Crack Down on Drivers and Cell Phones

The New York Police are focusing more on drivers who talk on their phones at the wheel this week. "Operation Hang Up" is running through Thursday to discourage cell phone users from breaking the law by talking and driving at the same time.

The NY State thruway patrol will be handing out a minimum fine of $60 and a maximum of $100 throughout the event. 5,400 tickets were issued last year to people who were using their cell phones while driving. It is legal to use a hands free device in order to talk on the phone and still drive.

The last crack down on the cell phone law resulted 826 tickets over the four days last April.

Downtown Syracuse

Downtown Syracuse has seen its fair share of changes over the years. NCC's Robin Clutters has more on the future of the struggling area.

General Motors Bailout Full Story

Here is the entire General Motors Bailout story from this past Monday.

GM Bailout

General Motors, a once great automaker, faces the possibility of bankruptcy. Forced to terminate dealers and cutback jobs to compete with its competitors Toyota and Honda, G-M's solution is to ask Congress for a bailout. The president of Bill Rapp Chevrolet in Syracuse agrees and said that it was Washington's responsibility to support the U-S auto industry. But some consumers think the money should be spent otherwise.

"If the government is willing to help anybody, it should be the healthcare providers They're the ones who need help." -Kat Coker, Chevrolet Owner

We surveyed the Waverly parking lot at Syracuse University to see how G-M fared with consumers and found that of the 82 cars parked there, 15 of the vehicles were G-M versus 13 of the vehicles that were Toyota. Even with 8 U-S brands, G-M only had a 2% greater presence than its competitor.

Chelsea Choi, NCC News

Local Media Reacts to Robinson's Dismissal

Weber Re-opens - Nassdja Valentin

Terrance Hoffmann has been coming to Weber’s German restaurant in north Syracuse for nearly 40 years, but he received an unexpected surprise Monday night.

“I came up earlier in the day to get a menu and make sure it was open since I was not sure and I had a great conversation with Mr. Peter Weber and told him I would be bringing in Mr. Hans Peter Krumk for dinner and we were all looking forward to it and we returned at about 6:30 Monday night, he and his wife my wife and I, only to find the place dark and closed up” says Hoffman.

That was because the nearly 70 year old restaurant was seized by the state last Monday for unpaid sales taxes. Business was a bit slow today after reopening on Friday, but relieved customers came back for more.

“On television they showed a picture of the restaurant and I’m saying to myself wait, I know that place, and then it hit me that it was Weber’s. When I heard it was a sales tax problem I knew they would be back open” says Robert Greenough.

And many hope it will be around much longer.

“I have another 20 to 25 years in me,” Hoffman jokes, “but whatever it is I certainly hope they will be around.”

Nassdja Valentin

GM close to bankruptcy

General Motors is close to bankruptcy because of the economic plummet the last couple months. The president of Bill Rapp Chevrolet said if the bailout does not come from Congress that G-M would not be able to survive and millions of jobs would be lost. Some consumers are trying to prevent this by sticking with the American cars.

"If you get more people buying American, it'll last. If you get your imports, your exports, you know. More people buying out of country."-Kat Coker, Chevrolet Owner

We did an unofficial survey in a local parking lot to see how GM was actually doing. There were only two less cars from foreign powerhouse Toyota than from General Motors even though GM has eight different brands within its company. And when trying to ask the people at Joe Romano Chevrolet what should solve the problem, we were met with nothing but harsh words and dial tones. Jon Erwin N-C-C news.