First posted by kvew.com

This is the story of a 93-year-old Pasco woman who was about to lose her home insurance and possibly her home.

There was a tremendous response from the community after we first ran the story (video below).

Now, the situation has gone through a 180 degree turn around.

Virginia Crippen is no longer in danger of losing her home, and she says she’s grateful. 

“I’m still blessed and thank them all for me,” laughs Virginia.

Several weeks ago, Miss Virginia received a letter from a national insurance company refusing home insurance renewal unless her garage roof was fixed, and parts of her house repainted.

But because she’d spent 50 years helping others at the Tri-City Union Gospel Mission in Pasco, the volunteers stepped in and started some basic repairs on her home.

But it was not enough.

Today Mission Director Byron Brooks says since the story aired Monday night they’ve been flooded with calls, emails and facebook messages.

“All of a sudden the entire community is calling and saying how can we contribute, how can we help, what can we do? We’ve had 250-300 calls and emails just wanting to reach out and help Miss Virginia because she has touched so many people in this community,” said Brooks.

The total cost of the repairs is about $1,500.

“I’m so thankful, so thankful. And I thank them for being nice enough to think enough of me. That’s a blessing,” said Virginia.

Mission volunteers – with donated paint and other materials – are busy trying to get the house in order before the June 25 deadline.

The mission has alerted the insurance company of the progress on Miss Virginia’s home, and the company plans to sign off as soon as the work is completed.

Tri-Cities, WA – A Milton-Freewater man is taking a natural approach to rejuvenating race horses. Instead of injecting them with steroids and other drugs, he’s massaging them back to health.

For more than a decade, equine masseuse Mike Watkins has massaged race horses back to prime condition.

He began this journey after a severe back injury and undergoing massage therapy himself.

He says it’s a passion. Using his knowledge, he alternates gentle and strong manipulation, as he rubs and kneads the animal, to relieve pain and relax the muscles.

“We ask them to do tremendous things like jumping over fences, and racing around barrels. And they’re basically doing the same thing as athletes. I ask you to show me an athlete that doesn’t have chiropractic, or massage to get back in shape. Just like that, it’s another piece of the pie in the overall horse’s health,” said Watkins.

Horse owner Kelli Barichello says it’s the best care possible for her seven-year-old mare, Lacey.

“You can tell, she’s not in pain, not swishing her tail or fighting me at all. She just wants to go out and do her job, and does it correctly,” said Barichello.

Many of the horses on Barichello’s Lazy Spur Ranch, including Lacey, are barrel racers. That’s a rodeo event where a horse and rider follow a clover-leaf pattern around barrels multiple times.

She says the race can be rough on horses and believes Watkins offers the best conditioning and recovery for her animals.

“Horses are built just like humans. They have muscles and tendons and bones and ligaments, and they are athletes,” said Watkins.

Each session is about one hour long. Watkins finds the horse’s sore spot and as in human massage, gently works on those areas. He knows it’s working when the horse licks its lips.

“It’s definitely worth the time and the expense. Seventy-five dollars for my horse to feel great afterwards and go out and perform is absolutely worth it,” said Barichello.

“I love that they’re able to go back and do their business and word as hard as they do for us. We ask a lot of them. This is one more way to treat them correctly,” said Watkins.

Watkins travels throughout the Pacific Northwest, as well as Canada and Texas to recondition horses. He’s also worked for some of the top horsemen and clinicians in the country.

Kennewick, WA – Two birds one stone.  These two ideas don’t necessarily go hand in hand, but somehow it worked. It was a economic development venture first, but city officials decided to use it to help law enforcement too.

The nine buildings located at 305 Columbia Drive in downtown Kennewick that would eventually be taken down were being used for SWAT explosives training.

The Port of Kennewick acquired the land recently as part of the bridge-to-bridge, river-to-railroad revitalization project, built in the 1940s when Duffy’s Pond was the shoreline of the river.

Port officials says removing the buildings is a big step in the re-development of the area.

But they’ve worked with Washington State law enforcement to help them get some needed training before the eventual demolition.

Cmdr Steve Arbuthnot of Federal Way SWAT said, “My guys got exactly what they were looking for. They used multiple charges on multiple doors to gain entry in a short amount of time.”

Port of Kennewick Commissioner Skip Novokovitch said, “They were going to be torn down anyway. Now we have the chance to offer it up to regional SWAT members who can practice their explosives demolition. It helps us, it helps them so so there’s no downside.”

The final plan for this property includes creating a trail around the pond and installing wildlife viewing areas.

“This is a long term plan, but I think people as they’re driving down Columbia Drive say that’s waterfront – I had no idea that was the original shoreline and I can see the water from Columbia Drive.  So maybe there’s some interest and I think it will really spur people to be excited about what’s going on,” said Tana Bader Inlgima, Director of Marketing for Port of Kennewick.

The port also hopes to attract private investors like restaurants, brew pubs, and wine tasting to really make it a waterfront setting.

First posted by wktv.com

HERKIMER COUNTY, NY – With the primaries less than 24 hours away, there are several interesting races in our area, including the one for Herkimer County Coroner.

Two funeral directors are running in District 3. Each has been in the position at least once, and the kicker – they’re related.

What could be more awkward?

According to GOP Incumbent County Coroner Vincent A. Enea, ” If he was the incumbent coroner I would not run against him. I guess that’s the easiest way to put it. It’s hard, it’s awkward, and it’s unusual.”

He’s been in the seat since 2011.

His opponent, his own nephew Daniel Enea was in the same seat from 2006 to 2011. He says he vacated the position for another opportunity.

But he’s back for a second bite at the apple, on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines.

When asked about whether family dinners would be awkward he replied, “I eat my dinner, that’s about it.”

District 3 covers both the Town and Village of Herkimer, the City and Town of Little Falls, as well as the Towns of Schuyler, Stark, Warren and Danube.

The two men, uncle and nephew, will go head to head in Tuesday’s primary.

Vincent Enea spoke tonight with some honest commentary about this odd situation.

“Let’s just say you’re right. Sunday dinner would be awkward. I’ve been in the funeral industry, which goes almost hand in hand with the coroners’ since September of 1981. There’s a degree of compassion that needs to exist for this job,” said Vincent Enea.

“I think that we’re both looking for this position so we’re both running for it, and we’ll see what happens,” said Daniel Enea, adding he’s one of the few coroners who received a continuing education accreditation from NYS.

If Daniel Enea loses the GOP Primary, he’ll still get another shot on the Independence line.

First posted by wktv.com

NEW BERLIN, N.Y. – A murder case that garnered national media attention 24 years ago is now back in the headlines. April Dell’Olio, who was convicted of murdering David Eccleston in 1992, will be granted a release hearing in Suffolk County Court.

Eccleston’s family and friends head to Long Island, N.Y. petition in hand, to plead with the judge not to release Dell’Olio.

David Eccleston, 17, was stabbed to death by his then girlfriend Dell’Olio, who was 14 years old at the time.

Dell’Olio admitted to stabbing him 23 times near New Berlin High School where they were both students.

A jury found her not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect, and she was sentenced to five years of outpatient therapy at a Long Island Mental Health facility.

She was released, then was institutionalized again several times for not following release requirements. Now she goes in front of a judge again.

First posted by kappkvew.com

Pendleton, OR – We’re learning more about the suspected murderer, whose real name is Lukah Pobzeb Chang, the man who was arrested last night in Pendleton on suspicion of murder.

Chang, who is 23-years-old, made his first Umatilla County Court appearance today.

He is facing charges of attempted murder and first degree assault in the attack on Karen Lange on August 9.  He also faces a murder charge in the death of 19-year-old Amy Jane Brandhagen last year. His bail is set at $10 million dollars.

We have also learned that Chang is from Morgantown, North Carolina, and is a Marine Corps deserter. It’s not clear why he was in this area, or exactly when he deserted. 

Pendleton police chief Stuart Roberts says Wednesday night, officers captured the Chang, who was also known as Danny Wu.

Workers at the Pendleton Convention Center say they spotted Chang in the kitchen at the convention center, and called police around 5:45 PM.

Officers arrived at the convention center less than a minute later.

A couple of hours later, around 8 PM, officers and a K-9 unit searched the building, and found him hiding in the ceiling.

Police believe Chang had been hiding at the convention center for the past week.

Chang was booked into the Umatilla County Jail and will be formally arraigned on Sept 4.

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A cold case in Pendleton warms up after DNA testing links an assault that took place earlier this month to a murder last August.

Pendleton police say they have a substantial break in the unsolved murder of Amy Jane Brandhagen, who was found dead at a Pendleton motel just over a year ago.

They now have a person of interest in the case, but officers don’t know where he is.

They say the man is almost like a ghost, who just about has the perfect life to commit crimes.

After a year of dead ends, Pendleton police officers finally have a promising lead in solving the murder of 19 year-old Amy Jane Brandhagen.

“This is huge” said Chief Stuart Roberts, Pendleton Police Department.

Brandhagen was killed last August at the Travelodge motel.

Investigators had no idea who committed the crime – until this weekend, while they were investigating a separate brutal assault from a week and a half ago at the river parkway.

Police say the two cases are extremely similar, and they happened at almost the exact same time of year.

“In both instances, the victims were very similar in a lot of respects. Not only were they slight in stature and female, but they attended the same church, they’re long term Pendleton residents” said Roberts.

Police believe 23-year-old Danny Wu assaulted 53 year-old Karen Lange last week with a galvanized pipe at the river parkway.

During the investigation, officers found a man’s DNA on the pipe used in the attack, and they checked to see if that matched some DNA found underneath Brandhagen’s fingernail, and it was a match.

“We are in the process of trying to confirm whether or not that DNA profile is that of Danny Wu” said Roberts.

But chief Roberts says that will be a challenge, because Wu is a transient, with no real identification.

He says he doesn’t even know if Danny Wu is his real name.

“He was leading the perfect life of a criminal if you will, from the standpoint that he didn’t exist anywhere. No driver’s license, no past residency, no associates. He was not in CODIS, nor was there a fingerprint profile in AFIS, which is the Automated Fingerprint Identification System.” said Roberts.

Police are now warning residents to keep an eye out for Wu, as he considered extremely dangerous.

“The name really doesn’t matter at this point. The important thing is that the image that we’ve put out there of the individual that we’re interested in is truly a person that poses an imminent threat to society, and I’m gonna say society because he’s very mobile at this point. He can show up anywhere, at any time, in any community” said Roberts.

Pendleton police officers have some personal property from Wu – his deodorant, toothbrush and nail clippers.

They are now checking to see if the DNA from those items matches the DNA found at both crime scenes.

That process is expected to take a couple weeks.

Lange is still at a hospital in Portland, she is in critical condition.

FIRST POSTED BY WKTV.COM

Survivor Malissa Liddy shared her story with us in the first part of our in depth look into domestic violence. In part two, we hear from those who are on the front lines of domestic violence, the police, the YWCA, and the shelters, and also those who helped Liddy rebuild her life and how she pays it forward.

Three in 10 relationships are effected by domestic violence, according to New York State statistics, and 80 percent of the victims are women.

Yorkville Police Chief Gregg DeLuca said, “The kids will pick up very quickly and model the behavior of the parents because if they grew up in abusive homes, they think it’s normal.”

Executive Director of the YWCA of the Mohawk Valley Dianne Stancato said, “If they live in a violent home, a controlling home, something that’s not healthy, they don’t know any different, so often it’s a repeating cycle of violence.”

The National Center for Children and Families reports DV poses a serious threat to children’s emotional, psychological, and physical well-being, particularly if the violence is chronic.

Malissa Liddy is a survivor of domestic violence, and had two young children, at the time of her abuse.

“Your kids, they grow so fast. And the things that my daughter went through I can never take back. The things that my son went through I can’t take those back. And it’s very hard for me as a mother to think that I let them go through that. I can rationalize it and understand it, but still deep down in my heart it’s hard to forgive myself,” said Liddy.

And it’s still a major problem in our area say experts, and often it can lead to homelessness.

Patricia Witt is the Director of the Emmaus House in Utica and says she’s seen the problem over and over again in her 25 years long career.

“I see so many women that are PTSD in this shelter from being beaten down, year after year. And it’s something that’s insidious, that steals into your bones, that becomes difficult to get free from,” said Witt.

“Learn to understand the signs of domestic violence. It’s happening around you, and it’s prevalent in every circle, culture, class,” said Stancato.

“I think the problem is worse than the numbers indicate, and many of these cases are not even reported,” said Chief DeLuca.

Each time police get a call, even if charges are not filed, a domestic incident report (DIR) is filed with the New York State.

“You build a track record. It gives the police an idea of who frequently is involved in these type of incidents.

On her path to rebuilding, Malissa Liddy found respite with a woman she met through her job as a stylist, a woman she now works for, Maria Tucci.

For more than 50 years Tucci has helped many victims at her salon in South Utica, sometimes providing a service free of charge, and giving these women a kind word, a hug, and some guidance.

“My clients, many of them, have been abused. I’ve seen abuse. There’s been abuse in my life, and I’ve seen it as a child. So I recognize it when somebody’s hurting. And the real fact is, it doesn’t have to happen. There’s no excuse for it, and there is a way out. You have to want it though,” said Tucci.

“She takes care of everybody. She’s a nurturer,” said Liddy of Tucci.

And on any given day, you can catch the two of them in the basement between clients, cooking comfort food. This is for their clients, for themselves, and for anybody who drops in.

Tucci said the food is representative of love and warmth.

“Even though I grew up poor, we always had food. And it brought people together,” said Tucci.

Stancato said, if you are a domestic violence victim or you know somebody who is, you are encouraged to come forward and get the help from the YWCA. The organization provides navigation through the courts, explanations of orders of protection, housing, clothing, food, and counseling… and it’s all free of charge.

“There is a better way to live. It’s not easy, but there are lots of people who can help. We can’t come and get you. You are going to have to go to a phone, pick it up, and make a call,” said Witt.

For help:

Website: www.ywcamv.org

Oneida County – (315) 797-7740

Herkimer County – (315) 866-0458

Utica – (315) 732-8760

FIRST POSTED BY WKTV.COM

UTICA, NY – Malissa Liddy is a stylist, a graphic artist, a mother, a daughter. She’s also a survivor of domestic violence. It’s an issue that still fills up shelters and keeps the YWCA and police in our area busy. Liddy spoke with NEWSChannel 2 spoke about her experience and the cycle of abuse.

FIRST POSTED BY WKTV.COM

UTICA, N.Y. (PART II) – In part two of our look into methamphetamine addiction, we go in-depth into what the state and law enforcement are doing to contain this growing problem, and what happens to Erin Gillespie and her family.

“I’ve always been insecure about everything in my life. So when i would use drugs I didn’t care what people thought. Who wants to feel insecure about themselves? I don’t,” said Gillespie.

Erin has been clean and sober for eight months now, three of those months at Willard Drug Treatment Facility.

“Now that I’m sober, it’s like everything was a joke. And I wish I’d never tried it, I wish I’d never done any of those things,” said Gillespie.

After multiple arrests on charges of dealing meth, one New York State Trooper helped redirect Erin to rehabilitation and not prison. And after nearly five months at the Oneida County Jail, she was sent to the Willard Drug Treatment Facility.

“She wanted help getting better which is rare, very rare. And it’s hard to take at face value. Most meth addicts are extreme. They’ll steal, they’ll lie, they’re very secretive. They’re one with their drug,” said Trooper Chad Chevrier.

Meth cooks recruit others called smurfers, to get their ingredients. The main one, pseudoephedrine, is found in cold medication, and readily available at local pharmacies.

“This isn’t like heroin, this isn’t like coke, this isn’t like marijuana. They have to go out to these stores, and they will go long distances away from their home to try not to be detected. Stores need to let us know so we can try to locate where they’re going, and stop what they’re doing,” said Chevrier.

In 2006 the federal government signed into law The Combat Meth Epidemic Act. It sets a limit of how much pseudo you can legally buy in a 30 day period. You must show state issed photo identification, and the legal limit is up to 9 grams per month.

Depending on the dosage, that’s about two or three retail boxes per month. In addition, the law says pharmacies must track all sales with paper logs.

NPLEX, which stands for National Precursor Log Exchange is a real-time electronic logging and tracking software of over-the-counter medications containing precursors to meth.

The software is paid for by big pharma and already mandatory in 32 states, but not in New York.

“NPLEX is very important. It’s extremely helpful to law enforcement because there is a single database that all law enforcement can refer, to help identify smurfers and cooks. It saves time, and it deters the criminal element,” said Chevrier.

A company based out of Kentucky called APPRISS creates and distributes that sofware.

VP of Government Affairs of APPRISS, Jim Aquisto, was in law enforcement for more than two decades, and explains how it works.

“It doesn’t just flag them(criminals) for later investigation, it actually says you can’t have this, and they don’t take it out the door. When law enforcement wants to see the logs in real time, they simply pull up the database, which is no different than paper logs already mandated by the federal government. For example: this person tried to buy too much and they tried five times, and you might want to know about that,” said Acquisto.

A bill that’s currently in the state legislature would make NPLEX mandatory for all pharmacies. The bill has passed the senate three times, but keeps getting hung up in the assembly.

Lawmakers say it’s because meth use has exploded in just the past five years, and the assembly is typically known for advocating for the rights of the individual.  But in light of the increased usage, that could soon change.

Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi (D-119th District), a co-sponsor of the bill said, “This is a case of where the law is trying to catch up with a specific problem. As this becomes more and more of a problem, the legislature is going to have to act to try to address it.”

Chevrier said, beyond the criminal aspect, the toll of this particular drug on family is profound, something he doesn’t always see.

“For me, it was a night and day difference to see her in the midst of her addiction at those labs, and then a few months later, I talked to her again several times, when she was sober. Then I met her mom. You really start to have a connection of the effects that she has had on her family once that happens. And she’s got a little one, and it’s tough to see how that’s effected him,” said Chevrier.

Erin’s mother, Beverly Gillespie said, “Her son, Evan, has been pretty much devastated by all this. It took him forever to understand that it wasn’t anything he did, she was just gone. There really wasn’t anything we didn’t do with our kids… we loved them, we hugged all the time, we went places. And here we are, it happened to us. I don’t think anyone is immune from this disease.”

“This is it for me. I don’t think I will be given another chance. I know that and there’s no getting around it. I know my mother will never speak to me if I blow this,” said Erin.

Erin is out of Willard Rehab now and at a half-way house in Utica. She’s getting outpatient treatment and following the 12 steps, doing everything she is asked. And she knows she’s being watched.

“It’s up to her. I think Erin will get better if Erin wants to get better,” said Chevrier.

“She’s awake now, she’s aware now, she’s sober now. So it might work this time, it just might. Her whole family has all of our fingers crossed that this might be the magic bullet,” said Beverly.

First posted by: WKTV.COM

UTICA, N.Y. (PART ONE) – In New York, Oneida County had the highest number of incidents of methamphetamine related arrests in 2015.

According to NY State Police, last year Central New York had 349 meth busts. That’s almost one bust every day, and it’s increased 60 percent from the year before.

NYS Trooper Chad Chevrier, from CCSERT (Contaminated Crime Scene Emergency Response Team) said, “Meth is one of the most addictive drugs out there. It’s extremely powerful, and users only have to take a small amount to have a very long high.”

Chevrier says it’s because of what law enforcement refers to as the shake and bake or one-pot method. This method is making the drug even more accessible, and it’s making a huge impact on those who take the drug.

It’s a method where addicts mix dangerous, flammable chemicals inside soda bottles, causing a reaction needed to turn toxic ingredients into meth.

“The reason it’s so prevalent right now is you could have final product within an hour. It’s easy to conceal, it’s mobile, and it’s quick. You could put it in a backpack, walk down to the park and finish your cook. Or you could do a cook down in the park. You could go from store to hardware store, pick up your chemicals, or you could be driving down the road burping your bottle, doing a cook right to finished product in your car.”

But it’s also dangerous. “It creates a chemical, fire and environmental hazard, which is not only scary, it’s costly to clean up,” said Chevrier.

However danger is not something users are thinking about when they need the drug.

Former meth user and cook, Erin Gillespie said, “It was extremely easy. I watched how to make it three times. And then the fourth time I jumped in, learned how to make it. It came too naturally to me. I thought, I have nothing, I have nobody so let me make some money, and get high. And so, that’s what I did.”

After being arrested multiple times for cooking and using meth in Rome, Gillespie is in Willard Drug Treatment Facility, a state run Department of Corrections program.

“That drug was the worst drug I’ve ever done, but it gave me honestly the most amazing feeling I’ve ever felt in my life,” said Gillespie. “The drugs became everything to me. After so much time using them, I had to wake up to them, and I had to go to sleep to them. And throughout the whole day that’s all I did, focus on drugs, doing them, getting money to get more of them, and doing the same thing over and over and over.”

Gillespie is no different from many young women in this area. She grew up in a conservative home in Clayville, going to church, and riding horses on her parents’ farm. “I was in 4H, I was an honor roll student. I went to college for equine science and management, but I never finished,” said Gillespie shaking her head.

“I started smoking pot in high school. In my school, that’s what everybody did. We smoked weed and drank. And then once I got to college I started using cocaine and ecstacy. It wasn’t a far jump to meth,” said Gillespie.

Erin’s mother, Beverly Gillespie, shakes visibly when she talks about what her daughter once was.

“This drug took a little girl who was happy go lucky and rode horses and sang at the top of her lungs, and it made her into a ghost. She’s a shadow of who she used to be. She was not Erin anymore, and I couldn’t reach her anymore… I knew she was losing the battle,” said Beverly.

“Meth users could typically be up for days. It’s not uncommon for a week or two weeks with zero sleep. Until they flat out crash, and often they sleep for days, ” said Chevrier.

After years of using and cooking, Gillespie was estranged from family members, including her seven-year-old son Evan, who now lives with Beverly. She says getting back to him keeps her on the straight and narrow.

“It breaks my heart every time I talk to my mother. I hear her voice, and she’s talking about meth to me. That breaks my heart. It’s like who was I, you know? What was I doing?” said Gillespie.

She is sober now for the first time in nearly 15 years, thanks to the alternative Willard Rehab provided. Instead of prison, she was given the option to finish the program, dry out, and begin again.

The program is run like a military institution. You have to ask permission to use the bathroom, to speak, to move, something Gillespie appreciates.

“I haven’t had this kind of discipline and I haven’t been this sober in such a long time. I haven’t been able to see things clearly in a really long time,” said Gillespei. “So, I believe, for me there is hope.”

But for law enforcement recovery from meth is the exception, and Trooper Chevrier is taking this recovery with a degree of skepticism.

“I have never met anybody in our area that has recovered from meth addiction,” said Chevrier.

A powerful statement from someone who’s been on the inside, and has known many addicts.

In part two of our in-depth look inside meth, we hear what happens to Erin, and what law enforcement and the state are doing to curb the rise in drug use.