and
building competitions.
Plumley’s efforts to help
young people gain an interest
in science have included a
‘‘build ’em and bust ’em’’
PLUMLEY, PAGE A-4
two points on their license.
Points can increase insurance
rates.
‘‘If you haven’t gotten the
message yet, think about your
pocketbooks, too,’’ Fowler
said. ‘‘We’re going to continue
to ticket you.’’
A White Plains woman
shared her story of losing her
parents due to a distracted
driver in her native Pennsylva-
nia.
Jacy Good, 24, said she was
driving home with her parents
from college graduation in Al-
lentown, Pa., when an
18-year-old ran a red light
while talking on a cellphone.
An 18-wheel truck swerved
to avoid the distracted driver
and crashed head-on into her
vehicle, killing Good’s par-
ents, she said. Good suffered
broken bones to every part of
her body, brain injuries, a lac-
erated liver and other injuries.
Unable to work, she now
Michelle Gabel / The Post-Standard
speaks to people about the
dangers of distracted driving.
Pennsylvania has no state law
against phoning while driving.
Good said people have called
it ‘‘unenforceable.’’
Peter Plumley ‘‘Syracuse is an awesome
Age: 60. demonstration that it is en-
Hometown: LaFayette. forceable,’’ she said.
Honored for: Organizing The Syracuse distracted-
the Greater Syracuse driving campaign is scheduled
Scholastic Science Fair, other to begin Friday and end April
science competitions and 16.
other activities. Contact Douglass Dowty at
ddowty@syracuse.com or 470-6070.