Looking back on this week: the county updated how it counts COVID cases, child care providers get some financial help and a new feature at a local science museum opens just in time for spring break.
1. Watchdogs say Hochul and legislature are dropping the ball on creating an independent ethics panel
Ethics watchdogs are dismayed with a plan developing between Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York state lawmakers. This plan focuses on replacing the troubled state ethics commission with a new entity.
2. How childcare providers can receive relief funding from the state's $100 million grant
A new state program will begin accepting applications next week in hopes of tackling the shortage of childcare options in Syracuse and Onondaga County. $70 million in grants are available to solved the 60% childcare desert in state, where there just aren’t enough licensed and registered slots to serve the children who live in an area
3. LiteracyCNY rebrands and relaunches for students 18 and older
Literacy CNY could have been a permanent casualty of a prolonged pandemic when it closed its doors in November of 2020, but it’s making a comeback on April 1.
4. Latest COVID rates may no longer include your self-reported results. Here’s why
As COVID cases have been on the rise in Onondaga County recently, New York State has told the county to count at-home tests and regular tests separately. But the county
5. Syracuse Stage announces new season of live theater showings
A new slate of shows is set to debut later this year as part of the 2022 to 2023 Syracuse Stage season. The goal for the new line-up is to create plays that tell fun stories, One of the new productions is the musical How to Dance in Ohio.
A new, state-of-the-art planetarium and IMAX theater was unveiled recently. It will be one of very few dome theaters of its kind in the world and will provide a different viewing experience.
7. No, stores won’t be affected by foreclosure of the Great Northern Mall
The power outage forcing the mall shutting down was due to an unpaid national grid bill. Onondaga County started the process of foreclosure this week on the Great Northern Mall.
