News

The Oswego City Police Department’s K9, Crixus, will receive a bullet and stab protective vest thanks to a charitable donation from non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. K9 Crixus’ vest is sponsored by Staten Island Companion Dog Training Club and will be embroidered with the sentiment “Gifted by SICDTC, Staten Island, NY.” Delivery is expected within eight to 10 weeks.

Chairman Ryan McMahon announced today (July 11) he is recommending William J. Barlow Jr. as chairman and presiding officer of the Metropolitan Water Board. Barlow’s appointment was considered by the Onondaga County Legislature’s Environmental Protection Committee today, where it passed unanimously.Upon confirmation by the full legislature, Barlow’s term will expire on December 31, 2020.

Aimee Callen won re-election to president of the Oswego Board of Education on Tuesday and Brandon Lagoe was named vice president. Prior to the start of the regular session, a former board member continued his fight to have an “illegal” member removed from the board. At his final meeting last month, Tom DeCastro claimed that (then-vice president of the board) James Bell is serving on the board illegally.

Mayor Billy Barlow announced today an initiative addressing homelessness in the Port City using a street canvassing project during evenings and weekends to locate homeless individuals in the community and link them to the appropriate resources to improve their situation and prevent individuals from living on Oswego streets, parks and public space areas. He is proposing to contract with Oswego County Opportunities.

The Common Council Monday night unanimously authorized Mayor Billy Barlow to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the city of Oswego and county of Oswego, which will create a partnership between the city of Oswego Department of Code Enforcement and Oswego County Department of Social Services. The county is expected to approve the tentative agreement at Thursday night’s Legislature meeting.

Thanks to a nearly $300,000 National Science Foundation grant, undergraduate researchers, starting this summer, are working with Dr. Yulia Artemenko of SUNY Oswego’s biological sciences faculty to investigate how single cells determine where to move, which could have implications for why cancer cells metastasize — migrate away from a primary tumor.

“Our mosquito surveillance team is monitoring virus activities in the area again this summer,” said Oswego County Public Health Director Jiancheng Huang. “Viral infections carried by mosquitoes, such as EEE and West Nile, can cause serious illness including severe headache, high fever, disorientation, seizures, brain swelling or, in some cases, death,”