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The human robot exists
By Hailey Clark
December 2, 2016 - 3:54pm
Ryan Gaus, an 18-year-old from Baldwinsville, is a tech genius who builds code, produces apps, and much more.

Trick or treating has become a digital event with the invention of the app, Crowd Candy. Not only can the users of the app vote on how well the candy selection is at neighborhood houses, but they can vote on how wicked they are, too. Creator of Crowd Candy, Ryan Gaus, an 18 year old from Baldwinsville produced the app at the fall hackathon event in 2013.

Paramedic demonstrates the art of saving others
By Meera Jagannathan
November 13, 2012 - 7:10pm
Lon Fricano shares the rush he gets from responding to emergency calls for nearly 50 years.

Lon Fricano, 64, has been shot at twice. He’s been in burning buildings and almost gotten stabbed. He’s been chased by street gangs and attacked with baseball bats. Recently, he fought alongside six firemen, three police officers and two ambulance crews to subdue a person violently high on the drug known as “bath salts."

A self-described “adrenaline junkie,” the veteran paramedic said he loves the rush.

“It’s like being high, really,” he said.

Bath salts expert explains the motivations behind her work
By Meera Jagannathan
September 29, 2012 - 9:49pm
Clinical psychologist Elizabeth Berry shares what makes her tick: spending time with family, helping patients and always learning something new.

Her formal title is Dr. Elizabeth Berry, Ph.D., but she calls herself the "Bath Salts Queen."

Berry, a 60-year-old chemical dependency treatment specialist at Crouse Hospital, changes the lyrics to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” when she sings it to herself. “Whenever I put in ‘Bath Salts Queen,’ it makes me laugh,” she said. This is a lighter moment in Berry’s dedication to educating the community about dangerous drugs.

Pagan community leader organizes local festival, promotes tolerance
By Megan Paolone
September 17, 2012 - 12:31pm
Local software developer and pagan Kurt Hohmann coordinates the Central New York Pagan Pride Festival each year to educate the community about the faith.

The phrase “Born Again Pagan” steered Kurt Hohmann on to a new path in his life’s journey about 20 years ago.

After seeing the words emblazoned on a bumper sticker in Salem, Mass. on a trip with his wife, Hohmann decided to do a little exploring.

“I’d obviously heard the term ‘pagan’ before, but I was like, ‘Who would put that on their car and why?’” Hohmann, now 48 and the local coordinator of the Central New York Pagan Pride Festival, said.