City To Appeal Police Discrimination Decision

The City of Syracuse owes Katherine Lee 400,000 dollars. Lee is a Syracuse Police Officer who was sexually harassed and sued the department for it. The third verdict was made against the Syracuse police department over the sexual discrimination. The money will be taken from city funds.
Bill Ryan, Common Council Chairman of Public Safety, says the city will appeal this decision especially for the taxpayers. Ryan said Mayor Stephanie Miner will be taking the steps to make sure the police department is up to par with officer training with their behavior towards each other.
" We have to make sure that if there's some bad police officers here that need to be singled out and dealt with that we do that as well," Ryan said.
There will be a meeting next week with the Miner and the Syracuse Chief of Police to discuss the appeal further.

Gas Prices Up 8 Cents

With gas prices approaching 3 dollars a gallon, Public Affairs Manager of AAA for Western and Central New York, Diana Dibble said she doesn't expect people to change their mode of transportation.
"With spring breaks and holidays coming up, people have a lot of destinations and driving is still cheaper than other transportation" Dibble said.
Gas prices are up 8 cents in the past month due to the increase in the price of crude oil as well as the switch from winter to spring because of the temperature of the oil underground.
"Traditionally speaking we would normally see prices level off and then possibly a push up once we get into Memorial Day," Dibble said about what we can expect in the near future.

Team D Newscast

Overall, the newscast went smoothly. All the stories were timed out well but I knew we would have to cut that last story out, so I told Ivory in advance that it was in there just in case we were under. Aaron did a really good job with his story and getting it in and on time. I made sure to put more ACT's in this time because I had too many copy stories in my last produced show. I think this made the show sound more interesting and made the stories more interesting. I could have done a better job at some of the writing because Ivory tripped on the words a bit, but other than that, a good last job!

Click here to listen to newscast.

Volcano Stops SU Student in London From Traveling

Kevin Ware says he's use to traveling all over Europe. He's been to 15 countries this semester, and was planning on visiting another this past weekend.

But, the recent volcano eruption in Iceland forced him to change his plans.

"I was planning on going to Barcelona with a few friends," Ware (pictured left) said via Skype. "Now we're stuck in England."

Ware, studying broadcast and digital journalism, told NCC News a few students were trapped in different countries after the volcano stopped travel. But, he said they found different ways of getting back.

While airlines are still recovering from the "volcano blackout," Ware said he still plans to come home in early May.

"SU Abroad hasn't said anything to us," he said. "But, to be honest they're not really too helpful with anything."

SU gears up for Mayfest

With Mayfest only two days away, things were pretty busy this afternoon at Walnut Park. A group of about 10 people spent the majority of the day setting up traffic cones and assembling trash cans around the park in preparation for Friday’s festivities. The workers were also working on making an enclosed area within the park. About five trucks full of fencing were parked along Walnut Avenue to help complete the task.

The trucks and the fences are just a small part of this year’s Mayfest overhaul. Over the past few years Mayfest has primarily been a partying event held on Euclid Avenue. This year, the event has become a university sanctioned event. After last year’s Mayfest on Euclid, Southeast University Neighborhood Association (SEUNA) and others decided they had seen enough. “We were very instrumental in getting it changed because it was a destruction of property and because of the problems that could arise because of the history,” said Harry Lewis, the Treasurer and former President of SEUNA. “Every year when something takes place it usually gets larger and larger.”

Mayfest 2010 at Walnut should be much less chaotic, with DPS on hand to prevent things from getting out of hand. Beer will be available to students who are 21 and over. Everyone will have to show a valid ID and students who are drinking will only be allowed to do so in the fenced-in area that workers were setting up earlier today. The students will also be limited to four beers. Students who arrive after 3 pm will only be allowed two beers.

(Photo is taken from http://emc.syr.edu/tour/new/45.html)

Local resident says Mayfest is like any other weekend

The location of Mayfest at Syracuse University has been changed from Euclid Ave. to Walnut Park this year. According to Harry Lewis of SEUNA (Southeast University Neighborhood Association), who lives on Lancaster Ave., the community's biggest problem with Mayfest is the destruction of property and the safety of the students and community.

Alecea Standlee, who lives right next to SU's South Campus, said that even though there are a lot of students partying off-campus during Mayfest, the same thing happens on a regular weekend at SU.

"I don't think theres much we can do about it," Standlee said "We live in a culture where partying is a part of college."

Standlee also said one of her biggest fears is accidentally hitting someone with her car at night because they are running in the street drunk. She said she thinks the University should take advantage of free or cheap taxi services so students can get home safely on the weekends.

Mayfest is this Friday and according to Harry Lewis there will be cops patrolling Euclid Avenue to make sure there is no one breaking any laws. Lewis said cops will be arresting anyone who breaks the law during Mayfest.

(Photo taken Mayfest 2009 by Alyssa Norwin)

Northern New York Hit Hard by Snow

Although Syracuse saw little snow Tuesday, nothing compared to the more than two feet of snow (right, from AOL News) which fell on northern New York and northern New England Wednesday.

At the peak of the snowstorm Wednesday morning, about 30,000 people were without power across Vermont, New Hampshire, and northern New York including the Adirondacks because of downed power lines.

The snow started to turn to rain early Wednesday afternoon and the weather is expected to hit 50 degrees in the region Thursday.