Find out how to become a paid contributor to The Stand The Stand will offer two General Interest meetings at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, and again at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. These free sessions will be held at the South Side Communication Center located at 2331 S. Salina St. Each session will provide an opportunity to submit story …

With winter upon us, the United Way shares tips on how to plan ahead Members of The Stand’s Board of Directors recently attended information sessions to help them understand what they can do to be prepared in the event of an emergency, specifically a natural disaster. Natural disasters often result in the disruption of everyday life and include inaccessibility to …

New Directions provide gifts to young mothers The New Direction Christian Center (NDCC) jumped on the opportunity to make sure that giving was more than just a theme this season. This year’s theme, by the way, was “Give, Serve, Love.” Each year, a different group is identified and an effort to meet that group’s needs is taken up by volunteers …

Fifth-grade students from McKinley-Brighton Elementary School presented a check in the amount of $200 to Meals on Wheels of Syracuse Wednesday, Dec. 10. The donation was from the proceeds of “rice bag” sales. The students gathered in the school library, performed a song, and explained why they decided to donate to the non-profit, which will deliver nearly 194,000 meals this …

Federal program could give South and Southwest sides help they need City officials began applying last month to a federal program that would designate parts of Syracuse’s South and Southwest sides as a “Promise Zone.” The distinction would give those areas preference for certain federal programs for a 10-year period, according to the city’s director of research, Janet Burke. “It …

David Hills overcame criminal past to work to defuse violent situations A few weeks ago, two men ready to end each other’s life called a truce over a mediated meal. They’d exchanged bullets before trading words: One had put bullet holes in the van of the other. One had shot at the other several times. “These guys are killers, literally. …

Group to host open house to announce new program The Somali Bantu Community Association (SBCA) will hold an open house beginning at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 11,  to announce its new refugee employment program. The event will take place at the Somali Bantu Community Center at 302 Burt St. The SBCA recently receive a $450,000 grant for three years to …

Annual Banquet to also feature musical tribute to Barry White Name an important community or major sporting event in Syracuse, and odds are Roosevelt “Rick” Wright, was there, often behind a microphone serving as announcer or host. His long-running weekly radio show, “Old School Sundays,” a mix of interviews, music from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s and recollections that span …

In our Winter issue, our cover story is on David Hills, who works as an outreach worker with S.N.U.G. — guns spelled backward. After serving prison time himself for a shooting, he now strives to stop people from killing. Another feature looks at recent changes at Kirk Park and the progress The New Dunbar Center has made in reopening. Click …

Grant is used to build ‘outdoor classroom’ for environmental education Thanks to a half-million dollar state grant, the city has built what it calls an “outdoor classroom” — with educational signs, designs depicting local fish and a large, stone sitting bench — to teach children about the life of Onondaga Creek. Brainstorming for the project’s purpose and design began last …