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Bikes 4 Peace to Offer Free Youth Clinics Throughout the Summer

The Syracuse Peace Council will hold summer bike clinics for youth from 5 to 7 p.m. on select Tuesdays this summer. Bikes 4 Peace organizes volunteers with mechanical/bike skills to provide free clinics for city youth. The clinics assist youth with fixing and maintaining their bikes as well as recycling donated bikes to give away. In order to receive assistance …

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South Side Grows Healthy Festival New This Summer

Update: Organizers have postponed this event and, as of now, no new date is set A South Side festival in late June will highlight local farms, community gardens and the importance of healthy eating habits. For organizer Mable Wilson, it’s the first time she has organized an event on a scale like this. Surveying the future site of the festival …

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Deterring Crime

Businesses could benefit from potential installation of security cameras Corcoran High School senior Delores Woody, who lives near the intersection of Midland Avenue and West Colvin Street, lost three family members to violent crime: two shootings and one stabbing. She’s heard that surveillance cameras were installed on the West Side, and thinks it could help deter crime on the South …

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Flood Insurance

South Side homeowners might be asked to purchase costly protection Aggie Lane has lived along Onondaga Creek for 20 years and has never experienced a single flood. “I’ve never had waters from the creek come anywhere near my house,” Lane said. Lane’s property is on Midland Avenue on the South Side along Onondaga Creek, an area that has recently been …

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Construction to begin for South Side Food Cooperative

A blue tarp kept the mud at bay during the groundbreaking ceremony for the South Side’s  Eat to Live Food Cooperative Friday morning, as organizers and local officials voiced their support for the project. Linda Littlejohn of Syracuse University’s South Side Initiative said the day reminded her of the lyrics to a Sam Cooke song: “It’s been a long time …

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Spreading Wings

Local private school provides specialized attention for students in need Anna Shipe knew that mentoring children alongside the city pool on Valley Road during the summers was a call for something bigger. “We would have 30 to 40 kids over with us talking and there would be no one in the pool, even on the really hot days,” Shipe said.

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People, Not Felons

South Avenue restaurant offers employees stability, a second chance Omanii’s Lemonade Heaven restaurant doesn’t just serve the best lemonade in town. It has helped resurrect the lives of a dozen South Side felons over the last 18 years by giving them a place to work. “Before I was surviving, now I am living,” said Westcoe Williams, 54, the head chef …

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Celebrating Mom

Local band UAD will perform a special show for Mother’s Day Hollis “Larry” Mathis is a foreman for the city of Syracuse in the Department of Public Works. He has worked there for more than 35 years. Isaac “Ike” Wynn has driven for Centro for nearly as long. They are the founding members of the group UAD. For Mother’s Day, …

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Special Achiever

Sam Rowser with On Point helps local students achieve college dreams Ever since Sam Rowser overcame the obstacles in his life that stood between him and a college degree, he has firmly believed that education is the key to positive change and success. “In my life, I’ve had some bumps in the road, and the one thing that was consistent …

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Food For Hungry

Syracuse community members depend on pantries for nutrition Verleen Innis has a fresh and deep, pink scratch near her left eye. It’s not her first — nor is the story behind it a new one. The 54-year-old South Side resident says she tries to ration the food she gets from pantries, but it is tough for her and her disabled …

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