Man sentenced for failure to pay child support

Gannett News:

A Cattaraugus County man was sentenced to one year of probation by the Schuyler County Family Court on Tuesday (October 1) for willfully failing to pay child support…

Assistant County Attorney Steven Getman prosecuted the case for the petitioners. Evidence before the court demonstrated that the man owed over $11,000.00 in back payments on both cases.

Schuyler teens ordered to detention after drinking party allegations

From FingerLakes1.com:

A pair of Schuyler County teenagers were detained by the Family Court on Thursday, following allegations of an underage drinking party and other misbehaviors earlier this year…

Both were ordered to juvenile detention ...following applications from the county attorney’s office. Trials will be scheduled for each juvenile later in the year.

The county is being represented in the two cases by assistant county attorneys Steven Getman and Kristin Hazlitt…

The charges against the respondents are accusations and a respondent is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

State designates first Seneca Lake Scenic Byway

Finger Lakes Media:

An 18 mile stretch of Route 414, between Watkins Glen and Lodi, was made an official scenic byway, Thursday, Aug. 2.

The New York State Senate approved the legislation in late March. It was given final legislative approval in early June by the assembly and was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last Thursday. A group of residents from around Hector, Lodi, and Trumansburg started the campaign to make it a scenic highway 10 years ago....

Steven Getman, scenic byway group member, thanked the state senators and assembly members who sponsored the bill.

He said, “Their dedication and sponsorship of this bill will no doubt enhance tourism and local business. It will assist our region in promoting and maintaining the quality of life along Route 414.”

For more on the Seneca Lake Scenic Byway, click here.

Appeal: Mother Loses Support, Custody for Interfering With Father's Rights

From the New York Law Journal:

A mother who "deliberately and unjustifiably frustrated" a father's attempts to visit his child was appropriately stripped of child support and primary custody, an appellate panel in Albany has held.

The Appellate Division, Third Department, unanimously affirmed a Schuyler County Family Court judge in a case where the custodial mother had repeatedly hindered her estranged husband's efforts to establish relations with his daughter, even though the father made no attempt to enforce his visitation rights for six years....

The court said that while the father "lost contact with his daughter for several years and did not adequately explain why he took so long to re-establish a connection," by the time of the hearing he had been working for more than a year to connect with his daughter.

"The record supports the finding that the mother deliberately and unjustifiably frustrated the father's visitation, moving without notifying the father and attempting to informally transfer custody to another person…without informing the father," Justice McCarthy wrote in an opinion joined by Justices Karen K. Peters , John A. Lahtinen, Leslie E. Stein and Elizabeth A. Garry.

Appearing were Martha N. Hertzberg of Ithaca for Mr. Luke; Lisa K. Miller of McGraw for Ms. Luke; and Steven J. Getman of Ovid for the child.

Some New York State Courts Closed from Hurricane Irene

According to the New York State Office of Court Administration, a number of courts, including several in the Southern Tier of upstate New York, are closing and/or rescheduling Monday’s court cases, due to Hurricane Irene.

People with business before the courts on Monday are urged to check the state’s official website, or contact the court first thing in the morning, to make sure their case has not been adjourned to another date.