Central Current

07/24/2025

We would like to thank Kinney Drugs for their commitment to sustaining independent and community-focused reporting for Central New Yorkers.

To learn more about their work, visit: https://kinneydrugs.com/

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07/21/2025

The fallout from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and President Donald Trump’s proposed budget could threaten New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act — the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals that experts say were already behind schedule. The CLCPA set a number of ambitious goals, including to reduce emissions.

Words by Patrick McCarthy and Eddie Velazquez. Photos by Mike Greenlar.

Read more here about how the OBBB could affect energy supply, rates and more: https://centralcurrent.org/could-donald-trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill-doom-new-yorks-energy-efforts/

07/19/2025

ICE took Jian Hao Zhang, a beloved Camden resident who ran China Moon, the village’s only Chinese American restaurant. The detainment rattled Camden’s community, of which 73% voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. “This isn’t really what people voted for,” one resident said. “These aren’t the people that anybody wanted taken away.”

Within a week of Zhang’s arrest, Police Chief Sean Redden signed an agreement allowing Camden’s officers to help ICE.

Words by Patrick McCarthy. Photos by Michelle Gabel.

Read more here:https://centralcurrent.org/ice-rattled-a-central-new-york-village-then-its-police-chief-partnered-with-ice/

07/17/2025

Madison County may soon allow its deputies to carry out immigration enforcement. The county's sheriff's office is now listed on the ICE website as one of 826 local law enforcement agencies who have signed up to help ICE. It would be the first Central New York sheriff's office to agree to help ICE.

Despite being listed on the site, a county spokesperson has denied the agreement is final. The county's board of supervisors has not approved such an agreement nor has the county clerk received a signed copy of an agreement.

If the board of supervisors does approve the agreement, Madison County deputy's would be allowed to serve immigration warrants to people in its custody.

Read more here: https://centralcurrent.org/madison-county-sheriffs-office-may-become-immigration-enforcers-through-new-ice-pact/

07/11/2025

Henry Wesley’s life is a reminder — as cuts to Medicaid and the federal safety net loom — about the fragility of his and others’ hard-earned chance at independent living.

Read the full story here:

Wesley's life is a reminder — as cuts to Medicaid and the federal safety net loom — about the fragility of his and others' hard-earned chance at independent living.

07/09/2025

Up to 70% of CNY Fair Housing's budget comes from programs that could be cut under President Donald Trump's budget proposal. Trump's administration has floated eliminating the Fair Housing Initiatives Program, which has often received bipartisan support and has been in place since the administration of former President Ronald Reagan. The federal government must pass its budget by Oct. 1. "I'm proud to do work that obviously is impactful enough that people seek to eliminate it," said Sally Santangelo, the executive director of CNY Fair Housing.

Words by Eddie Velazquez, photos by Michelle Gabel.

Read more here: https://centralcurrent.org/central-new-yorks-housing-discrimination-watchdog-fears-budget-wipeout-as-federal-budget-season-looms/

07/08/2025

Councilor Chol Majok, who chairs the Public Safety committee, confirmed to Central Current he would call a meeting to review the police’s data-sharing agreement with license plate reader provider Flock Safety.

Majok did not specify when the meeting would be held and did not detail his concerns when asked by a Central Current reporter. Councilor Jimmy Monto said he has serious concerns about the license plate reader data, particularly that it could be used in deportation operations by the federal government.

Words by Patrick McCarthy.

Read the full story here:

Councilor Chol Majok said Tuesday he plans to call a Public Safety Committee meeting about Syracuse police sharing license plate reader data.

07/07/2025

One of Syracuse’s most famed inventions is the shot clock, which forever altered basketball. John Marsellus, who died last month at 86 years old, was instrumental in honoring the shot clock with a monument in Syracuse — but he swore to secrecy those involved in making the monument a reality. They could not publicly talk about his involvement until his death, he told them. Columnist Sean Kirst was there at the conception of the monument. He tells Marsellus’ and the monument’s story.

Read more here: https://centralcurrent.org/sean-kirst-a-secret-donor-made-sure-basketballs-game-changing-shot-clock-is-monumental-in-syracuse/

Photos by Mike Greenlar.

07/04/2025

Syracuse police "inadvertently" opted into sharing license plate reader data it has collected over the last year with police departments across the country, a department spokesperson confirmed to Central Current. License plate readers have long caught the ire of advocates who say they can be used to to track down immigrants, abortion-seekers, protesters and others.

Words by Patrick McCarthy. Photos by Michelle Gabel.

You can read more here: https://centralcurrent.org/syracuse-police-exposed-driver-data-to-thousands-of-cops-around-the-country/

07/02/2025

“We're going to need to have more energy on the grid, plain and simple. ... This provides a way to do that — clean and non-carbon emitting,” State Sen. Chris Ryan said of May authorizing the development of another nuclear reactor in Upstate New York.

Read the full story here:

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans for the state's power authority to develop another nuclear reactor to provide more energy to the state. The announcement touched off debate among renewable energy advocates.

07/02/2025

"You can put me down as reluctantly accepting that this is probably our only way forward," State Sen. Rachel May said of the governor authorizing the state's power authority to develop another nuclear reactor in Upstate New York.

Read the full story here:

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans for the state's power authority to develop another nuclear reactor to provide more energy to the state. The announcement touched off debate among renewable energy advocates.

07/02/2025

Gov. Kathy Hochul directed the state power authority to build another nuclear reactor to meet New York’s power needs, with Oswego County as a potential host. Hochul’s order pitted clean energy advocates against each other.

Read the full story here:

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans for the state's power authority to develop another nuclear reactor to provide more energy to the state. The announcement touched off debate among renewable energy advocates.