REAL-TIME NEWS

Round-the-clock headlines from Staten Island

TV MAVENS' CHANCE TO 'START OVER'

by By Glenn Nyback

Sunday July 06, 2008, 7:22 AM

New feature lets you watch from beginning as long as you catch any part of broadcast

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Here's another reason to be a couch potato.

Time Warner Cable has unveiled a feature on its cable television network that lets you start a program from the beginning even if you tune in a minute before a show, movie or sports event ends.

It works like this: If you're running late and forgot to set the Mets or Yankees game to be taped, you can restart the game when you get home -- without missing an out. Or you can finish dinner or check your e-mail before sitting down to watch television and not worry about missing the beginning of a program.

"We're really excited," said Brien Kelley, vice president and general manager of Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey. "It gives customers a chance to control their own viewing preference. It's great to have it here in New York City."

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Fireworks arrests, seizures down

by Staten Island Advance

Saturday July 05, 2008, 9:21 PM

So, was it the rain, all the warnings, or last year's well-publicized bust of a fireworks show in the Fort Wadsworth section of Staten Island?

Whatever it was, the number of Fourth of July fireworks seizures and arrests weren't even a shadow of what they were in years past, according to numbers supplied by borough police officials.

Cops conducted 53 fireworks seizures, issued 33 criminal summonses and made nine arrests on Friday, compared to 309 seizures, 160 summonses and 30 arrests last year.

There were no fireworks-related injuries reported anywhere in the borough.

The most serious incident was when eight officers were injured -- two badly enough to require CAT scans and stitches -- in a car accident while rushing to help other officers allegedly assaulted at a house party in the Huguent section.

Two women who allegedly caused the scuffle, Susan Camarda, 50, of Bronxville, N.Y., and Caren Puccio, 48, of Huguenot, were arraigned at Stapleton Criminal Court on obstruction of government administration and resisting arrest.

All the cops injured in the crash had been released from local hospitals.

-- Contributed by Phil Helsel and Amisha Padnani 

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Dark cloud threatens summer driving fun for Staten Islanders

by Staten Island Advance

Saturday July 05, 2008, 1:31 PM

The frightening rise in the price at the pump is throwing a gloomy wet blanket over Islanders' vacation plans.
Last summer, Chuck Wilson didn't think twice before taking day trips to Coney Island or planning vacation trips to Maryland and Virginia Beach.
This summer, he asks himself one question before starting the engine of his SUV: "Is it really worth it?" For Wilson and many others, the answer is often "no."
"A simple everyday trip may turn out to cost $200," said Wilson, a New Springville resident, who will spend more time in Clove Lakes Park with his grandson, Gabriel.
As the price of gas reaches unheard-of levels every week, many Staten Islanders are scaling back their summer vacation plans. While some are changing their plans because they'd rather spend their gas money on leisure activities at home, others have eliminated some travel to recover the steep costs they've incurred filling up the tank over the last year, when gas was averaging $3.23 a gallon. Right now it's averaging $4.36 for regular on Staten Island, according to gasbuddy.com.

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Despite a misty Fourth, Staten Island cops confiscate many fireworks

by Staten Island Advance

Saturday July 05, 2008, 11:22 AM

Photo by Bill LyonsBags and boxes of fireworks were confiscated throughout Staten Island yesterday and held in a room at the 122nd Precinct stationhouse in New Dorp.

Despite a calmer Fourth of July than most, police on Staten Island were still able to find nearly a room-ful of illegal fireworks during neighborhood sweeps yesterday.
The fireworks, large and small, were bagged and held at the 122nd Precinct stationhouse in New Dorp.
No major incidents were reported, but four people were arrested in Huguenot Well, sorry so late but there are four people arrested on Powell Street in Huguenot at around 9 p.m.

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Enforcement lowers the boom on Staten Island fireworks

by Staten Island Advance

Saturday July 05, 2008, 12:08 AM

Police reported last night a vastly decreased number of illegal fireworks calls on a day that in the past was likened to a war zone.

Tellingly, the Fillmore Place address in Fort Wadsworth that was the scene of an ugly battle between police and Fourth of July revelers last year was empty yesterday. A handwritten sign posted on the front door read, "Gone Fishing."

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7 cops hurt as police van and cruiser collide

by Staten Island Advance

Friday July 04, 2008, 9:04 PM

Seven police officers were injured when a police van and a patrol car collided at Arbutus Avenue and Hylan Boulevard in Huguenot as they responded to an officer needing assistance on a fireworks call.

The injuries were described as minor, but five officers were taken to Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, and two to the hospital's Prince's Bay campus.

The accident occurred shortly before 9 p.m.

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First-grade graduation marred by theft

by Staten Island Advance

Friday July 04, 2008, 8:50 PM

It was supposed to be her little guy's special day, his first-grade graduation ceremony.

Instead, Traci Holmes saw it as an opportunity to do some thieving, cops said.

Police said the 43-year-old mom slipped into her son's empty classroom at PS 52 in Dongan Hills sometime during the May 29 ceremony and swiped his teacher's Louis Vuitton handbag.

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