Upstate Regular

This week, Shane discusses the 2022 Gubernatorial election, including the current Republicans seeking the nomination to defeat Gov. Cuomo. Shane also discusses the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame induction, alcohol to-go in New York, new flights out of the Syracuse Airport, and more. 

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Svante Myrick is the Mayor of Ithaca, NY, a city of roughly 30,000 in the finger lakes region of New York. Myrick was elected to Mayor in 2012 at the age of 24. Previously, he served on the Ithaca Common Council. He is known for creating the country's first supervised heroin injection site.  Myrick is a Democrat and a graduate of Cornell University.  

This interview focuses mainly on Ithaca's Reimagining Public Safety Resolution which essentially changes the police department to a "Department of Public Safety" to be lead by a civilian. Ithaca made headlines recently over discussions of "abolishing the police department". Listen to learn what the proposal really means for Ithaca.  

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This week, Shane and Ben discuss a variety of topics affecting upstate New York including vaccine eligibility, economic recovery, unemployment, the Census resulting in a loss of a NY Congressional seat, etc.

You can find New York's vaccination tracker here: https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/covid-19-vaccine-tracker

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Vanessa Reiser is a licensed Clinical Social Worker based in New York City. She is running a 285-mile journey across New York State, from Oswego to Manhatten, in only 12 days while wearing a wedding dress to raise awareness for "narcissistic domestic abuse". Reiser aims to raise $200,000 which she will donate to domestic violence centers in each of the counties she is running through.

Reiser has experienced narcissistic domestic abuse first-hand and is the founder of the nonprofit "Tell A Therapist", which connects people nationwide with clinicians that specialize in narcissistic abuse and recovery.  You can access the resources and donate to this effort here: https://tellatherapist.org/

Her run will take place from May 17 to May 29 and she will travel through Oswego, Onondaga, Madison, Otsego, Delaware, Sullivan, Orange, and New York Counties. A map of her run can be found here: https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/4192459672

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Danny Lapin wears many hats. He is currently representing District 13 on the Otsego County Board of Representatives, serves as the City of Oneonta Planning Commission Chairman, works as a Planner with the Otsego County Conservation Association, among many other things. 

Lapin is a graduate of UC Riverside and Bard College. He is an AICP certified Planner. Lapin resides in the 5th ward of Oneonta with his wife and son. 

This discussion touches a range of both city and county issues, including housing, planning activities, future political plans, economic development, zoning, etc.

Lapin blogs about the City of Oneonta. You can find that here: https://dannyrlapin.medium.com/

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(We apologize for the continued audio quality issues on our end. We are still working to resolve this. Thank you for your patience.)

Len Carson, a City-Councilman in Oneonta, NY has announced that he will be running for Mayor. This follows the news that current Mayor Gary Herzig will not be seeking re-election.  Carson is running as a Republican.

Carson is a Laurens Central school graduate, Air Force Veteran, and worked for 26 years with the Oneonta Fire Department.  Carson has served on the Oneonta Airport Commission and as Chair of the Personnel-Human Resources Committee. Additionally, he served one term on the Otsego County Board of Representatives. He owns DC Marketing with his wife and represents the 5th ward on the City Council in Oneonta. 

This discussion focuses on his reasons for running, his experience, his visions for housing and economic development in Oneonta, and more. 

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Erin Insinga is the Shelter Manager of the Delaware Valley Humane Society (DVHS) in Sidney, NY, and has been since 2015. The DVHS was founded in 1965 and provides animals with emergency services such as temporary housing, food, and medical treatment. They can house up to 35 dogs and 75 cats and adopt out approximately 200 dogs and cats every year.

This discussion focuses on the Animal Abuser Registry Law in Delaware County, NY. The law, which places animal abusers convicted of a misdemeanor or felony on a registry banning them from owning animals again, was adopted on Wednesday, February 24th by the Delaware County Board of Supervisors.  Developing the law spawned from an animal abuse case in the Town of Franklin about a year ago when Nasir Azmat was charged with 41 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and neglect after 20 dogs were rescued from his property.

You can learn more about the Delaware Valley Humane Society on their social media accounts, or at their website here: https://www.dvhsny.org/

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This week, Shane and Clark discuss recent developments surrounding deaths at nursing homes from COVID-19 in New York State. The Cuomo administration underreported nursing home deaths resulting from COVID-19, a report from Attorney General Letitia James shows. Additionally, the administration is accused of trying to delay the release of data on COVID deaths in New York's long-term care facilities. 

You can find the NYS Attorney General report here: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021-nursinghomesreport.pdf

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This week, Shane interviews author, consultant, and professor Casey Jakubowski. Jakubowski has earned his PhD from the University at Albany with research into rural school consolidation. Jakubowski is the author of "Thinking About Teaching: A Rural Social Studies Teacher's Path to Strive for Excellence" published by EduMatch. 
Jakubowski is the Chair of the Liberal Arts and General Studies Department at Hudson Valley Community College. 

This interview features a discussion about the Capitol insurrection, civic education, online information and social media, and the decline of "community" in the United States.

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This week, Shane and Clark discuss Governor Cuomo's proposed budget scenarios, the future of taxes on the wealthy in New York, marijuana legalization, and other budget-related items.

You can find out more about the proposed budget here: https://www.governor.ny.gov/programs/fy-2021-new-york-state-budget

If you liked the show, please subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app, leave us a review, and follow us on social media! It helps us a ton and you will be aware of new episodes.