Leading off today: Auburn's board of education voted Tuesday to return $150,000 intended to cover taxpayers' share of the cost to install artificial turf at Holland Stadium,
The Auburn Citizen reported. The donations and pledges had come from residents, business leaders, non-profit organizations and state officials before the board decided to pull the upgrade from its capital project plans.
The board's long-range planning committee, chaired by board member Sam Giangreco, has been fine-tuning a $15.7 million proposal this summer. They've yet to set a date for a vote on a proposition to fund the remainder of the project.
"I think it's safe to say the turf issue is dead,” Giangreco said, "and we probably have to return the money to people who contributed. Maybe sometime in the future when things get better we can look at it, but for now I think we have to live with the way things are."
Scholarship yanked: A $1,000 scholarship won't be available for Schenectady High seniors this year because the program's foundation is protesting the continued employment of the school football coach, who pleaded guilty to harassment this summer.
Jack Kozak said he and family members who have run the George Kozak Scholarship Foundation since 2007 revoked the school's participation because they say the district is sending a bad message after the incident involving coach Carmen DePoalo.
DePoalo, who is not a district teacher, pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment, a violation, after an incident in February in which he was charged with third-degree assault following an incident in an area restaurant. The school district subsequently rehired DePoalo to coach this fall.
"It's a slap in the face to taxpayers and it doesn't set a good example for the students," Kozak told The Times Union.
Two deaths in New Jersey: A Cliffside Park (N.J.) High School football player died from injuries sustained in practice. Police reported that Douglas Morales, 17, died Tuesday night at Hackensack University Medical Center, where he had been on life support.
Morales was rushed from practice on Friday after police arrived and found him unconscious. The Medical Examiner ruled today that Morales died of a subdural hematoma,
