Authorities break Syracuse drug rings

Syracuse.com is reporting that 33 Central New Yorkers were indicted for being part of drug rings that distributed pounds of cocaine on a weekly basis in the Syracuse area. 

Law enforcement agencies from the Central New York area seized $800,000 worth of cocaine.

16 pounds of marijuana, 12 firearms, more than $88,000 in cash and 12 vehicles were also seized

The operation was the result of a 10-month operation with wiretaps initiated by the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office.

Currently 30 out of the 33 people who were indicted are in custody and the other three are being sought.

My Take: I consider it to be of the interest of residents of Syracuse to know that such a big ring of drug dealing was going on in their area. They might also be interested in knowing what officials are doing to address the problem. It is also important that U.S. Attorney Andrew Baxter called it “one of the largest cocaine operations in Central New York.”

Heene's colleague says "balloon boy" incident is likely to be a stunt

Update: According to ABCNews.com, a former colleague of the father of the Colorado boy, who was thought to have floated away in a helium balloon, said the incident was likely a publicity stunt.

“I believe it was a premeditated launch,” Scott Stevens said.

Scott Stevens used to work as a “storm chaser” with Richard Heene, father of the boy. Stevens says Heene has a history of putting his family in danger.

Stevens made these comments a day after another one of their colleagues had told the media that Heene often exposed his children to the dangers of his job.

My Take: This is a story that has greatly caught the media’s attention and people are wondering whether it was a hoax or not. I thought it important for people to know the opinion Heene's former colleagues on this situation. 

Thousands of Puerto Ricans come out to protest

CNN.com is reporting that thousands of people carried out a protest in Puerto Rico that paralyzed commercial activity Thursday morning.

The protest purpose was to oppose the Gov. Luis Fortuño’s demand that nearly 17,000 workers be laid off to help close a $3.2 billion budget gap.

Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate exceeds 15 percent and the layoffs are expected to cause that rate to increase to at least 17 percent.

My Take: I chose this as “my pick” story because Syracuse University has a large number of Puerto Rican students who, I believe, are interested in knowing about this incident that is big news back home.