Rocco Nalli, of
Baldwinsville (left),
and Chad Armstrong,
of Cicero, have been
paired through Big
Brothers Big Sisters
for 10 years, a record
in the 27-year history
of the program.
Armstrong turns
18 today and his
official relationship
with Nalli ends.
They are in Nalli's
kitchen Monday
talking about a time
when the mentor
was taller than the
mentored.
Michelle Gabel / Staff photographer
Courtesy of B
ig Brothers Bi
g Sisters
Chad and Rocco at a Bowl
for Kids'
Sake event in 2000. "I loo
k up to
him a lot," sa
ys Chad.
More than souvenirs from these 10 years
Big Brother relationship
sets a record, changes a life
JOANNA HAWTHORNE, mother of U.S. Army Staff Sgt Edward W. Carman, sits early this month at the grave side
of her son in the McKeesport-Versailles Cemetery near McKeesport in western Pennsylvania. For the first year after
her son's death, she visited the grave nearly every day and talked to him. Now she visits about once a week.
Keith Srakocic / The Associated Press
Of the 3,100 who
have died in Iraq:
Nearly half are soldiers
from towns of fewer
than 25,000 people.
One in five are
from hometowns
of less than 5,000.
More than half are from
places with more poverty
than the national average.
·
·
·
brunt
Small
towns
bear
the
By Kimberly Hefling
The Associated Press
dward "Willie" Carman wanted a ticket out of town, and
the Army provided it.
Raised in the projects by a single mother in McKeesport,
Pa., an old industrial steel town outside Pittsburgh, the 18-year-
old saw the U.S. military as an opportunity.
"I'm not doing it to you, I'm doing it for me," he told his
mother, Joanna Hawthorne, after coming home from high school
one day and surprising her with the news.
E
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Blair to set timetable for
some troop withdrawals
Prime Minister Tony Blair
will announce today a new time-
table for the withdrawal of Brit-
ish troops from Iraq, with 1,500
to return home in several weeks,
according to reports. Britain has
about 7,100 soldiers there.
STORY, PAGE A-4
Henninger cruises into
Section III semifinals
Henninger rolled to a victory
over West Genesee in the quar-
terfinals of the Section III boys
basketball playoffs Tuesday. Get
all the scores from boys and girls
playoff action.
SPORTS, PAGE D-6
Schools face rule requiring
cheerleaders for girls too
Many Central New York
schools are unsure what they
will do to comply with a federal
ruling that if a school provides
cheerleaders at boys basketball
games, then it should also pro-
vide them for the girls games. A
few schools are already follow-
ing the ruling.
SPORTS, PAGE D-1
Court rules public workers
not guaranteed union help
New York state's highest
court ruled Tuesday that public
employees don't have the same
union rights as private sector
workers to have union assistance
when facing possible discipli-
nary action.
NEW YORK, PAGE A-8
Do you love food? We
got what you love in CNY
Today, like every Wednes-
day, is food day in The Post-
Standard. You can find out:
4
How to make perfect layer
cakes.
4
How a Food Network star
lost 265 pounds.
4
Which restaurant is adding a
bistro menu.
4
Plus 14 recipes to try.
CNY, PAGE E-1
U.S. will pay $1 out of
every $5 on health care
By the end of the decade, the
nation is expected to be spending
$1 of every $5 that way.
BUSINESS, PAGE C-1
Corrections
Call Deputy Executive Editor Tim Bunn at
470-2240 to discuss a correction on a
news story. Subscription questions? Call
470-NEWS (470-6397).
Changeover to Medicare is a win-
win, experts say. Governor,
Legislature said to agree.
By James T. Mulder
Staff writer
Most seniors who want to remain in
New York's popular prescription drug
program,
known
as
EPIC,
would
have
to
join
a
Medicare Part D
prescription
drug
plan starting July 1
under a proposal
in
Gov.
Eliot
Spitzer's
state
budget.
The
proposal
would shift some of the prescription
costs now paid by EPIC to Medicare,
saving the state an estimated $63 mil-
lion.
EPIC enrollees would not pay for the
extra coverage and might save money
on their drug co-payments, according to
Bill Ferris, a state legislative represen-
tative for AARP, a senior citizens
group.
``AARP sees no downside to this,''
Ferris said.
The state initially was reluctant to
force EPIC enrollees to join Medicare
EPIC, PAGE A-3
To learn more
For more infor-
mation about
EPIC, call toll-free
1-800-332-3742,
or see the News
Tracker blog at
blog.
syracuse.com/
newstracker
Mother gets
15 years in
starving case
By Rebecca James
Staff writer
It will take years for 6-year-old Har-
ley Morgan to make up for being
starved and not cared for properly dur-
ing his first five years, said a Cortland
County judge who sentenced his mother
Tuesday to 15 years in state prison.
Harley was discovered in March in
the Cortland apartment of his mother,
Judy Gratton, unable to stand or speak
and had been fed only formula. Malnu-
trition left the child, who has Down
syndrome, weighing 15 pounds.
Cortland
County
Judge
William
Ames said Tuesday that Harley can
walk now, but not run or climb.
``He might not make a full recov-
ery,'' Ames said.
Ames said the seriousness of the im-
pact on the child made it impossible for
him to sentence Gratton, 49, to less than
15 years, although her attorney had
asked him to sentence her to the min-
imum sentence of five years. The maxi-
mum sentence was 25 years.
The case also triggered a new law
that went into effect last month. It al-
lows child protective workers to pro-
GRATTON, PAGE A-3
When Carman died in Iraq three years ago at
age 27, he had money saved for college, a fiancee
and two kids -- including a baby son he'd never
met. Neighbors in Hawthorne's mobile home
park collected $400 and left it in an envelope in
her door.
For a year after his death, Hawthorne took a
chair to the cemetery nearly every day, sat next to
his grave and talked quietly. Her vigil continues
even now; the visits have slowed to once a week,
but the pain sticks.
Across the nation, small towns are quietly bear-
ing the war's burden. Nearly half of the more than
3,100 U.S. military fatalities in Iraq have come
from towns like McKeesport, where fewer than
25,000 people live, according to an analysis by
The Associated Press. One in five hailed from
hometowns of less than 5,000.
The Census Bureau said 56 percent of the pop-
IN RURAL, PAGE A-6
BITS OF SUNSHINE
Some sun will
peek out from the
clouds at times
today to join the
warmer air in get-
ting rid of some of the snow in
the area.
Complete forecast, B-6
HIGH:
37
LOW:
24
Index
Business
...........
C-1
Bridge
...............
E-8
Classified
..........
F-2
Comics
........
E-8, 9
CNY
...................
E-1
Crossword
..
E-8, 9
Editorials
.......
A-10
Letters
...........
A-11
Local news
.......
B-1
Lottery
.............
A-2
Movies
...............
E-6
New York
.........
A-8
Obituaries
........
B-4
Sean Kirst
........
B-1
Sports
...............
D-1
Stocks
...............
C-3
Sudoku
..............
E-9
Technology
......
C-4
Television
..........
E-7
Weather
...........
B-6
By BoNhia Lee
Staff writer
When Chad Armstrong played football or basketball
with children in his Mattydale neighborhood, he often ran
into his house crying before the game ended.
It was nerves and low social skills, said Rocco Nalli,
whose guidance helped Armstrong, then about 8 years
old, mature and learn to interact with people of all ages.
They met Oct. 9, 1996, through P.E.A.C.E. Inc.'s Big
Brothers Big Sisters program and forged a 10-year friend-
ship, the longest match in the program's 27-year history.
Today, Armstrong turns 18 and that means the official
end of his match with Nalli, 38, although the pair plan to
continue their friendship.
Matches are closed when a child turns 18, said Oscar
Vergara, youth services director for Big Brothers
THEY'RE BROTHERS, PAGE A-7
THE POST-STANDARD
