New York state briefs
Bluff Point man gets six months in prison in federal case
BLUFF POINT - Herbert P. Gaston, 46, of Bluff Point, who was convicted of the destruction of records in a federal investigation on Dec. 8, 2006, was sentenced Jan. 3 to six months imprisonment, six months home confinement, two years of supervised release, and a $2,000 fine by U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer, U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn of the Western District of New York announced.
Gaston will begin serving the sentence at some point within the next 15 to 30 days, according to Margaret McFarland, a spokesperson for the attorney's office. She was not able to say what facility he will be sent to.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard A. Resnick, who handled the case, stated that in October 2005, the United States Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") was conducting a child pornography investigation. On Oct. 20, 2005, ICE special agents interviewed Gaston, a doctor, at the defendant's medical office at the Medical Arts Building at 418 North Main St., Penn Yan. After being interviewed on Oct. 20, 2005, and sometime prior to Oct. 27, 2005, the date that the ICE special agents obtained a search warrant for Gaston's computers, Gaston used wiping software to erase the contents of a computer in his office. Gaston also burned the hard drive of another computer in his office. Gaston altered and destroyed the computers with the intent to impede and obstruct ICE's investigation.
The conviction was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Walgreens snubbed
FAIRPORT - This upscale Rochester suburb has turned up its nose at the design of a proposed Walgreens pharmacy.
Some of the 100 people attending an informational meeting Thursday, Jan. 10 gasped and others groaned when representatives unveiled proposed drawings of a brick box-like building with spires for the proposed 9,894-square-foot Walgreens on South Main. No one spoke in favor of it.
"To me, it looks like a square box with a bunch of triangles hung on it," said resident Sondra Franzen of Manor Hill Drive.
Mayor Fritz May agreed that the proposed design doesn't fit in the village. However, May said, the village should encourage a proposal that does.
"We can't be afraid of development," May said. "We can't be afraid of growth. We can't stagnate. I think that we can have development that comes in a way that we can feel good about."
Taberg firefighter charged
TABERG - firefighter Michael R. Drummond, 38, was charged Monday after he entered the Taberg Fire Station in the town of Annsville and loaded a shotgun in front of several adults and children. Drummond did not fire the gun, harm anyone or hold anyone hostage, according to state police.
Drummond was released from Oneida County jail without bail Tuesday after he pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree menacing, second-degree reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child in Annsville Town Court.
Drummond is due back in court in front of Judge Paul Tryon Tuesday.
Miss Betty ends 45 years behind the wheel
IRONDEQUOIT -She always said that if she woke up in the morning and thought to herself, "I don't want to go in and drive," it was time to retire.
"And I'd felt that way for a couple of months," admitted Betty Kruppenbacher. "I felt it was time to go."
So after 45 years behind the wheel of a school bus in the East Irondequoit School District, Betty Kruppenbacher has retired. She is 76. Her official last day behind the wheel was Dec. 21.
Known by generations of kids as Miss Betty, she worked in the district long enough to begin busing the grandchildren of students she once delivered to school.
"We'd have parents who'd say she couldn't retire until their littlest got through kindergarten," said Kathleen Callon, director of transportation in East Irondequoit. "She really cared about and got to know the kids and she was very dependable ... she will be deeply missed."