Challenger files complaints with Attorney General

Penizotto claims Supervisor Paro interfered with election process

By Russ TARBy Contributing Writer

The upcoming Republican Party primary race for supervisor in the town of Salina pits challenger Stella Penizotto against incumbent Supervisor Nick Paro. Last month, Penizotto filed several complaints about Paro with the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

In her statements submitted to the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Bureau, Penizotto charges Paro with election interference.

One of the three complaints involve threatening text messages sent to Penizotto on April 21, while another reports the cancellation of a Penizotto fundraiser planned for May 9 at a business owned by a friend of Paro’s.

Penizotto also told the Attorney General that Paro had attempted to “bribe” her by offering her business – Shining Stars Daycare – a Main Street development grant.

For his part, Paro strongly denies the accusations.

“All three [of those charges] are not true,” Paro said. “They’re frivolous.”

Paro said the Penizottos – Stella and her husband, John – have been “harassing me for more than a year. Now they’re making things up, and I’m frustrated.”

The supervisor, who is also chairman of the town’s Republican Party, said Penizotto’s complaints are simply untrue.

“Here are two grown adults who run a day-care center, who are lying,” Paro said.

Penizotto said she felt obligated to make her allegations.

“The first time it happened, when he intimidated me, I let it go,” she said on June 10. “But it kept happening, over and over. The people have to know what kind of a person he is, and they need to consider if they really want him as supervisor.”

On June 6, Alexis Richards – an aide to the Attorney General – confirmed her office’s receipt of Penizotto’s complaints. Meanwhile, the Penizottos have hired a Syracuse-based private investigator from the Intrigue Investigations agency to help them build their case against Paro.

Voting in the primary election is scheduled from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 27.

In 2021, Paro – then a legislative analyst for the Onondaga County Legislature and the First Ward town councilor – was elected Salina town supervisor by soundly defeating Democrat Kathy Zabinski 3,157 to 2,176.

If Paro wins the June 27 GOP primary, Penizotto will still be on the ballot in November’s general election because she’s endorsed by the Onondaga County Conservative Party.

Democrats will not run a candidate for supervisor in November. Earlier this year, Salina Democrats failed to gather enough signatures by deadline to qualify their candidate for a line on the ballot.

This is the first time the Liverpool Public Library held an event in recognition of Juneteenth.

For a first time event it garnered a lot of interest with about 30 people in attendance.

Ladd spoke about his work on the murals he has painted in Syracuse, including a mural of Frederick Douglas and Martin Luther King Jr.

The work also contains important quotes by both figures to help bring the piece together.

“I wanted the quotes for the murals to mean something,” Ladd said.

Karen Eames sentenced to six months

By Russ TARBy Contributing Writer

On Feb. 7, 2022, at the family home in Brewerton, when her 48-year-old husband, Isaac Eames, killed their 21-year-old son, Troy, and shot his wife in the face before committing suicide, Karen Eames was clearly the victim of a brutal crime.

Two months later, however, her status as a victim changed dramatically after she was arrested and charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick maintained that the Eames couple collaborated on the theft of more than $529,000 from the sheriff’s office where Isaac Eames worked as a civil deputy. Karen Eames, 46, worked as a secretary at Liverpool High School.

On June 12 in Syracuse, Onondaga County Judge Theodore Limpert sentenced Eames to six months at the Jamesville Correctional Facility and five years of probation. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of three years in state prison.

Limpert told Eames that she could have prevented the entire tragedy had she simply refused to cooperate with her husband’s scheme.

Before she was sentenced, Eames made a statement to the court.

“I simply went along with something I should not have,” she said. “This was out of my character for me, and from the day this came to light I have done everything in my power to make this right.”

Eames’ defense attorney, Michael Vavonese, said Limpert’s sentence was well-reasoned.

“Certainly that sentence reflects the court’s understanding of what occurred in this matter and her part in it separated from her husband, Isaacs’s, part,” Vavonese said.

As part of her plea agreement, Eames will pay back $530,000 to the county, and she has agreed to return $77,000 donated to a GoFundMe account following the murder-suicide.

All Together Now: Salina Library kicks off summer reading program

Readers of all ages can come together this summer as Salina Library presents the 2023 Summer Reading Program, “All Together Now!” The program includes weekly events, prize drawings, story times and more. Readers from preschool age to adults are encouraged to join. The program runs from June 19 through Aug. 6.

Children and teens can once again use READsquared to help track reading and activities and to earn tickets for prize drawings. Register online at salinalibny10.readsquared.com/, through the READsquared app, or register in person at the library. Once you’ve registered, pick up a goodie bag and a weekly craft to take and make at home. For more information and for help registering, call 315-454-4524 or email info@salinalibrary.org

In addition to weekly prizes, children and teens who read and turn in their reading records by Aug. 6 will receive a free book.

Adults can pick up a Summer 2023 registration packet at the front desk. Check out the library’s events calendar for a complete list of free weekly events for all ages. Please register in advance.