thursday, feb. 13, 2025
celebrating 121 years
free
city
Shaped by Service Andrea-Rose Oates, SU junior and founder of Girlz Rize, received the Unsung Hero Award recognizing her advocacy for girls’ education
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By Delia Rangel
asst. news editor
fter founding the nonprofit Girlz Rize as a 13-year-old, Andrea-Rose Oates organized a book drive, collecting and donating more than 100 books to her local YMCA. But as an eighth-grader, she worried the children she was helping might prefer toys over a book. To her surprise, the children treated her like she was Santa Claus. From the entire experience, Oates recalled one moment in particular: a 7-year-old boy beaming at her with excitement and telling her he had never owned a book before.
oates page 7
andrea-rose oates, founder of Girlz Rize, received the Unsung Hero Award at Syracuse University for her community service and advocacy for girls’ education. She has made an impact empowering girls worldwide. ella chan asst. photo editor
Lead report calls for state of emergency By Duncan Green news editor
Families for Lead Freedom Now is demanding Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh declare a state of emergency following a report by Safe Water Engineering LLC that found water sampling data across the city to be inaccurate and underestimate the impact of lead in the city. The report found the Syracuse Water Department has recorded exceedances in drinking water lead levels during three consecutive testing periods. Following tests in 2023 that found 26.8 lead parts per billion — almost double the level requiring government action — subsequent findings reported significant decreases, with 15.8 ppb and 17.8 ppb respectively in two different testing periods in 2024. Elin Betanzo, president of SWE and author of the report, alleged the city has either mismanaged or diluted results since Syracuse’s first reading in 2023. Betanzo, who was active in combating the Flint Water Crisis, said only 52% of the 265 buildings tested for lead in 2024 were registered as Tier 1 homes — family homes with a confirmed history of lead presence. “This report confirms what Syracuse residents have feared,” FLFN Co-Chair Oceana Fair said. “The quality of our drinking water is indeed a cause for concern. The findings highlight four critical areas the city of Syracuse has minimized, misled, misrepresented and avoided addressing the issue right before them.” Fair said many of the city’s remaining houses sampled in 2024 didn’t qualify as Tier 1, with some later found to contain pipes with no traces of lead. The Lead and Copper Rule requires all Tier 1 homes to be sampled within a 24-hours of discovering the contamination. With almost half of the city’s most recent data excluding homes that showed record levels of lead less than two years ago, according to the report, Fair demanded city officials recognize the “diluted” 2024 samples as inaccurate. “Testing non-Tier 1 homes provides a misleading picture of the lead contamination issue,” Fair said. “The gaps in information have thus far provided no reason for the community members to have confidence in assurances made by water utility officials.” Even with the allegedly inaccurate results the city reported in 2024, both figures still remain over the 15 ppb threshold the EPA labels as requiring public water supplier action. Maurice Brown, Onondaga County’s 15th district legislator, called on Walsh and city government to take initiative in accelerating the removal of lead pipes in the city. He said it’s the responsibility of Syracuse officials — not the county or state — to lead the charge. Brown also encouraged the city to prioritize re-testing buildings that have see report page 7