First News With Keeler in the Morning

Police in New Hartford arrested an underage person on Thursday who allegedly made a threat via the social media platform Snapchat, according to school officials. School administration says that the minor, who is not a student at New Hartford Central Schools, made threats targeting an upcoming Perry Junior High School Ninth Grade Dinner Dance which is scheduled for Saturday, April 5th.

Some 20 Republican candidates have lobbied and spent their own money, a Democratic candidate has been declared, and now the nomination of Elise Stefanik as Ambassador to the United Nations has been pulled by the White House.

The Best Burger in New York State might be right here in the Mohawk Valley as a Best Burger Contest, sponsored by the New York State Beef Council, announced its 62 finalists this week. Among those which were nominated by the public, 15 Utica-Rome area restaurants have made it to the final round.

Both seated and standing room-only tickets for Friday night's Utica vs. Curry DIII Frozen Four semi-final game had sold out with a few minutes of 12 noon when the seats were placed on sale on Wednesday. After tickets were set aside for Curry and Utica player families, and season ticket holders were given first opportunity to buy tickets, less than 500 tickets were on-sale for the general public and they were bought up in under five minutes.

The NY-21 congressional seat that was expected to be vacant back in early January is now finally about to open up, triggering a special election to be scheduled soon.

NYPD and the Oneida City Police Department in Madison County is asking for the public's help in finding a man who's wanted on four warrants for four separate incidents in the Oneida City area.

The Utica University and Hamilton College Men's Hockey teams both moved on to the quarterfinal round of the DIII National Tournament on Saturday. Utica beat Fitchburg State 5-1 in the early game at the Adirondack Bank Center, and Hamilton defeated University of New England 4-2 on the road in the State of Maine in the nightcap.

When the bracket came out for this year's NJCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) fourth year head coach Harley Fuller said he had a hunch that it could all come down to two cross-county rivals that had already played three times since November. Fuller said, no matter the record of either team, when MVCC plays Herkimer "it's going to be fireworks, it doesn't matter what kind of a season either team had."

There is so much going on this weekend in Utica and the Mohawk Valley, we thought we'd put everything we have into one page to help you plan your weekend. Keep in mind, the weather for Saturday looks to be spectacular- it's going to reach at least 67 with mostly sunny skies.

The FBI is warning residents of a very aggressive and effective "Smishing" scam that uses text messages on cellphones to steal people's information. Often times, the message seems real - but FBI officials stay the public needs to remain diligent and be sure on to click on the link.