The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
YEAR IN REVIEW
Oneida Daily Dispatch’s top 10 local stories from 2022
Like any other year, 2022 was filled with highs and lows and the same is true in the news cycle.
Reviewing all things good and bad, the editorial staff at the Oneida Daily Dispatch have ranked the top 10 local stories of 2022.
1. Portion of Madison House collapses/demolished
On Thursday, Dec. 22, Oneida Mayor Helen Acker posted a Facebook message updating residents as to why several streets near the Madison House were closed that evening. Acker announced that the back portion of the Madison House had collapsed. Madison House is located at 140 Madison Street.
The next day, city officials announced that the Madison House would be demolished that day since it became even more of a public hazard after the collapse occurred.
In August, Oneida’s Common Council said they would be moving forward with the demolition of the former Madison House after numerous efforts to contact its owners have failed and because it has been deemed a hazard to its neighborhood.
Fire Marshall Brian Burkle recommended demolition to the council in May. Burkle and his crew visited the building for a routine vacant building inspection and found it in disrepair.
The property had been declared unsafe in May and was scheduled for demolition within 90 days.
Back in August, Acker had said Sept. 7 was the end of the 90-day period. “If the company that owns it doesn’t take it down we will go through the legal process of getting an engineer in there to take a look and another company will give us a price to take it down. That’s in the works,” she said at the time.
2. Former Oneida City Chamberlain arrested for stealing more than $78K in city funds
In October, former Oneida City Chamberlain Nancy Andrews was arrested for allegedly stealing more than $78,000 from the city in a span of more than 14 years, New York State Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli and Madison County District Attorney William Gabor had announced. According to Dinapoli’s office, Andrews, 77,
was charged with allegedly stealing $78,881.55 in tax, water and sewer payments that were made in cash between 2012 and 2020. Andrews allegedly concealed the thefts with a Ponzi-like scheme by applying one property owner’s payment to another.
She spent the funds on, among other things, social outings with friends and pull-tab games at the American Legion Hall in Oneida, a press release from Dinapoli’s office said at the time.
The charges include grand larceny, corrupting the government, falsifying business records and tampering with public records, all felonies.
Andrews served as Oneida’s Chamberlain from 1998 until 2021.
3. Former Madison County Assistant Da/judge candidate Brad Moses allegedly overdoses; Debra Youngs wins judge race as write-in
On July 30, officials with the Madison County Sherriff’s Office said Madison County Assistant District Attorney Brad Moses, who at the time was the sole candidate on the Republican and Conservative lines to become Madison County Judge, allegedly overdosed during a house party.
Moses received no criminal charges because of New York’s Good Samaritan law, which allows those using illegal drugs in danger of dying to receive emergency treatment without being prosecuted. Law enforcement officials said they later found fentanyl, an illegal and dangerous narcotic, in Moses’ bloodwork.
After the incident, Moses resigned from his position as assistant district attorney with the Madison County District Attorney’s Office. He had served as an attorney for 12 years in various capacities, including five years as an Assistant District Attorney in Madison County.
Youngs, a local attorney and Cazenovia Village Associate Judge, announced a write-in campaign for Madison County Judge. She has received endorsements from the county’s Republican, Conservative and Democratic parties. Republican and Conservative party officials had withdrawn their support of Moses after the overdose incident.
In the November general election, Youngs received more votes than Moses to become the next Madison County Judge.
4. Adding more school resource officers debate in Oneida
After recent mass shootings around the country and with some of those shootings occurring in schools, officials in Oneida began to debate whether or not to add more school resource officers.
The city had considered having Oneida City Police Chief John Little, acting on behalf of the city, sign an agreement with the Oneida City School District to hire an SRO to replace Ware. The term of the hire would have lasted from Sept. 1, 2022 until June 30, 2023.
Before the vote, Second Ward Councilman Steven Laureti explained three other options for paying for school officers, ones that would save the city money and allow them to have officers stationed in each school.
The council was unanimous in their vote. To show their displeasure three Oneida police officers walked out of the meeting.
5. Oneida receives state money for 8 downtown renewal projects
A few weeks ago, Governor Kathy Hochul announced funding for eight projects in Oneida as part of a state-sponsored $10M Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The eight projects are designed to expand the city’s business and housing opportunities and improve public spaces and amenities. The projects include:
• Improving Downtown Infrastructure and Streetscaping — DRI Award: $1,521,000. Improve streetscape and pavement to portions of Main St., Broad St., Madison St., Farrier Ave. and Vanderbilt Ave., with bicycle infrastructure added to Sconondoa St.
• Reimagining the Vacant Hotel Oneida — DRI Award: $2,900,000. Rehabilitate the iconic hotel to provide new downtown mixeduse space including several apartments, a restaurant/ pub and a banquet space.
• Restoring and Upgrading the Devereaux Building — DRI Award: $1,569,000. Restore and upgrade the Devereaux building into a mixed-use residential, retail and commercial redevelopment.
• Redeveloping the Lerman Building for Commercial and Residential Uses — DRI Award: $1,141,000. Redevelop an underused building to leverage all 20,000 square feet, including the creation of townhousestyle apartments and commercial spaces, and expand the existing Oneida Coworks space to include new offices and a conference room.
• Developing a Downtown Business Assistance Fund — DRI Award: $600,000. Create a matching grant fund for façade improvements and interior improvements, including heavy equipment and permanent installations. The fund will be administered by Madison County.
• Establishing a Formbased Zoning Overlay District — DRI Award: $100,000. Create a form-based code and overlay district for the DRI area to ensure that future development meets the aesthetic intent of the city.
• Upgrading Facilities at Veteran’s Memorial Park — DRI Award: $1,059,000. Install an ADA Splashpad and a Pickleball court on the Veteran’s Field campus and implement repairs and upgrades for the bathhouse facilities. Develop a new memorial area at Veteran’s Memorial Playfield to honor veterans from various armed forces.
• Developing Area Youth Soccer Organization Soccer Fields — DRI Award: $760,000. Build soccer fields and parking areas on former flood sites to encourage downtown area sports. FEMA has already approved of these uses being built on this site.
The City of Oneida developed and grew around the expansion of the New York State Canal System in the 1830s and continues to highlight its canal legacy as a catalyst for growth, tourism and quality of life.
The city’s dense, walkable downtown contains significant architectural and historical assets on which to build its resurgence. Oneida’s revitalization is focused on improving its parks, public amenities and streetscape infrastructure and creating new mixed-use spaces.
SUNY Upstate Health Center has already recorded three times more RSV cases this year compared to years previous. In 2022, SUNY Upstate has recorded a total of 1,800 total RSV cases with nearly 1,000 positive tests just in November alone.
Dr. Kapriel Danadian of Oneida Pediatric Group said about 60 percent of his patients have RSV this year.
6. EXPERTS: Oneida faces widespread RSV cases
Local pediatricians and healthcare experts are helping to combat record levels of the onslaught with Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection with a dose of preventative measures and a whole lot of hope. That hope is anchored in how the RSV season will end with the start of warm spring weather.
RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. While most adults recover in a week or two, RSV can be very serious, especially for young children and older adults. RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and also pneumonia in children younger than one year of age in the United States. Bronchiolitis is inflammation of the small airways in the lung and pneumonia is an infection of the lungs.
Oneida Health Hospital’s positive RSV cases have already nearly doubled compared to last year — with 80 percent of cases being in children under five years old. At nearby Golisano Children’s Hospital in Syracuse, the number of RSV patients has increased to the point where the facility has run out of beds. Staff at Golisano have been forced to send kids to hospitals in other cities.
The uptick in RSV cases has contributed to a spike in Upstate Health Center’s average daily pediatric Emergency Department volume, from 92 percent in August to 136 percent in November. In 2022, Oneida Health has recorded a total of 224 cases, with 40 percent of cases being in November alone; that is nearly double compared to 2021.
7. Abbey Woodcock honored for business, community work
Oneida resident Abbey Woodcock has gone from Oneida Dispatch reporter and marketing specialist to a local success story through her and her family’s work with Callee 1945, a cheese and charcuterie shop located in downtown Oneida.
On Nov. 10, the NY Business Journal named Greater Oneida Chamber of Commerce board member and Oneida business owner Woodcock as one of their 40 Under 40.
During the ceremony, held at the Oncenter in Syracuse, the journal recognized Woodcock’s business acumen and her ongoing contributions to the Oneida community.
The shop has in-store shopping, curbside pickup and delivery It’s located at 134 Main St., Oneida and its number is 315-367-0007. The shop’s hours are 11 a.m. — 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m. — 5 p.m. Saturdays. It’s closed Sunday through Tuesday.
Callee 1945 offers 90 varieties of cheeses and will grow to over 100 over the holidays. “The cheese board is our big thing,” Woodcock said. “We also offer anything to do with charcuterie boards including nuts, crackers, cured meats and jams.”
Woodcock grew up on a farm in Durhamville farm and graduated from Oneida High School. After college, she returned to Oneida to begin her adult life.
8. Oneida heroes receive Carnegie Medal for 2021 rescue
Oneida residents Andy Parent and Roger Combs received an international award for a local act of courage. They are two of 16 recipients of the Carnegie Medal for the second quarter of 2022.
The medal is provided through the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission and is North America’s highest honor for civilian bravery.
On Monday, June 21, 2021, Jack Pylman, 73, of Utica was driving his truck along Route 5 towards New Hartford. For unknown reasons Pylman’s truck left the road and struck a utility pole. The pole fell and scattered live wires along the road. Pylman’s truck overturned and caught fire. He was trapped beneath it.
Parent pulled his truck to the side of Route 5 and got out. Parent made his way past the wires and found Pylman trapped under the truck. An Oneida County Sheriff’s deputy arrived on the scene. Parent appraised him of the situation. The deputy parked his car across the road and blocked traffic.
Roger Combs, 74, a retired information specialist who also lives in Oneida, braved the fallen wires and helped Parent get a hold of Pylman. They dragged him away from the fire to safety.
Pylman was airlifted from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Utica to SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. He died there seven days later.
The Carnegie Hero Medal began in 1904 under the guidance of Pittsburghbased philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. A coal mining disaster near Pittsburgh, and the efforts of civilian rescuers, inspired the award.
The medal is given to those who risk their loves saving or attempting to save someone in danger. About 20 percent of its recipients have died during their acts of heroism. It is awarded four times a year, and the acts of courage must be able to be verified.
9. Oneida High School celebrates Class of 2022
Oneida High School’s Class of 2022 looked forward to the future and celebrated the completion of their studies despite the COVID-19 pandemic during its 138th commencement Saturday.
Oneida graduated 129 students in 2022.
10. Fighting the good fight for women: Former federal agent finds new mission
Former federal agent Chris Carpenter has found a new mission in life by spending her retirement years taking on human trafficking at the local and national levels.
Carpenter recently retired from her job investigating white-collar crime with the treasury department and has decided her life is best spent helping the helpless.
She is doing this by building Rahab Refuge Ministries, an outreach she founded in November 2020. It will combine education, rehabilitation, and a safe place to help victims of sexual crime recover and rebuild their lives.
The faith-based outreach will be headquartered in House of Hope, a building that will be located in Oneida or somewhere that has adequate space in Madison County.
Information on Rahab Refuge Ministries can be found at www.rahabrefugeministries.org or by calling (315) 725-2273.