The Office is Now Closed

This is a news package I did for WKTV NEWSChannel 2 to tie in to the series finale of NBC's The Office on May 16, 2013. Since WKTV is the NBC Affiliate in Utica, New York, the piece focuses on the fictional Dunder Mifflin - Utica branch and the process of getting local items and paraphernalia from the real Utica on to the small screen.

Live report for The Today Show on scene of 20+ hour standoff

Reporting live from Herkimer, N.Y. for NBC's The Today Show on the scene of a 20+ hour standoff after the suspect shot six people at two different locations in the Mohawk Valley, killing four of them.

PATH TO SAINTHOOD Part 2:The miracles of Kateri Tekakwitha

Kateri Tekakwitha, along with Marianne Cope, will soon become saints in the eyes of the Catholic Church. The path to sainthood, as you might expect, is not an easy one, and Kateri Tekakwitha's came with its own share of roadblocks.

"First of all, they have to get all the information they can about her life from people who knew her or any writings the person may have had," said Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. "And then, in order to be canonized, you need a bona fide miracle. And that was the big hold up for her, because there was only one miracle that we had prior to recently."

At least two miracles are needed in order to become a saint. There were many alleged miracles over the centuries, including healing a young boy with smallpox, restoring a priest's hearing, and others, through possessions once associated with Kateri. It would take until the 20th century before the miracles that would make her sainthood a reality. It began in 1943 then-Pope Pius XII declared that the disappearance of Tekakwitha's smallpox scars at the time of her death was an authentic miracle.

"A few years ago, there was a young man in Seattle, Washington who had been injured in a basketball game and he developed a flesh eating bacteria and the doctors determined that he was terminally ill, was going to die," Bishop Hubbard said. "And they called the priest to give him the last rites and he asked the father, who happened to be a Native American, himself, if the father was willing to have the relic of Kateri Tekakwitha applied to him. It was, and against all medical explanation, he was able to recover and he will be at the canonization."

In December 2011, Pope Benedict XVI approved this second miracle needed for Kateri's canonization, paving the way for her canonization on Sunday, October 21.

PATH TO SAINTHOOD Part 1:The story of Kateri Tekakwitha

On Sunday, October 21, two women from the Mohawk Valley will be officially recognized by the Catholic Church as saints.

One of those women, Kateri Tekakwitha, is not only becoming a saint, but the first Native American saint as well.

Born in 1656 in what is now known as Auriesville, she lost her parents and brother to a smallpox epidemic that ravaged the village when she was only four years old. Adopted by her uncle and aunt, Kateri and her relatives had to move to the other side of the Mohawk River after the French burned down their village, locating in what is now known as Fonda.

"And there she was baptized at the age of 20," said Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of the Albany Diocese. "As a result of the smallpox epidemic, she was severely pock-marked in her face and she lost a great deal of her eye sight, so she was impaired throughout her life. When she converted to christianity, she was rejected by members of her tribe because the Jesuits were associated with the French and they had aligned themselves with the English. And then, also, her family wanted her to marry and she took a vow of virginity. And so, because of the bullying, the threats she was receiving, she had to journey two months by foot from the banks of the Mohawk to the banks of the St. Lawrence River where there was a Christian village. And there she devoted herself to the service of children, the poor and the sick."

Due to the ongoing infirmity created by the smallpox, Kateri died at the tender age of 24. While that was in 1680, her legend was carried on through oral tradition and passed on from tribe to tribe through the Jesuit community.

"In 1882, her cause was introduced by the diocese of Albany and it took until 1943 before she was (declared) a server of God, which is one step on the journey to sainthood," Bishop Hubbard said.

Bishop Hubbard was the one who presented the petition of beatification of Kateri Tekakwitha to Pope John Paul II back in 1980. He, along with a pilgrimage of about 200 people from throughout the Albany Diocese will soon be headed to Rome, Italy to celebrate her canonization on October 21.

Election Night Live Shots - 2011

Two live shots (one for the 10 pm news, one for the 11 pm) with the Republican candidate for mayor of Utica, N.Y. on Election Night - November 8, 2011.

Six questions with Republican candidates for Utica Mayor

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - With primary day less than 24 hours away, many candidates were out and about for that last minute campaign push, including those seeking the Republican nod in the Utica Mayoral Race. Six questions for each of the candidates and their responses.

The presidential past of the Mohawk Valley

MOHAWK VALLEY, N.Y. (WKTV) - While many people had the day off Monday for Presidents' Day, you may not realize just how much of a connection our area has to some of the Presidents of the United States.

The Oneida County Historical Society realizes that, however, with many artifacts to prove it - artifacts like a podium that was actually used by a pre-President and then-New York Governor Teddy Roosevelt. The podium was used during a dedication ceremony of the Historical Society for its founder, Horatio Seymour.

"This was a very important area, not just for New York, but the nation as a whole," said Brian Howard of the Oneida County Historical Society.

In September 1889, Governor Roosevelt visited Richfield Springs and gave a speech from the porch of the Earlington Hotel, which today is the location of The Tally-Ho Restaurant.

Roosevelt certainly wasn't alone. There are many links to this region and our nation's chief executives, the most notable being our very first - George Washington.

"He was a land owner actually in Oneida County," Howard said. "He owned a couple of hundred acres in (what was then known as) White's Town and the society actually has a copy of the lend indenture he signed when he sold that land to Jedidah Sanger in 1790."

Sanger may be a familiar name to many in the area. He was the founder of the Town of New Hartford.

"So, right from the beginning, there is a very close tie with our American presidents," Howard said. "It's pretty surprising when you go through a region and see signs that say 'Washington was Here' or the typical 'Washington Slept Here.' Well, Washington owned land here. And that's not something that a lot of regions can claim."

Washington was also said to have made stops in Mohawk to have lunch at the Shoemaker Tavern on his way to and from Fort Stanwix in Rome.

The connections only begin there. The man who would become our 22nd and 24th president, Grover Cleveland, also came from Mohawk Valley roots.

"When he was a little boy in the early 1850s, his father was a Presbyterian pastor who was assigned to Clinton," Howard said. "And when Grover Cleveland was a small boy, he attended grammar school in Clinton - lived right on Utica Street. His house still stands, actually."

One of our most iconic presidents - Abraham Lincoln - also visited our fair region.

"Lincoln came through this area at least twice - once during his inaugural train ride from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, and tragically, four years later, his funeral train stopped in Utica," Howard said.

While Monday may be Presidents' Day, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Utica born James Schoolcraft Sherman. Sherman, a Hamilton College graduate who worked at a Utica law firm before serving as a Congressman.

Sherman was just one heartbeat away from the presidency when he served as Vice-President to William Howard Taft.

"The greater Mohawk Valley has been tied to the story of our nation all the way back from the day's of the French and Indian War to the present day," Howard said. "I've said many times we are a lot closer to our nation's history than we might realize."