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•\1-. • PAGE 11 PRESS-REPUBLICAN ween Tale 11 is said that insanity breeds j|its own tiny monsters. In my I ^opinion, I fear it is the op- posite instead that is true. I lave survived — though not || necessarily whole — an ordeal so horrendous, so ut- terly without regard for human sanity > that I must tell you of it now before it returns for me . . . and return it shall. There is no escape. To run, I fear, is fruitless. It will not stop until my blood turns hard upon the leaf-strewn ground. It was a hunting accident. Or at least it seems an accident now that I look back on it. An accident that I ever left my home. I was hunting'in the back woods of v Harkness last October: October 31st. And I lost my way. Funny, that, Fve never been lost before in my life . . . and'now I find that I may be truly lost. Game was scarce. It seemed that I was flushing the same grouse over and over again, never quite able to get off a clear shot. Following my elusive prey ever deeper into the brush, I became aware of my predicament. Darkness was falling too fast for me to make it back to my car. With the waning fingers of sun pulling back through the trees, I made a small camp and started a fire. I wasn't worried at the time. I've hunted all my life, and I know the ways of the woods. By morning, I figured, I could find my way out to the road. I tried to find sleep early. There wasn't much else that I could do. But sleep I did . . . until about midnight. I think it was the cold that woke me. A bitter, lifeless grip for which my fire seem- ed to do little good. And as I huddled there by the blaze, something began to move nearby in the trees. I've never been a coward. But let a man ask himself what he would do in just such a situation. Sitting alone in the middle of nowhere, with naught but the impassive face of the moon and the cold steel of a 20 gauge to comfort you, things begin to crawl across one's mind. Crawl... and claw. That ever was out there, it continued to move about. Circling. Watching. Don't ask me how, but even then I knew that whatever was there was not some mindless animal. Shaking* I gripped the shotgun, pulled up, and fired a warning shot into the air. Along with the fading echo of the shot, so too faded the sounds in the bush, until the silence itself was worse than any sound the thing had made in the trees. ime began to slip away. I found it difficult to control my breathing; to make it seem normal. And all the while the bugs crawled across my quivering psyche. Hairs stood on end all over my body, and I found myself gritting my teeth against whatever would happen next. Bursting from the night, something dark and vaguely human leapt over the fire. It grabbed my face as it came, pushing me to the ground. Its claw-like hand was rough as tree bark; its stench overwhelming. Struggling was useless; its strength not that of a mere man. I could see through the gaps between its fingers, its features par- tially illuminated by what was left on my fire. Fangs shone eerily in that reddish glow. A string of drool hung glistening. Slowly it moved its snarling visage closer. It was then that I noticed the eyes. Eyes burning into me from a face so abhorrently evil, that at that moment I knew that I was to die. With a cry to freeze all of hell, the thing ripped back, bellowing again and again into the frosted fir.. As it rose, its hand left my bbdyjust long enough for me to bolt, scrambling off through the forest on legs By John Bruno Contributing Writer Painting/John Bruno empowered by deep, searing terror. With yet another scream of fury the thing tore after me. I could hear its ragged breathing. I could sense its presence like a hot poker growing nearer with each of my staggering strides. For what seemed an eternity I ran: fall- ing, rising again, falling. Branches grabbed at my clothing: claws seeking to rip and tear at my flesh. The sheer terror of the moment was enough to keep me from staying down. The fraction of a thought of being caught, enough to drive any man insane . . . insane and beyond. It should have caught me. I know not how I could have possibly escaped. Perhaps it was the fear, or God, that lent me some inner will or strength. Perhaps the thing was simply toying with me. It matters not. The damage is done. Demons of my inner mind were loosened upon my soul that night. My thoughts must seek a haven. And I knew I had but one year to do so. s Halloween approaches I headlong in that flowing jug- | gernaut of time, I feel the thing's presence once again. The things within my mind — things spawned by the beast from that night — rear up, tearing at the masks of my being, poking holes in my life for all to see. I know it now to be an evil from some darker depth. Psychological subterfuge left over from days when man played the part of prey as often as hunter. A horror steeped within man's soul from time immemorial. And now it's coming for me. Outside my home I've begun to hear noises . . . sounds that simply do not belong. And I feel that hot poker, that presence. Something waits for me. The thing that I cheated. The shredded fabric of a mad- man's nightmares, sewn together like some Frankenstein monster, coming to take my soul. . . Court OKs setting local false-filing verdict ALBANY — A state appeals court upheld a ruling in Supreme Court in Essex County that set aside a criminal verdict. A verdict convicting Michael A. McAuliffe of Elizabethtown of second-degree offering a false in- strument for filing was set aside Sejit. 26, 1994. District Attorney Ronald Briggs had appealed that ruling. • According to a recent decision by (he Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court, McAuliffe was interviewed by State Police Investigator Robert LaFountain Jan. 4, 1994, about the rape and sodomy of a 14-year-old victim. MifciAuliffe gave a written statement denying sexual contact with the victim. After that, he gave an oral statement saying he did havfe sexual contact with the vic|iih!« but refused* to give another written statement. McAulifte was tried on six se^fjgelftdij .^ffehsis and the <fos&0. ••M'.filunig'- a: false instru- ment; based oh tne written statement. He was acquitted of all the sex charges, but convicted of the false-statement charge. On a motion by McAuliffe, the judge set aside the guilty verdict. The appeals court wrote that the issue is whether the district attorney presented enough evi- dence to. corroborate McAUliffe's admission of sexual contact with the victim. ' ; ' The only direct proof was,, the victim's testimony. Investigator LaFountain's testimony\'1^irMy repeated McAuliffe's admission. A taped conversation between McAuliffe and the victim in which he admitted \messing around a little more than we should have\ is also insufficient, the court wrote. Behavorial changes in the vic- tim, testified to by her mother, were also deemed insufficient. The appeals court Maid they found the verdict not to be sup- ported by sufficient evidence and therefore affirmed dismissal of theicbfiviction. ,; ^ , :I ?\ T ROUNDUP Former ORDA lawyer faces ethics charges Chazy schools begin breakfast program GHAZSr i-r t Chaiy Central School initiates a state-mandated breakfast program for all students K-12 on Nov. 1. The breakfast will cost 75 cents daily. Students who qualify for free lunch are eligible for free breakfast. Reduced-rate lunch students will be charged 25 cents per day for breakfast. The program is optional. Students may choose to eat every day or occasionally. Flyers detailing the program have been sent to parents' homes. Those with questions may call 846-7212, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.. High Peaks Wilderness Complex plan to be discussed LAKE PLACID - A draft unit-management plan for the High Peaks Wilderness Complex will be considered at a public meeting Wednesday, Nov. 1. The meeting will be held 2-5 p.m. and 7-10 p.m. in the Olympic Center, Whiteface Room, 1932 Rink Entrance, second floor (telephone 897-1^22). Written public comment on the plan will be accepted until December 15, 1995. Send comments to Thomas H Wahl, Regional Forestry Manager, P.O. Box 296 - Route 86, Ray Brook, N.Y. 12977, or call 897*1277. Fire deportment Haunted House today in Lake Placid LA^ ;^L^dl© -4 Tne Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department is once again hosting a Haunted House today from 6 to 8 p.m. for Hal- loween, with ghosts,, goblins, tricks and treats provided. This has been an annual event for the past several years that keeps growing. It promises to be an even bigger event than in the past. Refreshments .^^^.^^^^^^^^ f By KENNETH LOVETT Ottaway News Service ALBANY — The former gen- eral counsel for the Olympic Regional Development Authority has been charged with violating the state ethics code by doing work for ORDA within two years of leaving the organization. . Richard A. Persico was accus- ed by the state Ethics Commis- sion of violating the Public Of- ficers Law 11 times since leaving his job at ORDA on Oct. 1, 1988. State law prohibits former state employees from appearing before their old agencies for a minimum of two years from their leaving. So even though Persico was representing ORDA, he was in violation, said Ethics Commis- sion spokesman Walter Ayres. \The law is meant to prevent conflicts of interest,\ Ayres said. \A person leaves and goes to a private law firm and suddenly the law firm starts getting that agency's business. The law is meant to keep that from hap- pening. According to the complaint, Persico between July 13, 1989 and July 31, 1990 practiced and received compensation from OR- DA with regard to cases involv- ing Olympic Training Center De- velopment; a Gore Mountain ski rental contact and water supply issue; matters involving the bobsled and luge runs as well as a Whiteface oil spill; and several employee arbitration cases. Neither Ayres nor acting OR- DA President Raymond Pratt could say how much Persico was paid to handle the 11 cases. ORDA hasn't had an attorney since Persico left. State audits have been critical of the agency, saying it should hire an in-house legal expert to strengthen OR- DA's compliance with state laws. But the ORDA board rejected the recommendation, deciding in- stead to contract with private at- torneys when necessary. Pratt, who said he hadn't seen the complaint, withheld com- ment. Variance vote Flight cage location center of Coopersville controversy By STEVE MANOR Staff Writer Northern Clinton Buraou COOPERSVILLE - Donna Frenyea needs a variance for her flight cage. Without it, the birds of prey she nurses back to health as a volunteer face an uncertain future. The request for the 'side-yard' zoning variance is scheduled to go before the Clinton County Planning Board Wednesday, Nov. 1, and the Town of Cham- plain Zoning Board on Tuesday, Nov. 21. The giant cage, 8-feet-wide, 11-feet-high and a little more than 30 feet long, has no floor or roof. It was built six feet too close to a neighbor's property line. Frenyea is licensed by the state Department of En- vironmental Conservation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice as a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator, which is a person who cares for injured wildlife un- til they can be released back into the wild. The cage is nestled in some trees, just a short distance from Frenyea's Coopersville home. It is supposed to be a minimum of 10 feet from the property line, according to the Town of Cham- plain's Zoning Regulations. The cage, which has a limb of a tree protruding into it to pro- vide a natural perch for the birds, is about four feet from the property line. \If we could move the cage six feet farther away from the prop- erty line, there wouldn't be a problem,\ said Frenyea. \There's a whole row of mature trees right next to the cage. These trees, which also provide natural cover and keeps human contact to a minimum, would have to be cut to move the cage the six feet that is needed,\ she said. The flight cage, the only one of its kind north of Albany, is used to evaluate a bird's ability to fly and catch prey before being released into the wild. \It's a most valuable tool, which has already been used several times since it was built this spring. It's badly needed, for evaluating birds of prey,\ said Diana Stahl of Plattsburgh, another wildlife rehabilitator who works with Frenyea. \The loss of this flight cage would impact not only the evaluation' of injured birds of prey from this county, but sur- rounding counties whose wildlife rehabilitators have access to the cage,\ Stahl said. Before construction began, Town of Champlain Code En- forcement Officer George Ducharme looked over the site and decided because it is -has no floor or roof, the cage wasn't a building. There are no regulations that pertain to cages so it was built using Frenyea's money and dona- tions. After it was completed and used several times, neighboring property owner Patrick Bernard complained to Ducharme about the cage's location. Staff Photo/Steve Manor Donna Frenyea (right) and Diana Stahl stand before the large flight cage on Frenyea's Coopersville lot. When contacted about his complaint, Bernard said the cage is in violation of \side-yard set- back regulations\. \It's supposed to be 10 feet from the property line and it's only three to four feet from my line,\ He said. Armed with Bernard's com- plaint, Ducharme told Frenyea she had two options: move the cage six feet more from the prop- erty line or apply for a variance. \I wasn't even aware of the zoning regulations. It can't be moved without cutting the trees that are needed and there's no other suitable location for it on my property, so I applied for a variance,\ Frenyea said. Her request went to the county Planning Board for review, but didn't arrive in time for members to address it at its October meeting. Also, there was not a quorum for the planning board that night, according to county Planning Technician Glen Cut- ter, so it will be reviewed at its Nov. 1 meeting. In the meantime and at her own expense, Frenyea has hired an attorney to represent her. \For me, having this flight cage available is that important, not only to me, but most of all the injured birds of prey that need it,\ she added. The county Planning Board can vote on the variance and return it to the town Zoning Board,- which in turn could either agree with the county decision or override it by a \majority vote of the town zoning board plus one.\ The county could also decide it's a local issue and waive review. It would then return to the town for a decision. \The county Planning Board may very well waive review of the variance as it involves a side-yard variance in a residen- tial area, but that's only my opi- nion,\ Cutter added. In the meantime, Frenyea has received letters in support from the DEC, local veterinarians and other wildlife rehabilitators and specialists.
