Episode: 14 Air Date: March 25th, 2026
Editor’s Note: This podcast reflects the opinions and perspectives of the host and guests and is not a product of our editorial staff, including Central Current’s editors and reporters. The program may be edited in post-production for length and clarity.
In Nov. 2025, the Onondaga County Legislature flipped from Republican to Democrat control for the first time in half a century. At the same time, a shift to the election calendar meant that the new majority would face reelection again in Nov. 2026 – just 10 months after being sworn in.
As members from each party learn to operate in these new roles, they are also tasked with managing some of the most significant economic development and infrastructure challenges in county history. In this episode of It’s Happening Here, Central Current’s Onondaga County Reporter Laura Robertson speaks to how this new power dynamic is unfolding under the shortened timeline, and the competing visions each side is pitching to county residents.
Read more of Central Current’s coverage
She’s lived her life as an American. ICE considers her an ‘alien’
President Donald Trump’s hunt for supposed widespread voter fraud has failed to yield evidence, but it has succeeded in upturning Syracuse resident Marva Cook’s life.
Onondaga County to hire engineering firm doing work for Genesee County as it pursues STAMP data center
The county will pay $431,595 to CPL Team to study “best practices” for building a data center. The Planning Department said the study is “agnostic” on building one.
Abundance, precarity, and the artist’s field of research
Katie Mulligan’s No Man’s Land: Reimagining the Myth of Cicero Swamp celebrates a vital ecosystem facing a new threat.
Waymo has made inroads in Central New York. Is it the next piece of CNY’s high-tech future?
Advocates for Waymo at CenterState CEO say the components of Waymos are built in Syracuse. Some local politicians are looking to bring that tech home.
County Sheriff candidates Shelley and Lenhart claim they each have more relevant “experience” to run the department. How do they plan to do it?
Candidates for Onondaga County Sheriff discussed moving the county jail operations to a joint campus in Jamesville, progressive discipline, opioids, and immigration in interviews with Central Current
