A Day for Pasta and Politics

November 13, 2008
By Noel Aliseo

There are never too many cooks at the kitchen or politicians at the table during the annual Election Day Spaghetti Supper at the Our Lady of Pompeii Parish in downtown Syracuse.

Lucy Paris is a parishioner of Our Lady of Pompeii and one of the event organizers. She says after fifty-nine years, this fundraiser has become a Syracuse Election Day tradition that draws a big crowd. In order to feed over two thousand people that attend the event, volunteers came together to prep 7,000 meatballs, 300 gallons of sauce, and 640 pounds of pasta during the weeks leading up to the big day.

She believes so many people enjoy coming here every year because of the good food and unbiased ground, “It's both parties, its not just one or the other, its neutral territory here on Election Day and everyone really enjoys it!”

Father Paul of Our Lady of Pompeii is at the supper greeting everyone at the door. He agrees with Paris, “When your down here your not democratic, your not republican, you are Pompeian, and everybody gets together to have a good time and laugh and reminisce and to me there is no better time to do that!”

Ava Shapero Raphael is the republican nominee for Surrogate Court Judge. She says coming to the spaghetti supper is special because it represents an end of campaigning and a time to celebrate everyone's hard work. “Right now it's just saying thank you to everyone who has supported me and just enjoying today, the beautiful weather, and hoping everyone gets out to vote.”

But with thousands of voters attending the supper, some politicians say campaigning is not over until it is over. Christina Fadden Fitch is a local candidate for state representative. “I'm still campaigning right up to the last minute trying to get votes.” However, Fitch says it is not the kind of campaigning that goes on during the weeks leading up to Election Day, “I call this kind of campaigning just being visible and showing the community that you care.”

Dale Sweetland, the candidate for the 25th district congressional seat, agrees and says you may get a dash of politics with your pasta. “There's probably a little bit of campaigning going on, it goes on all day so there's a little touch of campaign.”

Neutral ground or not, the event is for a good cause. All proceeds go to the Our Lady of Pompeii School. Tickets cost $7 dollars for adults, $6 dollars for seniors, and $5 dollars for children ages 5 to 10. Tino Porrino, a volunteer at the supper, says the supper raised over twelve-thousand dollars last year. This year, volunteers are expecting to make more money for the school because it is a presidential election year.

Photo from Syracuse.com

Young Voters Working Local

November 13, 2008
By Torie Wells

Many students attending Syracuse University don't live in the city. Most don't live in the county, or even the state. But on Tuesday night, the College Republicans focused more on Syracuse candidate Dale Sweetland than candidates in their home states, or even the race for the presidency.

“There's a saying that all politics is local, and that your local representatives will affect your living conditions more than the president,” said Paul Alberry. He's the liaison between the campus group and the Sweetland campaign.

Sweetland, Democrat Dan Maffei and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins were all vying for the 25th Congressional seat being vacated by retiring Republican James Walsh. Walsh held the seat for 20 years.

But it wasn't just the importance of supporting a local candidate that drove College Republicans to work for Sweetland, it was also a matter of where their work could have the biggest effect.
“New York is a lost cause for us. Obama will win no matter what,” said Alberry, “and with a local race that's so contested, it could go either way. It's very important for our Republican side to help out and get Sweetland elected.”

But what Republicans expected to be a highly contested race turned into a landslide win by Sweetland's Democratic opponent, Dan Maffei. Maffei won by about 15 percentage points.
Part of the loss stemmed from the fact that College Republicans are not the majority of young voters said members of the Onondaga county Republican party.

“It's always about working the cycle and appealing to younger voters and getting them out. And teaching them what our point of view is and that it is a common sense point of view and if they listen to it, they will appreciate it," said Matt Wells. Wells is a member of the County's Republican Party. He also worked on the Sweetland campaign.

After a disappointing loss at a local and national level, Wells said the party has to just re-group and move forward.

Moving forward is what the College Republicans plan to do as well. They are now focusing on upcoming events on campus, specifically an effort to bring Karl Rove to Syracuse University.

Picture from Syracuse.com

Residents Disappointed in Sweetland's Hometown

November 13, 2008

By Rosanne Salvatore

It's hard to find a soul in the Village of Fabius who isn't a friend of, or somehow connected to, Republican Dale Sweetland. Sweetland ran and lost last night against Dan Maffei for the 25th District Congressional Seat.

In Fabius, residents say that they are disappointed that Sweetland was not victorious because he is a true representation of his hometown.

Sweetland owned and operated a dairy farm in Fabius for most of his life, only giving up his family business to pursue politics.

“Dale is a farmer, Dale's father was a farmer, and they're good people,” says Victor Luche, a good friend of Sweetland's and Fabius native.

Nicole Wilbur, a childhood friend of Sweetland's, could not say enough about how good of a guy he is. “We like what he stands for, he listens to you. Not many many people sit there and listen to you.”

Sweetland represents the local farmer and these old friends will never forget that. “When someone from this area doesn't win, we feel it- we don't get the funding,” says Wilbur.

In Fabius, there is an air of concern that Maffei does not truly understand the needs of people who live on the outskirts of the Syracuse City. “I guess I don't know enough about Maffei, but I'll be finding out,” says Luche. He is unsure just how much of an effect Maffei's win will have on his daily life.

Despite personal relationships with this candidate, one real concern trumped the rest - money. The overall picture presented by Fabius residents is that Sweetland was not a politician his whole life, which is why he did not have the amount of money for his campaign that Maffei did. “He's basically a poor rural guy who competed against someone with a lot of money, so they got out a little further,” says Kevin Way, a local dairy farmer.

No matter how long residents talked about their adoration of Sweetland's character, the conversation always turned back to campaign money. “Maffei had run and lost before, so he had a little treasure chest. Sweetland couldn't start fundraising until after he was nominated by the Republican Party,” says Ann DeMord. Luche also felt that money was one of Maffei's biggest assets, driving his campaign. “I know the man came up with an enormous amount of money to take this seat. I'm not sure that's a good thing.”

In Fabius, people were not as concerned about where Sweetland will go from here. “This was a tough blow for Dale, as it'd be for anyone,” Luche continued. But his good friend knows that Sweetland will bounce back.

All pictures from Poststandard.com

Police Identify Columbus Ave. Homicide Victim

November 13, 2008

By Boris Sanchez

Syracuse police have identified the body of a homicide victim killed in a shooting last night. Officers found Khalic Pitts, 32, on the corner of Columbus and Lexington Avenue after responding to a "shots fired" call around 9 PM. Pitts, who was a resident of 210 Palmer Ave., was rushed to University Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Police have made no arrests in relation to the shooting and say that so far, they have no witnesses.

But, many residents, like Naima, who lives on the corner of Columbus and Lexington, were awake at the time of the shooting. Naima said she heard three shots outside her window at about 8:45 PM and she “immediately hit the ground and took cover.” After a few minutes, she says she glanced outside her window and saw a man lying face down on the ground, but didn't see anyone near him.

Others like Joe, the owner of Lexington Market, heard the shots, too. Lexington Market is located down the street from the shooting, but Joe says he saw a number of men walking away from the area after he heard shots fired. He adds that a few minutes before he heard the shots, he saw a number of police cruisers driving nearby. He adds that he's upset someone was shot despite police being in the area.

“It's a damn shame,” Joe says. “They could've spared his life.”

Another nearby resident, Deidra McCollum, said she heard the shots, but paid little attention to the commotion outside. McCollum has lived on Lexington Ave. three years and she says that violence in the neighborhood is something she's grown accustomed to.

“Every couple of months they're shooting. They're always shooting. Every time I turn around, they're shooting. With the drugs and them fighting over this and that - It just makes it harder to raise your kids on this block,” she said.

Deidra is the mother of an 8-year-old boy and she says that he's the reason she hopes to move out of the neighborhood early next year.

This is the 17th homicide in Syracuse this year. Police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to come forward confidentially by calling their hotline at 315-442-5222.

Democrat Takes 25th Congressional Seat

November 13, 2008
By Deborah Findling

After over 30 years of Republicans in office, Dan Maffei is the first Democrat to take the 25th New York congressional district seat in a long time. It's big news here in Syracuse and nationally where Barrack Obama, another Democratic party candidate has just won the U.S Presidency after two terms of a Republican candidate.

In times of economic concerns, trends show that constituents vote Democrat and in times of national security concerns, constituents vote Republican. While these trends are common, we went out into the community to find out for ourselves what made voters switch.

Many people we ran across voted Democratic across the board and were concerned with the Republican party in general. However, those that were aware of the politics within this congressional district remembered Maffei's name from the ballot when he ran against Jim Walsh two years ago. His loss was only by a slim margin of almost 4,000 votes and many voters outside the polls on election day told us, they voted for him as they did not recognize Dale Sweetland's name.

Last week, right up until the election night, candidates vied to prove that they were the better candidate. A November 3rd debate scheduled the night before the election with Dale Sweetland, Dan Maffei and Howie Hawkins would be missing one important person: winner Dan Maffei. We spoke to Maffei's campaign last Tuesday about this and press secretary Abigail Gardner explained that Maffei's campaign found it more important to go door to door the night before elections.

When we spoke to Travis Glazier, campaign director for Dale Sweetlands campaign however, it was a very different story. "In terms of the debate, they wanted a half hour for each individual candidate," Glazier explained, after their demands were not met back in August, they pulled out of the debate and chose to campaign instead in Wayne County. This seemed odd to Glazier the night before elections, a night he says is usually one where nothing else can be done and Jim Wreath's sit down, town hall style forum is a welcome sigh of relief.

Whether opting out of the debate was a strategic move to get what the campaign wanted or a last minute attempt to garner votes, ultimately Dan Maffei was named winner on November 4th. With a 54% to 42% win, Sweetland said later he thought the race would be closer. The Syracuse community hopes that his strong ties in Washington as well as his potential policies will pay off for the 25th New York congressional district.

Jordan-Elbridge Goes Red For McCain

November 13, 2008
By Kareen Preble

Jordan-Elbridge lies twenty miles outside of the city of Syracuse, but it feels like worlds away. Farmland and quaint houses replace the hustle and bustle of the Syracuse streets. At a mere two days after Election Day, perhaps, the starkest contrast between Jordan-Elbridge and Syracuse is their politics.

Barack Obama overwhelmingly carried Onondaga County with nearly 60% of the vote and won by a large margin in Syracuse. Yet, Jordan-Elbridge represented a rare trend in Onondaga County-not only did it turn red for George W. Bush in 2004, but in this election, the town strengthened its support for the Republican Party. John McCain triumphed with a 25% margin over Obama.

Dennis Pelmear, the Chairman of the Town of Elbridge Republican Committee said the town has a long history of being Republican and that “things in the rural community, I think McCain represented more.”

Patty Farrugia, a Jordan-Elbridge resident, was a McCain-Palin supporter. She said that the election was a popular topic of discussion in the town. She was also critical of the coverage of the election. She said, “now that the election is a day or so old, I'm more surprised that the race seemed to be based more on race and the issues were put on the backburner.”

While these Jordan-Elbridge residents spoke candidly about the election, most people did not want to comment on the subject nor did it seem like many wanted to publicly express support for their candidate of choice. There were very few election signs in the town and despite the large backing for the Republican Party; there were none for the McCain ticket. The support for Democratic candidates was more visible as there were several Obama-Biden signs.

African American Man, Shot, Killed

Local News

A Bright Future Ends Early
By: Paul Park
Contributor

It was a typical Wednesday night in Syracuse for Tamara Stewart. As a homeless woman, she usually hangs around and socializes with other homeless people. But Wednesday evening, a cool night turned into a tragedy.

An African-American man between his late twenties or early thirties was shot and killed Wednesday night at the corner of Lexington Ave. and Columbus Ave in Syracuse. Residents around the area said three shots were fired. Police have not yet released the identity of the victim, or any reason for his murder.

While the public does not know any details around this incident, Stewart said she knew the victim personally.

“He was outgoing, fun loving, and always seemed to know what was going on in the world,” Stewart said.

Stewart and other people in the neighborhood knew the victim by his street name, “Lolli.”

“He loved everyone,” Stewart said. “Lolli was concerned for everyone, particularly the black community.”

Stewart believes the murder was an act of personal grudge, and does not understand why someone would want to kill him.

“People should mind their own business,” Stewart added. “He knew what he wanted to do, so someone was probably jealous.”

According to Stewart, “Lolli” had dreams, and he recently told Stewart about his inspiration.

“He had big hopes and dreams,” Stewart said. “He was so proud of the U.S. for electing a black man. He wanted to someday have Obama’s place.”

Stewart also remembers how outspoken Lolli was.

“He always gave his own educated opinions about life,” Stewart said. “He was very critical about drugs and life, especially being a young, black male.”
Lolli’s friends and acquaintances said they do not believe the murder was an act of gang violence. Stewart said she just wants everyone to remember the determination Lolli had for the black community, and for his own future.