99 NEWS HEADLINES FOR WEDNESDAY, 10/14/09

MEIER: LOCAL GOVERNMENT SCAPEGOAT FOR STATE'S PROBLEMS--Former local State Senator Ray Meier told an audience of several hundred local government officials and employees at SUNY Potsdam Tuesday the mandate local governments look at consolidation and shared services is a travesty, because people depend on local government for services on a daily basis. He says the mandate is an outgrowth of the Legislature's refusal to cut spending. Meier was the keynote speaker for yesterday's Local Government Conference held annually on the campus.

PATERSON SAYS NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET PICTURE OPTIMISTIC--New York Governor David Paterson told reporters after speaking at the St.Lawrence County Democratic Dinner on the SUNY Canton campus Tuesday it appears the budget deficit projection for next year is about one-third this year's figure. Paterson says the State simply cannot do what many people want with the limited resources. The Governor took heat recently for refusing to fund a large transportation initiative that would have created many local jobs.

ST.LAWRENCE COUNTY CLERK OPPOSES NEW PLATES--Patty Ritchie has created a web site with a petition calling for no new license plates next year. She says people cannot afford the 25 dollar fee, which turns into 45 dollars if the same number is kept.

POTSDAM CHURCH VANDALISM SUSPECT INDICTED--A St.Lawrence County Grand Jury handed up a felony arson indictment yesterday against 18-year-old Craig Foley, who allegedly burned the sanctuary of St.Mary's Church last October. The Watertown Daily Times reports Foley went to the church to vent anger against his step-father.

VAN-PAVER COLLISION INJURES VAN DRIVER--Sheriff's deputies say 47-year-old Brenda Rivers of Potsdam was driving into town on the Route 11 overpass late Tuesday morning when the van was struck by the road-making machine as it was changing lanes. The Rivers vehicle was thrown into the guardrail; Rivers was transported by Potsdam Rescue to Canton-Potsdam Hospital. The driver of the paver, Frank Lobene, Jr.; 29 of Rochester was not hurt but was ticketed for unsafe lane change.