Here are three Syracuse news stories you might have missed this weekend.

Disability Cultural Center presentations

Three candidates for the Disability Cultural Center director position will give presentations this week as part of a visit to Syracuse University, according to an SU listserv email.

Diane Weiner stepped down as director of the DCC in January to take on the role of associate director at the Burton Blatt Institute’s Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach. Wiener was director of the DCC since it was created in 2011. Huey Hsiao is serving as the center’s interim director, and will continue to do so until a new director is chosen.

Kathryn O’Connell will present Tuesday, Stephanie Woodward on Wednesday and Elizabeth Sierra on Thursday. The presentations will be held from 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons at Bird Library.

The theme of the presentations is “What is ‘disability culture?’.” All three presentations are open to the public.

Common Councilor replacement

The Onondaga County Democratic Committee chose Bryn Lovejoy-Grinnell, the Vera House legal services director, as the next Common Councilor of the 3rd District, Syracuse.com reported.

The committee picked LoveJoy-Grinnell over four other candidates at a designation meeting on Saturday, according to Syracuse.com.  Lovejoy-Grinnell will sit on the Council until the fall, when she will have to run to keep her position.

The Council chose to allow the committee to fill the seat in January, Syracuse.com reported. The position became available when Councilor Susan Boyle, of the 3rd district, took a job with the county under Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon.

The Democratic Committee also chose candidates to run for positions including Onondaga County District Attorney, Onondaga County Legislature and seats on the Syracuse City School District’s Board of Education.

Councilors At-Large Michael Greene and Steve Thompson received designations from the committee to rerun for their seats, as did Councilors Chad Ryan, of the 2nd district; Latoya Allen, of the 4th and Joe Driscoll, of the 5th.

Community grid support

New York state Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter (D-Syracuse) released a statement Friday expressing her support for a community grid to replace the aging 1.4-mile viaduct of Interstate 81 in Syracuse.

The grid would seize less private property than other options and would be less disruptive, Hunter said in the statement. She also said that land reclaimed from the viaduct would help improve Syracuse’s tax base.

“It is clear to me now that our citizens must be more united behind an option if we are to have any influence with the state decision makers,” Hunter said. “I support the community grid alternative because I believe it will benefit our residents, and our region, the most.”

Other politicians have declared their support for the grid, including Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, New York state Sen. Rachel May (D-Syracuse), Assemblyman Al Stirpe (D-Cicero) and Common Council President Helen Hudson. Local leaders, business people and activists signed a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo in support of the grid last month.

Hunter said the other two I-81 replacement options — a viaduct rebuild or a tunnel — would require years of “instructive construction.”

“The debate over the future of I-81 has dragged on for years and it’s become increasingly clear that a community consensus just isn’t possible,” Hunter said. “However, the time for debate and discussion is over — now we must take action.”

Published on February 17, 2019 at 10:02 pm

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