If Brown’s lead holds, he could be poised to complete one of the biggest upsets in Central New York political history.
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 inElections
Charlene Tarver leads Democratic primary for Onondaga County Legislature’s 16th District
Charlene Tarver leads Nyatwa Bullock in the race. The winner is not likely to face a Republican candidate in the general election and could replace Legislator Charles Garland.
Posted inElections
Chad Ryan wins Democratic primary for Onondaga County Legislature’s 8th District seat
Chad Ryan beat Tammy Honeywell in the Democratic primary for the 8th District for the second year in a row.
Posted inElections
Jo Bennett wins Democratic primary for Onondaga County Legislature’s 15th District
Jo Bennett beat Bill Kinne, who previously served in the Onondaga County Legislature for more than 20 years.
Posted inEconomic Development
What are ‘best practices’ for building a data center in Onondaga County? McMahon to fund $500K study to find out
While McMahon said county government has no role in determining whether a data center will be built, he said he wants to give towns information when they decide whether to allow one to be built.
Posted inOnondaga County
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon vetoes term limits — for now
McMahon said he would consider signing a law limiting the number of terms he could serve if it also addressed the county comptroller.
Posted inOnondaga County
More than 6,100 refugees in Onondaga County could lose SNAP benefits
The loss of SNAP benefits is because of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. County officials say they’re working on a plan to mitigate the effects.
Posted inImmigration
Josue hoped an asylum hearing could free him. Then it was canceled.
Josue Alvarado fled Ecuador with his family. A new asylum trend is making it harder for him to stay in the U.S.
Posted inOnondaga County
Dem legislators approve term limits, ability appoint legislators but need approval from the county executive and voters
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon panned process of the legislature’s move to limit how many terms he can serve.
Posted inNews
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.