Coffee Break With Marge

05/04/2026

According to Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol, on May 2nd, 2026 at approximately 6:30PM a uniform Deputy Sheriff working in conjunction with members of the Utica Police Department’s Tactical Unit, conducted a citizen stop of two parties relative to suspicious activities on Chestnut Street in the City of Utica.

Upon speaking with one of the parties, the officers were informed that this individual was in possession of a flare gun, and the item was secured. As the contingent was attempting to speak with the second individual, this party began to struggle with the officers, and as this was occurring a flare gun discharged causing significant burns to the Deputy as well as one of the males that was stopped.

They were ultimately able to detain the second party and another flare gun was located.

The Deputy suffered burns to his neck and hands, while the male suffered burns to his back. Ultimately both sought treatment at Wynn Hospital for these injuries. Due to the nature of the injuries, the Deputy was transferred to Upstate Medical Center and was released in the morning on May 3rd.

Through the encounter it was learned that the stopped parties were juveniles and they were released to their care of their guardians.

The investigation is still on-going and any updates will be release as available.

Possession of these types of items have the potential for very serious consequences and we urge parents to be diligent in ensuring that youth do not own or possess these incendiary devices.

05/04/2026

Made it through another week of doctor appointments. Which brings me to my subject this week. Medical imaging.
We here in this neck of the woods, like Westdale, Williamstown, and Camden, have to travel a bit for medical test. We have to travel not less than 45 minutes to have a five minute test in a lot of cases.
We have places in Camden that are empty and could house a medical imaging center. It could house, MRI’s, CT scans, radiation, and ultrasound machines, also cardiology machines. Even a place for chemo therapy.
We’re very blessed to have our Dr’s and an urgent care here in town, and a place to get our blood work done and X rays! That alone saves a lot of travel time. But to have any of the test I mentioned above, it takes time to get there. The worst of it is when you’ve traveled an hour to get there only to find out your a day early. The other thing is, you get there for your appointment and they say they tried to call you to say they had to reschedule!
We have enough fast food, gas stations/convenient stores in Camden. I hope the powers that be will seriously think about doing something more useful for this area instead of another fast food joint! I hope you think about it at least.
I got a text from Jane Nemier, she give me the winners at Snacks & Cards on the 23rd were Pat Miller and Ed Stankiewicz. Losers were Anne Miller & David Hall.
I send out Happy Birthday wishes and Happy Anniversary to all who are celebrating this week!
My prayers go out to those who are sick, in need of comfort on the loss of a loved one, or just could use a prayer blessing for financial help. My prayers for you all! Amen!
This is all I have this week! Safe travels and God Bless!

05/04/2026

Hello everyone! I hope you’re enjoying the nice weather we’re getting in between the snowflakes!
I’ve gotten a lot done, my granddaughter Austin helped me, or I should say, I helped her. We put a carpet down on the front porch and got it looking really nice. Now for the fun part, accessorizing, plants and flowers, nick-knacks. This is thee best and most fun of all part of it all.
The day before that, I straightened up the back deck off our room. I feed the birds out there, so it needed some TLC and added the hummingbird feeder. Doing all this in 2 days reminded me of how out of shape I am! I hurt in places I forgot existed! Took me down a couple days, but I’m good now! But I don’t bounce back like I use to. So, on to the fun part of a re-mod!
Now I will have a place to read my Bible and have my coffee, with the sweet sounds of birds and all things natural. Looking forward to this later on today.
I got a text from Margaret Hall. Here’s what’s happening at the Ricard Grange, Covered dish and cards for April is Monday the 27th at the Community center in Williamstown at 1 pm. Hope you can make it.
I would like to let you all know that The National Day of Prayer is on Thur. May 7th 2026. We need to come together and pray for our nation, our local towns, villages and beyond. Pray for those in our government, local and national. Pray for this war to end!

04/15/2026

Hello again! How did everyone do with the string of storms that went through Monday and Tuesday? I do a whole lot better with storms now than I use to.
My fear of them goes way back to when I was first born probably. I would cover my head and plug my ears, so I couldn’t see the lightning nor hear the thunder. I was so scared of them, if the weatherman predicted even a chance of a storm, I’d go into a panic. Nothing could get my mind off a possible storm happening.
My fear would intensify if I heard a rumble off in the distance. It could be extremely muggy and hot, but I would shut the windows and the doors, I’d even shut off the fans. We didn’t have the luxury of an air conditioner, but if we had, I would have shut that off too! Then I would gather the kids and sit us all down on the floor between the couch and coffee table and sit there until the storm was over, by over, I mean when I didn’t see the lightning or hear the thunder anymore.
I’ve gotten a lot better, I don’t shut the fans off, and don’t shut all the windows. But I do respect them. If one has been predicted, I don’t panic, but I do stay mindful and watch the sky and weather map for which way they’re heading. I like to be prepared at the very least. I’m sure my nephew Ernie would be happy to know I don’t clothesline people anymore that are standing, or sitting next to me during a storm. The poor kid was a victim of one of my clothesline maneuvers, he didn’t stand a chance! He forgave me though.
One thing I would like to do, is get a picture or video of lightning strikes, they fascinate me anymore, as long as I’m inside and protected.
I got a text from Jane Nemier. The Williamstown Senior Citizens met on the 26th of March for cards and Snacks. The high winners in cards was Helene Bentley and Steve Wheeler. Low winners were Norma Crossett and Jim Joslyn. A good time was had by all.
I send out Happy Birthday wishes and Happy Anniversary to all who are celebrating this week!
My prayers go out to those who are sick, in need of comfort on the loss of a loved one, or just could use a prayer blessing for financial help. My prayers for you all! Amen!
This is all I have this week! Have a great week and God Bless!

04/15/2026

With the Artemis 2 mission to the dark side of the moon this week, I thought sharing a few moon facts would be kind of interesting.
1. The Moon has no breathable atmosphere, only a very thin exosphere.
2.The lunar day from sunrise to sunrise lasts about 29.5 Earth days.
3. The Moon rotates once on its axis in the same time it orbits Earth, a state called synchronous rotation.
4. Because of synchronous rotation, the same lunar hemisphere faces Earth most of the time.
5. Gentle rocking called libration lets us see about 59% of the lunar surface over time.
6. Light takes about 1.3 seconds to travel one way from Earth to the Moon.
7. The line separating day and night on the Moon is called the terminator.
8. Impact craters cover the surface because there is no weather to erase them.
9. Fresh lunar craters show bright rays of ejected material radiating outward.
10.Some lunar dust becomes electrically charged and may loft above the surface near sunrise and sunset.
11. Boulders on crater slopes sometimes roll and leave long tracks in the dust.
12. The Moon’s gravity pulls Earth’s oceans into two tidal bulges, causing most coastal tides.
13. Spring tides with higher ranges happen near new and full Moon.
14. The Moon’s pull very slightly reduces your weight when it is overhead.
15. The slowing of Earth’s rotation from tides gradually lengthens the day

16. Long ago the Moon was closer to Earth, and tides were stronger.
17. A full Moon looks flat because sunlight hits it straight on and casts few shadows.
18. The Moon appears orange or yellow near the horizon because Earth’s atmosphere scatters blue light.
19. A 22° halo around the Moon forms when moonlight passes through high icy clouds.
20. The first soft landing on the Moon happened in 1966.
21. The first close-up photos from the surface also came in 1966.
22. The first crewed landing on the Moon occurred in 1969.
23. Twelve people walked on the Moon between 1969 and 1972.
24. No one has walked on the Moon since 1972.
And finally, how many remember the Moon boots trend of the 80’s? I certainly do! My girls just had to have a pair, so I bought them some. We got home only to discover, Becky’s pair was 2 left boots, but honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference. But she could, she wore them anyways.
I got a text from Patty Sams. Doug and Patty enjoyed Easter dinner with Jim and Trudy McCann , Brynlee, Christina and Justin.
I send out Happy Birthday wishes and Happy Anniversary to all who are celebrating this week!
My prayers go out to those who are sick, in need of comfort on the loss of a loved one, or just could use a prayer blessing for financial help. My prayers for you all! Amen!
This is all I have this week! Have a good one and God Bless!

04/15/2026

Hello, hope all is well with everyone. Spring is here, but the snow is still here too, it’s going away, but not fast enough! The red-winged black birds and robins are out here. I have always said, when you see these 2 birdies, it’s officially spring, and I’ll stick with that.
Unfortunately, with the melting snow, is the garbage that sprouts up before the grass and flowers do. Like paper plates, and small chip bags that escaped the fire pit from the last picnic before winter hit!
But there’s also wood chips, random tools, nuts and bolts from a repair job on some motor, car or snowblower, during the winter. Those are annoying, and just like weeds, they pop up most anywhere. The kids will fix something, and as long as what they fixed worked, the tools they used and the left over nuts and bolts are quickly forgotten. Sometimes the thing they were fixing was left as well, to move on to another interest they see. That’s what kids do, today they’re gonna climb a mountain and tomorrow they’d rather be on flat ground.
The best things the melting snow uncovers, is flowers and your happy uplifting feel good mood, that lays dormant in the winter. And when it’s exposed, we say “Let the spring and summer begin!” YAY!

I got a text Jane Nemier with the latest gathering of the Williamstown Seniors. On the 12th of March. They had 24 members attend. Lunch was served then cards. High winners were Helene Bentley and Jim Hurley. Low winners were Brenda Kellogg and Steve Wheeler. A good time was had by all.
I also got a text from Margaret Hall on the Ricard Grange for some dates to mark down. The Grange is participating in Oswego County’s Screen Free week. Thursday April 2 at 6 pm. Ricard Grange #993 will be sponsoring a free workshop on making wooden bird wind chimes at the Williamstown library. Sign up by calling 315 298 5938
I send out Happy Birthday wishes and Happy Anniversary to all who are celebrating this week!
My prayers go out to those who are sick, in need of comfort on the loss of a loved one, or just could use a prayer blessing for financial help. My prayers for you all! Amen!
This is all I have this week! Be safe and God Bless!

03/20/2026

Students from the Mohawk Valley are putting their technical skills to the test at the STEM Explorations Showcase at Mohawk Valley Community College. LINK BELOW.

03/19/2026

Congratulations to Principal Clerk Tina Combs on your retirement after 29 years of dedicated service at the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office.

Most know Tina for her many years of work in processing NYS Pistol Permit applications and producing employee & Sheriff’s Office ID cards in addition to many other critical responsibilities.

We greatly thank Tina for her service and wish her well in all her future endeavors.

03/19/2026

BIG TIME "ice shove" on the eastern end of Oneida Lake! 🌬💨🌊🧊

Got to be at least 12 feet tall!

📸-Jennifer Inman

03/09/2026