Oswego Daily News

State Senator Patty Ritchie announced she has secured $100,000 in state funding for the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum at historic Fort Ontario in Oswego. The grant funding to the museum will help keep alive the stories of nearly 1,000 World War II refugees, mostly European Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, who were brought into the United States as “guests” of President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1944 and 1946.

The Oswego County Legislature took several steps aimed at improving neighborhoods and enhancing the quality of life for residents during its June meeting. Legislators voted unanimously to authorize the transfer of nearly a dozen tax-foreclosed properties to the Oswego County Land Bank for rehabilitation or demolition. They also voted unanimously to authorize a reduction in tipping fees for the disposal of materials from both municipal residential demolitions and the former Nestlé site in the city of Fulton.

On the heels of news reports revealing that hackers may have launched cyber-attacks on nuclear power plants and other energy facilities, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer today (July 12) said Upstate New York’s nuclear power plants like Ginna, FitzPatrick, Indian Point, Nine Mile, and The Niagara Power Project could be vulnerable to future attacks. Schumer said that we must do everything we can to mitigate threats like these and improve our critical infrastructure defenses.

The Addiction Awareness Group, started in 2016 by parents of addicts Cori Welch and Amy Pelow, are planning its second Addiction Awareness Walk for August 13 in Oswego. The walk is free and open to the community to spread awareness about the growing problem of addiction. The walk will start and end at the Oswego Elks Lodge with pre-registration now open.

The program recognizes the many accomplishments of Ruth Sayer. She moved to Oswego when she was 30 and for the past 70 years has worked tirelessly to benefit the city’s historic, educational and cultural organizations. In honor of her 100th birthday, the campaign encourages the community to support those organizations – to “Be Like Ruth.”

The NYS Education Department recently awarded a five-year, $1.63 million grant to SUNY Oswego’s School of Education to scale up and enhance its Teacher Opportunity Corps program, which seeks to attract and retain teacher candidates from underrepresented groups — particularly young men — in high-need schools. The $325,000 a year in funding through the state’s My Brother’s Keeper program will more than double the capacity of Oswego’s nine-year-old Teacher Opportunity Corps to serve 50 students, from freshmen through graduate school, and to support graduates in their early years of teaching.

Mayor Billy Barlow fired back at Council Vice President John Gosek on Monday refuting claims the councilor made at last week’s committee meetings. Gosek initiated discussion regarding a proposed local law to prohibit the spraying of herbicides on city properties. After a lengthy debate at committee, his attempt to bring the matter to the full council was stymied. However, the mayor pointed out Monday that it’s pretty much a moot point. The city already has a spraying policy in place, adding that for any spraying to be done, the proposal must first be approved by the council.