The Debrief Podcast

On this episode of The Debrief Podcast hosts Josh Durso and Jackie Augustine talk about recent headlines across the Finger Lakes region - including the closure of the Geneva Movieplex, development of a Dunkin' franchise on a high-profile city corner, assessment concerns across the region, and continued housing access issues for low- and middle-income residents across the state.

What happens now that elections are over in the Finger Lakes region? Josh Durso and Jackie Augustine are here to break the results down following intense and close contests in Cayuga, Ontario, Seneca, and Wayne counties. They also talk about the recent election news in Wayne County where results were delayed by nearly an entire day due to a technical glitch. They also discuss recent headlines about Cayuga County Clerk-elect Brian Scanlan being ticketed for leaving the scene of an accident, the unexpected passing of Sodus Point Village Councilor-elect John Nesbitt, and Ontario Town Supervisor Frank Robusto Jr. being found with a loaded firearm attempting to go through TSA.

This week on the podcast Jackie Augustine and Josh Durso break down the biggest races across the Finger Lakes, the issues driving candidates and voters, as well as the undercurrents that have brought communities to present day. The two talk about competitive elections in Canandaigua, Geneva, and Seneca Falls, as well as county races in Cayuga and Ontario. Unprecedented housing issues, a desire from voters to see more economic development in communities across the region, and environmental issues like HABs and landfilling.

It's time for another episode of The Debrief Podcast! Today on the show Josh Durso and Jackie Augustine break down an array of stories including a new report on the aging population and lack of health care infrastructure here in the Finger Lakes; the future of rural communities in the region as they battle rising costs and shrinking populations in light of that report; the latest on Seneca Meadows; as well as a pair of economic development related stories out of Geneva and Cayuga County.

On this edition of The Debrief Podcast we're answering YOUR questions! The latest on Seneca Meadows proposed expansion and what that would mean for town taxpayers, as well as a new report on casino performance in Upstate New York.

On today's episode of the show, Josh Durso and Jackie Augustine break down the latest in local and state politics. They look at a bill awaiting Gov. Hochul's signature to move local elections to even-numbered years, discuss the biggest takeaways from primaries in Geneva and Seneca Falls, and talk housing, zoning, and more!

- State regulators punt a decision on bitcoin mining: For environmental advocates it was another disappointing week, as state leaders from the DEC punted a decision on bitcoin mining. Advocates say there’s an environmental cost to the kind of data mining that’s taking place at a plant along Seneca Lake in Dresden, Yates County. However, the DEC said no decision would be made until after June’s primary elections. Does this give us a clue about the decision coming in a couple months?   - Sheriff Povero says staffers actions ‘heroic’: On Friday, a student brought a loaded handgun with extra ammunition to the Red Jacket High School in Shortsville. Sheriff Phil Povero says the quick action of staffers inside the building were ‘heroic’ and likely prevented a tragedy. A 15-year-old was taken into custody, but little more is known about what led up to Friday’s lockdown. As expected, reaction from the community was swift — with support for law enforcement and staff — and questions about how something like this can be prevented in the future. What steps can/should schools take to mitigate the possibility of incidents that are statistically unlikely?  - Officer involved shooting: Sheriff Rob Milby said after an officer involved shooting in the town of Ontario that the deputy who responded to the scene retreated a significant distance before firing his sidearm. The deputy was responding to a call from New York State Office of Mental Health for a person who was said to be unstable, off his medication, and possibly intoxicated while operating a vehicle. The person became aggressive, and when deploying a taser didn’t work — the deputy fired his weapon. No life threatening injuries were reported, but the debate on social media played out as expected. Some arguing that no force should have been used, while other applauded the deputy. Others were left asking: How can these situations be handled safely and adequately for all involved?  - Another shopping mall in flux: Great Northern Mall in the Syracuse area has fallen into disrepair, but county officials don’t want it to be another ShoppingTown Mall. They purchased that one two years ago. So, with that scenario unlikely — big questions remain. As shopping malls disappear — vast structures remain — so how should they be repurposed?  - Hiring struggles come to life: Thompson Health in Canandaigua has more than 250 openings right now. Last week a job fair was held and just 40 people showed up. Around half were hirable, according to reporting from the job fair. Unemployment numbers continue declining — which begs a fundamental question about economic viability: First off, how does healthcare in rural communities survive these massive labor gaps? Second, looking outside healthcare — how does an economy keep the wheels turning with virtually every business facing the same problem?  - Gas tax holiday debated further: Lawmakers at the state and federal level are trying to find ways to hold back fuel prices. One story focused on the price of gasoline, and the need for relief at the pump. Another on home energy prices, as sky high utility bills are reported throughout Upstate New York. Is it time for major action to reduce the cost of gas?  What do you think? We want to hear your opinion! Share your thoughts on any of these stories — or questions — by emailing news@fingerlakes1.com.

Josh Durso and Ted Baker return to the studio for a special edition of The Debrief, as Debrief co-creator Jackie Augustine joins the show for its Six Year Anniversary.  Josh, Ted and Jackie discuss: 

- An update out of Geneva, including a new Ward 6 representative, but no new manager, comptroller, or legislative clarity for the year.

- Redistricting and the Congressional maps that have been released so far. 

- Rent prices becoming more expensive for a 1–3-bedroom apartment in Upstate New York.

- In Cayuga County, the Acting District Attorney say local Democrats and Governor Kathy Hochul's office are effectively colluding to appoint a Democrat to the temporary position they hold until an election happens.

This week on the show hosts Ted Baker and Josh Durso explore a COVID diagnosis that hit the Debrief team, as well as mixed messaging surrounding isolation and quarantine.  The rules are changing by the day.  Has that hampered public health education and opinion?  They also discuss the criticism of Governor Hochul as concerns rise on the left and right over pandemic policies.  Also, new data on criminal justice reforms in New York including bail reform.  Did it work?  Did it cause crime to rise in the state?  And finally, a new method presented for economic development.  What happens when you fund people instead of companies who make grand promises?

Josh Durso and Ted Baker discuss Black Friday and the future of shopping, the solar farm project in Waterloo getting state approval, mask mandates in Erie County and the phase approach in Monroe County, hospitals with capacity issues being told to pause elective procedures until through January 15, Chris Cuomo using his media contacts to help his brother Andrew, and the Local Journalism Sustainability Act.

On this edition of The Debrief Podcast your hosts Ted Baker and Josh Durso from the FL1 News team break down the biggest stories of the week.  Wegmans store in Auburn rolls out new security system to prevent rogue shopping carts, debate continues and community reaction pours in after the state's announcement that Willard Drug Treatment Campus would close in 2022, chaos erupts in local healthcare as staffing and capacity issues boil over in Finger Lakes, Central New York, and Southern Tier, and hedge fund makes a play for Lee Enterprises, which operates newspapers around the region and country.

Josh Durso and Ted Baker discuss the Ontario County Sheriff's Office, the vacant seat on the Auburn School Board, and masks in schools.  Also with COVID numbers on the rise in the Finger Lakes region, they talk about whether it is the Finger Lakes or Rochester portion causing that.  Plus talk of a state tourism program and staffing issues in nursing homes.

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?

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. 

Later this month Seneca Lake Pures Waters Association will be putting on a farming symposium. It's all about Soil Health Incentive programs for farm and vineyard owners- which are typically known as Payment for Ecosystem Services. The programs allow farmers to be paid to use agricultural practices that sequest carbon and are favorable for the environment. Jacob Fox of SLPWA joined Josh Durso to discuss it all on today's FL1 Daily.

Over the winter Finger Lakes Textiles celebrated its 10,000th winter hat produced for sale at its manufacturing facility in Waterloo. It was a history making milestone, and given the last year- with a global pandemic crunching Mozaic's operation- it was a necessary one. Allen Connely, who serves as CEO of Mozaic, which oversees the Finger Lakes Textiles operation, says the last 12 months has been inspiring. Between the sacrifices made by employees, hard work put in each day by staff, and creative thinking that allowed Mozaic to find success- it has given him pause several times. 

Despite the spring feel that Wednesday gave us we all know winter is still here. And it will stick around for a while. That said, Chris Lajewski, Center Director for the Montezuma Audubon Center, says there are plenty of signs of spring at the Montezuma Wetlands Complex and associated property. That's because nature gives us clues about the upcoming seasons before we ever see it in the forecast. 

On this edition of the FL1 Daily podcast Chris talks to us about late-winter, and early-spring activities, as well as how fast that transition actually happens.

What happened to the individuals who were taken into custody after the riot last winter at a handful of Cayuga Nation properties along Rt. 89 in Seneca Falls? Nation leaders claimed that arrests, charges, and legal proceedings would be coming. However, we learned this week that this was never the case. Even the alleged jail that the Nation was using in Pennsylvania to detain people was not used to actually detain anyone. Wanda Johns, aunt of one arrestee spoke with FingerLakes1.com's Gabriel Pietrorazio about it all in an exclusive interview.

Open enrollment is an annual event. It's the window where those who don't have insurance, or those who have lost it - can obtain it. Each year there are always a lot of questions. However, open enrollment is usually over by now. The coronavirus pandemic turned everything - including open enrollment - upside down. Today on the program, Kelly Smith of MVP Health Care, who walks us through some of the essentials of open enrollment after Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended it through March. The key is that no matter your economic situation - there's a health insurance plan for you.

Heather McDaniel leads Ithaca Area Economic Development, which was previously known as TCAD or Tompkins County Area Development. In part two of our conversation with Heather, a look at the components that will be most important to succeeding in the future. She says recovery is underway, and that's what they are focused on now.

Heather McDaniel leads Ithaca Area Economic Development, which was previously known as TCAD or Tompkins County Area Development. Today in part one of our conversation with Heather, a look at what economic development was before the pandemic; and the components that made the Finger Lakes region thrive and succeed over the last two decades.

The end of 2020 was an historic one for the Montezuma Audubon Center. Director Chris Lajewski says that their fundraising effort was more successful than ever before, and was a truly inspiring conclusion to a tremendously difficult year. Now he's focused on 2021; and looking forward to what will come next. Chris says there's a lot of positive going on, and a great opportunity to get outdoors even during the winter months. In our monthly feature in partnership with The Montezuma Audubon Center, Chris talks about some of the species being seen at the Wetlands Complex, as well as some upcoming events for the whole family.

What's next for journalism? What about journalists who were laid off or are underrepresented in the news business? Well, Patch Labs could be a solution to that problem. We caught up with Abe Brewster, President and CTO of Patch Labs over the weekend for our Sunday Conversation. 

Today we hear one of the most-important parts of that conversation, where he walks us through the platform, and how Patch incorporated all the painstaking elements of running a digital publication - including ads and monetizing audience - bringing it under one platform's roof.

Over the last several weeks we've been catching up with county leaders to talk about how they are looking at 2021. Most are expecting to see reimbursements from the state to decline by upwards of 20%, which made budgeting a challenge. That said, there have been other things that officials gained from the experience of the coronavirus pandemic.

Today we talk with Doug Paddock, chair of the Yates County Legislature, and Nonie Flynn, administrator. The two walk us through the budget process, and do a little forecasting as they look ahead to the spring, summer, and fall.

How is vaccine rollout going in New York State? This week we heard important updates from Governor Andrew Cuomo about the vaccination effort happening now in the state, but a lot of details are still missing. While the Cuomo Administration says that some of those are still being worked out -- as the situation remains fluid -- there have been real questions raised about the state's ability to rollout the vaccine to an effective number of people by it's self-imposed guidance. Governor Cuomo has said repeatedly that the state should hit critical mass by late-summer or early-fall at latest. However, Bill Hammond of the Empire Center says that projection could be significantly off after what we've seen play out in recent weeks since vaccine distribution began. Today is the second part of our conversation with Bill Hammond of the Empire Center. 

The Addiction Center estimates that nearly 21 million Americans suffer from some form of addiction. Yet only 10% of them receive treatment. Since 1990 overdose deaths have more than tripled; and between 1999 and 2017 more than 700,000 Americans died from overdosing on a drug. Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services or CARS is working to change that. They use evidence-based techniques in the Tompkins County area to help people overcome addiction. What will the fight against addiction have to look like after the pandemic is over? What types of services will be retained? 

The Addiction Center estimates that nearly 21 million Americans suffer from some form of addiction. Yet only 10% of them receive treatment. Since 1990 overdose deaths have more than tripled; and between 1999 and 2017 more than 700,000 Americans died from overdosing on a drug. Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services or CARS is working to change that. They use evidence-based techniques in the Tompkins County area to help people overcome addiction. What does that service look like? What about during a pandemic? Those questions answered in the first part of our conversation with Brad.

Jack Marren serves as Victor Town Supervisor and Chairman of the Ontario County Board of Supervisors. He's also the President of the New York State Association of Counties. We wanted to catch up with him to talk about how Ontario County approached the budget process, and what the game plan is for 2021. He says that a tax hike is not imminent, and while he's hopeful that there will be some form of relief for municipalities - everyone should get comfortable with budgeting appropriately if it does not. 

Last week Dr. Gregory Heeb from Newark-Wayne Community Hospital became one of the first in the region to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. That vaccine, while politicized throughout the pandemic, is viewed as one of the few instruments that can get the U.S. population to the other side of the pandemic. At this point, frontline healthcare workers and nursing home residents and staff have received the vaccine. In the coming weeks, more New Yorkers will be eligible to get vaccinated. Today on the podcast, a conversation with Dr. Heeb on his experience with receiving the first dosage.

Chris Lavin is the executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Geneva. He has watched the need in- and around- his community grow. The pandemic has caused a surge in need, which has resulted in the club stepping up to fill the need. Food access is a huge problem in the city of Geneva; and today we talk with Chris about the work being done by the Boys & Girls Club to feed Genevans.

There are a number of events taking place in early-2021 at the Montezuma Audubon Center in Wayne County, but for the last couple weeks of 2020. But first, Chris Lajewski, director of the Montezuma Audubon Center was in-studio ahead of the holiday weekend to talk about the ways the center is planning for 2021. They are hopeful that people who care deeply about wildlife in the Finger Lakes and Upstate New York will consider giving back to the center. Lajewski also gave updates on sandhill cranes at the wetlands, and bald eagles.

What are counties in the Finger Lakes and Central New York most looking for over the next several weeks and months, as New York State and Congress mulls over additional pandemic relief? This week a new $1 trillion relief package was signed, but there isn't any new funding for municipalities, which Governor Andrew Cuomo says face steep cuts if Congress doesn't act. Cayuga County Legislature Chairperson Aileen McNabb-Coleman says that while she feels the county effort has been focused. As we wrap-up 2020, we caught up with McNabb-Coleman to talk about what she hopes to see in 2021.

Today on the show a look at how one county in the Finger Lakes took a unified approach to dealing with the Coronavirus Pandemic. Obviously, the public health crisis effected everything from small businesses, to schools, and local government. The One Seneca initiative was built for this moment bringing together all of the players involved in decision-making in Seneca County. This episode is an exclusive to FingerLakes1.com as Chamber President Jeff Shipley, Public Health Director Vickie Swinehart, Chamber Chair and local business owner Bruce Murray, and South Seneca Superintendent Steve Zielinski talk about overall response, and what the next several months will look like as winter drives forward in Seneca County.