Firemen Called To Fire At Alleged Speakeasy
GRANDMOTHER PROTESTS — Minnie Lazore and her
grandchildren Mike and Loretta joined about 100 protesters
who picketted an illegal speakeasy operating on the St. Regis
Mohawk Reservation. The two children were orphaned after
their parents were killed in a car accident recently. (Emery
Photo)
Troopers
Probing
Fatality
BY ELLEN EMERY
AND RYNE MARTIN
HOGANSBURG - Firefighters
were on their way to a fire at one of
the speakeasies on St. Regis Indian
Reservation late Saturday night in
the wake of protests that it and
another illegal tavern was responsible for at least nine alcoholrelated car fatalities.
New York State Police troopers
entered the St. Regis Indian Reservation about 8:10 p.m. Saturday
after reports of another alleged
speakeasy-related fatal accident
s w e l l e d t h e c r o w d of
demonstrators to 300.
About eight to 12 State Police'
were seen on the reservation Saturday night, and a reporter for The
Journal observed at least three
troopers enter "Josie's" on Route
37 andtake one of the owners away.
"Josie's" is one of two illegal
taverns blamed by the protestors
for the deaths of nine reservation
residents in alcohol-related fatal
car crashes, and some of the
demonstrators had been protesting
since Friday night.
The crowd of protesters —
mothers, grandmothers, pregnant
women, men, and children —
shouted "Close down speakeasies,
close down speakeasies!" as
troopers arrived at the scene of the
tavern.
A Journal reporter was told by
demonstrators to leave the reservation as troopers arrived.
Reports indicated that the protesters had said they would close
the speakeasies down themselves if
the establishments weren't shut
down some other way.
But they remained in constant
conversation with State Police all
day Saturday and there were no
c o n f r o n t a t i o n s between the
troopers and the demonstrators.
Among the troopers at the scene
were Sgt. John Raleigh, the Commander of the Massena barracks;
besides the State Police on St.
Regis, others were called into the
The Plattsburgh Regional Office
of Attorney General Robert
Abrams will again have a
r e p r e s e n t a t i v e a v a i l a b l e in
Ogdensburg to provide consumer
information and take consumerrelated complaints. Ogdensburg
residents who have experienced
problems or disputes involving consumer transactions should take advantage of the opportunity to
receive assistance in resolving
them.
The next visit is scheduled for
Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The visits are being conducted in
the Community Center, Riverside
Street.
Area consumers who stop in are
asked to bring along copies of any
documents pertaining to the transaction in question. Further information can be obtained by contacting the Plattsburgh Office at 70
Clinton Street, or by calling (518)
563-8012.
ADVAiicE/fe^ Opportunity Knocks
Anybody Home?
SECTION TWO
•
SUNDAY, MAY 11, 1986"
PAGE 13
PAGE 13
:£tf-^
Two City Men Won New
Cars In ARC Fundraiser
"We managed to save the milk
house and a tool shed," said
LaBrake. "The tool shed was about
25 feet away and the side facing the
barn got scorced a little bit."
LaBrake said the loss vyas
estimated at $100,000 but the barn
was "fully covered" by insurance.
The fire* according to LaBrake,
started in the left front corner of
the barn and quickly spread
through the haymow.
"We were down there looking at
what was left this (Saturday) morning and as far as w e can determine, the fire was electrical in
origin," said LaBr,ake.
•
/
gram designed to help depressed
sections of trie state like Brasher.
"No one h a s called my office and
as far as I know, nothing has come
in the mail unless something has
come in just recently," said
Dawson.
The town of Brasher is one of six
sections of St, Lawrence County
that has been named as already
meeting t h e qualifications for
Cuomo's program. '
The town a n d v i l l a g e of
Gouverneur, the town and village
of Potsdam and the town of Dekalb
are the others.
The governments of these areas
still have to apply with the New
York State Office of Economic
Development to gain opportunity
zone designation. They would have
to compete with each other and
communities across the state to
win approval as one of 14 sites
Cuomo's program will aid.
Should the state approve their
applications, a section of the town
or village would be set aside. A
variety of tax credits and investment breaks would exist only in
those established zones as incentives for attracting new industrial
and commercial development in
the community.
"We have no real industry to
speak of," said Dawson. "St.
Lawrence Central School is our biggest employer.
"If the program can attract
business, whatever the size, then I
would certainly look forward to
something like this," Dawson added. "Anytime a community gets
Continued On Page 15
McNeil Urged To Enter
Race For Treasurer's Post
Paul Bartman of Ogdensburg shows his
winning form in the Frisbee Toss competition as others look
on during the St. Lawrence and Franklin County Area 27
Special Olympics held Saturday at the OFA Athletic Complex. Hundreds of special athletes participated in several
events on a beautiful spring day. (Mitchell Photo)
BY TIMOTHY M. KLASNICK
MASSENA — Two Ogdensburg
men won new automobiles Friday
night at the St. Lawrence County
Association for Retarded Children
(ARC) spring fund raiser.
Walter W, (Skip) Bracy, Jr., 826
Morris St., won the first prize of a
1986 Dodge Charger, from Brown's
Dodge, Canton. The car carried a
price tag of $8,370.
The second prize of a 1986
Chevrolet Chevette, from Frenchie's Chevrolet, Massena, was
won by Donald Brown, 948 Franklin
St. The Chevette is priced at$7,400.
In an ironic twist, the third prize
of a $2,500 dream vacation to winner's choice of destination was won
bv Kevin Browne of Massena.
I
BY ALAIN ST. PIERRE
BRASHER Opportunity
knocks at the town of Brasher's
door but the state apparently
hasn't bothered to let Brasher in on
it.
Governor Mario Cuomo's. office
says Brasher is eligible for the
governor's proposed "Opportunity
Zone" program.
Even officials from t h e
Republican controlled New York
State Senate say Brasher meets the
criteria for the governor's program.
But, no one's bothered to let the
town of Brasher in on the potential
good news.
When contacted over the phone
on Saturday, Brasher Town Supervisor Jim Dawson said he "was not
aware" Cuomo even had a pro-
Browne is employed at the
Massena Flight Service.
Eighty-four prizes were awarded
at the sixth annual fund raiser, held
at Flanders Inn in Massena.
Approximately 120 people waited
as the winning tickets were drawn
by M a s s e n a M a y o r A r s e n
Markarian, Massena Postmaster
Robert Fay, and Shawn Gray, Executive Director of the Massena
Chamber of Commerce.
ARC Executive Director Richard
Laurin announced that 2,126 donations were received, totaling
$30,825. t h a t marks the second
highest amount in the six year
history of spring fund raisers.
Other winners were:
Continued On Page 23
Lawrenceville Fire Levels Barn
BY ALAIN ST. PIERRE
LAWRENCEVILLE - A Friday
morning blaze left about 40 cows
homeless on the Dart FeeFee farm
on R t . 11! , j u s t o u t s i d e of
Lawrencei i e , near the St.
L a w r e n c e / / r a n k l i n County
border.
Lawrenceville 2nd Assistant Fire
Chief Gary LaBrake says FeeFee
reported a fire in his 40 foot wide by
100 foot long, two story barn at
about 10:30 a.m.
The blaze completely destroyed
the main barn where the milking
cows lived and a small wooden silo
wh'ch stood nearby.
reservation
residents
demonstrated across from Josie's
Place on Route 37, one of two
known speakeasies on the reservation. The two illegal bars Have been
linked by community leaders and
the demonstrators to the recent
d e a t h s of eight r e s e r v a t i o n
residents, including an, unborn
child, within a 14-day period.
"I've seen too many funerals,"
Josie Back said. "I've been going
to wakes the last two weeks —
house to house." Her own son was
in an accident a few weeks ago and
she is concerned about the operation of the illegal bars.
New York State Police say they
are unable to shut down the illegal
speakeasies. They say they can not
make arrests unless a witness
swears out a complaint admitting
they purchased alcohol in the
clubs.
"We've been having meetings
and nothing is being done," said
Back explaining that the mothers
decided to demonstrate to show
their concern. "We intend to close
this place down. We don't want to
see our kids killed this week-end.
We didn't raise them to get killed —
one mother didn't even get to see
her baby," she said, refen-ring to
the death last week-end of a mother
and her eight-month old unborn
child.
Holding a sign, "Akwesasne's
Mom's against Speakeasies," a
mother, her five-month old child
and her own mother stood. "I want
to see the parents raising their own
children rather than grandparents
raising orphans," the grandmother
said.
"I'm here for her future," the
mother said pushing the stroller.
She expressed concern that her
child might be hit by a drunken
d r i v e r leaving one of the
speakeasies which residents say
operate 24 hours a day.
C o n v e r s a t i o n s with the
demonstrators were drowned out
Continued On Page 23
7
BY ELLEN EMERY
ST. REGIS RESERVATION —
New York State Police were investigating a motorcycle fatality
Saturday evening in ' which a
driver, who witnesses say left a
speakeasy, was killed in a traffic
accident.
New York State police confirmed
that they were investigating a traffic fatality in which a motorcycle
and car collided.
State police confirmed that they
had been told that one of the
drivers had been seen at Josie's, a
speakeasy that picketers have been
protesting throughout the weekend.
About 300 people reportedly attended a tribal council meeting to
discuss ways of shutting down the
illegal bars.
The. protest was sparked when
reservation residents blamed the
illegal speakeasies on two recent
car accidents in which eight people
were killed. The drivers were all at
the speakeasies before the accidents.
Tribal leaders, including leaders
of the Canadian band, the
American tribal council, and the
traditionalist band all joined the
protesters to show joint solidarity
in opposing the operation of the illegal speakeasies.
Tribal leaders were reportedly
planning to serve an injunction on
the bar's owners, ordering them to
shut their doors.
Protesters claim that since the
protest began Thursday, patrons of r< *$&£&:•''*•',*•-V..'..
the speakeasies have remained inside the clubs, despite the protesters presence.
WINNING FORM -
Consumer
Assistance
Offered
Massena station for backup, ac- an alcohol-related accident after a
cording to reports.
visit to a speakeasy this Saturday
The crowd of angry, sign- night, the crowd grew to 3O0.
carrying demonstrators began
Troopers also took two cases of
with about 100 people; but when
word went but that another reser- beer away from Josie's in a pickup
vation resident died, apparently in truck Saturday night.
A Day Of Anger
Saturday was a day of anger for
those who had lost family in incidents they say were speakeasyBOW Qui related.
A grandmother and her two
M
MUN/j grandchildren stood in front of the
speakeasy Friday night, surrounded by more than 100 other placardholding protesters.
The g r a n d m o t h e r , Minnie
Lazore, had lost her pregnant
daughter — the mother of. the
young ones who now gripped her
hands — in a car crash that she
blames on the illegal tavern across
the road.
It was "Josie's Place" on Route
37 and another speakeasy on St.
Regis Reservation that the protestors said were responsible for
the deaths of eight reservation
residents, including an unborn
child, in a single week.
"Maybe if it (the speakeasy)
wasn't here, they would still be
alive," said Mrs. Lazore, holding
the hands of her two young grandchildren, Mike, 9, and Loretta, 5.
The children's mother, Kathy
Lazore, 30, eight months pregnant,
and her common-law husband
Clarence Cook, 33, and another couple all .died in a car crash last
PRIEST PROTESTS - Saturday after spending Friday
at "Josie's Place."
Reverend Robert Fleig, night
"Almost all my grandchildren
pastor at the St. Regis are orphans," said Mrs. Lazore.
Catholic Mission, walked the She said she had lost other children
picket line Friday with in alcohol-related accidents a s
and had come to the Friday
parishioners and members of well,
demonstration,
she added, to lend
the St. Regis community, pro- her support so more
would not have
testing the illegal speakeasies to raise orphaned children.
on the reservation. (Emery "Eight so far — no more," one
Photo)
placard read Friday night a s
BYJIMREAGEN
CANTON — Some St. Lawrence
County Republicans are privately
urging Lisbon Legislator Robert
McNeil to consider making a bid
for the GOP nomination for county
Treasurer.
McNeil, contacted Saturday by
the Advance-News, confirmed that
he's been approached by prominent Republicans to seek the
nomination. But McNeil said he's
made no decision on whether he'll
seek the office.
"I haven't made any decision,"
McNeil said. "I've talked to some
people, but I don't know."
With the decision Friday morning by Canton banker David Evans
to pull out of the race for the GOP
nomination* McNeil would probably face St. Lawrence County
Treasurer Leon Blackburn in a
Republican p r i m a r y for the
nomination.
McNeil currently represents the
towns of Lisbon and Madrid On the
county legislature. He chairs the
legislature's Finance Committee,
and serves on the economic
development and transportation
committee. He currently is chairman of the St. Lawrence County
Solid Waste Disposal Authority,
The two-term legislator is a
former town supervisor of Lisbon.
He works as an accountant, contracting work for Agway.
M a s s e n a Mayor. A r s e n
Markarian, a Republican, pulled
out of the race two weeks ago.
Continued On Page 15
Most North Counties Abolished
Sheriff's Department Road Patrols
BY MICHAEL HIRSCH
CANTON — The Clinton County
Sheriff's department had three
patrol cars on the road at all times
in the mid-1970's. But when state
legislators in 1978 mandated an increase of manpower in county j ails,
the patrols'were eliminated.
Essex County road patrols were
also eliminated in the early 1970's
when staff in the sheriff's department was stretched thin.
Of the five counties included in
the New York State Police Troop B
area, only St. Lawrence County
continues to operate sheriff road
patrols. And St. Lawrence County
legislators are now studying
Whether any of the 22 county
patrolman positions should be
dropped through attrition.
County taxpayers pay the
salaries for 20 and one-half
patrolman positions and the state
STOP-DWI program pays for the
other one and one-half positions.
A state police spokesman said
many counties have eliminated
road patrols a s a "cost-efficient
measure."
"Sheriff's departments have to
set up their priorities," said Sgt.
Michael Downes, public information officer for Troop B .
"Their number one mandate i s to
run the jails. Number two is to
serve the civil process. And then if
you have extra staff you would probably put it in on the road."
State troopers and sheriff
deputies "overlap" in the sense
that state police will maintain road
patrols if counties don't, he said.
Downes said county representatives have sometimes chosen to
reduce or eliminate their patrols
because of this overlap.
"If I was a county legislator and I
wanted to make cuts and knew we
were overlapping with another
department, that's where I would
make cuts," he said.
"You don't have to be a genius to
figure that out. It's not a secret."
But Essex County Sheriff Robert
Levine said county legislators must
also consider whether state police
would provide as much coverage a s
St. Lawrence County deputies currently do.
"I think in the long run, county
residents would be the losers" if St.
Lawrence County road patrols
were cut, Levine said.
Except for the coverage provided
in five villages in Essex County^
state police maintain all the
highways in his county, h e said.
Levine said he has not asked the
FJssex County Board of Supervisors
to let him start sheriff road patrols
because of the initial high investment it would require.
"If we were going to take over
patrols, the Essex County board
would have to fund an investment
that would be prohibitive," he said.
Badlam Wins Court Case Against OBPA
The 40 to 45 head of cattle were
BY ALAIN ST. PIERRE
all safely moved out of the burning
port.
The fight lasted four and a half
structure.
In winning his case against the
One fireman, Wayne LaFave, of years but it ended Friday and now OBPA, Badlam expects to be paid
the North Lawrence Fire Depart- Fred (Rick) Badlam says h e is 13 percent of his "base bid" of
ment was overcome by smoke and happy.
around $60,000 as well a s five
had to be taken to the hospital • In one corner of the New York years' interest on the money his
where he was treated and released State Supreme Court sat Fred company lost out on,
Badlam Construction Inc.
for smoke inhalation.
According to Badlam, his comIn the other, the Ogdensburg) pany turned in a low bid of $76,600
L a B r a k e s a i d a b o u t 60
firefighters frorti seven area fire Bridge and Port Authorty.
to build the new hangar.
On F r i d a y , a j u r y voted
departments were at the scene of
Because the OBPA claimed
unanimously
that
the
OBPA
the fire.
Badlam did not m e e t their
The majority of fireman left the wrongfully turned down a bid sub- specifications, Badlam's bid was
scene around 2 p.m. while mitted by Badlam in 1980 to build rejected and the accepted bid was
members of other local depart- the new corporate hangar next to over $5,000 higher.
ments stayed behind until 7 p.m. the Ogdensburg International Air"They didn't give me a chance to
amend our plans," said Badlam.
"The Authority should have come
back to us to see if we could modify
our plans to meet their specs."
Badlam claims former OBPA
Executive Director James
McGuinness let "personal feelings" get in the way when decided
not to accept his company's low
bid.
"He (McGuinness) wrote up the
specs and wasn't even qualified to
write s p e c i f i c a t i o n s , " s a i d
Badlam. "They should be prepared
by a licensed professional engineer
Continued On Page 15
tf
i&x