790 WTNY Headlines

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is headed out the door. President Obama confirmed Hagel's resignation in a statement at the White House. Obama praised Hagel's service as a decorated Vietnam War veteran. He also praised Hagel's tenure as defense chief and called him a great friend. The Republican Hagel is a former U.S. Senator from Nebraska. He took over the Pentagon in February of last year. Hagel is expected to stay on the job until a successor is confirmed by the Senate.

11:57 AM

Someone has a lot of money coming their way. According to the New York Lottery, a Jefferson County woman has won at least $20 million as part of the Lotto's Win $1,000,000 a Year For Life scratch off game. A ceremony where the winner will be announced is set for Tuesday in Gouverneur.

11:57 AM

Three people have been arrested on prostitution related charges by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department at a Pamelia motel. Twenty one year old Richard Galloway of Evans Mills is accused of paying $85 to 28 year old Heidi Garcia of Watertown in exchange for sex over the weekend. Janelle Augustave was also arrested by police on charges that she took $200 from a man in exchange for sex. She is also charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. She was ordered held on $1000 bail. Galloway and Garcia were issued appearance tickets.

10:07 AM

A jury has found a tractor trailer driver guilty of reckless driving and other traffic counts in connection to a fatal 2012 crash in northern Jefferson County. James Mills was convicted by a jury on Saturday in Town of Antwerp Court where he was on trial last week. Mills' rig slammed into several cars on Route 11 in July 2012, killing six people including several children. Those vehicles had been stopped due to construction on the roadway. The matter went before a grand jury this summer, but that panel did not indict him on any felony charges. A police report indicated Mills was not impaired at the time of the accident. With a conviction on the misdemeanor count, Mills faces up to 30 days in jail.

10:06 AM

An accident on Floral Drive in the Town of Watertown on Sunday sent three people to the hospital. The crash happened at round 4:30 pm and involved three vehicles. State Police are investigating. They say one of the vehicles involved was attempting to make a left hand turn when it stopped for an oncoming vehicle. The third vehicle then came over a hill, tried to stop, but swerved and struck the two vehicles. Those injured were taken to Samaritan Medical Center for treatment.

10:06 AM

A home in the Town of Hammond was destroyed following a weekend fire. The fire occurred on County Route 6 at around 7 am Sunday morning. A smoke detector woke up the home's lone occupant, who was able to escape without injury. Several cats did die in the fire. The fire is believed to have been caused by combustible materials left on a back porch that were ignited by a wood pellet stove exhaust pipe.

10:05 AM

A new director has been named for the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park. Mathew Holdgate will come to the North Country from Portland, Or. Zoo officials named Holdgate as the new director over the weekend. He will replace previous full time director John Wright, who left the area back in the spring. Jayne Graves has served as interim director for most of the year.

10:05 AM

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department has arrested a Ft. Drum man on an attempted murder count following an incident that occurred in the month of September. Twenty three year old Richard Anderson is alleged to have intentionally tried to crash his vehicle into a second vehicle that contained a 19 year old woman. Police allege the incident was an attempt to kill that woman. The incident happened September 1 at the intersection of Routes 11 and 26 in the Town of LeRay. Anderson is charged with first degree attempted murder, first degree attempted assault, and three counts of first degree reckless endangerment. He was arraigned and ordered held on $30,000 cash bail.

10:04 AM

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says crews are making significant progress removing snow in the Buffalo area. However, the governor says that emergency officials are now turning their attention to the next potential threat. At a press conference in Erie County on Sunday, Cuomo called the potential for flooding in western New York even more dangerous than the snowfall that created the situation. He called floodwater a "toxic brew" that contains runoff and sewage that can do tremendous damage to anything it hits.

10:01 AM

Governor Andrew Cuomo is blaming the National Weather Service for not properly reporting how serious the recent lake effect snow storm in Western New York was going to be. Governor Cuomo spoke with the media on Saturday saying the National Weather Service "was off," and that no one had any idea that the snow would be falling at a rate of five inches an hour. Cuomo says that in turn led to Buffalo being ill-prepared for dealing with the storm that dumped nearly seven feet of snow on the area.

10:00 AM

New York Senator Chuck Schumer says federal agencies are not acting quickly enough to publish rules for flying unmanned aircraft. He says three times in recent weeks, drones were spotted by pilots landing at JFK and two others were flown near the Ed Koch Queensborough Bridge putting New Yorkers in danger. He calls the situation urgent. The senator says unmanned aircraft can be useful to business and law enforcement, but operators must be given guidelines in order to fly them safely.

9:59 AM

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