Where The News Comes First! Those are the words we live by. For sixty years, Central New York has turned to WKTV for news and information. The station has been a part of many major news stories in Central New York that define what it is.

Our newsroom will be taking a look back at some of these major news events:

1. June 5, 1993 – The Oneida Indian Nation gets the OK from the US Dept. of Interior to open a casino. Turning Stone becomes an economic force in the community.

2. September 30, 1995 – The last B-52 takes off from GAFB ending the bases flying mission and changing the economics of the Mohawk Valley for generations to come.

3. August 18, 1993 – Sara Anne Wood disappears not far from her home near Frankfort. She is abducted by Louis Lent and killed. Her body is never found. Parents all across the Mohawk Valley change the way they watch their children and restrict their freedom of movement in a way they never had experienced before.

4. February 27, 2006 and April 12, 2007 – New Hartford Policeman Joseph Corr and Utica Policeman Thomas Lindsay are killed in the line of duty. The deaths of these officers wound the community by showing us that “it can happen here.”

5. Central New York Weather:
January 27, 1966, July 15, 1995 & September 7, 1998 – Three primary examples of the kind of weather we endure in our community. The “Blizzard of 1966” is regarded by the older residents of the area as the standard by which all snow storms are judged. The Adirondack Blowdown of 1995 was a weather phenomenon of massive scale in both geography and amount of damage done. Straightline windbursts hit 100 MPH and over 100,000 acres of timber was destroyed. Five people in New York State were killed. The Labor Day Storm was what the meteorologists call a derecho and rolled across the state after midnight, the early morning hours of Labor Day 1998. Wind gusts pounded the area at 100+ MPH and damage was extensive. Two people were killed at the NY State fair. In a review of top weather stories, the Christmas Day Winter Storm of 2002 that shut down holiday travel is also a standout.  The Flood of 2006 resulted in widespread national coverage of upstate flooding showing homes and businesses being swept away.