99 NEWS HEADLINES FOR THURSDAY, 12/24/09

POWER POLE BROKEN, TWO PEOPLE HURT IN DEKALB CRASH--State Police in Canton say 31-year-old Orion Burke of Natural Bridge was driving North on US Route 11 in the Town of Dekalb about 5:50am yesterday when he lost control of the vehicle and traveled off the road into a utility pole, that was sheared off at the base. Burke and his passenger, Jasmin Widrick of Deer River were transported by Hermon rescue to Canton-Potsdam Hospital. Injuries were not reported to be serious. Burke was ticketed for Unsafe Speed. Troopers say Burke was allegedly driving too fast on snoy, slippery pavement.

MASSENA TEEN FACES FELONY CHARGE FOR HAVING STOLEN GUN--Village Police in Massena say 17-year-old Kurtis Moore of Martin St. was arrested Wednesday on a count of Fourth Degree Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, alleging he had a 32-caliber, lever-action rifle reported stolen from a vehicle in Massena. Moore was released on a ticket to appear in Village Court at a later date.

COUNTY LEGISLATORS DEBATE 'FLEX TIME'--The Finance Committee of the St.Lawrence County Legislature voted this week to send the full board a resolution that would extend the popular option for CSEA-represented employees to choose their days off. Fowler legislator Alex MacKinnon says the benefit should be part of negotiations toward the next contract. Flex time was added to the current deal after it was ratified. Staff says it has saved money and thousands of hours in comp time accruals, on top of boosting morale. The resolution has two amendments, to remove Emergency Services from the legislation and to have a review of the program.

ALSO ONLINE TODAY....MALONE VALCO FURNITURE PLANT SHUT DOWN LAST WEEK, 34 JOBS LOST...MOHAWKS TO VOTE AGAIN ON DOWNSTATE CASINO JANUARY 30TH...GRAND JURY INDICTMENTS..