Ellen Abbott

The Trump mob attack on the Capitol stunned the nation this week, and many are asking how it happened. That includes Syracuse-area Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus), who was in the Capitol building when it was breached.

Oneida County officials are rallying resources as they begin vaccinating individuals for COVID-19.

Onondaga County wants to help residents in assisted living facilities get vaccinated for COVID-19. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said most of the nursing home residents in the county have already received their first COVID vaccinations. What worries him are the assisted living facilities that haven’t received the vaccine yet.

The Empire State Trail is now complete in New York state. It includes 750 miles of hiking and biking trails from New York City to Canada, and Albany to Buffalo. That includes linking one of the biggest gaps in the trail in central New York.

Officials are suggesting central New Yorkers limit their New Year’s Eve activities this year. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said the safest way to celebrate is to stick with the people you live with.

December has been hard on central New York. It’s been the deadliest month from COVID-19 in Onondaga County since the pandemic started almost ten months ago, and one rural county is asking people to be extra careful to avoid spreading of the virus.

Syracuse-area state Sen. Rachel May is disturbed by the uptick of COVID-19 cases in nursing homes as part of the current coronavirus surge in central New York and New York state. As head of the Senate Aging Committee, she is pushing an idea that might be able to help understaffed facilities.

A holiday season overshadowed by the pandemic takes a toll on our mental health; and that includes on children.

Onondaga County is hoping some preemptive testing for COVID-19 at local senior living facilities will lead to fewer hospitalizations.

Syracuse-area Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) said there are a lot of items for central New York in the $900 billion COVID relief package passed in Washington this week.

Now that the FDA has given the go-ahead to release the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, researchers want to determine if children can get vaccinated as well. Upstate Medical University is looking for young volunteers to take part in a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial, noting the earlier studies of the vaccine didn’t include children.

Holiday travel continues taking a hit as the recent surge in COVID-19 cases continues. AAA of Western and Central New York expects almost a third fewer travelers this holiday season, compared to last year.

The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, will undertake a comprehensive study of the failure of the pre-trial release system and the use of electronic ankle monitors. Syracuse-area Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) pushed for the review, which could be the first step to revamping a system that has been responsible for deadly failures.

The private sector is helping Onondaga County beef up its contact tracing efforts.

Holiday lights could be one way to climb out of the holiday depression and anxiety brought on by COVID-19. One central New York psychiatric expert said stringing more lights can only help everyone’s mood.

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said he knows the vaccines are on their way; with front-line hospital workers possibly rolling up their sleeves as soon as Tuesday. Nursing home residents could begin getting the two-shot regimen later this week. The federal government is working with local pharmacies to distribute the vaccines in those nursing homes. Beyond that, McMahon said distribution of the vaccine to the rest of the population will be a big undertaking.

The coronavirus surge just keeps getting worse in central New York. The numbers of cases and deaths from COVID-19 remain at high levels. In Onondaga County alone, there have been more than 400 new cases a day and more than a dozen deaths.

Now that the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is moving towards the approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, researchers want to determine if children can get vaccinated as well. The current move towards the Pfizer vaccine approval doesn’t include children. In response, Upstate Medical University in Syracuse is looking for young volunteers to take part in a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial.

The Walsh administration has been building up capacity for snow removal in the city of Syracuse the last several years. The pandemic may upend some of those strides, in what is often the snowiest city in the country.

The good news, according to Mayor Ben Walsh, is the city of Syracuse Department of Public Works (DPW) has ten shiny new plows to clear the streets this year.

"We just recently received ten new plows we were able to purchase through our capital plan,” Walsh said. “And that is going to significantly strengthen our fleet.”

Onondaga County officials announced another 303 cases of COVID-19 Monday. Two people died in the last day, bringing the total number of deaths in the county to 269.

Another record number of new cases of the coronavirus were reported in Onondaga County Thursday. 348 people tested positive for the virus, and six individuals died from COVID-19. There are some concerns, if you dig into the numbers.

Hospital capacity, and testing continues to be at the forefront of central New York’s fight against the most recent surge of COVID-19 cases. 

Syracuse, like many other communities across the country, has seen an increase in shootings and homicides during the coronavirus pandemic. Police are hoping a new detail is cutting into that.