First News With Keeler in the Morning

Jules Feiffer, the acclaimed cartoonist, playwright, and screenwriter, passed away due to congestive heart failure on Friday, January 17, 2025, at his home in Richfield Springs, New York. Recently, Feiffer lived in a secluded part of Richfield in Otsego County, on a property which sat on high ground above the west side of Rt. 28, overlooking Canadarago Lake. He was 95 years old.

Governor Kathy Hochul's budget is out as of Tuesday and Republican State Assemblyman Robert Smullen (R,C-Mohawk Valley and the Adirondacks) is predicting if the budget is realized, it will move the state closer to a fiscal cliff.

Even history buffs might be surprised to know that Hamilton College in Clinton, one of America's oldest colleges, was initially founded in 1793 as a school for local American Indian and colonial settler children on land originally given by Oneida Indian Chief Shenendoah to Reverend Samuel Kirkland. When the then Hamilton-Oneida Academy was re-envisioned as Hamilton College in 1812, what began as a joint educational vision became focused solely on settler youth, omitting any commitment to educating Indigenous youth. Now, thanks to a $750,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation, Hamilton will be able to realize that original goal with the establishment of a program in American Indian and Indigenous Studies (AIIS).

Police in Upstate New York have made an arrest in the 2024 case of a larceny at a local Burlington Coat Factory.

The Oneida County Sheriff's Department is asking for the public's assistance in finding this week's Mohawk Valley Crime Stoppers Wanted Person of the Week, according to Investigator Sahid Karcic.

Fran and Joe Guerino are making it very clear: despite the fact that The Watchtower claims shunning is no longer a part of the church's punishment and strategy, it is absolutely going on today against members of the church who decided to walk away.

A fugitive from Justice has been apprehended by police in Upstate New York.

Police in New Hartford are asking for the public's assistance in finding a young boy who is believed to have runaway from the House of the Good Shepherd.

The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office is receiving public criticism after they falsely identified and handcuffed an 11-year-old school girl who was playing with friends in the snow, as a car thief. The incident occurred on Monday afternoon in the city of Syracuse.

Another round of GameStop store closures is underway as we kick-off the new year for the once giant, and now struggling national chain. Since 2020, the chain has closed more than 700 stores nationwide.