COLTON — Eight individuals have applied to become the next superintendent of the Colton-Pierrepont Central School District. The application deadline was Wednesday.

“We do have eight applicants who have submitted complete applications at this time,” said Thomas R. Burns, district superintendent for the St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

Mr. Burns is leading the search to find a replacement for outgoing Superintendent Joseph A. Kardash. He said he plans to meet with the Colton-Pierrepont Central School Board of Education during its meeting on Monday.

“On Monday night the board will start looking at those applications and we’ll have a conversation about it,” Mr. Burns said.

Mr. Kardash has been appointed as the next superintendent of schools at the Rensselaer City School District. He’s following his wife, who took a job in February as executive principal for special education at the Capital Region Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

Mr. Kardash has served as Colton-Pierrepont’s superintendent since 2011, replacing the retiring Martin J. Bregg. He had previously served as the district’s technology supervisor and business manager.

His appointment is effective July 9, replacing Sally Shields as superintendent at the Rensselaer City School District. His last day at Colton-Pierrepont will be July 6.

Mr. Kardash holds a bachelor’s degree in technical communication from Clarkson University, a master’s degree in computer science from Marist College, a certificate of advanced study in school business leadership from SUNY New Paltz and a certificate of advanced study in school district leadership from Niagara University.

The Rensselaer City School District had started its superintendent search in October, advertising the position across the state and country in November and December. A committee comprised of 11 stakeholders, including teachers, staff and community members interviewed eight candidates in mid-January and the list was then narrowed to four finalists before Mr. Kardash was offered the position.

Under the current timeline for the Colton-Pierrepont vacancy, interviews with the Board of Education will be held June 18. A daylong visit to the district for finalists, including a community forum and final interview with the Board of Education, is scheduled for June 20. Officials expect to announce the new superintendent on July 2. The position will pay in the salary range of $118,000 to $128,000 depending on experience, plus benefits.

CANTON — A Massena man was indicted Thursday by a St. Lawrence County grand jury for failing to register as a sex offender.

Christopher N. Snyder, 38, of 228 Trippany Road, is charged with felony sex offender registry violation.

The indictment charges on Feb. 13 in the town of Madrid, Snyder, a Level 2 sex offender, failed to register a change of address within the time period provided by law.

In other grand jury action Thursday:

Shannon M. Adams, 31, of 460 Route 13, Williamstown, is charged with two counts of felony fourth-degree grand larceny.

The indictment charges on Nov. 29 in the village of Massena, Ms. Adams acted with a co-defendant, whose name was redacted from the indictment, and stole property exceeding $1,000 in value. No other information was made available.

The grand jury also handed up one sealed indictment.

CANTON — A Gouverneur woman accepted a plea deal Monday in St. Lawrence County Court for attempting a strong-arm robbery of a consignment shop.

Chelsey I. Rocker, 21, of 21 Smith St., pleaded guilty to third-degree attempted robbery in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office.

On April 3 in the village of Gouverneur, Ms. Rocker attempted to forcibly steal from Main Street Consignment, 59-67 E. Main St. She told the court that she pulled a gun, asked for money and left the store.

At the time of her arrest, Gouverneur Village Police Chief Laurina M. Greenhill described the weapon as a silver handgun and that at 10:51 a.m., the store owner reported that a white male subject approached the counter, but when the owner refused to hand over money, the person fled on foot.

“A jacket and ball cap believed to have been worn by the suspect was found disposed of on John Street,” the chief said in an emailed statement. “A citizen noticed the clothing and reported it to police as they were arriving in the area.”

Police located the alleged handgun near the clothing and determined it to be a CO2 air pistol.

An investigation that included canvassing and interviewing people in the area led state police to a female walking on West Main Street who matched the description.

As part of the plea deal with the DA’s office, Ms. Rocker will be sentenced to six months in the St. Lawrence County jail and five years of probation and will be required to pay court fines, fees and surcharges.

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 6 and Ms. Rocker was returned to St. Lawrence County jail without bail.

In other court action Monday:

Brandon D. Dority, 30, of 921 Caroline St., Ogdensburg, entered a general denial that he violated his probationary release conditions.

On May 23, Judge Jerome J. Richards dismissed an indictment charging Mr. Dority with fourth-degree grand larceny, but gave the district attorney’s office the opportunity to represent the case to a new grand jury and continued Mr. Dority on probation, awaiting a subsequent indictment.

Mr. Dority is now accused of failing to complete a chemical dependency evaluation, testing positive for cocaine and buprenorphine and failing to cooperate with a drug test by Child Protective Services.

The DA’s office has a deadline of July 7 to represent Mr. Dority’s case to a new grand jury. He was returned to St. Lawrence County jail without bail.

Sherry L. Kinney, 38, 831 Buckton Road, Winthrop, was sentenced to one year of interim probation for her March 20 guilty plea to felony second-degree attempted criminal possession of a forged instrument in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office.

On Nov. 23 in the village of Massena, she and Joshua White were in possession of, and cashed, a forged NBT check belonging to Byrns Realty. Ms. Kinney told the court there were other checks as well.

As part of the plea deal, Ms. Kinney will be placed on one year of interim probation with the chance to withdraw her felony plea and plead guilty to the misdemeanor third-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and would be sentenced to probation with credit for her one year on interim probation. She was also ordered to pay $3,180 in restitution and a $318 surcharge.

Lauren H. Lewis, 53, of 82 County Route 57, Stockholm, was sentenced to five years of probation for his April 2 guilty plea to driving while intoxicated in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office.

On Sept. 10 on County Route 59 in the town of Potsdam, Mr. Lewis operated a 2006 Chevrolet while intoxicated and while having been previously convicted on Dec. 12, 2007, in Potsdam Town Court of the misdemeanor charge of DWI.

This is Mr. Lewis’s fifth DWI, Judge Richards said.

In addition to the probation sentence reached in the plea deal, Mr. Lewis had the remaining charges of felony aggravated driving while intoxicated and a second count of driving while intoxicated satisfied. He was also ordered to pay $2,070 in court fines, fees and surcharges, has to install an ignition interlock device if he becomes eligible for relicensing and has to complete a victim impact panel.

Kevin N. Castor, 33, of 49 County Route 45, Apt. 10, Rooseveltown, was placed on one year of interim probation for his April 2 guilty plea to felony aggravated driving while intoxicated in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office.

On Nov. 23 on North Raquette River Road in the town of Massena, Mr. Castor operated a 2017 Dodge Ram while he had a blood alcohol content of 0.19 percent while he had a previous conviction on July 16, 2013 in Brasher Town Court for misdemeanor DWI.

As part of the plea deal, if Mr. Castor successfully completes his interim probation he will have the opportunity to withdraw his felony plea and earn a misdemeanor.

Final sentencing is scheduled for May 20.

Ruth Green, 26, of 9486 E Road, Lowville, was sentenced to one year of interim probation for her April 6 guilty plea to third-degree unlawful manufacturing of methamphetamine in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office.

As part of the plea deal, if Ms. Green successfully completes her interim probation she will get the opportunity to vacate her felony plea and plead to a misdemeanor, be given one year of credit and be placed on four years of probation.

Ms. Green’s probation was transferred to Lewis County and final sentencing is scheduled for May 20.

Bobby J. Lafave, 44, of 315 Grant St., Ogdensburg, pleaded guilty to felony third-degree attempted unlawful manufacturing of methamphetamine, the reduced first count of third-degree unlawful manufacturing and the misdemeanors of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument.

The plea is part of a deal with the district attorney’s office that has the court committed to sentence Mr. Lafave to one year of interim probation to earn probation. He faces 2½ years in prison.

On Oct. 13, in the town of Potsdam, Mr. Lafave was in possession of laboratory equipment, a solvent and a catalyst to be used for manufacturing methamphetamine.

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 6 and Mr. Lafave was released under probation supervision.

Crystal D. Hamilton, 38, of 236 Route 11B, Potsdam, entered a general denial that she violated her Nov. 7 five-year probation for her Sept. 12 guilty plea to the reduced count of third-degree attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Ms. Hamilton is alleged to have smoked cocaine, tested positive for the narcotic and was doing the drug with someone who is a known drug user. She was also alleged to have been in possession of Percocet without having a prescription for it.

Ms. Hamilton faces up to 5½ years in prison if she is found to have violated her probation. She was sent to St. Lawrence County jail, without bail, to await an evaluation for treatment.

Schuyler G. Mitchell, 20, of 48 East Hatfield St., Massena, pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary and the misdemeanors of second-degree menacing and third-degree assault in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office.

On Jan. 22 at 2 Willow St., Apt. 302, in the village of Massena, he entered the apartment with the intent to beat up somebody who shot out a friend’s car window.

As part of the plea deal the court committed to sentence Mr. Mitchell to five years of probation and he will be required to pay a restitution amount to be determined following a pre-sentence investigation. Additionally, the remaining charges against him will be satisfied.

Mr. Mitchell tested positive for THC prior to his plea and was sent to St. Lawrence County jail where he is awaiting an evaluation for treatment. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 6.

Dustin J. Davis, 35, an inmate at the Mohawk Correctional Facility, Rome, formerly of Lisbon, was designated a Level 3 sex offender following a sex offender registration hearing.

Davis was convicted Sept. 30, 2011, following a trial, of second-degree sexual abuse, second-degree burglary as a sexually motivated crime, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child.

As a Level 3 sex offender, Ellis is considered a high risk to commit another sex offense.

CANTON — Construction of a small-scale milking parlor and a cheese-making room are nearing completion at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Farm, Route 68.

The new equipment is inside remodeled portions of the main barn and will be used to milk goats raised at the farm.

Patrick Ames, the extension’s executive director, said the facility primarily will be used by area high school students enrolled in the St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Extension’s Agricultural Studies Academy.

“The primary purpose is education, so this will provide students the chance to learn about dairy products and the value-added process,” Mr. Ames said. “The long-term goal is to move a product to a place like a farmers’ market.”

Students will be taught various aspects of milk and cheese production, including safety and sanitation practices.

Mr. Ames said the facility will produce soft goat cheeses, such as feta, rather than hard cheeses, like cheddar, which take a long time to age.

“It will be cheeses that don’t take a significant amount of time to make,” he said.

Eventually, the goat milk may also be used to make yogurt, and youths involved with extension’s after-school and other programs may also become involved, Mr. Ames said.

He emphasized that before production can begin, Cooperative Extension has to complete the inspection and permitting process with the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.

“That’s an important step that still has to be completed,” he said.

The pasteurizer and a bulk tank are expected to be installed by the end of this month. The goal is to have the system operating by next fall when the next group of students arrive at the ag academy.

BOCES is paying the $12,500 needed for the 15-gallon pasteurizer. Extension paid for the $5,000 raised milking stand through funding from the North East Agriculture Education Foundation. The milk stand has cascading headlocks and will be used to milk two goats at a time.

Eric Barr, an instructor at the agriculture academy, said the milking process and cheese-making procedures are very similar for cows and goats.

“Goats are easier to manage and easier to feed than dairy cows,” Mr. Barr said. “We can make a comparison between a cow dairy and a goat dairy. There are a lot of similarities and parallels.”

He said goats produce about 1.5 gallons of milk a day, much less than the average cow.

“That’s more on the scale that we can handle,” he said.

Naomi Moon, a 17-year-old academy student from Gouverneur Central, said although she won’t be at the academy next year, she’s excited that future students will have the opportunity to milk goats and make cheese.

She plans to attend SUNY Cobleskill next year to study animal science with a goal of becoming a veterinarian.

“Animals are my passion,” she said.

She said attending the academy this year, “was the best opportunity I could have asked for.”

POTSDAM — The Village Planning Board Thursday night approved Canton-Potsdam Hospital’s site plan application for a two-story outpatient facility at the main campus.

“It’s a typical, modern medical office,” said Brooks A. Washburn, architect for the project.

The first floor will be used as a procedural center and the second floor will contain doctor offices.

The new building will have a Leroy Street address where two houses, owned by the hospital, will be torn down.

“The parking lot will lose about 15 to 50 staff parking spaces during construction,” Director of Facilities and Plant Operations Randy A. VanBrocklin said.

He later confirmed that four to five parking spaces will be added following construction.

Mr. Washburn said the building will have a 10,000-square-foot footprint.

Mr. Washburn said that the new facility will lighten the load of procedures that often overload the hospital.

The building is designed to have a minimal visual impact on Leroy Street.

“It’s going to be a nice masonry, brick structure,” Mr. Washburn said.

The back of the building will be 15 feet from Leroy Steet and will be covered by a privacy hedge.

“It would be a landscape buffer,” Mr. Washburn said.

A few lights in the hospital parking lot will be moved or removed, but much will remain the same.

The water management system will be the same as the cancer center’s next to it.

“Not a drop is going into the village system,” Mr. Washburn said.

Later in the meeting, the board approved a measure to offer a positive opinion to the Village Zoning Board, if asked for, on another plan by the hospital to add around 25 parking spaces on Grove Street, where more houses will be torn down, according to Mr. Washburn.

Fred J. Hanss, Potsdam’s planning and development director, approved of the plan saying it would decrease traffic on all other roads adjacent to the hospital, aside from Grove Street.

The Village Zoning Board will meet June 14.

“I think that in this case it certainly makes sense to finish up that square and provide some additional parking, but the hospital continues to have needs for additional parking and I don’t see an end to that. It’s been chip, chip, chip and somewhere we need to draw the line,” said Planning Board member Robert Josephson.

WATERTOWN — The Jefferson Leadership Institute will hold its second annual Race Against Poverty Saturday. This “Amazing Race” style scavenger hunt will raise money to support a 16-week workshop to combat poverty locally.

“The race is so much fun, and the cause is something everyone can get behind,” Jennifer Voss, a graduate from the 2017 leadership class, said. “It’s powerful.”

During the event, teams of two will be tasked to discover clues and solve puzzles all over Watertown’s Public Square.

Each puzzle reveals a hint toward finding the next checkpoint and there are 15 stops on this year’s map.

Some puzzles are physical, some are mind-teasers, and some, of course, are silly, Ms. Voss said.

“The race was our leadership class’s culminating project last year, and we raised more money through it than any other project has before, so we knew that we had to do it again,” said another graduate, Aaron Naklick.

Forty-two teams competed in the race last year. In total, it raised $24,000 for its cause, a program sponsored by the Community Action Planning Council, the Watertown Urban Mission and the Volunteer Transportation Center.

The 16-week program it funds, called “Getting Ahead in a Just Getting’ by World,” is open to participants who are in poverty or near the poverty line. It is entirely free and it provides transportation and child care for each of its sessions.

Sometimes participants also receive gift cards for things like groceries to offset the difficulty of the time commitment, Ms. Voss said.

And the program has had phenomenal impacts so far, Mr. Naklick said. Each cohort has had about 12 participants in it and the program is on its third round.

“It isn’t so much of a class, as it is a kitchen-table discussion between people in similar situations. It facilitates time for them to plan. They have a quiet time each week to meet, to encourage each other, and to investigate what they can do to empower themselves,” Ms. Voss said.

“It helps get them out of the tyranny of the moment, so that they have the time, quietly with other people, to focus on what they want to do in their lives,” Mr. Naklick said.

A graduate of the program, Timothy Fayette, will be opening the Race Against Poverty event by speaking about his own journey towards empowerment.

“He is an incredible man, and his story is powerful,” Mr. Naklick said.

The race will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, and anyone can register to participate at 9:30 a.m. at the JB Wise Pavilion. The cost to enter is $50 for a team of two and includes free T-shirts. The event is timed, and the three fastest teams will win prizes.

Afterwards, food, beverages, entertainment, a silent auction, a raffle and more will be available for the community.

For more information, access the event’s page at facebook.com/raceagainstpovertyNNY.

WATERTOWN — A group of local investors want to build a $24 million sports and convention center in the town that would hold thousands of spectators.

Town Supervisor Joel R. Bartlett said this group, who he didn’t identify, wants to open the 177,000-square-foot complex for football, basketball, other indoor sports games, concerts, trade shows, traveling acts and other performances that could draw crowds from as far as Ontario and Syracuse.

The arena at the yet unidentified location would have enough portable and retractable seating for 6,500 spectators. The group also plans to have three soccer and lacrosse fields and enough parking for about 3,000 vehicles.

“The theory is that you can run an indoor football game on one end of the place and an indoor concert on the other,” Mr. Bartlett said.

The investors would create a new company, serve as its board of directors and then hire a management firm to operate the complex.

When asked how the group would finance the project, Mr. Bartlett said they were exploring several private and public financing options like grants.

“There would be no taxpayer money going to support this,” he said. “The only way (taxpayers) would pay for it is by using it.”

The group of investors isn’t the first with an idea to build a sporting event and convention center in the town.

Town officials previously formed the Watertown Local Development Corp. to create a $12 million multipurpose dome for sporting events, concerts and trade shows. The group, however, wasn’t able to secure enough funding for the project, Mr. Bartlett said, and the corporation dissolved in 2012.

“There’s no comparison between the two projects whatsoever,” he said.

The future complex owners hired the consulting firm Venue Strategies, New York, to conduct a feasibility study to determine whether the center could generate enough revenue.

The firm has consulted several public and private entities, including Madison Square Garden, Disney Development Corp., the Los Angeles Lakers, New York City and several other cities and towns. The Massena Town Council hired the firm in 2014 to study the feasibility of bringing a four-season destination resort to the town, but the contract between them expired last year with no action taken.

Michael J. Bogucki, senior principal of Venue Strategies, had previously worked with the town of Watertown to develop plans for the previously proposed convention center under a different firm.

“(Venue Strategies has) done some very, very big projects,” Mr. Bartlett said. “Very reputable company — one of the best in the country.”

The results of that study will be shared during a news conference the third week of this month at the municipal office, 22867 County Route 67.

Mr. Bartlett said the owners also will introduce themselves, identify the location for the future center and present other details.

The town is acting as a facilitator between the group, property owners, contractors and other parties.

“It’s a transformative project because there are other businesses who want to come in behind this, other opportunities,” Mr. Bartlett said.

Denise K. Young, CEO of the Watertown Family YMCA, said she hopes the group will “coordinate efforts” with the Y and work together to meet the community’s needs. The Fairgrounds YMCA has housed sports games, some Snowtown USA festivities and several other events over the years.

“I think that our price point and how the Y operates and how the Y meets the needs of the community — I think — speaks for itself,” Mrs. Young said.

Mr. Bartlett said he didn’t believe the center would affect any event planning efforts in the city.

WATERTOWN — Daniel Daugherty plans to spend much of this weekend cooped up in the basement of the Lincoln Building.

After going through some unexpected delays and a cumbersome approval process, Mr. Daugherty, a city firefighter and retired Marine, will finally start making beer for the microbrewery he’s opening in a Lincoln Building storefront, 85-89 Public Square.

If all goes well, the beer taps at Boots Brewing Co. should be running by the end of the month.

“It was a lot of work,” he said on Tuesday.

Boots Brewing will be set up like a wine tasting room with an upstairs tap room. The beer will be brewed in the basement.

He started putting together his plans for the microbrewery back in 2016, with the original hopes of opening on St. Patrick’s Day last year.

But now eight stainless steel one-barrel tanks — each costing $2,000 and able to make a full batch of craft beer — are ready for the beer-making process to begin. Bags of hops and malts sit on nearby pallets. Some other beer equipment purchased for $16,000 from SS Brew Tech., a nationally known company, also will be used during the process.

Mr. Daugherty, who co-owns the business with his wife, Kelly, and sister, Christin Filippelli, are purposely starting small, making roughly 120 to 150 barrels to ensure the business is profitable before they decide to expand. All they have to do is add more tanks, he said,

The microbrewery will specialize in an India pale ale, a stout and an English pale ale produced year-round, while rotating to seasonal beers every three months.

While he’s ready to start brewing, he and his co-owners are still working out the names they plan to use for their products, except for the Irish stout. It will be named “Stags and Stars,” and feature the Daugherty family crest of a stag in a green field with three white stars in the background.

So what’s Mr. Daugherty’s favorite beer?

“Whatever I’m drinking right then,” he said.

Since he started brewing in his home in 2006, Mr. Daugherty has been quite a fan of all kinds of beer that are made by all kinds of breweries, both big and small. He can recall what kind of beer he was drinking during some of the most important moments of his life.

Saying it tastes better over there, he drank Guinness at a Dublin pub while he was in Ireland for the first time with his rugby team and then Guinness again, with the Marines for a layover at Shannon Airport on their way to Iraq.

He’s visited a lot of pubs over there, which helped in what he wanted to do with Boots Brewing.

The three owners are still deciding on what snacks to offer, either jerky and nuts or just bagged pretzels and chips. They all make you thirsty. He also hopes to arrange for a food truck to be parked at Boots Brewing once a month and for food deliveries from restaurants along Public Square.

Getting some help from some contractors, Mr. Daugherty and his family did much of the work in the 3,600-square-foot storefront. He even designed the microbrewery’s logo of two U.S. Marine boots.

With a maximum occupancy for 70 patrons, the microbrewery has a rustic feel, with the bar stools, tables and chairs, a shelf and beer taps all made from reclaimed wood from the storefront’s basement flooring.

The building is owned by Brian H. Murray, Washington Street Properties and Purcell Construction.

In early 2017, Boots Brewing prompted the city to make a zoning change that allows microbreweries to be in the downtown business district. It also took longer to get federal approvals for beer making. There also were some snags with construction.

With the brewing starting this weekend, Mr. Daugherty hopes that Boots Brewery will open before June 29, the night of the first of three block parties that will be held on Fridays this summer along Public Square.

Donald W. Rutherford, CEO of the Watertown Local Development Corp., said he’s glad that Boots Brewing will soon make its debut, adding it will boost the city’s already growing nightlife.

“It’ll be a nice addition to the block parties,” he said.

Last year, Spokes Craft Beer and Tapas Restaurant opened two doors down. A restaurant is slated to open on the other side of Public Square, in the former Subway shop.

The Downtown Local Lounge, a wine bar and lounge, also opened last year in the Franklin Building. Meanwhile, Garland City Beer Works will offer craft beer when it opens its doors in an 8,000-square-foot space at 321 Howk St. Whistlers Tavern also recently reopened in the former Nautical Turtle bar, 107 Public Square.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump called on the world’s leading economies Friday to reinstate Russia to the Group of 7 nations four years after it was cast out for annexing Crimea, once again putting him at odds with the leading U.S. allies in Europe and Asia.

The president made the suggestion to reporters as he headed to Canada for the annual meeting of the G-7, a gathering that already was promising to be crackling with tension over trade, Iran and Trump’s sharp-edged approach to foreign leaders.

Russia joined the group in the 1990s after emerging from the wreckage of the Soviet Union, making it the G-8, but its armed intervention in its neighbor Ukraine in 2014 and its seizure of the Crimean peninsula isolated it from other major powers.

The remaining members, led by the United States under President Barack Obama, expelled it in a sign of global resolve not to let established international borders be rewritten by force.

Trump spent Friday skirmishing with the leaders of two other members of the G-7, Canada and France, and decided to skip the end of the annual meeting being held in Quebec and fly Saturday morning to Singapore, where he plans to meet North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, for a landmark nuclear summit meeting Tuesday.

The notion of readmitting Russia to the world’s most exclusive club without any concession by the Kremlin reflects the unusually friendly approach that Trump has taken to Russia since becoming president, a policy at odds with both Republicans and Democrats in Washington as well as leaders in Europe.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump lashed out Friday at Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., complaining that he was offering unneeded advice in advance of Trump’s high-stakes summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday.

In a morning tweet, Trump said that President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats did “NOTHING about North Korea, and now weak on Crime, High Tax Schumer is telling me what to do at the Summit the Dems could never set up.”

“Schumer failed with North Korea and Iran, we don’t need his advice!” Trump concluded.

The Senate’s top Democrats insisted in a letter to President Trump on Monday that any deal with North Korea must completely dismantle Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs permanently and that the White House must loop Congress in on its plans before negotiations begin.

Schumer and several ranking Democrats issued a list of conditions in anticipation of the scheduled summit in Singapore between Trump and Kim, pressing the president to maintain a tough and unsparing stance with the North Korean leader and with his ally China to ensure that the talks achieve “full, complete and verifiable denuclearization of North Korea” - and nothing less.

Trump in recent days has sought to downplay expectations for the meeting, saying that denuclearization of the Korean peninsula remains the goal but that it could take time to get there.

“This will be, at a minimum, we’ll start with perhaps a good relationship,” Trump told reporters Thursday.

Trump fired off his tweet just more than an hour before he was scheduled to depart the White House en route to a Group of Seven summit in Canada, where he is girding to clash with the host country and other U.S. allies over trade.

In a likely preview of what’s to come, Trump said in another tweet on Friday morning: “Canada charges the U.S. a 270% tariff on Dairy Products! They didn’t tell you that, did they? Not fair to our farmers!”

In another tweet, Trump said: “Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries. If it doesn’t happen, we come out even better!”

President Donald Trump said Friday he will ask National Football League players protesting police brutality and racism to submit cases of possible injustice so he can evaluate them for potential pardons.

“I’m going to ask all of those people to recommend to me -- because that’s what they’re protesting -- people that they think were unfairly treated by the justice system,” Trump told reporters Friday before departing the White House for the G-7 summit in Canada, adding that they shouldn’t remain in the locker room while the national anthem is played before games.

“If I find, and my committee finds, that they’re unfairly treated, then we will pardon them, or at least let them out,” the president said.

The offer appeared an olive branch to professional athletes after a series of sports superstars have leveled criticism at the president. Earlier this week, the NBA’s LeBron James said neither team competing in the league’s championship series would visit the White house.

The comments from James came after Trump disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles from a celebration marking the team’s Super Bowl win after the majority of players said they didn’t plan to attend. Many professional athletes have opted against visiting the White House since Trump’s inauguration, citing the president’s critical responses to protests during the national anthem intended to highlight concerns with police brutality and other social justice issues.

But Trump has earned some praise by boxing greats for his decision last month to grant a posthumous pardon for Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion, who was convicted of racially tinged federal morals charges more than a century ago.

Trump also said he is considering posthumously pardoning boxer Muhammad Ali and evaluating thousands of additional pardon applications as part of an effort to address injustices in the criminal justice system.

Pardoning Ali, who was convicted of draft evasion for refusing induction into the Army during the Vietnam War, could similarly buoy Trump within the black community. The logistics of the pardon could prove curious, however, since the Supreme Court overturned Ali’s conviction in 1971, and former President Jimmy Carter offered a blanket pardon to draft evaders in 1977. And the move -- along with a string of other pardons -- could create challenges among voters who supported Trump for his tough-on-crime message and enthusiastic support for law enforcement.

Trump said Friday that his administration was considering at least 3,000 individuals for pardons or commutations, and had previously said that celebrity chef Martha Stewart and former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich were among the cases he was examining.

But the president said he hoped more cases would be in the model of Alice Marie Johnson, a black woman who was serving a life sentence for a first-time drug offense before he commuted her sentence. Reality show star Kim Kardashian West personally lobbied Trump to offer Johnson clemency.

“In one way, it’s easier and people find it fascinating,” Trump said of pardoning celebrities. “But I want to do people that are unfairly treated like an Alice where she comes out and it’s something beautiful.”

Trump also said that while he had the “absolute power” to pardon himself in connection with the special counsel’s probe into possible collusion between Russia and his campaign, no crime had occurred.

“I don’t have to do it, never did anything wrong,” Trump said.

One former professional athlete and Trump associate shouldn’t be counting on a pardon, however: O.J. Simpson. Simpson is currently serving parole in Nevada after being convicted of robbery and kidnapping stemming from a botched heist intended to recover old memorabilia.

“No, I’m not thinking about O.J.,” Trump said.

MASSENA — Massena Central School students in grades 6 to 12 recently voted on the logo image to correspond with the new Red Raider mascot for the school district. The mascot’s name will continue to be the “Red Raiders,” but with the new “Spartan” image associated with the name.

Students first conducted a vote on the type of mascot, choosing the Spartan. Students then selected the new logo from three design options.

“This has been a truly democratic process and we are pleased to move Massena Central School District forward in this positive manner. The students asked the administration and Board for a mascot they could take pride in, and I believe this process has provided that,” Superintendent Patrick H. Brady said in a statement.

The former “Indian Chief” mascot was removed in 2004, and the district underwent a rebrand, resulting in the capital “M” logo which is used today. However, the former logo image was still being used in some circles. The image had been removed due to the perception that it was demeaning to Native American students, who make up approximately 10 percent of the district’s student population.

A Mascot Committee comprised of students, staff, and community members was formed to establish a student-led process for the selection of the new mascot. Committee members researched the meaning of the term “raider” and assessed examples from schools throughout the nation.

The final logo was designed by a company called 48 Hour Logo, and inspired by student artwork submitted through a contest conducted earlier this year.

A Carthage woman was sentenced on Thursday in Federal District Court to 90 years in prison on child pornography charges.

In August, Tammy L. Martin, 48, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of a child, according to a press release from the Northern New York U.S. District Court.

Martin admitted, with the help of another person, to producing over 350 explicit images and videos of three children between 2001 and 2008, when the children were all under 10 years old. Martin participated in the abuse and is also depicted in the images.

The three charges each carried 15 to 30 year sentences and she received 30 years for each one, to be served consecutively. She was also ordered to pay a $300 assessment and forfeited some property.

Martin, Clif J. Seaway of Granby and Tammy J. LaMere of Fulton were all named in separate but related felony complaints in March 2016.

WATERTOWN — The Metro-Jeff Drug Task Force on Thursday charged Lynn M. Tynon, 27, 542 Cooper St. with second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A felony, and third-degree unlawful manufacture of methamphetamine, a class D felony.

The Task Force assisted the Watertown Police Department in executing a search warrant at Ms. Tynon’s residence around 8 a.m. on Thursday as part of an ongoing drug investigation.

Ms. Tynon was the only person present at the residence when the search took place. Police say they discovered ingredients commonly used in the manufacture of methamphetamine and three ounces of liquid containing methamphetamine in the apartment.

Ms. Tynon was arraigned and held without bail. Police say additional arrests and charges are pending.

The 2018 Eastern Pacific hurricane season has begun with a blast.

Aletta, the first named storm of the season, rapidly intensified Thursday night, becoming not only a hurricane but a powerhouse Category 4 Friday morning.

The storm, which is no threat to any land area, is packing maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. Its winds increased 65 mph in just 18 hours, between 5 p.m. Thursday, when it was first named a hurricane, and 11 a.m. Friday, when its rating shot up to Category 4.

“The remarkable intensification of Aletta has continued through this morning,” the National Hurricane Center wrote in its 11 a.m. advisory.

Aletta is located about 500 miles west of Mexico’s west coast and is moving even farther away from land over the Pacific Ocean. It boasts a beautiful presence on satellite imagery, almost perfectly symmetric and featuring a well-defined eye.

Churning over warm waters that can provide fuel and with relatively little wind shear to disrupt its towering thunderstorms, “there are no obvious reasons why Aletta should cease intensification,” the National Hurricane Center said. It predicts the storm’s intensity to peak late Friday, with maximum winds of 145 mph, just about 10 mph shy of Category 5 levels.

However, over the weekend, the storm is forecast to steadily decay.

“The hurricane has less than a day to strengthen before the environment becomes less hospitable, with a notable increase in shear and decrease in water temperatures forecast this weekend,” the National Hurricane Center said. “These conditions will likely cause significant weakening of Aletta over the weekend, with rapid weakening predicted by Sunday.”

Aletta was first named a hurricane on Thursday, which is over two weeks earlier than normal. The first eastern Pacific hurricane forms on June 26 on average.

While it may seem strange for the Pacific’s first storm to be so strong, Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman discovered it’s not all that uncommon. “It’s happened three other times this decade, and a total of nine times since 1970, per NOAA’s database,” he tweeted.

To the southeast of Aletta, another area of disturbed weather is forecast to become a tropical depression or storm in the next 48 hours. If the disturbance earns a name, it will be called Bud. Computer models suggest moisture from this system could get drawn up into the Desert Southwest late next week feeding afternoon showers and storms.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he likely will support a congressional effort to end the federal ban on marijuana, a major step that would reshape the pot industry and end the threat of a Justice Department crackdown.

Trump’s remarks put him sharply at odds with Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the issue. The bill in question, pushed by a bipartisan coalition, would allow states to go forward with legalization unencumbered by threats of federal prosecution.

Trump made his comments to a gaggle of reporters Friday morning just before he boarded a helicopter on his way to the G-7 summit in Canada. His remarks came the day after the bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed their measure.

One of the lead sponsors is Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who is aligned with Trump on several issues but recently has tangled with the administration over the Justice Department’s threatened crackdowns on marijuana.

“I support Sen. Gardner,” Trump said when asked about the bill. “I know exactly what he’s doing. We’re looking at it. But I probably will end up supporting that, yes.”

The legislative proposal, which is also championed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), would reshape the legal landscape for marijuana.

California and eight other states, as well as Washington, D.C., have legalized all adult use of marijuana. An additional 20 states permit marijuana for medical use.

But even as states legalize, marijuana has remained a risky and unstable business because of federal law making it illegal. Concerns about federal law enforcement seizures have inhibited most lenders from working with marijuana businesses. And investors have also proceeded cautiously.

A lifting of the federal prohibition would bolster efforts to create uniform testing and regulatory standards for marijuana, and potentially free scientists to pursue research into the medical uses of marijuana.

Trump said he is likely to support the federal legalization effort despite a warning against it from the coalition of narcotics officer groups.

“We urge you to see through the smoke screen and reject attempts to encourage more drug use in America,” they wrote in a letter to Trump Thursday.

WATERTOWN — City police on Thursday charged Tyler D. Collins, 24, 232 West Main St., with first-degree criminal contempt — physical contact. He was also cited with second-degree harassment, a violation.

Police charge that Mr. Collins spit repeatedly in the face of Lauriar Collins, of the same address, who had an order of protection against him. This resulted in both the felony charge, for violating the order of protection, and the harassment charge for spitting at her.

Mr. Collins was arrested at 20988 Salmon Run Mall Loop Road at 10:48 p.m. He was transferred to the Jefferson County Public Safety Building awaiting arraignment.

STOCKHOLM — St. Lawrence County sheriff’s deputies are looking for the owners of two horses that were found in the intersection of Shop Road and County Route 48.

Anyone with information regarding the discovery of the horses are being asked to contact the sheriff’s office at 315-379-2222 and reference complaint number 18S-04578.

CANTON — St. Lawrence County sheriff’s deputies on Friday charged Jeizino Cruickshank, 34, of 27 Cornell Ave., Massena, with misdemeanor second-degree criminal contempt.

Deputies charge on April 24 while being held in the St. Lawrence County jail, Mr. Cruickshank contacted a person named in a no-contact order of protection against him.

He was arraigned in Canton Town Court and was returned to St. Lawrence County jail on $250 cash bail or $500 bond.

WATERTOWN — City resident Andrew Rowley, 28, was sentenced Thursday to a 57-month prison sentence on his conviction for possessing with intent to sell cocaine and Ecstasy.

U.S. Attorney Grant C. Jaquith announced in a news release that Mr. Rowley will serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison time is completed. He also will forfeit $100,685 in drug proceeds and two vehicles.

Mr. Rowley admitted in federal court that on May 4, 2017, he possessed for sale 616 grams of cocaine and 1,506 grams of Ecstacy, seized during a raid on his home.

The case was investigated by the Metro-Jefferson Drug Task Force, aided by New York State Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Eurenius.