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Democratic Congressman Eric Massa officially resigned yesterday afternoon. But Massa, who claimed the White House and the Democratic Party were out to get him, did not go quietly. In a radio interview, Massa called White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, quote, “the son of the devil’s spawn.” Massa claimed Emanuel, quote, “would sell his mother to get a vote,” and “would strap his children to the front of a steam locomotive.” Massa criticized Emanuel for confronting him in a gym shower over a congressional vote, one of the few Democratic votes against healthcare reform.
A retrial is about to begin for a man previously convicted in two 1981 murders. Robie Drake is being retried on two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of teenagers Amy Smith and Steven Rosenthal as they sat in a car in North Tonawanda. The final juror and two alternates are due to be selected Tuesday morning and then opening statements will be made. Drake was convicted in 1982 and sentenced to serve two consecutive terms of 25 years to life. After years of appeals, he finally won a new trial last year, when a federal appeals court ruled that there had been prosecutorial misconduct as well as perjury by a witness in the original trial.
A Wilson man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to kill his ex-wife. 68-year-old Jonathan Cheek allegedly attacked the woman in her Amherst home on January 13th before trying to run her car off the road. Cheek has been indicted on charges of attempted murder, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. He is free on 100-thousand dollars bail.
Congressman Chris Lee wants the federal government to save some green by going “green.” Lee is introducing a measure for Congress to stop making copies of legislation. The Republican representative says the feds could save more than two-million dollars a year if they did not print out five copies of every bill for every member of the House and Senate. He says the documents could be delivered electronically to save resources.
A Derby man has been found guilty of fraud. 40-year-old Shane bought a 52-inch flat screen television and other appliances and with what he called a bonded promissory note from HSBC Bank. Buczek alleged that he had 100-million dollars in a Treasury Department account. He also faces a trial next month on passport fraud and will face contempt of court charges in June.
Family members and friends packed Buffalo-Niagara International Airport Monday night to welcome back gold-medal bobsledder Steve Mesler. Mesler’s flight from Charlottetouched down about an hour late but that didn’t diminish the enthusiasm among those waiting. Mesler was one of four members of “The Night Train” bobsled team, piloted by Steve Holcomb.
A new poll finds a majority of New Yorkers believe Governor Paterson should remain in office until the end of his term. The Siena College poll found that 55 percent of respondents do not believe that Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch should finish the governor’s term. And an even larger majority, 71 percent, would rather see Paterson finish his term than have the state Legislature move to impeach him.
