Ellen Abbott

Preparations are almost complete for the New York State Fair, which starts Thursday. Things will look different at the fairgrounds this year, following a $50 million renovation. One of the biggest changes will be at the midway.

There is simply a lot more room for rides and attractions at the fair’s midway this year. The demolition of the grandstand and the race track has created a 15-acre rectangle that operator Wade Shows will fill with rides, games and attractions. Owner Frank Zaitshik admits it creates somewhat of a challenge.

It’s taken 12 years, but the former Hotel Syracuse is once again open to the public. Rebranded as the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, visitors began staying at the historic structure in downtown Syracuse on Friday. It means a huge boost not only economically, but to the psyche of central New York, a region battered by a faltering economy and dwindling population in recent years.

The town of Geddes is floating the idea of imposing a $1 surcharge on every Lakeview Amphitheater ticket sold, to cover expenses created by visitors to the new music venue on Onondaga Lake.

Onondaga County Legislature Chairman Ryan McMahon says he does not dismiss the idea out of hand.

“I’m willing to have conversations.”

But McMahon quickly adds that the town would have to demonstrate how the amphitheater has created a financial burden. So far town officials have expressed concerns about costs related to visitors from a public safety angle.

Operators of the new Marriott Syracuse Downtown  opened the former Hotel Syracuse to the public last week, and are looking forward to their first full house this week.

Human trafficking in central New York is on the rise, according to Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus). That was one of the takeaways at a roundtable discussion on security Thursday in Syracuse.

Katko says more and more women are being exploited by human trafficking in central New York. And he’s concerned about reports that some new players are becoming involved.

The Syracuse City School District is putting together a task force this fall that will focus on one of the issues that has spurred a great deal of community discussion -- safe transportation of children to school.

The issue came to a head last winter, when a coalition of high school students complained of long walks to school through crime-ridden neighborhood during severe weather. The district, working with CENTRO, found transportation for some high school students living more than 1.5 miles from school. 

After a 10-year fight, legislation that toughens penalties for those convicted of boating while intoxicated, has been signed into law in New York state. Now, when judges decide on sentencing in boating while intoxicated cases, they must consider previous driving while intoxicated.

State Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse) says Tiffany Heitkamp’s law will mean stiffer penalties for anyone convicted on a BWI charge who also has a DWI history.

Onondaga County started a program this week at the Onondaga County Justice Center and the Jamesville Corrections Facility aimed at helping opioid addicts stay clean after they are released from jail. Now, some inmates who are also addicts will be offered a medication that takes away their craving for drugs.

Officials say almost one-third of the population at the Justice Center in downtown Syracuse is addicted to opiates, many of them no stranger to the holding facility.

This is the time of year health officials recommend families make sure children’s vaccinations are up to date so they can go to school in September. This year, there is one new requirement change in New York state.

The new vaccination rules affect older children, according to Upstate Medical University infectious disease specialist Dr. Joe Domachowske. The required shot is first given before seventh grade, then followed up with a booster, and will protect children from the sometimes deadly form of bacterial meningitis.

Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) still hasn’t publicly endorsed Republican Donald Trump for president, and state party officials aren’t too happy about it. Katko is running for reelection in a congressional district that has changed parties for the last five election cycles, and has expressed concern over Trump’s tone and divisive rhetoric, saying Trump will have to earn his vote. New York State Republican Party Chair Ed Cox says he understands Katko’s reluctance.

Republicans in central New York are still angry with Rep. Richard Hanna (R-Barneveld) and his decision to back Democrat Hillary Clinton instead of Republican Donald Trump in the race for president.  

It’s summer camp season across central and northern New York. Among the traditional kind of camps that teach swimming, theater or arts and crafts, is a first in the area only for girls who are interested in science, technology, engineering and math. 

Le Moyne College recently wrapped up its first ever, all women high school summer camp that focuses on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines.

The goal of the camp, according to camp director Meriel Stokoe, is to attract young women to the STEM fields.

The Onondaga County Legislature has solidified the future of minor league baseball in Syracuse.  Lawmakers agreed Tuesday on a new deal for the Syracuse Chiefs to rent the county-owned NBT Bank Stadium for the next decade.

Central New York is home to some new strategies meant to help victims of the heroin and opioid epidemic. The strategies include new kinds of support for families of victims, and for individuals recovering from overdoses.

Onondaga County’s new peer engagement specialist, Maria Sweeney, has started to make connections in central New York emergency rooms, to help individuals recovering from a drug abuse issue. She says often there is no one to offer support for recovery, once an addict is released from the hospital.

The Onondaga County District Attorney’s office is investigating a case of possible embezzlement at the Central New York SPCA.

Former Onondaga County Executive Nick Pirro is the treasurer for the CNY SPCA Board of Directors. He went to the DA’s office July 11 with suspicions that something wasn’t right with the books.

"In the operation of being the treasurer, things were brought to my attention. Other things were on my radar screen, and putting them together, I felt it was necessary to have somebody with expertise look at it,” Pirro said, in an interview with WRVO News.

The number of heroin and opioid overdoses continues to rise in central New York. According to the latest figures from the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office, there have been 30 overdose deaths to date in 2016, compared with 52 all of last year.  The opioid epidemic is also starting to affect some of the agencies that deal with people addicted to heroin.

Drivers that use Interstate 690 east to get to Syracuse from the western suburbs will need a little more time for their commute in the coming days. The New York State Department of Transportation is doing some major deck repairs just before the I-690 interchange with Interstate 81 (see maps below), which will shut down a stretch of road that 37,000 drivers use to get into the city of Syracuse every day.

Disabled advocates in central New York are celebrating the 26th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA. While that law has improved access for millions of disabled Americans, advocates say there are still issues that need to be faced.

New York state will have a big presence at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Among the politicians who will speak from the podium, the state’s two senators.

There’s good news for barley farmers in central New York and other parts of the state. The federal government will begin offering crop insurance for the grain that is an essential ingredient for brewing beer.

At a small brewpub in North Syracuse today, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said this new insurance fills an important hole.

W-18, a new synthetic opioid, may be on the scene in central and northern New York. ACR Health prevention director Erin Bortel said several overdose deaths in the North Country have raised suspicions.

New York state has been able to offer enough incentives to keep one central New York company from moving part of its operation to South Carolina.

Tessy Plastics has two plants in Onondaga County -- one in the town of Elbridge, another in the town of Van Buren. It makes plastics products for the medical industry, but half its business is manufacturing the five plastic pieces that make up underarm deodorant containers.

As the Republican National Convention gets underway this week in Cleveland, one high-profile central New York Republican will be watching from afar.  Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) who is running for reelection in a highly competitive central New York district, continues to distance himself from the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

Car lovers of all stripes converge on the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse this weekend, for the Syracuse Nationals car show, which has become a mecca for classic car lovers.

Ken Zoanetti of Bridgeport has always been interested cars. But one of the vehicles he’s displaying at the Syracuse Nationals is extra special. It’s a 1957 Chrysler Windsor.

“It is identical to what my mom and dad bought in 1957. Same color, same interior, same everything,” said Zoanetti.

So for him, fixing up and maintaining classic cars, has become a kind of sentimental journey.

The Hutchings Psychiatric Center, the first integrated mental health, primary care clinic at a state psychiatric hospital, has opened in Syracuse. The clinic is also open to the general community according to State Mental Health Commissioner Ann Sullivan.

The state health department is prepared, if a case of the Zika virus develops in New York state. While officials want to be ready for the worst, they’re finding some positives in the reaction to the latest insect driven disease, that at its worst, causes birth defects in newborns.

State Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse) said a report released late last Friday only deepens his skepticism about Start-Up NY, the Cuomo administration’s economic development program that offers tax breaks to companies that set up shop in certain educational zones. A report on the multi-million dollar program was released three months late and showed just over 400 jobs were created in two years. Defrancisco said a lack of transparency about the program is one of the problems.