The Journal
(USPS 403-900) VOL. 47 NO. 111
TUESDAY
October 28, 2014
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Steenkamer Gets Two Years In Jail
By W.T. ECKERT
CANTON — An Ogdensburg man was sentenced
to two years in jail Monday
morning in St. Lawrence
County court for the 2013 rape
of a minor.
Nicholas A.J. Steenkamer,
21, 525 E. Hayward St., was
sentenced to two years in St.
Lawrence County jail, Canton,
for his Sept. 2 guilty plea to
second-degree rape and sec-
ond-degree criminal sexual
act, both Class D felonies.
The two-year sentence
came as part of a plea deal with
St. Lawrence County Chief Assistant District Attorney David
A. Haggard, who, at the time of
the plea, said the agreement
included a commitment that
Steenkamer will be sentenced
to consecutive terms of one
year in the county jail on each
conviction.
Steenkamer was originally
charged with two counts of
second-degree criminal sex
act and two counts of seconddegree rape. He admitted he
was over 18 years old when
he had sexual contact with a
13-year-old girl in August 2013
and sexual intercourse with
that same girl on Sept. 25.
In court Monday morning,
both the victim and her mother were in tears as they ex-
pressed how their family was
impacted by Steenkamer’s action.
Reading a statement to the
court, the victim’s mother
said she was faced with “the
hardest words I’ve had to put
on paper.”
“At this point in time, we cry
every day, wear fixed smiles,
carry it every day and take it to
bed with us every night,” she
read, weeping. “Nick, you are
VFW Grand Opening
Harvest Walk
Receives $4,000
Donation From NPT
LOCAL, A5
a predator. She is numb, hurt,
lost, confused. How do you fix
that?”
“Time,” the young woman’s mother said. “That’s what
you should serve, Nick Steenkamer, time in jail.”
The young victim, now 14,
stood up, took a breath, and
looked at Steenkamer.
“I feel broken and confused
for what you did,” she said.
See STEENKAMER A3
City
Shrinks
Cable
Deal
BY LARRY ROBINSON
M-W Girls Advance
To Class D Finals In
Volleyball
SPORTS, B1
BRIEFS
Uniform Sale Set
Claxton-Hepburn
Medical Center Auxiliary
is sponsoring a Uniform,
Shoe and Accessory Sale.
Featuring the latest
styles, prints and colors
for uniforms & professional work shoes from
major manufacturers, the
sale will be held Tuesday,
October 28 and Wednesday, October 29 from 7
a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Hospital Auditorium.
Cash, Check, Master
Card, Visa Discover &
American Express accepted. Payroll deduction
is available to employees.
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INDEX
Local A1,2,3
Editorial A6
Weather A9
Sports
B1
Classifieds B5
Community C1
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The Journal
230 Caroline St.
Ogdensburg, NY 13669
315-393-1003
Republican Established 1830
Journal Established 1858
Copyright© 2014 Northern New York
Newspapers • All rights reserved
PHOTO BY AMANDA PURCELL
Veterans of Foreign Wars members Larry Smithers, Commander Scott A. Compo and Past Commander Lester M. Duvall
announced this week that Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 2936 will be holding a grand opening Saturday at its new
location at 1112 Champlain Street.
The Post Begins Anew Saturday On Champlain Street
By AMANDA PURCELL
A year after members
were forced to shutter its
doors due to a lack of funding, the Ogdensburg Veterans of Foreign Wars Post
No. 2936 will reopen at a
new location and is welcoming new members.
Members will be hosting
an open house beginning
at 9 a.m. Saturday at the
post’s new location at 1112
Champlain St.
“We welcome any veterans to stop by and take a
look,” Commander Scott A.
Compo said. “They don’t
have to join, but we recommend that they do join. It is
a good organization.”
The post at 525 Caroline Street closed its doors
in 2013 after increased
upkeep costs and utility
bills forced the post’s sudden closure. Members remained active while the
We welcome any veterans to stop by
and take a look.
Commander Scott A. Compo
club searched for a more
manageable location by
holding meetings and fundraisers.
“We didn’t have a home,
but we maintained meetings every month,” said
Past Commander Lester
M. Duvall. “So we were active in the community. I
just want to basically thank
everyone who has donated
and gotten us where we
are today. They know who
they are that donated. They
helped us out by getting us
back on our feet.”
The post’s mission is
to help disabled and nondisabled veterans of foreign
wars and their families gain
access to government–
sponsored services. Members say they also provide
a sense of camaraderie that
can only be found among
the men and women they
served with.
“A lot of our members
will talk to us about experiences that they won’t talk
to anyone else about,” Mr.
Duvall said. “We still cover
four wars - Vietnam and
Korea, and those wars still
going on today. We don’t
have many, but we still
have active members.”
“They can relate to uswe’ve been through it,” Mr.
Compo said.
At the post, members
and their family members
can find out how to sign
up for VFW insurance programs, including burial
benefits, vehicle insurance
and Medicare supplement
plans. The post is handicap
accessible and includes WiFi.
“We will do whatever we
can to help them with any
problems they have. We
can turn them in the right
direction,” Mr. Duvall said.
At the grand opening,
the Watertown Vet center,
a veterans outreach facility,
will set up its mobile trailer
in the VFW.
“Our VFW has been here
since the 20s,” Mr. Compo
said. “We were one of the
first veterans groups established and one of the few
that are still left. It’s very
important that we not just
See VFW A3
Members of the City Council had harsh words regarding
the quality of service offered by
Time Warner Cable Northeast
LLC Monday before voting to
pare-back a proposed 15-year
franchise agreement with the
company and offer a much
shorter three-year pact instead.
The city’s most recent franchise agreement, signed with
Time Warner in 2004, expired
in January 2014, but under state
Public Service Commission
guidelines the terms of that
deal, which called for the city
to receive a 5 percent commission on the company’s gross
revenues from doing business
in Ogdensburg, have remained
in effect.
City officials were scheduled
to approve a new 15-year deal
with Time Warner Monday, but
voted to change the wording of
the proposed resolution, calling for a 5 percent, three-year
deal instead. Several councillors offered harsh words for
Time Warner before proposing a shorter duration for a new
franchise agreement.
According to a recent audit
of the Time Warner franchise
agreement conducted for the
city by Computel Consultants
of Earlville, the number of customers serviced by the cable
company in Ogdensburg has
been steadily shrinking in recent years.
In a written report to City
Manager John M. Pinkerton,
the consulting firm concluded
that Time Warner’s monthly
customer base in Ogdensburg
has dwindled from about 3,300
in 2009 to under 2,700 customers during the 2014 billing period. The audit further noted
that the city was paid just under $145,000 in franchise fees
based on Time Warner’s 2013
cable revenue generated by
Ogdensburg subscribers.
City Councilman and Deputy Mayor Michael D. Morley
said he was uncomfortable offering the company another
See CITY A3
County Transfers $310K Into
Indigent Defense Budget
By SUSAN MENDE
CANTON — A shortfall in
the amount of money budgeted for indigent defense
through assigned counsel
forced St. Lawrence County
legislators Monday to transfer $310,000 from the contingency budget to this year’s
operating budget.
During their Finance Committee meeting, legislators
also agreed to pay salary hikes
retroactive to Jan. 1 to six assistant public defenders and
three assistant conflict de-
fenders. The raises had been
withheld because contract
negotiations were ongoing
between the county and the
Indigent Defense Attorneys,
a new union established last
year.
Ruth A. Doyle, assistant
county administrator, said
the cost of criminal cases
handled by the assigned
counsel program is projected
to come in $150,000 greater
than the amount allocated
in this year’s county budget.
Costs associated with appeals
are anticipated to be $160,000
more than projected.
Assigned counsel handles
cases in Criminal Court, Family Court and appeals.
“The criminal amounts are
exceeding what we expected
and budgeted,” Ms. Doyle
said.
The county operates two
departments to provide legal
defense for poor people: a
public defender’s office and
the conflict defender’s office.
See COUNTY A3
PHOTO BY MELANIE KIMBLER-LAGO
Ogdensburg department of transportation employees spread
concrete for sidewalks Wednesday along Patterson Street in Ogdensburg during recent repairs.