At the age of four, she could vote. By seven, she was married.
And on February 29th, Susan Nackley-Mojave is celebrating her 12th birthday.
She might look a bit old for not even being a teenager, but that's because Susan is a leap year baby.
"Where there's a leap year, it's always more exciting because my
birthday's on the calender. I see my birthday on the top print of a
magazine where the date is, my birthday is on bills," said
Nackley-Mojave.
To make the 29th as special as possible, Susan started a tradition of wearing a tiara on her Leap Year birthday.
"I put it next to my bed when I go to sleep the night before...When I
wake up on February 29, I put the tiara on my head. My husband and
children give me breakfast in bed, I wear my tiara all day long.....I
wear it until I got to bed at night," she said.
In the years between, her birthday might not be on your calender, but it doesn't mean it goes unnoticed.
"The good news is that when you don't have an exact birthday on the calender, you can celebrate the whole week long!" she said.
With a birthday every four years, what good is it if you don't take advantage of the Leap Year age?
"I always try to pay the child price at a movie, but they just don't believe me for that one," she laughed.
Susan says that in the off years, she prefers to keep her birthday in the month of February.
The fate of the Trenton Town
Supervisor is in the hands of an Oneida County jury.
Mark Scheidelman who has
held the elected position for over twenty years is accused of sexually abusing
a...
Village of Herkimer residents may have experienced some traffic delays on the way to work this morning. Route 28 between the Herkimer Thruway entrance and 5th Avenue was closed for a flood control a...
Even more thunderstorms are sweeping through Central New York. Almost 700 people were without power in Oneida and Madison Counties last night, others suffered flood damage, and more rain is heading...
It's day two of the Mark Scheidelman trial. He's the Trenton
Town Supervisor accused of sexually abusing a ten-year-old boy.
The ten-year-old victim took the stand today as did his
13-year-old...
Village of Herkimer residents may have experienced some traffic delays on the way to work this morning. Route 28 between the Herkimer Thruway entrance and 5th Avenue was closed for a flood control exercise.
The State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and Herkimer officials conducted a training exercise to erect a flood wall located under the thruway bridge and then tear it down. DEC officials say it's especially important to perform flood control exercises in areas prone to flooding.
"This flood wall that's underneath the thruway bridge here is very important if the Mohawk River and Barge Canal comes up and overtops the flood capacity of the village, it will hold the flood waters out," says Stephen Litwhiler, NYSDEC Citizen Participation Specialist.
DEC says this exercise is part of an ongoing effort to provide village officials with hands-on training, should an emergency flood develop.
Even more thunderstorms are sweeping through Central New York. Almost 700 people were without power in Oneida and Madison Counties last night, others suffered flood damage, and more rain is heading our way.
"There was a car completely submerged under water in front of our house, right here in front of our house," says Shirley Lamphere, West Utica resident.
Lamphere lives on Lincoln Avenue in West Utica. She says she's never seen flooding like this.
"We were carrying our kids through the water. It was up to our chests. It was completely flooded in our house, up to our steps and the whole basement is completely flooded out," says Lamphere.
Several streets in West Utica and some streets in North Utica suffered flood damage. Area officials say they were responding to numerous calls to clean debris and close roads.
"You couldn't really pass through here. It was really, really flooded," says Laura Harris, West Utica resident.
Harris says there was nearly 5 feet of water almost touching her front door.
"I was really scared so as I was looking at my front door window, the water was coming up high," says Harris.
Living on the first floor, she wanted to get to higher ground so she stayed with a neighbor until the rain passed.
And now there are signs of another big storm. But Utica Department of Public Works (DPW) says you can prepare.
"Any green waste that you have in the street, get it out of the street, put it on the lawn for now. That interferes with the flow of water into the catch basin especially with heavy rains and that's what picks up the debris and puts it on the catch basins which then in return, floods the area," says Dave Short, Utica DPW commissioner.
And the commissioner says the DPW is preparing also.
"We are monitoring our creeks and ravines again and we're letting everyone just get ready for the inevitable. We know the rain's coming, its just a matter of how hard its gonna come down," says Short.
We've learned that disaster can strike anywhere and anytime. Officials are again urging residents to keep an emergency starter kit, water, and flashlights on-hand.
It's day two of the Mark Scheidelman trial. He's the Trenton
Town Supervisor accused of sexually abusing a ten-year-old boy.
The ten-year-old victim took the stand today as did his
13-year-old brother who claims he saw Scheidelman inappropriately touching the
younger boy.
The incident reportedly happened last year on veteran's day
weekend at the victim's uncle's house where Scheidelman also lived.
It was an unplanned weekend at their uncle's house. The
victim and his brothers wanted to spend time with their cousin. Although the
kids didn't have a change of clothes the mom let them go anyway.
The ten-year-old victim checked in with his mom. "He
let me know that they were there and that everyone was safe," said the victim's
mother.
That was Saturday night. It was the car ride home on Monday
when the victim's mother became concerned.
She says the child was upset, but didn't want to talk about
it. The next day the boy spoke up and what came out of his mouth made his mom
go to the police.
The ten-year-old boy took the stand today- he told the jury Scheidelman
went under his clothing and touched his bare genitals.
He says he was sleeping next to Scheidelman. Defense
attorney, George Aney questioned the child asking why he told police and the
grand jury in his initial statement that mark touched him over his clothing.
The ten year old boy said he was embarrassed.
Investigator Todd Grant of the New York State Police
assigned to the Child Advocacy Center also took the stand.
He told the jury that in different crimes police can get all
the information at once, but with children and sex abuse crimes it can be
different.
"A lot of time with children they are so shy and embarrassed
about what happened to them that they give a little bit of information to
start," said Grant.
A recorded conversation between investigator grant and Scheidelman
was also played for the jury Wednesday afternoon.
The prosecution rested and tomorrow the jury is expected to
hear from Scheidelman as he is expected to take the stand Thursday morning.
