Fulton Daily News

Six City of Fulton employees are ex-employees today.  They were laid off last week as the city prepares its budget for 2011, the head of the union representing most city employees said.

CSEA local President Brace Tallents said the city notified employees last week that their job titles would be eliminated as of Dec. 1.  “They called me in a week ago and said we’re going to have some layoffs,” Tallents said of his meeting with Mayor Ron Woodward and some city department heads.  He said the news was a surprise.

UPDATED with comments from Mayor Ron Woodward.

The state may make school districts pay for your child’s Regents exam.  That’s among the stories from elsewhere that you might want to know about today.  Also: state tax revenues rise, a win for anti-hydrofracking activists, and going for the dreidel record.

Hannibal school district leaders say they want to minimize the damage that they know next year’s budget will do to the school district.

Hannibal’s Board of Education met Monday night to begin figuring out how to put together the 2011-12 budget. It’s a good bet it will impose even more painful cutbacks on the district than this year’s budget did.

The Fulton City School District is on track to extend its energy-savings deal with Siemens, to save another $3 million on energy costs over the next 18 years.

Siemens is just wrapping up a project that covered 10 years and saved $2.6 million.  The company is paid from the money it saves the district and guarantees the savings.

Will Oswego County’s top tourism draw be hurt by state budget cuts?  Also in the news — the epidemic of gunfire in Syracuse claims a young life, scientists think the ol’ switcheroo might save lives, and the story of Abe Lincoln’s beard.