Wine Worries

February 12, 2009

One small section of Governor Paterson's budget has local store owners angry. A request to allow supermarkets and other stores selling beer to start selling wine is tucked away in the budget proposal. But liquor store owners have noticed and are concerned about losing business and even jobs.

In an effort to lobby against the proposition, a large group of liquor sellers from around the state formed the Last Store on Main Street coalition. Pascale's Liquor Square in Syracuse is a coalition member working to stop the move.

"If wine does go into grocery stores, because they are a chain, they have cooperative buying power," Pascale's co-manager Sean Gosch said. "They could buy large sums of wine and sell it at a cheaper price than we would be able to do."

While customers may be excited about the prospect of less expensive wine, The Last Store on Main Street contends it would hurt small business. The coalition says wine accounts for over 65 percent of liquor store sales. Gosch says employees will suffer if other stores start taking away his wine sales.

"People are going to lose their jobs if this happens, and we're trying to protect that," Gosch said.

Liquor stores are worried, but some area wineries want this part of the budget proposal passed. Mark Lebo, owner of Bear Pond Winery outside Oneonta, says that having wine available in more places will boost his business. Whether it will be at the expense of liquor stores remains to be seen. The budget is due by April 1.

Too Many Bars?

April 23, 2009

A new study shows theres a link in Syracuse between health problems and alcohol availability. The Syracuse Alcohol Environment Project mapped alcohol vendors and cases of violence, sexually transmitted diseases and drunk driving. The study found several neighborhoods have a high concentration of both these health indicators and alcohol sellers. The alcohol availability near schools was the most alarming part of the study to Onondaga County Health Commissioner Cynthia Morrow."There are many areas where alcohol vendors are concentrated within an eighth to a quarter of a mile from schools," she says.

Dr. Morrow also says she hopes the study's findings will be used to advocate policy change that will cap the number of alcohol vendors in high concentration areas. "Popular literature and the study support there is absolutely a link between these health problems and the availability of alcohol," she says.

The Syracuse Alcohol Environment Project was a collaboration between the Syracuse/Onondaga Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission and the Onondaga County Health Department.

Steve Kimatian announces candidacy for mayor of Syracuse

April 16, 2009

Add another name to the ballot for mayor of Syracuse. Central New York broadcasting executive Steve Kimatian announced his candidacy for mayor at the Renaissance hotel in downtown Syracuse. The 57-year-old Kimatian left his position as general counsel for Newport Television, a large media company that owns TV stations around the country, including Channel 9-WSYR in Syracuse.

Kimatian was also a regional vice president for Clear Channel Television for twelve years, and hosted his own interview show called “With Steve on Sunday,” during which he spoke with Central New York leaders. Kimatian believes he has the right combination of leadership and skills, and that his broadcast career has shown him how to be a good community leader.

“A television station gets into the community and does good things. Politicians are supposed to do good things, so there’s a common goal there,” he said.

Kimatian says the most important issues to him are the economy, education, and crime. If elected, he wants to raise the bar for all city government officials in Syracuse.

“Satisfactory is not satisfactory, and good enough is not good enough,” said Kimatian.

He will face off in the mayoral race against fellow Republican Otis Jennings, and Democrats Stephanie Miner, Alphonso Davis, and Joe Nicoletti.

Surprising Ticket Sales

April 9, 2009

Despite the suffering economy, ticket sales for Syracuse University's annual Block Party concert are up this year. Tickets to see featured performers Ben Folds and Guster went on sale to the general public two weeks ago, and the response has been surprising. "We've already sold 500 tickets to people outside the student population," says Executive Advisor of SU Concert Board Kyra Zeller. "And this is without any type of promotion like newspapers or radio ads. That's an incredible number that we didn't expect."
(photo credit Syracuse.com)
Tickets cost 25 dollars for people who aren't SU students. Zeller says the university has sold so many tickets this year for a number of reasons, one being that live music tends to be a recession proof industry. "People always want to be near famous people, and people love music,"she says. "These combine and make people willing to pay for concert tickets."

Zeller also says the Concert Board typically books rap or hip hop artists for the annual concert, and this year's alternative rock performers had a bigger appeal to the Central New York community.

Block Party will be held in the Carrier Dome on April 26th.

Fair Share Tax to bring money to Syracuse schools?

March 26, 2009

Two education advocacy groups in Syracuse met with the City School Board to figure out a method for creating revenue for city schools. With Governor David Paterson’s proposed $2.5 billion cut in education funding for the upcoming fiscal year, many schools in Syracuse will find themselves struggling for funds.

The Alliance for Quality Education and Citizen Action of New York sent representatives to ask Syracuse City Schools Superintendent Daniel Lowengard to plead with lawmakers in Albany for a new way to generate revenue. Their message: enact a Fair Share Tax Reform that would combine with federal stimulus money to create revenue.

Lowengard is well aware of the lack of funds for education in Syracuse. “23 million dollars was due to come to Syracuse this year, and instead what was first offered up was an $8 million cut, creating a big hole,” he said.

The Fair Share plan would generate $6 billion by raising income taxes for New Yorkers making over $250,000 a year. Everyone in attendance seemed to agree that this plan is the best way to get the schools the money they need, because education comes first.

“If we invest in our education and our kids, we save money in the long run. The more money we divert to other things, the more our kids suffer,” said Kim Rohadfox-Caesar, a member of the Syracuse City School Board.

Whether the reform will be approved or not remains to be seen, but Rohadfox-Caesar says that the response from Albany so far as been that Syracuse needs to get in line like everyone else.

Super Grocery Sales

January 29, 2009

When Super Bowl crowds descend on Tampa this weekend, the city expects an economic boost of around $300 million. But the Super Bowl is also helping the economy in Central New York.

More customers are shopping at the CVS convenience store on Marshall St. in Syracuse this week to prepare for Sunday's Super Bowl festivities. More at home parties are thrown for the Super Bowl than for any other annual event in the country, which means sales at stores like CVS.

"Usually there are special promos on soda and chips," CVS store manager Paul Thomas said. "So the sales go up, definitely".

Syracuse University student James Hallas was shopping at the store and said even with the bargains, the economy could cause his friends to buy less food this year.

"I'm sure with the current economic situation there will be a lot of students who don't buy as much as usual for the Super Bowl," Hallas predicted. "I'm banking on my friend having food at his house. But I'm sure that with (special pricing) grocery sales must go up."

Thomas says sales do go up. In fact, even without the Super Bowl, CVS' overall profits are on the rise. Thomas says its because he has a student customer base.

"Business is up since last year," Thomas said. "I guess students' parents have money, so the kids are always here to spend it. So we're doing good."

In an economic downturn, the CVS store on Marshall St. has remained profitable, and this week it's thanks to the Super Bowl. So when the game is over and all the food eaten, fans of the winning team won't be the only ones celebrating. Grocery store companies across the country will be cheering right along with them.

Paterson To Re-Introduce Same-Sex Marriage Bill

New York Governor David Paterson wants to reintroduce the Same-Sex Marriage Bill into the state, allowing gay couples to legally marry.

The bill was initially introduced into the Assembly two years ago by former Governor, Eliot Spitzer, but denied in the Senate. Even with the same strong opposition, Paterson wants to give it another try.

Here in Syracuse, Michael Weinberg, a gay-rights organization leader, thinks this is a dangerous move for Paterson. “It brings out a lot of protestors and it hurts chances of re-election,” Weinberg said. “It’s certainly not a move for a politician to make if he’s worried about his popularity.”

In a Quinnipiac University poll done last week, only 41 percent of New Yorkers are in favor of same-sex marriage. With statistics like these, Weinberg fully supports Paterson’s efforts, but thinks the gay movement needs more time. “I think it’s very important for gay people to be honest about who they are,” Weinberg said. “A lot of people go through life saying, ‘well, these issues don’t affect me because I don’t know any gay people,’ when in fact they do.”

The bill would allow for legal marriages between gay couples in the state of New York, something only done by Vermont, Iowa, Massachusetts and Connecticut so far. Weinberg, however, doesn’t think the bill would have any influence on his life because the rights enjoyed by married couples come from the federal level. “On a state level," said Weinberg, "legislation like this is almost symbolic rather than real."