Democrats flipped control of the Onondaga County Legislature in 2025. Will they keep it?
Voter registration trends and even-year elections may benefit Democrats. But they have just 10 months to convince voters they deserve four more years.
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LATEST REPORTING
Syracuse Housing Authority board elects new vice chair; Simmons resolute as Owens’ appointees take majority
Rickey Brown, a close ally of Mayor Sharon Owens, was voted in as the vice chair of the board of commissioners at Syracuse Housing Authority on Thursday.
Sean Kirst: Early on Memorial Day, old friends, a rain-soaked monument and a solemn downtown task
Kevin Kane, who designed the Onondaga County Korea-Vietnam Veterans Memorial, lost a brother in Vietnam — and infused every inch of that monument with meaning.
Mayor set to appoint key ally to Syracuse Housing Authority board
Mayor Sharon Owens is set to appoint Monica Williams to serve as a board commissioner. Williams replaces longtime board member Christopher Montgomery.
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I-81 AND PUBLIC HOUSING COVERAGE
Another key member of Syracuse Housing Authority board steps down
SHA Vice Chair Christopher Montgomery leaving SHA’s board paves the way for Mayor Sharon Owens to appoint another board member — who could make good on her calls to oust Bill Simmons.
Syracuse Housing Authority sees record interest in their Section 8 homeownership programÂ
Afi Olowu, who runs the program, called their recent increase in Section 8 homeownership applicants a win.
Local advocates hope to avoid environmental inequality from I-81 demolition with new air quality monitors
Wary of past harm, three monitors will be installed at Syracuse community centers to boost residents’ air quality awareness as the I-81 viaduct comes down.
CULTURE
Sean Kirst: Eileen Gannon’s product was ice cream. Her brilliant legacy is a place of true community, in Syracuse.
Whatever brought you to Gannon’s for the first time, she understood how quality, warmth and humor were the means to bring you back.
Sean Kirst: A Land Cruiser for Ukraine is Brad Clarry’s Navarino tribute to Hawaiian-born brother
The extraordinary tale of a Syracuse family with one foot in Elmwood and the other always rooted on the ‘Big Island’ of Hawaii.
‘You must live’: Syracuse musicians, poet laureate to tell slain Gazan scholar Refaat Alareer’s story at benefit concert
Alareer, renowned for his depiction of life in Gaza under Israeli occupation, died in an Israeli airstrike. “Music for Palestine” is meant to spread the message of Alareer’s writings, organizers said.
EDITOR’S PICKS
Federal immigration agents accessed Syracuse drivers’ data through secret Flock Safety deal
Privacy and civil rights watchdogs have called on Syracuse to terminate its Flock contract. SPD says it’s comfortable contracting with the company, which is facing Congressional investigation.
‘From Snob Hill to Slob Hill’: Tenants say conditions at once luxurious apartments forced them to sue owner
Ten tenants have sued the owners of Nob Hill to push for repairs of the apartment complex, which has 48 open code violations.
A herd, a hide and a 50-year friendship: How the Onondaga Nation brought the buffalo back
A gift 50 years ago has allowed the Onondaga Nation to raise a herd of about 70 buffalo in southern Onondaga County.
SEAN KIRST’S UPSTATE JOURNAL
Sean Kirst: Shot clock monument, in new spot, resumes its great eternal message for Syracuse
A few true believers, scribbling on napkins in an Eastwood bowling alley, transformed basketball and taught a lesson about possibility.
Sean Kirst: Fall leaves. Winter longs. On bridges, downtown messages rust away.
Contemplating the uncertain future of railroad bridge murals created 16 years ago in Syracuse by famed artist Steve Powers.
Sean Kirst: To celebrate rebirth of Lincoln Aud, STEAM school teens embrace the ghosts
An open invitation to an upcoming student-led performance on a stage once walked by George Gershwin and Duke Ellington.
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