The Debrief Podcast

Late spring is some of the most-exciting time to get over to the Montezuma Wetlands Complex or Montezuma Audubon Center all year long. As the weather warms up, foliage increases, and bird counts grow- it's ideal for birders of all ages and experience levels. This month Center Director Chris Lajewski was in-studio talking about opportunities to see some unique species of birds, as well as opportunities to volunteer in a variety of ways. He also discussed the upcoming benefit, which will be held at Wayne Hills Country Club and serves as a major method for funding annual work.

This week there was some pretty significant news with New York State easing mask-restrictions in most public spaces. While there are some exceptions- the guidance, which aligns with the CDC looks like this: If you’re fully-vaccinated, you can ditch the masks in most circumstances. There are some exceptions, but the change, health experts say, is a play to get more people vaccinated. Will it work? That remains to be seen, but the incentive is clear for those people who aren’t vaccinated at this time. 

Today, our conversation with Dr. Nancy Bennett, who leads the Finger Lakes Vaccine Task Force.

On this edition of The Weekend Debrief Josh Durso and Ted Baker discuss a number of headlines from this week- including the state's decision to give out free Yankee-Mets tickets to those who get vaccinated, the vaccination rate that's fluttering all over the state, the eviction moratorium extension, as well as a series of hyper-local stories that you don't want to miss.

During the first full week of May, a group of lake health advocates will be coming together for Lake Friendly Living Awareness Week. The goal will be to educate members of the community on ways to improve the overall health of the lake- whether they live close-by, or far away from it. Maura Toole, one of the lead organizers of the program and awareness week- talks about the benefit of it, and what organizers hope it will turn in to next year.

The town of Geneva was one of those communities that fared pretty well during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Today on the podcast we highlight a recent conversation between Ted Baker, the host of Finger Lakes Morning News on Finger Lakes News Radio, and Geneva Town Supervisor Mark Venuti. 

Venuti is often credited with being one of the most-forward thinking supervisors in the Finger Lakes- and his advocacy on lake issues has stood out throughout his tenure. However, the Supervisor goes in-depth on a Town proposal to lower the speed limit on a portion of Carter Rd. near Geneva's high school.

Editor's Note: Thanks to Finger Lakes News Radio for partnering with us to bring Finger Lakes Morning News' conversations with local and regional newsmakers to our audience.

Spring has sprung at the Montezuma Audubon Center. The calendar says April. And that means more than warm weather! Center Director Chris Lajewski talks about migration, dry weather, and the ecosystem at the wetlands complex.

The Dream-O-Vate Busienss Competition is a local effort in Livingston County to bolster downtown business. The program awards $300,000 in prizes to a total of 15 winners.

Bill Bacon, who serves as Director of Economic Development for Livingston County calls it an important component to growth. “Starting a business is hard work – especially in today’s economy,” he said in an announcement in March. “Through the Dream-O-Vate competition we hope to ease that transition into business for fifteen innovative entrepreneurs. In doing so, we’re not only helping the winners, but also our existing businesses as we add to the critical mass in our communities.”

Today on the show a conversation with Maureen Wheeler, who serves as deputy director of Livingston County Economic Development. She explained the importance of the program- and how it works for new and old businesses.

Since President Joe Biden took office there has been an intense amount of talk about infrastructure. Specifically, an infrastructure deal that would pave the way for widespread investment across the country. Bill Fulton, director of the Kinder Institute at Rice University, served as the mayor of Ventura, California and led planning efforts in San Diego. Rice University is in Houston, and just a few weeks ago- Texas went through an historic weather event that tested infrastructure across the board: What residents, including Bill learned, is that it failed.

He wrote two recent pieces about infrastructure that were published on Medium.com, which were thought provoking for a lot of reasons. 

What should infrastructure investment look like? How should it be sold to taxpayers who probably have reservations about massive spending plans?

Earlier this month Bill Fulton wrote a piece featured on Medium about the challenges small cities are experiencing, as they watch professional baseball be taken from them. The city of Auburn was one such place- and that struck a chord with Fulton- as he grew up there. The Central New York native is the director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University. He's served as the mayor of Ventura, California, and was director of planning and economic development for the city of San Diego. The thrust of his piece is this: Professional baseball makes places like Auburn better- and those communities deserved better from Major League Baseball, who ultimately decided that professional baseball would be no more in Auburn.

READ IT: Liberate The Minor-League Cities!

We get a lot of questions- and oftentimes we answer those questions on The Weekend Debrief. In this episode, Josh Durso and Ted Baker answer the questions that were submitted over the last two weeks. They will be back in-studio later this week for another edition of The Weekend Debrief.