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Helping Hounds visits Plank Road Quilt Guild Unanswered questions Special guests Landry and Donny from Helping Hounds Dog Rescue visited Plank Road Quilt Guild On Wednesday, June 12. Volunteers from Helping Hounds, Janet Kaido and Jennifer Grimsley brought the pups to greet the members and explain about their mission. Kaido explained that Helping Hounds Dog Rescue started small in a Dewitt location but outgrew the facility quickly. Now located in a 9,000 square foot building on Taft Road, it houses rescue dogs ready for adoption. Many dogs are rescued from Texas and Mississippi and are saved from euthanization. The organization also takes in local dogs from owners who are no longer able to take care of them. There are many ages of dogs at Helping Hounds from puppies to senior dogs ready to be adopted into their forever homes. The dogs are constantly changing, some being adopted within days. See Helping Hounds
Planning board scrutinizes American High’s academic status By Russ Tarby Contributing Writer
Submitted photos
Landry from Helping Hounds Dog Rescue is pictured above with Deb Libera from Plank Road Quilt Guild. Facebook page for a live feed of the unloading of a fresh batch of rescued dogs. And see their webpage for more informa-
tion about adopting one of these precious animals, volunteering and donations. helpinghoundsdogrescue.org. For more
information about Plank Road Quilt Guild, visit plankroadquiltguild.org or on Facebook.
Town of Salina begins comprehensive plan process By Anna Edwards
The Town of Salina is beginning its first comprehensive plan. The goal is to create a vision for town and community development. According to the New York State Department of State, a comprehensive plan addresses policies and objectives for the development of the community. It looks at demographic, population and socio-economic trends to identify needs and goals. It also looks at transportation, housing and infrastructure for the town’s needs. Comprehensive plans are not legally binding. New York Town Law §272-a gives towns the legislative authority to adopt comprehensive plans and regulate land use in order to protect public safety, health and welfare. The town hosted its first community open house regarding the comprehensive plan on June 24 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Town of Salina court house. The meeting was open to the public and gave residents the opportunity to learn more about the process and provide their ideas for the town and concerns for the future. The Town of Salina plans to give
community members the opportunity to share their ideas throughout the process. Meetings will be held throughout 2024 to gauge the opinions of residents and business owners. The meetings will aim to create goals for the comprehensive plan. A draft of the plan will be put up for public review and adoption by the town board in 2025. The comprehensive planning process is expected to be completed in the fall of 2025. “By the beginning of next year is when we’re expecting the comprehensive plan to be finished and presented to the public,” said Town Supervisor Nick Paro. The plan is being led by a steering committee which was established earlier in 2024. Committee members were approved by the town board. Steering committee meetings are open to the public. “Eight out of the nine members are residents of the town that are from various areas in the town, and then one of the members is a town board member,” said Paro said. At the open house, community members learned more about the steering committee and the comprehensive planning process. Preliminary findings and a data analy-
sis of the town’s demographics and population were presented. Salina has seen a small population decline in the last 20 years and its population is older than those of Onondaga County and New York State. However, the median age is increasing at a slightly slower rate than the county or the state, indicating that Salina may be in a transitional period where younger families are moving in. The town’s racial and ethnic diversity is lower than that of the county and state, and so is its median household income. It has a low vacancy rate and a high rate of owner occupied housing. Salina also has a high labor force participation rate. Its unemployment rate is down from 2010 but showed a larger increase after the pandemic than other villages in the county. The steering committee will now use informationfromthepreliminaryanalysis combined with feedback from the open house to form ideas. Once they have made their decisions, they will refine their plan and present it to the public once again. More information can be found at salina.ny.us/community/comprehensive_plan.php.
Liverpool election correction, outcome unchanged By Russ Tarby Contributing Writer
In our report on the results of the June 18 village election which ran in last week’s editions, the vote totals were all incorrect. The numbers had been gathered on election night from an administrative as-
sistant at the Onondaga County Board of Elections, who stipulated that those results were “unofficial.” On June 28, the BOE provided updated official results which also included absentee votes. Village voters chose to switch the annual village election from mid-June to
early-November by a vote of 300 to 196. So next year’s village election will be scheduled on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. This year, two Republican trustees – Matt Devendorf and Michael LaMontagne – ran unopposed for re-election. So did Village
Justice Anthony LaValle, also a Republican. The BOE reported last week that LaValle tallied 368 votes, while Devendorf drew 311 and LaMontagne 294. Thirty write-in votes were cast for judge, and 57 write-in votes were cast for trustee.
At its monthly meeting on the evening of Monday, June 24, the village of Liverpool planning board conducted a public hearing regarding the status of American High’s Academy at Syracuse Studios. Representatives from American High at the former Liverpool High School building at 800 Fourth St. attended the meeting. American High’s director of operations, Heath Cottingem, and academy fundraiser Andie Schlenker answered questions about their policy allowing various community groups to use the historic building at 800 Fourth St. They reported that several such groups have been welcomed to use the facility, including a basketball league, a church, a dogtraining class and Encore Youth Productions, a theater company. Encore pays rent of $18,000 annually and the others are charged for expenses. Planning board members asked for a complete list of participating community groups and the rents they pay to American High. Encore Youth Productions Executive Director Amy Nickels also attended the June 24 meeting and described her company’s activities there. Board members quizzed the American High representatives about the academy’s enrollment figures and its affiliation with local colleges. Board Chairman Bob Bradt explained that they need details about the academy’s students and proof that they’re receiving college credits. About a half-dozen neighbors spoke at the public hearing as American High l Page 11
Ryan defeats Drumm
Geddes Democrat will face Republican Nick Paro in November By Russ Tarby Contributing Writer Ever since he won re-election as Salina Town Supervisor last November, Republican Nick Paro has set his sights on the 50th District State Senate seat vacated by Democrat John Mannion. For the last eight months, however, he didn’t know who he’d be running against in November. Now he knows. In the June 25 primary, the district’s Democrat voters chose Onondaga County Legislature Minority Leader Chris Ryan over former Oswego County Minority Leader Tom Drumm in the June 25 primary. Initial results showed Ryan drawing 59 percent of the votes, while Drumm drew 41 percent. Paro countered Ryan’s good news with some good news of his own, issuing a long list of 111 endorsements he has received from area office-holders. While both Ryan and Paro are from Onondaga County, Paro thinks he remains strong up in Oswego County. Paro has been endorsed by every countywide elected official in Oswego County besides the district attorney and county judges who are not legally allowed to endorse candidates. On June 25, Oswego County Clerk Terry Wilbur, Sheriff Don Hilton, County Treasurer Kevin Gardner and County Legislature Chairman Jim Weatherup all officially announced their endorsements. Paro is endorsed by 23 of 25 members of the Oswego County Legislature. Also supporting Paro are Congressman Brandon Williams, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney and local officials such as 4th District County Legislator Colleen Gunnip and Liverpool Village Trustee Matt Devendorf. Drumm conceded the primary election last week and said he will give Ryan his total support in the general election. Ryan, 51, is a Verizon employee and the president of Local 1123 of the Communications Workers of America for more than a decade. Ryan has also served multiple terms on the Geddes Town Board. In the November election Ryan will run on two lines: Democrat and Working Families. Paro, 33, will also appear on two party lines, Republican and Conservative. The 50th Senate District includes the towns of Clay, Cicero, Camillus, Manlius, DeWitt, Geddes and Salina in Onondaga County and Fulton and Oswego in Oswego County. Mannion is running for Congress this year against Williams instead of seeking re-election to the state legislature.
Volume 131, Number 27 The Star-Review is published weekly by Eagle News. Office of Publication: 2501 James St., Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13206. Periodical Postage Paid at Syracuse, NY 13220, USPS 316060. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Star-Review, 2501 James St., Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13206.
obituaries: E. Clyde Ohl, former county legislator, dies at 94.
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sports: Shumpert named Liverpool boys basketball head coach.
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A&E ��������������������������� 2,12 DEATH NOTICes ��������� 10 Editorial ��������������������� 4 history ������������������������ 5
milestones ����������������� 5 Obituaries ������������� 3,10 PennySaver ���������������� 6 sports ����������������������� 12