Friends Vice Chair Megan Thomas on Tuesday accused county officials of carrying out a “campaign of retaliation” after the nonprofit declined to contribute $1 million toward the aquarium.
Laura Robertson
Laura Robertson is a staff reporter covering Onondaga County. Prior to joining Central Current, she lived on the edge of the Bering Strait in Nome, Alaska, where she worked as a reporter for a year. She graduated from Princeton in 2024, and speaks English, Farsi, and some Thai. She grew up just west of Binghamton in Tioga County and is excited to return to upstate New York.
Laura won the 2025 Nellie Bly Cub Reporter Award from the New York Press Club for her story on an infirmary profit model that led to dozens of deaths in New York State jails. A 2024 recipient of an Overseas Press Club scholar award, she’s interviewed Alaskan gold miners, Russian draft dodgers, and former Syrian freedom fighters, and reported from Tajikistan. She’s particularly interested in money flows, the intersections of business and politics, and how those things affect people on the ground.
You can reach her at lrobertson@centralcurrent.org with tips about things going on around the county, or with recommendations of ways to get to know Syracuse better!
Posted inAquarium Project
Onondaga County officials are ‘threatening the very existence’ of Friends of the Zoo, nonprofit’s leadership says
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon asked Friends of the Zoo officials to donate $1 million toward the county’s aquarium. When Friends officials gave a lukewarm response, pressure mounted, they said.
Posted inAquarium Project
The aquarium gets a new name and new donors — as Onondaga County Legislature Democrats try to curtail McMahon’s power
For the last year, Chief Fiscal Officer Kristi Smiley has been able to accept donations on behalf of Friends of the Aquarium without approval by the legislature. Democrats proposed legislation to change that.
Posted inNews
‘What I needed was here’: How Ruthnie Angrand became Onondaga County’s poet laureate
Angrand brings together a complex range of influences – from her Haitian-American identity to her background as a classically trained singer – in her spoken word poetry.
Posted inOnondaga County
Onondaga County Legislature votes to cap gas sales tax in June
The Onondaga County Legislature’s gas sales tax cap will start June because such a cap cannot begin until the start of a financial quarter.
Posted inOnondaga County
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon has kept the county in a state of emergency for nearly three years. Why?
McMahon has hundreds of times renewed two executive orders barring outside municipalities from funding housing for migrants in Onondaga County. That’s “unconstitutional,” says an NYCLU lawyer.
Posted inHousing
With power in the Onondaga County Legislature, Watts begins planning path forward on county’s housing crisis
Tuesday’s housing summit hosted a bipartisan group of elected officials from across the county. Legislature Chair Nicole Watts hopes it will be a launchpad for a months-long planning process.
Posted inJails & Prisons
New York AG’s office bars former Onondaga County jail medical provider from NY jails
Over twenty months, there were four deaths in their care at the Onondaga. County jail. The AG said they violated New York “corporate practice of medicine” laws.
Posted inNews
As the cost of Onondaga County’s new aquarium climbs over $100M, legislature fights over donor transparency
Some legislators raised concerns over “famously anonymous” donor rolls.
Posted inOnondaga County
Onondaga County begins using AI to translate, transcribe and summarize 911 calls
County officials say the technology might limit burnout among call takers, but AI researchers are skeptical.