Tagged: Onondaga County

It was a day of remembrance today in Syracuse at the newly renovated Forman Park. Mayor Stephanie Miner, Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler, and Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh were all on hand to honor members of the police force that have fallen in the line of duty.

Syracuse’s mayor hopes her appointment to a state infrastructure commission will mean more funding for central New York.

Mitt Romney won New York’s presidential primary Tuesday without much difficulty. Romney won 62.4% of the vote statewide. Ron Paul finished second, picking up 15.7%. Newt Gingrich finished third, with 12.9% and Rick Santorum picked up 9% of the vote, despite dropping out of the race earlier this month.

It’ll be election deja-vu for some Onondaga County voters this year when it comes to the 127th Assembly District seat. An incumbent who lost two years ago is jumping back into the ring.

Flu season is peaking this week in Onondaga county, a month behind schedule. This year's flu bug is a particularly mild one. According to federal figures, this year reports the fewest cases since the 80s.

"I think that we're peaking now, which is a late peak, but our numbers were still going up as of last week... but very, very low numbers, not anything I'm concerned about," Onondaga County Health Commissioner Dr. Cynthia Morrow said. "But it is not over yet."

Morrow tracks flu numbers every year. She says that the mild winter could have something to do with lower numbers.

An independent auditor who looked over the books of Onondaga’s County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) presented his findings to the OCIDA board Tuesday.

OCIDA board members liked what they heard. 

“I was very pleased,” says OCIDA Executive Director Mary Beth Primo. “It’s reassuring to know my board and the auditors realize the staff is doing a very good job.”

Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney works on the front lines of the "unfunded mandate" issue, a phrase we've been hearing with increasing frequency at all levels of political discussion.  What exactly is the problem with unfunded mandates? 

They worked later into the evening Tuesday, but Onondaga County lawmakers passed a budget that cut more than $5 million from County Executive Joanie Mahoney's proposed budget.

Property taxes will go up in most county towns, but will go down in every village except Fabius. Residents in the towns of Clay and Salina will see the biggest tax increases. 

Republican Kevin Holmquist of Manlius says it took weeks of work to take the 3 villages he represents from a 10% tax increase to a 5% tax decrease.

"I'm very happy about that," said Holmquist. "Outside the villages residents are looking at around a 5% increase. It's dramatically better. It was a good compromise. Not as good as many of us had hoped, but still on balance it's a fair budget."