Great American
Talk Line Up:

Strong Memorial Hospital has confirmed that a man involved in a motorcycle crash yesterday morning has now died from his injuries. New York State Police say 20 year old Justin Melia lost control of his motorcycle on the on ramp to I-390 North from I-490 East in Gates. Authorities say the motorcycle hit a guardrail and Melia was thrown from the bike. He was rushed to Strong Hospital for treatment where he later died. Investigators believe speed was a factor in the crash.

Four people were sent to the hospital after a chemical assault on the southwest side of Rochester last night. Crews from Rural-Metro Ambulance were called to Sawyer Street around 6:45. When they arrived on the scene paramedics say they treated five people – four of them, including a mother and a baby, were transported to Strong Memorial Hospital for further treatment. Both the police and the fire department are investigating the assault.

Former Gates day care operator Kelly Hernandez has admitted that she accidentally burned an 8 month old boy’s bottom when she changed his diaper on top of an electric stove, that was turned on. The 45 year old Hernandez pled guilty before Monroe County Court Judge Richard A. Keenan yesterday to felony assault and reckless assault of a child by a child day care provider. She will receive five years’ probation and spend 12 weekends in the County Jail. According to the Assistant District Attorney, Hernandez will also surrender her day care license.

It started as a dispute over land, but soon shifted to a war over taxes that are not collected on the sales of cigarettes from a store operated by the Cayuga Indian Nation. When the state refused to step in and demand tax payments, Cayuga County and neighboring Seneca County decided to take matters into their own hands, raiding Cayuga stores, seizing cigarettes and bringing criminal charges in sealed indictments against some of those working at the stores. After hearing oral arguments for approximately 45 minutes yesterday morning, Cayuga County Judge Mark Fan-drich said he will issue a written ruling in the near future, but gave no indication when the ruling will be handed down.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department have once again resumed their search today for a missing swimmer on Lake Ontario. Investigators say 24 year old Mehmet Yilmaz, originally from Turkey, was swimming 200 yards off-shore near Irondequoit Bay Wednesday night when friends noticed he started to struggle. Two people were in the boat at the time and tried to throw Yilmaz a flotation device, but could not reach him. They say he went under the water and did not resurface.

69 year old Joe Lodolce, a man linked to the Rochester mob back in the 1970’s and 80’s has pled guilty to sex abuse against a 15 year old boy. According to court documents, the plea came halfway through his trial and just before the prosecutor was about to call his star witness from the Rochester Police Department. Lodolce pled guilty to every charge in exchange for eight years in prison. The DA’s office wanted Lodolce to get at least 15 years, but the Judge said he considered Lodolce’s age when handing down the sentence as part of the plea deal.

Adam Theall was arraigned yesterday in Oneida County Court on one count of second degree murder. According to court documents, Theall is the Rome man accused of killing his three month old son Ethan with a shotgun in June of this year following a domestic dispute with the child’s mother. The New York State Police Department reports that as State Troopers arrived on the scene at the home of Theall’s parents in Vienna, he shot the child. Theall was then shot more than a dozen times by State Troopers after they say he pointed the gun at them.

Utica police announced yesterday that they’ve made an arrest in a murder that took place six months ago. 21 year old Antwuan March is accused of killing 27 year old Umar Kadafy Abdur Rahman at Geno’s Tavern on James Street in Utica. March was indicted by an Oneida County Grand Jury on 2^nd degree murder charges earlier this week. Police found him at a house on Chestnut Street in Utica where he was arrested without incident.

A Utica man who helped federal prosecutors put his two younger brothers and father in prison for an illegal asbestos disposal conspiracy is now facing up to five years in prison for his own guilty plea in the same case. However, prosecutors are asking that 47 year old Ronald Mancuso receive leniency when he’s sentenced which means he could get as little as probation. Investigators say the Mancuso family members violated asbestos removal regulations and had asbestos dumped on country roadsides in central New York. In June, Paul Mancuso was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, while both Steven Mancuso and their father, Lester, will serve approximately three years in prison.

The driver of a pickup truck that crashed into a home in the Town of Camillus early yesterday morning is facing drunk driving charges. Onondaga County Sheriff’s Deputies say a pickup truck driven by 54 year old Michael White of Auburn failed to stop at an intersection, hit an embankment, went airborne and then smashed into a house. Authorities say the truck crashed into the bedroom of Carolyn and Kenneth Coyne who were asleep at the time. Neither were hurt in the accident, but their home was heavily damaged.

Meanwhile, White, along with his passenger, 52 year old Keith Ferrin, were transported to Upstate University Hospital for treatment of what were described as non-life-threatening injuries. White is facing numerous charges in the case.

Despite evidence of modest improvement, Monroe County and western New York beaches continue to top the list for pollution concerns in a national study of public swimming sites. Ontario Beach in Charlotte was tied with two other Great Lakes beaches for the fourth worst in the state last year for the number of water samples exceeding national standards for safe swimming. In 2009, 38 percent of water samples failed to meet state bacteria standards, ranking Ontario Beach as the 48^th worst in the nation in the study of more than three thousand beaches.