Off Campus: Multimedia Belt

Apple-picking season is ripe in Central New York
By Vekonda Luangaphay
September 18, 2013 - 9:38am
With fall in full swing, some CNY apple growers suggest that consumers plan apple-picking visits based on his or her favorite apple.

Apple season has arrived, and in Central New York, the apple-picking experience won’t be one of disappointment – apple growers have been preparing all year to make sure pickers receive the taste he or she expects.

The apple-picking season runs from mid-August to mid-October. Apple growers suggest that pickers plan a visit based on their favorite type of apple.

“People still think all of the apples are ready on one day and think they could come anytime and get their favorite variety, but you can’t,” said Warren Abbott, an apple grower at Abbott Farms.

Syracuse artists show off style at the Westcott Street Cultural Fair
By Nick Canedo
September 16, 2013 - 8:53am
Thousands turned out to experience the multi-cultural offerings of the Westcott Street Cultural Fair, which is celebrating its 22nd year.

The Westcott neighborhood has one day a year to show Central New York just how great a place it is to live, work, shop and play. On Sept. 15, the neighborhood did just that.

Thousands of people attended this year’s Westcott Street Cultural Fair, which is in its 22nd year. The one-day celebration of the diverse and unique Westcott neighborhood continued the fair’s tradition of showcasing the culture, visual and performing arts, food, service organizations and activities that occur in Syracuse.

Mural artist brings life back to a piece of Syracuse history
By Miriam Taylor
September 4, 2013 - 7:32am
Kelly Curry restores the Columbus Circle painting with energy, spirit and artistic ability discovered later in life.

Kelly Curry didn’t pick up a paintbrush until she was 36.

But to look at her now, at 48, you wouldn’t know it. On break from restoring a mural in downtown Syracuse on a Monday in early August, she pushed her red shades past tattooed ears and squinted. Her blond hair was pulled back in a low ponytail and a plaid cap kept the sun off her tan face. Her jeans, tank top and Vans were splattered with paint and her nails, long for an artist, were discolored from years of being coated with oil and turpentine.

Fair's Dairy Birthing Center offers unique learning experience
By Will Norris
September 3, 2013 - 5:41pm
The newly-installed Dairy Birthing Center at the New York State Fair saw a crowd of over 5,000 people on its busiest day.

The chance to see a cow give birth drew thousands of spectators to the New York State Fair Dairy Birthing Center this past week. Organizers estimate that some of the fair’s busiest days saw over 5,000 people lining fences and sitting on metal bleachers with the hopes of seeing a calf delivered. 

Every day, three to four cows – only hours away from giving birth – were brought into the fair from local farms, according to herd manager and host of the birthing center Jason Fetzer.

Obama promotes higher education reform in speech at Henninger High School
By Tyler Greenawalt
August 22, 2013 - 10:05pm
President spoke to Syracuse residents Thursday about his proposal to make college education more affordable for the middle class.

On a rainy Thursday evening at a packed Henninger High School, President Barack Obama spoke to Syracuse residents as part of his two-day bus tour through New York and Pennsylvania.

The president's tour has focused on his proposed legislation to make high education more affordable. He came to Syracuse, he said, because of programs like Say Yes to Education, which provides free college tuition for students in the Syracuse City School District.

The legendary bakery on Syracuse's Northside
By Gina Marie Lazara
July 23, 2013 - 3:08pm
For 116 years, Syracuse's Columbus Bakery has tried to remain true to the traditions of making Italian bread.

Italian bread isn't the only thing the Columbus Bakery has served up for more than a century.

To the owner of the legendary Northside Syracuse establishment, the bakery offers authenticity and international flair.

"It's 116 years old; I want it to look 116 years old," Jimmy Retzos said. "It's an old throw back era."

Retzos has purposely kept Columbus' same four basic ingredients -- water, flour, yeast and salt -- in use since bread was first baking there in 1897.

Guerrilla acts of kindness on the streets of Syracuse
By Liz McInerney
July 9, 2013 - 7:42pm
The American Bear project encouraged locals to share random acts of kindness with strangers on the streets.

“You have a beautiful smile; it just lit up my day. Thank you for that,” read a sticky note that Peter Espenson gave to a stranger on James Street this past Saturday evening.

The recipient was taken aback at first, but tentatively took the note, read it, and smiled more broadly.

Espenson accepted her thanks with a nod and carried on his way. After all, he was on a mission: he had more notes to pass out and more strangers to make smile that day.

Connective Corridor sets sights on expansion
By Fred Omar Imbert
June 13, 2013 - 1:29am
A $45 million phase of the initiative to connect SU's campus with downtown Syracuse starts this summer with a target Fall 2015 completion date.

Summer is here and that means construction season has kicked off once again at the seemingly desolate Syracuse University campus.

Graduation has sent the Class of 2013 into new jobs and opportunities, while many undergraduates have returned home.

The SU Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development is looking to take advantage of this quiet period to launch the recently announced phases two and three of the Connective Corridor.

From classroom to lakefront: the story of Onondaga Lake
By Gwendolyn Craig
May 10, 2013 - 2:28pm
Students at Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF recount the history of Onondaga Lake through puppets, poetry, music and art.

Geoffrey Navias tends to have a deadpan expression most of the time. But when he dons a mask or works with a puppet, his movements bring the character to life.

“Creative art is a lie,” the artistic director of Open Hand Theater told a room full of Syracuse University and State University of New York Environmental Science and Forestry students on a recent Saturday morning in The Warehouse downtown.  “It’s a lie. It’s not really here. 

SUNY-ESF taxidermy collection brings animal specimens back to life
By Kerry Wolfe
May 2, 2013 - 4:28pm
In a SUNY-ESF classroom lies the Roosevelt Wildlife Collection, an assortment of 10,000 stuffed animal specimens that educate and inspire students to add their own finds to the collection.

Remove the skin from the body. That is what Tiffany Dellaventura, a senior conservation biology major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, will do with the two baby raccoon carcasses she just pulled out of her backpack. She will pay careful attention when skinning their faces, because the face draws the most attention from viewers.