Daybreak Update 11/10/2009

Last night the Broome County Legislature made some changes to county exec Barb Fiala's budget. The major one was scaling back projected sales tax growth by about two million considering the recession. That means the proposed tax increase now stands at 6-point-6 percent. Fiala will now have to decide if she wants to veto changes. The man who was voted most shy by classmates really comes out of his shell when around his friends. And, regardless if he knows you well, he would do whatever is needed to help you out. That's how one of Matthew Cooke's best friends describes him. Cooke, an Afton and Sidney native, was one of the soldiers injured last week in the shooting at Ford Hood. Matthews says, As long as I can remember, he's been that guy to step up if someone needs help or if they need anything. He'll go out on a limb to help his friends. That's Leon Matthews. He and Matt grew up together in the Sidney area. Leon has a lot of great memories of those days. Matthews says, We'd always shovel out his driveway in the middle of winter and go out and play basketball in our shorts. He would always push us out to do that. He thought it was okay because there was a hot-tub right inside that we could go into and get warm whenever we needed to. He also had a way of bringing together moms. Matthews says, I remember this, my brother and I wanted to stay at our house one night so bad, but his mom wasn't home and it was a good walk down to my house. So, we decided to call up my mom and we got his mom and he took the phones and put them together and had them talking for 20 minutes just to make sure it was okay. After high school both Matt and Leon joined the military, different branches. And, come to find out when they were stationed in California they were only 40 minutes apart, which helped renew their friendship. Mat was shot several times last week as he was getting medical clearance to ship out to Afghanistan in January. He's already done two tours of duty in Iraq. He is recovering at a hospital in Temple, Texas from wounds to his abdomen and back. Matthews says, i've known him longer than anyone else, longer than my wife. He's just a great friend, a wonderful human being and person and it's a shame that stuff like this happens. You don't prepare for this stuff here, he was preparing to go over there, but to defend yourself and your friends here from one of your own is just unfathomable. Matt is married and has two sons. In Harpursville, Authorites say the shooter, Major Nidal Hasan shot and killed 13 people and injured about 30 others. He is still in a hospital in San Antonio, although is now able to speak after being taken off a ventilator over the weekend.

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