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Image provided by: Guilderland Public Library
THE ALTAMONT For 122 years Albany County's independent newspaper $-7 ^*^°>S J ' ..if^h^r^.'.^H^ i...1^...f.X \ •••;' ..'.'' /' •• •-^'TheEiisfeipriise''^—5arth?i;mleS|)e!ncer' Sunlight falls on a stream running through Thacher Park in the Helderbergson Tuesday. The grass is still green and the water flows free of ice because: of the mild weather this winter Computers to India Murkerjee^s ^h^lii^ an awfl^|eiiiiig By Melissa Hale-Spencer - GUILDERLAND — Jagriti means \awakening\ in Sanskrit.. It is the name of a school .sys-. temset up in India to teach chil- dren whose families earn a dollar a day or less; students learn basic arithmetic, language, and com- puter skills. 'This will enable them to find higher^payihgjobs and break but of the Cycle of poverty,\ said Zagreb Mukeijee, Mukeijee, himself, is 'aa'ou.tr. stainding studeht; he. is a sbphb- more at Guilderiand High School. Last year^ his deeply re- searched' and carefully-written Second accident fatal for Speanburg By Jarrett Carroll ' 4 \ ALBANY COUNTY — Nearly two months after the death of Mabel Speanburg, a 60-year-old mentally retarded woman who lived in a New Vislcms group home, Bethlehem Police have isssued a report on the accident that led to her death. The Enterprise broke the story on Dec. 14 that Speanburg had died on Nov. 8 at St. Peter's Hospital, two days after suffer- ing ah accident in a New Visions van\. She was on her way from the New Visions day facility on Krumkill Road to the group home on Rapp Road in Guilder- The police report, released yesterday, states that there have bberi Other accidents with New Vision's vehiislbs. It says a, hospi- tal worker stated \she received 'information., from the Western 'Turnpike Ainbulance personnel that . Speanburg' Was. riot re- strained properly and that it was hot the first time, this had hap- pened with fteW'Visions' vans.\ A former New ..Visions em-, plbyee, who woijked at the group home on Rosemont Street in AJ.-. jbany, recalls 'that Speanburg, who used to live there, wjts in a similar accident on Krumkill Road in early 2005, Speanburg was traveling to the day pro- gram when a car turned in front of the New Visions vehicle and, the worker told The Enterprise, \The driver slammed on the brakes...Mabel arid the staff member went flying.\ * Speanburg received \a gash on her eyebrow and went to St. Pe- ter's [Hospital] where she was bandaged,\ the worker said. Speanburg, who had been wearing a seat belt, should have been in. the front seat or seated next t6 a staff member, the worker said;..\Knowing Mabel,\ the worker said,, that would have. been a wise' precaution. She de- scribed Speanburg as. \very mis- chievous at times and fun- loyirig.. .very playful.\ The worker believes New Vir sions heeds more staff to run its programs properly. . Delayed report When The Enterprise, in the second Week, of December, asked Bethlehem Police about the Nov. 6 accident, they said there, was no written report; the police did (Continued on Page 20) paper on Mohandas Gandhi earned him first place in the sen- iqr category at the' New York State IJistory Day finals. and a chance at national, competition in Washiiigipn, D.C. Also fist year/Mukerjee trav- eled With two friends to India (Continued on Page. 10) , By Jarrett Carroll ^ALBANY COUNTY — Albany County Democrats have, no leader and haven't yet decided hoW to choose one\ after a Dec. 21 decision invalidated the election of FratikGomrnisso as chairman. ; The disputed election between Albany's Commisso and Guild- eriand Councilman David Bbs- .Worth, went to. court after a standing vote was used iristead of a Weighted vote at the Sept. 27 biennial organizational meeting. ' BosWorth lost to Commisso by a vote of 253 to 216. ..'f- Bos worth supporters chal^ leriged the results With many defining the division as an urV ban-suburban split. A Weighted vote, some BbsWorth supporters said, would clearly sh<?W subur- ban dominarice. XJbuiity totals in the recent gubernatorial race show not quitfe 30^000 from the cities voting for the Democratic ticket while oyer 50,000 from the suburban and rural toWns voted for the\ Democratic ticket. Justice Thomas J. McNamara acting for the state's Supreme Court, the lowest court in the state's threeTtiered,. system, wrote, in his eight-page' ruling, 'The election of officers under- taken at the organizational meeting of the Albany County Democratic Committee on Sep- tember 27, 2006 is invalir dated...The Albany County De- mocratic Committee is required to provide for\ weighted voting in all matters...a standing vote is inconsistent with a weighted vote.\. Two other judges recused themselves befareiJ^cNamara, who is. a Republican from Sara- toga, heard the case., The committee has based its weighted votes on the Demo-, cratic ballot cast in the last gu- bernatorial election, unless there has been redistrictirig, in Which case tallies, from an assembly election are then used. Enroll-' riieht numbers have not been used in calculating the weighted votes,; ; '•' In addition to asking the court to throw out the election because a Weighted vote was not; used, the Boswbrth state also asked to \invalidate certain provisions of the rules [county bylaws], to in- validate a Weighted vote formula circulated by the committee,'arid' (Continued on page. 11). . tz I!;\'! •I'-i I • INSDE Opinion Page 2 News Page 8 Community Calendar Page 14 Classifieds Page 24 Sports Page 26