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Can local governments in New York better share the services they provide in order to improve quality and to save taxpayer dollars? A provision in this year's state budget calls for counties to develop proposals for greater sharing of services. This week, Grant Reeher talks with Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, about the process of sharing services across municipalities.

Not eating, deliberately, has been a way to make a political statement for centuries. And for even longer, it’s been a normal part of some religious practice. But far more recent uses of fasting are for weight loss and other health benefits -- scientifically proven benefits like lowered cholesterol and reducing systemic inflammation.

Dr. Valter Longo joins us on “Take Care” this week to discuss the benefits, challenges and problems associated with fasting. Longo is a professor of gerontology and biological science at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. He’s also director of the USC Longevity Institute.

Can’t sleep? It happens to the best of us. Lack of sleep can interfere with most aspects of life. Your mood, appetite and ability to concentrate are a few things that can suffer when you haven’t made it to a full eight hours of sleep.

But what if we told you there was over-the-counter relief? This week, Dr. Elizabeth Higdon joins us to discuss the basics of sleep aids sold at your local pharmacy. Higdon is a community pharmacist and instructor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences campus in Colchester, Vermont.

Fasting has been around for centuries, and has been utilized for everything from religious observance to political protest. But research in mice has found that intermittent fasting can have significant health benefits, like improved cardiovascular function and better memory.

Onondaga County recently held its annual “Share the Road Expo” at Destiny USA to teach kids traffic safety. This comes after three children in central New York were killed after being hit by cars earlier this month.

Joshua Cruz of Solvay signed up his two-year-old son and his one-year-old daughter with Safe Child identification. They got fingerprinted and their pictures taken.

“God forbid anything bad happens, somebody comes by and snatches them, they’re in the system and they can put an Amber Alert out very quickly,” Cruz said.

Carl Paladino has been removed from the Buffalo Board of Education in a ruling by the state education commissioner issued Thursday.

Commissioner Mary Ellen Elia upheld the school board’s application to remove Paladino as a member of the board. 

Thousands of people are planning to travel to the path of totality for Monday's eclipse. That's the roughly 70-mile wide path that the moon's shadow will cast on the U.S. when it passes between the Earth and the sun. 

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-New Hartford) visited Binghamton Wednesday, but refused to talk to reporters about President Trump’s comments on Charlottesville.

A plant in the North Country that produces the famous Philadelphia-brand cream cheese has triggered a mandatory water conservation order in the Village of Lowville, and the issue may have been a result of a misunderstanding between village leaders and the owner of the plant.

When Kraft-Heinz announced in 2015 that the company would make a $100 million expansion of its Lowville plant, the village's mayor Donna Smith says they were aware that it would require more water. But Smith says there was a discrepancy on how much they would choose to use in a given period of time.

New Yorkers who sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act exchanges for individuals will see their premiums rise by an average of 14 percent, now that the Cuomo administration has approved rate increases for insurers in the exchanges.

Part of the increase is due to worries and uncertainties over the future of the ACA, also known as Obamacare.

For the second year in a row, Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow is looking to reduce the city's payroll as a way to keep taxes down. His proposed budget would eliminate 7.5 positions, saving an estimated $500,000. That's a loss of about 1/5 of city hall staff, but Barlow says there are some efficiencies that can be realized.

There’s growing pressure on a group of breakaway Democrats in the state Senate to reunite with the mainstream Democrats and form a majority to rule the Senate.

At a rally in Harlem, many of the state’s top African-American politicians, chanting “Andrea, Andrea,” voiced their support for the current leader of Senate Democrats, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, to become the majority leader of the Senate.

Last week, Republican candidate for mayor Laura Lavine proposed mayoral control of Syracuse’s public schools. But Syracuse’s teachers union and some of Lavine’s opponents are calling that plan a mistake.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed into law a measure that would create new penalties for people who make bomb threats against community centers. The action stems from bomb threats made to Jewish community centers in New York and around the nation last winter.

Cuomo, in a statement, said anyone who falsely makes bomb threats to a community center can now be charged with a class A misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to a year in jail.

The U.S. Senate plans to use procedural maneuvers to technically stay in session even when senators eventually go home for the Labor Day recess. Their intent is to prevent President Donald Trump from making any unwelcome recess appointments while they are away.

In Albany, taking steps to keep the legislative chambers open is nothing new.

On a day earlier this week, Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy stood on the podium in the vast Assembly chamber. She banged the gavel, and began what sounded like an ordinary day in the state Legislature.

The decision to lower outflows from Lake Ontario is being criticized by shoreline residents who are suffering from flooding, but some are defending the move, saying safety of those on the St. Lawrence Seaway was on the line.

The International Joint Commission (IJC) reduced discharges from Lake Ontario by only 4 percent last week. Still, that was enough to make a major difference according to those on both sides of the Moses-Saunders Dam.

For many people, one of the joys of summer is spending time in the sun. But other people are extremely sensitive to sun. And some people can have an allergic reaction to the sun called polymorphous light eruption.

This week on “Take Care,” Dr. Rosemarie Ingleton, professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital, discusses sun sensitivity and polymorphous light eruption. Ingleton is also an instructor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Would you admit a mistake if it meant legal action and potentially the end of your career? Doctors are put in a hard spot when it comes to making an error. Mistakes happen, no matter what your profession, but when life is on the line -- how do you come to terms with a bad decision?

Some in the medical community are now training doctors to better make mistakes, to admit to them and to learn from them. Joining us this week to discuss this approach is Dr. Neha Vapiwala. She’s a vice chair of education, radiation oncology and the advisory dean at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Vapiwala wrote an essay on this topic, which appeared in “The Philadelphia Enquirer.”

One of the bright spots in the recent history of the city of Syracuse has been the redevelopment of parts of the city's downtown area. One of the primary movers of that revitalization has been Robert Doucette. This week, Doucette joins Grant Reeher to discuss the city, economic development, and the replacement of Interstate 81 through downtown.

After a long winter, many people look forward to spending time in the sun when summer rolls around. But for some people, that's difficult because they have sun sensitivity. This week on WRVO's health and wellness show “Take Care,” hosts Lorraine Rapp and Linda Lowen speak with dermatologist Dr. Rosemarie Ingleton, a professor at Mt. Sinai Hospital and instructor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Ingleton discusses sun sensitivity, sun allergies and polymorphous light eruption.

Passionate messages on Syracuse’s future came through Thursday at a forum for the city’s mayoral candidates. The candidates spoke to an intimate crowd of downtown’s young professionals.

The event was hosted by the pro-Syracuse advocacy group, 40 Below, in a co-working space. Designated Democratic candidate and common councilor Joe Nicoletti wants them to know his experience and his relationships at the state and federal level will move the city forward.

Researchers are trying to document the summer of high water on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. They're asking shoreline residents and local officials to fill out an online survey.

An Oswego landlord is accused of asking his tenants for sexual favors in exchange for reduced rent. The sexual harassment allegations against Doug Waterbury are part of a lawsuit filed by a Syracuse fair housing organization. 

State lawmakers and volunteer firefighters are putting pressure on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign a bill that would provide better coverage for volunteers who develop cancer because of the job they do.

Brian McQueen has been a longtime volunteer with the Whitesboro Fire Department. When he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma several years ago, he was forced to take on the cost of much of the treatment himself. He doesn’t want any other volunteers to have to face that.

A yearly procession to commemorate the use of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan took place in Syracuse yesterday. Organizers said the drive to abolish nuclear weapons is more important than ever in today’s political climate.

Activist Rea Kramer said we can not forget the destruction that followed the use of nuclear weapons over 70 years ago.

"I think we should all be especially anxious now because there is a president who uses the words, “fire and fury,” as a response to the threatening postures of North Korea," Kramer said.