District looks to combat attendance issues with initiatives to better inform parents The Syracuse City School District is piloting new initiatives this year to boost student attendance and combat chronic absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism occurs when a student is absent for at least 18 days — 10 percent of the school year, said Robert DiFlorio, SCSD’s executive director of early childhood …

Former co-op reopens as café, cultural center to empower community They say third time’s the charm. For the former Eat to Live Food Cooperative, board members have their fingers crossed that the business at 2323 S. Salina St. will emerge as a community success. The former co-op, which sold fruit, vegetables and other nutritious fare, reopened earlier in 2018 after …

Ex-offender wants to rebuild trust in himself

Photos of the neighborhood and its residents find permanent homes in the community The Stand ended up with thousands of images from its 2018 South Side Photo Walk, and has been finding ways to share the bounty. Prints of select images are now on permanent display at five South Side locations. Meanwhile, on display through October, is a gallery show …

Every child is precious. And we know how important it is to protect our children from harm. But we have not paid close enough attention to an unfortunate danger lurking in the very old homes in much of Syracuse: deteriorating lead paint. Lead paint is a worn-out technology that has no place in the 21st century, yet here it is, …

In this issue, The Stand shares the third piece in its continuing “Prison to Family” series on Shallah “Brooklyn” Beal who continues to move forward despite several setbacks. Also read this month’s Fatherhood Q&A with Adonis Kinsey, owner of High Octane, a youth basketball program, and father to Gia Sinoda Kinsey. The pair spend countless hours each week on the …

Mayor Ben Walsh hopes that the city’s plans to expand the use of surveillance cameras and police-worn body cameras will help prevent shootings like the one that injured five people Sept. 20 on Midland Avenue. Walsh made those comments Monday at a special Southside Tomorrow’s Neighborhood Today community meeting. The two-hour session at the South Side Innovation Center attracted more …

Nominated by Makhai Bailey Q: What did it feel like when you became a father? A. I always wanted to be a dad. That was the No. 1 goal. Her mother and I were together for 10 years. When I found out she was pregnant, I was ecstatic. I always used to talk about how the kid would become a …

Visit The Stand’s Flickr Photo Page to click through the thousands of photos from our 2018 Photo Walk. This year’s walk was held Saturday, July 28, at started at the Eat to Live Food Cooperative. Thirty-seven individuals participated, and this year’s walk received additional funding from the Finding Common Ground grant. Each summer our Photo Walk takes place to capture …

Al-amin Muhammad pushes forward to put an end to homelessness in Syracuse