Maroons capture the state crown
The Citizen file photo
Junior lineman Ryan Button celebrates as his teammates pile up at midfield after the Auburn Maroons won the New York State Class AA championship in Syracuse.
Junior lineman Ryan Button celebrates as his teammates pile up at midfield after the Auburn Maroons won the New York State Class AA championship in Syracuse.
The top story of 2006 is also the feel-good story of the year.
The Auburn High School football team's state championship captured hearts throughout the central New York region, but especially in the city.
The story of how this team took the title reads like a movie script. After a respectable but rather ordinary regular season in which they finished with a 4-3 record, the Maroons found themselves out of the playoffs. But a few days before the postseason started, they learned that one of the teams that had made the playoffs was disqualified for having an ineligible player, and suddenly Auburn was in.
That's when the real miracles started to happen.
Week after week, Auburn found ways to win despite being underdogs. With each victory, the excitement level in the school and the community grew, reaching its peak on Nov. 25 when thousands of fans flocked to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse for the final game. A new high school football game attendance record was set at the dome.
The game itself couldn't have been more dramatic. A Matt Hoey extra point in overtime put the exclamation point on this fairytale season, which will probably remain the talk of the town well into 2007.
Bombardier shuts
its doors
The rumors had been out there for a while, but until that day in late January, officials with Bombardier Transportation denied there were plans to shut down the manufacturing facility in Auburn.
But then Bombardier Transportation North America President William Spurr came to town and informed the 160 workers that business had dried up too much. The plant was going to close.
The news was a blow to the area economy. The Bombardier factory was filled with workers who had dedicated their entire careers to the plant, many of them following their parents and grandparents into their jobs. Now they faced the prospect of looking for work.
The Bombardier factory traced its roots to 1886, when McIntosh & Seymour Co. opened it to build steam engines.
The final day at the massive plant came 120 years later in June, when the Bombardier workers shared some final tears and hugs at a barbecue at the site. The property remains dormant heading into the new year.
Asbestos scandal rocks county government
What started as a routine maintenance project - the replacement of a boiler - evolved into a legal and political nightmare for Cayuga County.
State and federal investigators during the summer launched an investigation into improper asbestos removal from the Cayuga County Board of Elections building in connection with the boiler project, which was done in February.
Authorities ordered the BOE offices shut down on Aug. 11 due to high levels of asbestos, and only recently did employees move back to the space. Soon after the story broke, notices of claim against the county began streaming in, with more than 30 people having preserved their legal rights to sue over possible exposure to the hazardous material.
The story took its latest turn just last week, when county buildings and grounds worker John Chick was indicted by a federal grand jury on 10 counts related to illegal asbestos removal accusations. Chick was then arrested a couple of days later on charges that he threatened to kill the whistleblower in the case.
This story will certainly spill into 2007. Chick has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and the lead federal prosecutor says the investigation is continuing.
Leone, Gould victorious on Election Day
The two highest-profile countywide races in 2006 resulted in wins for the two Democratic candidates. Their victories came against the top two law enforcement officials in Cayuga County.
Thomas Leone's victory in the race for Cayuga County judge over District Attorney James Vargason surprised many political observers.
Leone, who has served as Auburn's corporation counsel, decided to run only after a number of other potential Democratic candidates chose not to seek the post, which is being vacated by Judge Peter Corning.
The winner in the contentious race for Cayuga County sheriff may not have been too surprising, though few expected David Gould to defeat incumbent Rob Outhouse by such a wide margin.
Both Leone and Gould start in their new jobs this week.
Auburn mourns loss of Leo Pinckney
He was the “King of Baseball,” the man responsible for keeping professional baseball in Auburn, but as remembrances poured in for Leo Pinckney after his death on Nov. 20, it soon became clear that he was much more than that to the community.
Pinckney, 89, a longtime sports editor and columnist for The Citizen, was a loving father, husband and friend. He was a vocal advocate for local sports, but he was also a quiet volunteer for a number of charitable causes.
Tributes poured in from all over the country the week of Pinckney's death. Hundreds attended the calling hours and funeral service.
And when “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was played as his casket was carried from the St. Alphonsus sanctuary, there were no dry eyes to be found.
Auburn Memorial spared from closure list
Auburn Memorial Hospital's recent history of financial problems, brought on in part by declining use of the facility by the public, had raised worries that it might be a target of a state panel charged with identifying health-care facilities to close.
But when the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century issued its report on Nov. 28, AMH was not on a closure list. The panel did recommend, however, that the hospital reduce its patient-care bed total and that it eliminate the maternity unit.
It turns out that AMH was on the shutdown list at one point, but local officials were able to change the panel's mind.
Local officials cited AHM's aggressive turnaround plan, being implemented by an outside consulting firm, as a key for keeping the facility open.
While hospital officials are grateful to be off the closure list, the maternity recommendation is being met with resistance. The commission's recommendations are due to become law in 2007, but at this point it's unclear how - or when - the AMH maternity services will be affected.
Cayuga County gets a full-time manager
After a failed vote to establish a full-time, appointed administrative leader for Cayuga County in 2005, the county Legislature wasted little time reviving the effort this time. Helped in part by a change in leadership structure on the Legislature and by the election of new legislators, the measure passed this time at the Legislature's Feb. 8 meeting.
The manager position effectively replaces the county Legislature chairman as the day-to-day leader of county government. The establishment of a full-time professional administrator had been the subject of much debate for years.
After establishing the position, the Legislature took several months to search for the candidate to fill it. At the September meeting, legislators chose Wayne Allen, a former Montgomery County administrator, to fill the post at a starting annual salary of $92,500.
In the coming year, Allen will work with the county chairman to more clearly define the roles each will play.
Teens killed on area roads
The beginning of the school year brought two tragic stories within two weeks of each other, and a sobering reminder of how vulnerable - and at times reckless - teenagers can be when they're behind the wheel of an automobile.
Three teens died in the two accidents.
In the early morning hours of Sept. 2, Timothy D. Hutchings, 19, died from massive head trauma sustained in an accident in Fleming. He was found in an SUV more than four hours after that 3 a.m. accident. Nicholas Raymond, 18, of 6206 West Lake Road, Auburn, has been charged with leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident in connection with that crash. His case is still pending.
On Sept. 16, a one-car crash in the town of Aurelius killed Auburn resident Ryan C. Walker, 19, who was a passenger in a car driven by James A. Darby, 17, who later died. Authorities said speed and driver inexperience likely played a role in the crash.
Salomone leaves city for a new job
After a particularly contentious budget forming season in the spring - and continuous philosophical struggles with some members of the city council - John Salomone accepted a job offer to become manager of a town in Connecticut, the state from where he came to Auburn in 2000.
Salomone's last day as the city manager in Auburn was Aug. 16.
Since that time, Michael Long has been serving as the interim city manager, and he is among the candidates for the permanent position. City councilors have said they hope to fill the post early in the new year.
Tribe pitches Auburn casino
After starting the year with a pitch to build a full-scale entertainment casino resort in the town of Sennett, the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma shifted gears with the June announcement that it wanted to build in Auburn.
This time the tribe, which had also proposed casinos in Aurelius, Rochester and the Catskills region in recent years, had a vocal government supporter in Auburn Mayor Tim Lattimore, who said the project would be an economic development windfall.
In a 3-2 vote, Lattimore and councilors Bill Graney and Thomas McNabb in June supported a resolution that said Auburn agreed with the concept to be a host community for such a casino. The Cayuga County Legislature responded with a vote that opposed the concept.
In the meantime, the tribe has applied to put land it currently owns in the county into federal trust, meaning it would be exempt from local laws and taxes.
The Auburn High School football team's state championship captured hearts throughout the central New York region, but especially in the city.
The story of how this team took the title reads like a movie script. After a respectable but rather ordinary regular season in which they finished with a 4-3 record, the Maroons found themselves out of the playoffs. But a few days before the postseason started, they learned that one of the teams that had made the playoffs was disqualified for having an ineligible player, and suddenly Auburn was in.
That's when the real miracles started to happen.
Week after week, Auburn found ways to win despite being underdogs. With each victory, the excitement level in the school and the community grew, reaching its peak on Nov. 25 when thousands of fans flocked to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse for the final game. A new high school football game attendance record was set at the dome.
The game itself couldn't have been more dramatic. A Matt Hoey extra point in overtime put the exclamation point on this fairytale season, which will probably remain the talk of the town well into 2007.
Bombardier shuts
its doors
The rumors had been out there for a while, but until that day in late January, officials with Bombardier Transportation denied there were plans to shut down the manufacturing facility in Auburn.
But then Bombardier Transportation North America President William Spurr came to town and informed the 160 workers that business had dried up too much. The plant was going to close.
The news was a blow to the area economy. The Bombardier factory was filled with workers who had dedicated their entire careers to the plant, many of them following their parents and grandparents into their jobs. Now they faced the prospect of looking for work.
The Bombardier factory traced its roots to 1886, when McIntosh & Seymour Co. opened it to build steam engines.
The final day at the massive plant came 120 years later in June, when the Bombardier workers shared some final tears and hugs at a barbecue at the site. The property remains dormant heading into the new year.
Asbestos scandal rocks county government
What started as a routine maintenance project - the replacement of a boiler - evolved into a legal and political nightmare for Cayuga County.
State and federal investigators during the summer launched an investigation into improper asbestos removal from the Cayuga County Board of Elections building in connection with the boiler project, which was done in February.
Authorities ordered the BOE offices shut down on Aug. 11 due to high levels of asbestos, and only recently did employees move back to the space. Soon after the story broke, notices of claim against the county began streaming in, with more than 30 people having preserved their legal rights to sue over possible exposure to the hazardous material.
The story took its latest turn just last week, when county buildings and grounds worker John Chick was indicted by a federal grand jury on 10 counts related to illegal asbestos removal accusations. Chick was then arrested a couple of days later on charges that he threatened to kill the whistleblower in the case.
This story will certainly spill into 2007. Chick has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and the lead federal prosecutor says the investigation is continuing.
Leone, Gould victorious on Election Day
The two highest-profile countywide races in 2006 resulted in wins for the two Democratic candidates. Their victories came against the top two law enforcement officials in Cayuga County.
Thomas Leone's victory in the race for Cayuga County judge over District Attorney James Vargason surprised many political observers.
Leone, who has served as Auburn's corporation counsel, decided to run only after a number of other potential Democratic candidates chose not to seek the post, which is being vacated by Judge Peter Corning.
The winner in the contentious race for Cayuga County sheriff may not have been too surprising, though few expected David Gould to defeat incumbent Rob Outhouse by such a wide margin.
Both Leone and Gould start in their new jobs this week.
Auburn mourns loss of Leo Pinckney
He was the “King of Baseball,” the man responsible for keeping professional baseball in Auburn, but as remembrances poured in for Leo Pinckney after his death on Nov. 20, it soon became clear that he was much more than that to the community.
Pinckney, 89, a longtime sports editor and columnist for The Citizen, was a loving father, husband and friend. He was a vocal advocate for local sports, but he was also a quiet volunteer for a number of charitable causes.
Tributes poured in from all over the country the week of Pinckney's death. Hundreds attended the calling hours and funeral service.
And when “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was played as his casket was carried from the St. Alphonsus sanctuary, there were no dry eyes to be found.
Auburn Memorial spared from closure list
Auburn Memorial Hospital's recent history of financial problems, brought on in part by declining use of the facility by the public, had raised worries that it might be a target of a state panel charged with identifying health-care facilities to close.
But when the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century issued its report on Nov. 28, AMH was not on a closure list. The panel did recommend, however, that the hospital reduce its patient-care bed total and that it eliminate the maternity unit.
It turns out that AMH was on the shutdown list at one point, but local officials were able to change the panel's mind.
Local officials cited AHM's aggressive turnaround plan, being implemented by an outside consulting firm, as a key for keeping the facility open.
While hospital officials are grateful to be off the closure list, the maternity recommendation is being met with resistance. The commission's recommendations are due to become law in 2007, but at this point it's unclear how - or when - the AMH maternity services will be affected.
Cayuga County gets a full-time manager
After a failed vote to establish a full-time, appointed administrative leader for Cayuga County in 2005, the county Legislature wasted little time reviving the effort this time. Helped in part by a change in leadership structure on the Legislature and by the election of new legislators, the measure passed this time at the Legislature's Feb. 8 meeting.
The manager position effectively replaces the county Legislature chairman as the day-to-day leader of county government. The establishment of a full-time professional administrator had been the subject of much debate for years.
After establishing the position, the Legislature took several months to search for the candidate to fill it. At the September meeting, legislators chose Wayne Allen, a former Montgomery County administrator, to fill the post at a starting annual salary of $92,500.
In the coming year, Allen will work with the county chairman to more clearly define the roles each will play.
Teens killed on area roads
The beginning of the school year brought two tragic stories within two weeks of each other, and a sobering reminder of how vulnerable - and at times reckless - teenagers can be when they're behind the wheel of an automobile.
Three teens died in the two accidents.
In the early morning hours of Sept. 2, Timothy D. Hutchings, 19, died from massive head trauma sustained in an accident in Fleming. He was found in an SUV more than four hours after that 3 a.m. accident. Nicholas Raymond, 18, of 6206 West Lake Road, Auburn, has been charged with leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident in connection with that crash. His case is still pending.
On Sept. 16, a one-car crash in the town of Aurelius killed Auburn resident Ryan C. Walker, 19, who was a passenger in a car driven by James A. Darby, 17, who later died. Authorities said speed and driver inexperience likely played a role in the crash.
Salomone leaves city for a new job
After a particularly contentious budget forming season in the spring - and continuous philosophical struggles with some members of the city council - John Salomone accepted a job offer to become manager of a town in Connecticut, the state from where he came to Auburn in 2000.
Salomone's last day as the city manager in Auburn was Aug. 16.
Since that time, Michael Long has been serving as the interim city manager, and he is among the candidates for the permanent position. City councilors have said they hope to fill the post early in the new year.
Tribe pitches Auburn casino
After starting the year with a pitch to build a full-scale entertainment casino resort in the town of Sennett, the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma shifted gears with the June announcement that it wanted to build in Auburn.
This time the tribe, which had also proposed casinos in Aurelius, Rochester and the Catskills region in recent years, had a vocal government supporter in Auburn Mayor Tim Lattimore, who said the project would be an economic development windfall.
In a 3-2 vote, Lattimore and councilors Bill Graney and Thomas McNabb in June supported a resolution that said Auburn agreed with the concept to be a host community for such a casino. The Cayuga County Legislature responded with a vote that opposed the concept.
In the meantime, the tribe has applied to put land it currently owns in the county into federal trust, meaning it would be exempt from local laws and taxes.
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