Dentist offers free services for second year on Veterans Day This Veterans Day, Dr. Joan C. Laura at Eastwood Dental Office opens the doors of her dental practice to offer free services to veterans for the second year. “This is just my way of giving back, so as long as I’m blessed to give, I’ll give,” she said. Laura opened …

Sharon Owens upholds her commitment to helping those in need Thirty years ago, Sharon Owens got off the “wrong track” and onto the right one — and she has continued helping others do the same in one form or another ever since. As she nears her half-year anniversary as CEO of the Southwest Community Center and the Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility, Inc., …

Library patrons learn about different cultures thanks to state grant Using a state cultural programming grant, the Onondaga Free Library recently arranged for South Side residents to experience a “Festival of Nations.” Library officials hope to make the festival an annual event. The library brought together people from the Zen Center of Syracuse Hoen-ji and the Syracuse Polish Home. Representatives from …

The Rev. Regina Reese-Young brings new personality to South Side church The woman holding the microphone jubilantly calls out: “Somebody say praise the Lord!” Dis- satisfied with the crowd’s lukewarm response, she urges them. “Come on, say it like you mean it!” The Rev. Regina Reese-Young is addressing the more than 50 people who have come to welcome her as the …

A key use for grant money: provide guidance on health insurance The South Side Innovation Center, whose mission is to help develop small businesses, has received a $75,000 grant from an international financial services company. The money will be used to upgrade the center’s business training programs, its director said. The grant, from JPMorgan Chase & Co., will also be …

Local church collects walking equipment for distribution in Nigeria A small South Side congregation is helping West Africans with walking disabilities to become mobile again. The congregation planned to ship an estimated 1,000 used and donated items — crutches, walkers, wheelchairs and canes — at the end of October to Nigeria for distribution there, following an initial shipment last spring.“ …

Teams who participated in Team ANGEL tell how it bettered their lives Kamiya Huggins sits at a long wooden table as she finishes a plate of food provided for her by the Southwest Community Center. She is 18 years old and a senior at George Fowler High School. She has a hearty laugh and an infectious smile and has only …

Proponents of a “pocket park” on the South Side continue to hear concerns that it could generate more worry than benefit, especially if trouble-makers congregate at the site next to a library that draws children and teens. “Our children 99 percent of the time walk to the library alone. They are not supervised,” said resident Geneva Hayden, speaking at the …

Library is last in Syracuse to be renovated; its open space will remain The Mundy Branch Library won’t lose its one-room charm, but it will undergo changes as renovations are made early next year. The library, located at 1204 S. Geddes St., in Syracuse’s Skunk City neighborhood, is the most recent Onondaga County Public Library to be approved for renovations, …

It’s a Thanksgiving Homecoming Reunion with a ’70s Blast theme Back in the 1980s, his name was “DJ Grand Electric Shock” when he used to DJ at Top Cats, Gardenia and Nowhere City. Shock was widely known then because he had a reputation for playing good music and promoting “positive events.”