December 4, 2009
Binghamton University
Science I.

Retired faculty member Richard T. Antoun was stabbed on the Binghamton University campus at 1:41 PM on Friday, December 4th. Antoun, 77 years old,an Emeritus Proffesor of the Anthropolgy department, specialized in Middle Eastern and Fundamentalist studies. Reports from the Press and Sun Bulletin and police radio transmissions state that the professor was stabbed four times by a grad student wielding a six inch kitchen knife. The grad student, according to eyewitness reports, confessed to the police at the scene and according to Police Reports is currently in custody.

BREAKING NEWS: Binghamton University has confirmed that Professor Richard Antoun died from wounds sustained as a result of the stabbing in hospital today. President Lois B. Defleur released a statement expressing condolences and said that "we will provide them with as much assistance as we can in this time of sorrow."

At approximately 10:30 this morning a shooting spree occurred at the American Civic Association building in Binghamton, New York where immigrants are educated on the citizenship process. There are 14 confirmed dead, including the gunman, identified as 41-year-old Jiverly Wong.

Wong entered the building at approximately 10:30 AM Friday morning, with two handguns, a 9 millimeter with extended clip and a .45 caliber, and a satchel of ammunition and what appeared to be survival gear. He had previously blocked the back door of the ACA building with a borrowed car. Upon entering the building, Wong fired upon the two receptionists, killing one and severely wounding the other. According to Zikuski, “Shooter just came in and shot her” and that the gunman was “no stranger to the Civil Association.” The wounded receptionist managed to crawl under a desk where she proceeded to call the authorities, according to Police Chief Joseph Zikuski. Police arrived within two minutes of the call, with Zikuski arriving just a minute afterwards.

Binghamton University has once again dropped the ball on securing the private information of students and parents. In a titanic breach of security, Binghamton University kept payment information for every student, possibly dating back at least ten years in a storage area next to one of the most trafficked lecture halls on campus, behind a door that was not only unlocked but taped open. The information itself contained social security numbers, credit card numbers, scans of tax forms, business information (including social security numbers and salary information for employees of students' parents), asylum records and more, all kept in a haphazard and disorganized fashion, sprawled out in boxes, in unlocked (yet lockable) filing cabinets and shelving units. And, to seemingly add insult to injury, the university left dollies and a shopping cart in the room, apparently to aid in any attempted theft. (Pictures of the room are beneath the story.)

The Hotel Casablanca is in that area of Manhattan, off Times Square, where it’s hard to tell where one building ends and the next begins. Space is TIGHT. That’s why it is so amazing to find a place like Hotel Casablanca. Tucked off Times Square and 43rd, it is another beautiful building on a street full of them. Most are office spaces, gyms, restaurants, high-end housing and the like. The hotel can be easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it, the only clue a modest awning labeled “Casablanca”.

The building itself is gorgeous, most likely built around the turn-of-the-last-century expansion. The lobby is small, but well attended. There are usually two or three employees waiting to assist you. The walls are Moroccan wood grain, the floor tiled. It all has the feel of the Gilded Age.

Governor David Paterson is holding a Town Hall Meeting at Broome County Community College on Wednesday, February 11, 2009. This is a live blog, detailing the proceedings of that event. Governor Paterson is expected to discuss budgetary issues, including those concerning the SUNY System of schools.
*Please note that this is a continuous live blog, and is therefore subject to errors in spelling or grammar.

4:53 The East Gym of BCC is beginning to fill, floor seating is taken and bleacher seats are nearing capacity, however the predicted overload does not seem likely to occur. Governor Paterson has yet to arrive.

5:08 Questions have been selected to ask of those submitted (duplicates have been regarded, and those which are most representative of the situation to be addressed were chosen), those asking questions are to be given priority aisle seating. Many questions are in relation to Natural gas drilling, and other local matters. Those questions pertaining to issues in localities farther from Binghamton, have for the most part, been differed.

5:30 The Governor has entered the building.

With the recent downturn in the American economy, it may seem as though the issue of healthcare in the United States has been pushed aside, but that is not so. The problems with health care are a symptom of premiums increasing over the last two decades at a rate much faster than general economic growth. This has been a major factor in the economic hardship many Americans face. Therefore, it is important to look closely at the state of the United States' health care system.
So just how much of a problem has the price of family health care become? According to the report issued by Families USA, the average premium, nationally, has increased from $6,772 to $12,075 between 2000 and 2007. That means that health care premiums have risen by $5,300 or 78.3 percent over the span of seven years. In contrast with this, median workers' earnings have only increased from $25,024 in 2000 to $28,640 in 2007, only 14.5 percent. Comparatively speaking, health care premiums have increased 5.4 times faster than earnings did.

It has been just over seven years since two air planes flew into the Twin Towers in New York City. On that tragic day, September 11th 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people in New York City, the pentagon, and in a field in Pennsylvania. America vowed, in the days after the attack, to fight against those that were responsible for such heinous acts and after the debris was cleared, they promised to rebuild.

By Jesse Gerber
Text to come soon.

By Cindy Zalog
Text to come.

Tomorrow Tuesday November 6th, 2007 is the day of local elections in Broome County. We at WHRW News encourage you to go vote.

The following elections are taking place tomorrow:

For Broome County Overall:

The District Attorney Election with choices Gerald Mollen (http://www.geraldmollen.com/) and Mike Korchak (http://www.mikekorchak.com/).

And a County Judgeship is being decided with choices Joseph Cawley and Mary Anne Leeman.

The City of Binghamton is having the following elections:

A City Council Election between Bob Weslar and John Kittredge