THE POST-STANDARD Saturday, February 26, 2011 THE POST-STANDARD PAGE A-3

PS CONTACT US
You can reach the newsroom
by calling 470-2265 or submit news
by e-mail to citynews@syracuse.com
LOC AL INSIDE
Skaneateles car dealer Pat
Bombard faces more charges in
fraud case. A-7

Centro hikes fare for

Call-A-Bus program
Proposed changes to
Centro’s fares and routes
include no service changes
for those using the bus au-
thority’s Call-A-Bus pro-
gram — except on Satur-
days.
The fare for the Call-A-
Bus in Onondaga County is
proposed to go up, from
$1.50 to $2 a ride to $2.50
to $3 a ride, depending on
the distance of the trip.
To find out more, call
Centro: 442-3333.
Nobody home as fire
rips Orwell residence
A fire in the Oswego
County town of Orwell
heavily damaged a house,
the Oswego County 911
Center reports.
The fire was reported at
9:28 p.m. Friday in a house
Ailing Community General OKs sale
The purchase by Upstate Medical Tom Quinn, Community’s president
and chief executive officer.
University must be approved by ‘‘Although there are regulatory ap-
state regulators. provals required and many details re-
maining, this is good news for employ-
By James T. Mulder ees, for the medical staff and for the
Staff writer community at large,’’ Quinn wrote.
Community General Hospital’s Upstate wants to buy Community
board of directors has approved a pur- because the 409-bed teaching hospital
chase offer from Up- is full and it wants more beds to ex-
state Medical Uni- pand enrollment in its schools, provide
versity, moving Up- more training sites for students and
state’s proposed preserve services at Community. Com-
acquisition of Com- munity has been steadily losing money
munity one step and patients and may not survive un-
closer. less it is acquired, according to Upstate
Community’s officials.
board approved a Quinn’s memo did not disclose fin-
resolution accepting ancial details of Upstate’s purchase
Upstate’s offer to ac- Quinn offer. Community officials on Friday
quire the hospital, its office building declined to elaborate on the memo.
and some other assets, according to a Upstate officials were unavailable for
memo sent to hospital employees by comment.
The memo
left behind,’’ the memo said.
We’ve posted a copy of a memo to
Community is about $9.1 million in
debt, and its pension plan is under-
employees written by Tom Quinn,
funded by about $29.6 million.
Community General Hospital’s
president and chief executive officer, ‘‘We and Upstate are structuring the
at syracuse.com. transaction so that employees’ vested
pension benefits are not adversely af-
The resolution passed by Commu- fected,’’ Quinn said in the memo.
nity’s board on Feb. 17 paves the way ‘‘The board also is confident Upstate is
for Upstate to file a certificate of need working on plans to transition most
application seeking permission from CGH employees to its work force.’’
the state Health Department to buy The memo said Community’s board
some of Community’s assets and as- anticipates Upstate will make changes
sume some of its liabilities, according to its medical staff bylaws to accom-
to the memo. Hospital officials have modate private doctors who practice at
said they hope to file that application
by mid-March.
Community General. Upstate officials
have said they want Community’s pri-
Upstate cannot assume some of vate doctors to be able to continue
Community’s liabilities such as its practicing there after the proposed deal
bond debt, according to the memo. But goes through.
it is expected the liabilities that cannot Contact James T. Mulder at 470-2245 or
be assumed will be satisfied ‘‘by assets jmulder@syracuse.com.

Fitzpatrick
Frightful
at 145 Beech Road. First re-
sponders told 911 that the

wants to
flames were 12 to 13 feet
above the roof when they

arrived.
No one was home at the
time of the fire, and no one
was hurt while putting out
the fire, 911 reports.
Fire departments from
Orwell, Williamstown,
Redfield, Altmar, Sandy
Creek and Richland re-
sponded to the fire.
Program will explain
literacy program
A briefing and orienta-
tion to learn more about lit-
eracy and its impact in the
community is scheduled for
5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday
at Literacy Volunteers of
Oswego County, 34 E.
Bridge St., Suite 301, Os-
wego.
After the briefing, those
attending can explore the
possibility of becoming a
tutor for adults in need of
basic literacy (reading and
writing) and English skills.
The session will include in-
formation about the mis-
sion, volunteer opportuni-
ties and impact of Literacy
Volunteers. There is no
commitment to join.
To sign up for the event,
or for more information,
call program coordinator
Paula Baker at 342-8839.
Sportsmanship Day
at Oswego State
The third annual Sports-
manship Day Seminar at
the State University Col-
lege at Oswego will be 2 to
5:45 p.m. Tuesday in Room
105 of Lanigan Hall.
The event, which is free
and open to the public, aims
‘‘to promote a multidisci-
plinary look at sportsman-
ship.’’ Faculty, staff and
students will speak for five
to 15 minutes on their expe-
riences related to sports-
manship and civility in gen-
eral, said organizer
Timothy Delaney, associate
professor and chair of so-
forecast
continue
fizzles as DA
County Democratic
The storm drops only 4.8 inches Committee plans to name a
on Syracuse, but makes highways challenger in the spring.
a menace for motorists.
By Jim O’Hara
Staff reports Staff writer
Central New Yorkers can look for- Onondaga County District
ward to a cold, but relatively calm, day Attorney William J. Fitzpat-
today in which to clean up from Fri- rick will be on the election bal-
day’s winter storm. lot again this November as he
The storm didn’t live up to its bill- seeks a sixth term as the coun-
ing in terms of accumulation, but the ty’s top prosecutor.
system that swung through the Syra- ‘‘There’s
cuse area Friday caused its share of a time to call
mayhem on the roads. it a day, but
Sheriffs in Madison, Cortland, Che- it’s not my
nango, Lewis and Seneca counties is- time, The
sued travel advisories as the storm pro- voters may
duced snow-covered, slippery decide other-
pavement. Accidents dotted highways wise,’’ he
and byways, sometimes forcing clo- said. ‘‘I want
sures as authorities towed or righted to go out like
vehicles. Cayuga County 911 said Ted Wil- Fitzpatrick
there were 20 reported accidents be- liams, not like Willie Mays sit-
tween noon and 5 p.m. ting on the bench losing the
Onondaga County deputies respond- seventh game of the World Se-
ed to 42 car crashes and 67 disabled ries.
cars Friday, Sgt. John D’Eredita said. ‘‘I genuinely love public
None of the crashes was serious, he service,’’ Fitzpatrick said.
said. The Democratic Party has
Cancellations riddled the flight ar- not identified a candidate to
rival and video displays at Syracuse challenge Fitzpatrick, a Repub-
Hancock International Airport as the
widespread storm delayed air traffic
lican.
The county Democratic
from Detroit to New York City.
Forecasters originally projected the Committee will continue its
storm would produce 8 inches to a foot candidate selection process
of snow, but, as the day wore on, it be- through May, when the it will
came apparent that Syracuse would re- officially endorse its candi-
ceive something closer to the lower dates, according to committee
limit than the higher. By 5 p.m. Fri- Chair Vita DeMarchi.
day, a total of 4.8 inches of snow was ‘‘There are ongoing discus-
John Berry / The Post-Standard
recorded at Syracuse Hancock Interna- SNOW BEGINS to collect Friday morning on the Soldiers and Sailors Monu- sions with potential candidates
tional Airport, and little fell thereafter. ment in Syracuse’s Clinton Square. for every position,’’ she said in
The high today is expected to reach an e-mail.
26, but the wind should diminish ‘‘With regard to the DA po-
through the day. Less than a half-inch sition, being an entrenched in-
of new snow is expected during the cumbent hasn’t always been a
For a gallery of photos, go to syracuse.com/photos. Look
day, but steadier snow is expected to- positive position, as we have
on Page B-8 for today’s weather forecast, or visit
night. The low should approach 22, the www.syracuse.com/weather for updates.
seen in recent elections, espe-
weather service predicts. cially for someone in the
FITZPATRICK, PAGE A-6

Seed money sprouts

ciology.
Delaney, who has written
books and been quoted

on Near West Side

widely on the sociology of
sports, plans to discuss such
topics as the discontinued
tradition of fans throwing
bagels on the ice during Os-
wego-Plattsburgh hockey
games in old Romney Field
House.
Daily inspiration
begins Sunday
Starting Sunday, The
Post-Standard, in conjunc-
tion with InterFaith Works
of Central New York, will
introduce a new feature
called Daily Inspiration.
The feature will provide
daily inspiration and reflec-
tion from religious and spir-
itual leaders in our commu-
nity.
Each Sunday in CNY, a
new writer will offer a new
perspective in this space,
followed by his or her daily
reflections Monday through
Saturday on Page 2 of the
CNY section. We welcome
your feedback or involve-
ment; e-mail features@sy-
racuse.com for more in-
formation.
— Staff reports
Microloan program gives
small businesses a chance
to grow.
By Lorenzo Arguello
Contributing writer
Alicia Radicchi was work-
ing as a landscape designer last
summer, doing jobs for vari-
ous clients.
The recent graduate of the
State University College of
Environmental Science and
Forestry didn’t plan on starting
her own business. But she
found landing a full-time job
was difficult in the down econ-
omy. So when demand for her
work was strong, she decided
to start The Landscape Elf.
Looking for a location, she
settled her business in late July
on Syracuse’s Near West Side,
drawn by Syracuse University
and others working to redevel-
op the area west of Armory
Square.
‘‘I knew there was a lot of
energy here,’’ she said.
To attract more new busi-
The loans
Range offered: $2,500 to
$20,000.
Requirements: Join Near
Westside Business
Association and enroll in the
Near Westside Initiative’s
entrepreneurship program.
How long it takes to get a
loan: Roughly four months.
For more information:
Contact Near Westside
Initiative Deputy Director
Michael Short at 443-5402 or
at mwshort@syr.edu
nesses to the area, several
groups have banded together Michelle Gabel / The Post-Standard
to start a microloan program. ALICIA RADICCHI, of Syracuse, is the owner of The Landscape Elf, a small business on Syra-
Businesses now can apply for cuse’s Near West Side. She is a member of the Near Westside Business Association, and she
small loans ranging from takes part in the free training and classes offered by the organization. Her specialties in-
$2,500 to $20,000. clude green infrastruction and native plants.
The program is modeled
after similar lending efforts in
developing nations where Community Foundation, the tive. The program’s goal is to
small loans can make a huge Cooperative Federal Credit The initial grant is enough empower business owners and
difference to a family’s surviv- Union will make up to to create up to 10 new jobs and assist them every step of the
al. $100,000 in loans available. five new businesses, said Near way, Short said.
Backed by a $25,000 grant The program will be overseen Westside Initiative Deputy Di- To be eligible for a loan,
from the Central New York by the Near West Side Initia- rector Michael Short. FUND, PAGE A-6