Leading off today: Former Troy High School running back Jahod Crumble, 17, was
stabbed to death Friday, city police said.
Crumble was stabbed in the left side of his chest in an afternoon altercation with two or more men in the city's north end. He was pronounced dead at Albany Medical Center Hospital, police said. Investigators have not established a motive for the attack, but police believe they have recovered the murder weapon.
Crumble attended the Academy at Brunswick, an alternative education program, this year. As a junior in 2005, he ran for 160 yards and scored four TDs in Troy's 25-6 victory over Guilderland but was slowed later in the season by an ankle injury.
More trouble in Utica: Tensions between the family of the late Keith Moore III and Mario Whitehurst have resurfaced a year after Moore was shot to death by Whitehurst's brother, The Observer-Dispatch reported.
Keith Moore Jr., 34, was ticketed on a charge of second-degree harassment after allegedly punching Whitehurst last week during the Youth Empowerment Project's Spring Festival, Utica police said. After the incident, Whitehurst confronted one of the youths outside Proctor High, school officials said.
The youth Whitehurst confronted was suspended for carrying a knife, Superintendent Marilyn Skermont said. Whitehurst will be home-schooled as a precaution until it's decided how he should spend the rest of his senior year, Skermont said.
As a precaution, Whitehurst was held out of several Proctor basketball games last season.
Easy day for me: Today feels almost like a day off from blogging for me because the National Federation has addressed one of my pet peeves and Kevin Gleason polished off a couple of more.
On the basketball front, high school coaches will have less time -- 20 seconds instead of 30 -- to replace players who foul out or are required to leave the court due to injuries next season.
The change was approved by the National Federation of State High School Associations basketball rules committee last month.
