Tom Magnarelli
Reporter, SyracuseTom Magnarelli is a reporter covering the central New York and Syracuse area. He joined WRVO as a freelance reporter in 2012 while a student at Syracuse University and was hired full time in 2015. He has reported extensively on politics, education, arts and culture and other issues around central New York.
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The number of kids getting COVID-19 in Onondaga County is rising. Nearly a quarter of the 158 new cases reported on Wednesday were under the age of 11. -
Hospitals and nursing homes in central New York are reporting a significant increase in employees getting vaccinated, following the state’s health care worker vaccine mandate. -
New York state has added $125 million to expand eligibility for rent relief, due to the pandemic. Syracuse officials say while that help is appreciated, it’s significantly less than what the need is, and they still want to allocate $1 million in federal stimulus funding to help more renters. Some city councilors are upset Onondaga County isn’t putting in any of its own money into the expansion. -
Syracuse councilors questioned Police Chief Kent Buckner on Wednesday over why Black people are seven times more likely to be pulled over compared to white people. -
The fight over the Christopher Columbus statue in downtown Syracuse continues. Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, who decided last year to remove the statue, expects designs for a reimagined Columbus Circle will be done by the end of the year. A lawsuit to stop the city from taking down the statue is pending. -
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Onondaga County has rolled out new mental health services for students in almost every school district in the county. Officials say these services have been needed for years and the pandemic only made things worse. -
The number of active COVID-19 cases in Onondaga County has doubled from a month ago, with more than 1,000 cases. In the city of Syracuse that number has tripled, compared to August, with 365 active cases. Elected officials continue to push for more people to get vaccinated. -
The city of Syracuse wants to expand the income eligibility of people who are getting rental assistance from the federal government because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But before city councilors allocate the money, they want to see if Onondaga County, which is administering the rent relief program, will match it.
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Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh is proposing to use $800,000 in American Rescue Plan funding to go towards construction and technology job training and placement for communities of color, women and veterans.
