The Debrief Podcast

The Addiction Center estimates that nearly 21 million Americans suffer from some form of addiction. Yet only 10% of them receive treatment. Since 1990 overdose deaths have more than tripled; and between 1999 and 2017 more than 700,000 Americans died from overdosing on a drug. Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services or CARS is working to change that. They use evidence-based techniques in the Tompkins Co...

The Addiction Center estimates that nearly 21 million Americans suffer from some form of addiction. Yet only 10% of them receive treatment. Since 1990 overdose deaths have more than tripled; and between 1999 and 2017 more than 700,000 Americans died from overdosing on a drug. Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services or CARS is working to change that. They use evidence-based techniques in the Tompkins Co...

Jack Marren serves as Victor Town Supervisor and Chairman of the Ontario County Board of Supervisors. He's also the President of the New York State Association of Counties. We wanted to catch up with him to talk about how Ontario County approached the budget process, and what the game plan is for 2021. He says that a tax hike is not imminent, and while he's hopeful that there will be some form of...

Last week Dr. Gregory Heeb from Newark-Wayne Community Hospital became one of the first in the region to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. That vaccine, while politicized throughout the pandemic, is viewed as one of the few instruments that can get the U.S. population to the other side of the pandemic. At this point, frontline healthcare workers and nursing home residents and staff have received the v...

Chris Lavin is the executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Geneva. He has watched the need in- and around- his community grow. The pandemic has caused a surge in need, which has resulted in the club stepping up to fill the need. Food access is a huge problem in the city of Geneva; and today we talk with Chris about the work being done by the Boys & Girls Club to feed Genevans.

There are a number of events taking place in early-2021 at the Montezuma Audubon Center in Wayne County, but for the last couple weeks of 2020. But first, Chris Lajewski, director of the Montezuma Audubon Center was in-studio ahead of the holiday weekend to talk about the ways the center is planning for 2021. They are hopeful that people who care deeply about wildlife in the Finger Lakes and Upsta...

What are counties in the Finger Lakes and Central New York most looking for over the next several weeks and months, as New York State and Congress mulls over additional pandemic relief? This week a new $1 trillion relief package was signed, but there isn't any new funding for municipalities, which Governor Andrew Cuomo says face steep cuts if Congress doesn't act. Cayuga County Legislature Chairpe...

Today on the show a look at how one county in the Finger Lakes took a unified approach to dealing with the Coronavirus Pandemic. Obviously, the public health crisis effected everything from small businesses, to schools, and local government. The One Seneca initiative was built for this moment bringing together all of the players involved in decision-making in Seneca County. This episode is an excl...

It's all about the salt. Salt is a major business in Upstate New York and the Finger Lakes region. The news that New York would study the effects of road salt on the environment came within days of a mine collapse at a Cargill facility. Now, there are new calls for Cargill to cease mining under Cayuga Lake. Cargill employs 200 people in Lansing, and for its own stake is one of the two largest, pri...

It's all about the salt. Last week Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill that calls for a “salt reduction task force” to analyze the state’s aggressive practices of salting roads. The study comes in response to new data that links road salting to troubling rises in sodium and chloride in Adirondack Park water wells. Believe it or not, though, road salt is oddly political. The task force wil...

This week we’re catching up with Steve Keeler, Division Chair of the School of Media & Arts at Cayuga Community College about the state- and future of journalism. There were a number of topics we wanted to explore with him. So rather than impose a 40-minute episode on anyone -- we opted to break it up. This three-part episode explores the changing landscape of journalism -- including a new pla...

This week we’re catching up with Steve Keeler, Division Chair of the School of Media & Arts at Cayuga Community College about the state- and future of journalism. There were a number of topics we wanted to explore with him. So rather than impose a 40-minute episode on anyone -- we opted to break it up. This three-part episode explores the changing landscape of journalism -- including a new pla...

This week we’re catching up with Steve Keeler, Division Chair of the School of Media & Arts at Cayuga Community College about the state- and future of journalism. There were a number of topics we wanted to explore with him. So rather than impose a 40-minute episode on anyone -- we opted to break it up. This three-part episode explores the changing landscape of journalism -- including a new pla...

Seasonal depression, also known as seasonal affective disorder or the "winter blues," is a subtype of depression or bipolar disorder that occurs and ends around the same time every year. The days are short, the skies are often gray, and winter can be tough for some in the Northeast. Dr. Dawn Gonsalves of MVP Health Care says that winter can be tough for a lot of people - even during a 'normal year...

Are we about to see everything change again in New York? Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to announce new restrictions on businesses like restaurants and bars. Could the region be turned into one large orange or red zone? Both of those questions loom as businesses and people sit on the brink. Today on a special edition of The Weekend Debrief – Josh Durso and Ted Baker discuss what’s coming, what’...

Cities have been Bill Fulton's life. The Auburn native now serves as the Director of the Kinder Institute at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He's also served as the Mayor of Ventura, California; and Director of Planning for the City of San Diego. From a young age, growing up in Auburn with civically engaged parents - it was pretty evident to others that Bill would find a way to incorporate that...

Over the weekend the Wayne County Health Department announced a free drive-thru COVID-19 testing clinic to be held at the Lyons Bus Garage on Clyde Road. It took around 24 hours for it to fill up, according to Ryan Mulhern, who serves as public health educator and public information officer for Wayne County Public Health. The clinic took much longer to put together. "You have to find a site, capab...

There has been a lot of bad news about the Coronavirus Pandemic in recent weeks. It's the holiday season, and ordinarily, this is when businesses - big and small - are ramping things up. On Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo expressed optimism about data that shows COVID transmission is happening less in public places - like stores, gyms, and restaurants. He says that's because safeguards are in pla...

One day after we talked with Auburn Enlarged City School District Superintendent Jeff Pirozzolo about the return to class after the Thanksgiving break, he informed families that the junior high would be fully-remote through Tuesday, December 8th. The cause? Contact tracing on two staff members that tested positive for COVID-19 resulted in dozens of students and a few teachers to be placed into man...

This week it's all about COVID-19 and how that's impacting people's Thanksgiving celebrations. Josh Durso and Ted Baker discuss the biggest headlines of the last week in a special evening edition of The Weekend Debrief.

This week Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that parts of Rochester and Syracuse would enter Orange Zone designation . It’s part of New York State’s Coronavirus micro-cluster mitigation strategy. It means focusing economic restrictions -- like pausing non-essential business activity -- to specific zip codes. For example, reducing the number of people who can be seated at a restaurant table in a yell...

As Thanksgiving approaches all eyes are on the regional situation, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to play out at full-speed. Governor Andrew Cuomo got into a verbal spat with reporters on Wednesday -- prompting criticism in some circles. He hammered on law enforcement around the state who say they will not enforce private gathering restrictions imposed by New York State. This week Josh Durso a...

Are ads following you around on the internet? The short answer is 'yes', but it's a little more complex than that. Every day we search, post, purchase, and tweet our way around the internet -- data is being collected. Here at FingerLakes1.com, since we're a free service -- ads served by Google are a primary source of revenue to keep our operation moving forward. But how do all of those ads work ac...

Get outdoors even if it's cold. Montezuma Audubon Center Director Chris Lajewski says the months of November and December are offer prime viewing at the Wetlands Complex in Wayne County. Smaller crowds, less people hiking paths, and even more to see. "The leaves are off the trees, so it's a great time to see things that otherwise wouldn't be visible during the spring, summer, and fall," he said du...

This week Peter Mantius - founder and editor of The Water Front Online - brought us a story focused on the status of Greenidge Generation, and it's impact on the local environment. Specifically, how has Greenidge's expansion into bitcoin mining impacted the health of Seneca Lake? For months activists have been raising the caution flag, urging local officials and the DEC to do their due diligence....