HIT: Cayuga County communities celebrated the Fourth of July in grand fashion this week as revelers were treated to a variety of festivities.

Fair Haven's annual boat parade was held on Little Sodus Bay, where mariners and landlubbers alike gathered for the nautical spectacle.

In Owasco, the volunteer fire department organized a parade and field day.

And at Emerson Park, thousands gathered for picnicking, a performance by the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and a spectacular fireworks show.

MISS: Apart from the congenial festivities surrounding the Fourth of July, Auburn police were kept busy Tuesday night responding to more than complaints about noisy fireworks.

Ugly domestic incidents tend to flare up when people find themselves with too much time on their hands and too much alcohol available, and police were forced to come between couples whose arguing was getting out of hand.

HIT: Another in an ongoing series of educational workshops, a field trip at the Sterling Nature Center this week allowed children to discover some of the tiny things they might otherwise pass by without noticing.

Nature center director Jim D'Angelo led a curious group to the edge of the center's wetland and showed them some of the animals and insects that make the water their home.

Educational projects like this teach valuable lessons about the incredible variety of life all around us.

MISS: Some people never learn.

An Auburn woman who admitted in 2003 to stealing more than $20,000 from her employer was indicted this week on more criminal charges.

The latest allegations include grand larceny and identity theft involving credit cards opened under another person's name that were used to obtain thousands of dollars worth of cash and merchandise.