99 NEWS HEADLINES FOR FRIDAY, 12/26/08

PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT EFFORTS 'AGGRESSIVE,' HOSPITAL CEO SAYS--Canton-Potsdam Hospital CEO David Acker told Potsdam Village Trustees recently the lack of primary care physicians in the area has put an exponentially-increasing pressure on the emergency room.

ORTLOFF PLEADS GUILTY TO CHILD SEX LURE--Former local Assemblyman Chris Ortloff, who represented a small portion of St. Lawrence County for many years, recently pled guilty in Federal court to charges he set up a sex date over the internet with whom he thought was two young girls, but was in fact a State Police detective. Ortloff was caught in the nude at an Albany area hotel with sex toys and child porn. Ortloff could get 10 years to life in prison and a hefty fine at sentencing in the spring.

INJUNCTION SIGNED AGAINST INDIAN SMOKE TAX--State Supreme Court Justice Rose Sconiers ordered the state this week not to go ahead with its plan to collect taxes on cigarettes sold on native territory to non-natives. A new law is set to take effect in February; natives feel it infringes on their rights as a sovereign nation.

ALLEGED DRUG THIEF SEES COPS ON CHRISTMAS--Ogdensburg-based State Police arrested 30-year-old Timothy LaLonde Thursday on a count of petit larceny, alleging he stole suboxone from a a woman's residence in Lisbon earlier this month. LaLonde was released on a court ticket.

OBITUARIES:

Kenneth Wendt--80--Potsdam. services today 11am at Seymour Funeral Home in Potsdam; calling hour this morning from 10-11am