OGDENSBURG — Upstate University Hospital is using telemedicine to assist Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center (CHMC) in Ogdensburg in St. Lawrence County in the treatment of stroke symptoms. CHMC’s emergency department will use a telemedicine program to connect its physicians with neurologists at Upstate’s “comprehensive stroke center,” Upstate said in a news release issued June 16. Upstate […]
OGDENSBURG — Upstate University Hospital is using telemedicine to assist Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center (CHMC) in Ogdensburg in St. Lawrence County in the treatment of stroke symptoms.
CHMC’s emergency department will use a telemedicine program to connect its physicians with neurologists at Upstate’s “comprehensive stroke center,” Upstate said in a news release issued June 16.
Upstate University Hospital in early 2015 earned certification as a “comprehensive stroke center” from Milford, Ohio–based DNV GL Healthcare Inc., a hospital-accreditation organization. The hospital is also recognized as a primary stroke center as designated by the New York State Department of Health.
“Our telemedicine network allows the North Country access to expert stroke care regardless of geography,” Jennifer Schleier, RN and program manager of Upstate’s Stroke Center, said. “We have come to think of this program as stroke care without borders. It is our mission to close the gap between expert medical care and location of the patient, increase access to stroke treatments in rural communities, and to provide educational opportunities to any of our referring hospitals regarding stroke care.”
When a patient arrives at CHMC’s emergency department with what the health-care team has determined are symptoms consistent with stroke, Claxton-Hepburn can consult with an Upstate neurologist.
“Distance should never be a barrier to getting the best stroke care for patients,” Dr. Gene Latorre, Upstate neurologist, said in the Upstate news release. “Claxton-Hepburn’s emergency department providers will be encouraged and supported to keep uncomplicated patients in Ogdensburg. Should a patient need to be transported, consultation with the Upstate comprehensive stroke center specialist will be provided.”
Within minutes, the neurologist will be able to view the X-ray computed tomography (CT) scan, examine the patient, and talk with the patient, his or her family, and physician about possible treatment.
“We are excited to begin this partnership with Upstate to provide more advanced stroke care in our emergency department to our patients,” Nate Howell, CEO of Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, said in the Upstate release. “Now we are able to provide a quicker diagnosis, which decreases a potential delay in treatment. Thanks to this technology in the treatment of stroke patients, our rural location is less of a barrier to care.”
North Country hospitals The addition of Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center brings to three the number of area hospitals that are partnering with Upstate University Hospital on stroke care.
“Through the use of telemedicine, our collaboration on stroke care with Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg, River Hospital in Alexandria Bay and Carthage Area Hospital in Carthage broadens the reach of our formally designated comprehensive stroke center and enables us to partner with physicians across the state to enhance medical care for patients many miles from Upstate,” Dr. John McCabe, CEO of Upstate University Hospital, said. “We are grateful for these partnerships and for the work of the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization [FDRHPO] in helping to deploy the equipment necessary to make these connections possible.”
Upstate has teamed up with FDRHPO, which deployed the telemedicine equipment to several North Country hospitals in an effort to expand the telemedicine network.
“Our telemedicine network allows the North Country access to expert stroke care regardless of geography,” said Schleier.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in early June announced the New Farmers Grant Fund will provide more than $743,000 in grants to support 25 early-stage agricultural businesses across New York state. The recipients include several farms in Northern New York. The purpose of the fund, now in its second round, is to help early-stage farmers in
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in early June announced the New Farmers Grant Fund will provide more than $743,000 in grants to support 25 early-stage agricultural businesses across New York state. The recipients include several farms in Northern New York.
The purpose of the fund, now in its second round, is to help early-stage farmers in improving their farm’s profitability. The goal is that it will help grow and diversify New York’s agricultural sector, the state says.
“This funding will support new and emerging agribusinesses as they expand their operations, develop and market high quality products and generate new growth in their communities,” Cuomo said in a news release.
Empire State Development, in consultation with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, administers the fund. More than 55 applications were submitted for program funding in this round. Projects were scored competitively based on specific criteria, including demonstration of project readiness. Grant funds will be used for project costs associated with the expansion of production, construction of farm buildings, purchase of equipment and seed, or upgrades to increase efficiency and boost production, according to the release.
The New Farmers Grant Fund award recipients include the following farms:
Ingersoll Farms – Oswego County: $49,051
Michael & Carrie Higby – Lewis County: $18,000
North Branch Farms – Jefferson County: $45,000
Echo Farm – Essex County: $26,599
Full and By Farm, LLC – Essex County: $16,000
Juniper Hill Farm – Essex County: $49,783
Mace Chasm Farm, LLC – Essex County: $50,000
The announced funding brings the total amount provided to new farmers to nearly $1.4 million. Last year, 19 early-stage farmers received a portion of more than $610,000 to support the use of innovative agricultural techniques on commercial-farm operations statewide, the release stated.
“The future of New York agriculture depends on encouraging people to follow in the footsteps of our hardworking farmers and take on the challenge of growing and producing the fresh, healthy foods that feed our state — and our world. Already, this program has helped new farmers across the state build solid foundations that are helping their agribusinesses to succeed,” New York Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Senator Patty Ritchie said in the release. Ritchie, a Republican, represents the 48th district in the State Senate. The district includes all of Oswego and Jefferson counties and part of St. Lawrence County.
Contact The Business Journal News Network at news@cnybj.com
The Strand Theater opened to the silent-movie-going public in Syracuse at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17, 1915. Construction had begun the previous August, and the Syracuse Herald touted the project’s use of “local capital, local labor, and local brains.” Entertainment offered at this theater was different from the live stage shows that attracted residents less than
The Strand Theater opened to the silent-movie-going public in Syracuse at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17, 1915.
Construction had begun the previous August, and the Syracuse Herald touted the project’s use of “local capital, local labor, and local brains.” Entertainment offered at this theater was different from the live stage shows that attracted residents less than a generation before. Motion pictures were still relatively new to Onondaga County. The Strand wasn’t the first motion-picture theater; that honor most likely belongs to the Crescent Theatre, which opened in 1909 on S. Salina Street. The Strand followed the Crescent and Novelty (both 1909), the Empire (1911), the Eckel (1913), the Temple (1914), as well as other smaller theaters. By the time the Strand opened in 1915, more than 50 theaters had been built or converted in Syracuse to show “the once despised” movies. Stigmatized by a reputation of being sleazy peep-show dives, early movie-house owners began to promote their theaters as wholesome visual-entertainment venues. “Devoted exclusively to [showing] the highest class [of] motion pictures,” the Strand was the latest grand movie theater to open in Syracuse to show motion pictures.
The Strand Theater, located at 501 S. Salina St. in Syracuse, was designed by Thomas W. Lamb at a cost of $200,000 (valued at $4.7 million in 2016 dollars). Lamb was the same architect who designed the Strand Theater in New York City. He also designed the Temple, RKO Keith, and the Loew’s State (now the Landmark) theaters in Syracuse. The Mitchell Mark Company of Buffalo built the Strand from Lamb’s design; it was its 13th movie theater. In promoting the physical attributes of the Strand, Mitchell Mark said, “There are so many new ideas in it; it’s so complete, so metropolitan. It cannot fail to take the city by storm, Syracuse is certainly awake to the drawing power of the motion pictures, as the Twentieth century form of amusement, and the deluxe pictures that will be presented here will bring the public in droves.”
Several local businessmen invested in the Strand, including Isaac Rosenbloom, co-owner of the Rosenbloom & Son department store, George Tickner, VP of Syracuse Trust Company, and William E. Kane, an inventor, industrialist, & amateur archaeologist who developed a hoist bridge for the Erie Canal in Syracuse and was present at the discovery of the tomb of the famed Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun (King Tut). The Syracuse Herald praised these local businessmen (known as the Syracuse Strand Theater Company) for putting forth their best efforts and instilling civic pride in Syracuse by constructing an upscale, aesthetic entertainment site, whose very presence in the community fostered civic pride for a new Syracuse.
The theater’s interior was designed in the French Renaissance motif, decorated in ivory and gold colors, with rose-colored curtains. It featured mezzanine and balcony levels, boasted the latest in amenities and comfort, and accommodated nearly 1,700 patrons. A full orchestra placed on the theater’s stage provided the musical accompaniment for the silent films, supported by a $15,000 pipe organ.
On opening night, a large crowd filled its seats, even as over 1,000 disappointed patrons were turned away. As the curtain rose, revealing the orchestra and organ, the crowd enthusiastically applauded, and then rose to their feet as the national anthem commenced. The first movie shown at the Strand that night was a dramatic love story entitled, “The Warrens of Virginia,” produced and directed by Cecile B. DeMille, and starring Blanche Sweet as Agatha Warren. Within the backdrop of the American Civil War, the plot featured Ned Burton, a Union soldier in love with Agatha, who leaves her to fight the war. During the film, Agatha protects Ned and saves him from certain death, while she remains torn between her love for the soldier and her loyalty to the Southern cause.
During its opening days, the Syracuse Strand Theater received first-run movies directly from the New York City Strand Theater, and showed them before other Syracuse movie theaters received them. The films featured popular silent-movie stars such as Elsie Janis, Gaby Deslys, and William H. Crane. Crane, a notable comic actor, starred in “David Harum,” a silent film made in 1915 that was based on the 1898 novel of the same name, written by Edward Noyes Westcott of Syracuse. The Strand showed the movie on March 21, four days after the theater opened. The film titles changed frequently, almost daily. Theater owners wanted the public to return regularly, making profits to pay their investors, and cultivating customer loyalty, as well as an atmosphere that transported viewers to other lands, times, and circumstances. With World War I raging throughout Europe and the Middle East, violence, natural and man-made disasters, and political agitation in the United States, movie goers often escaped into make-believe, where the virtues of truth and justice prevailed.
The Strand Theater was successful during the Roaring ‘20s. In 1925, the theater hosted an impressive children’s Christmas party. More than 1,500 children attended the party inside the theater, while hundreds were turned away. The theater continued to show the newest motion pictures and it smoothly transitioned from silent films to talkies late in the decade. In October 1928, advertisements for the Strand promoted the theater as “The Home of Talkies.” At this time, the theater also became more cavalier with its reputation for showing respectable films. Advertising a film titled, “Show Girl,” the theater portrayed the lead actress, Alice White as the new, vivacious movie favorite and “Hotsy Totsy.” Also listed were the Strand Debutantes, an all-girl band. The ad also exploited the status of Franklin Chase, a well-respected newspaperman & editor of the Syracuse Journal, local historian, and civic leader. Chase was quoted as saying, “See it and become merrymakers. Don’t miss this picture.” The Strand wasn’t alone in its attempt to capitalize on society’s vacillating mores at the end of the 1920s; other Syracuse movie theaters followed suit with more adult-oriented plots, seemingly colliding head-on with earlier attempts at disassociating themselves with less-dignified movie story lines.
In August 1929, the Syracuse Strand Theater Company leased the theater to Warner Bros. Studios for 10 years, having rejected an earlier purchase offer of $400,000 by Paramount Pictures. Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corp. also had considered buying the Strand but reconsidered its purchase offer. The days of independently owned movie theaters were being challenged as these theaters were becoming absorbed by producer-distributor-operator corporations. By 1933, RKO operated the Strand on behalf of Warner Bros. In Syracuse, RKO also owned the Keith’s and the Paramount theaters.
In 1935, the Strand became part of a movie-theater management pool controlled by RKO and Schine Enterprises. J. Meyer Schine started Schine Enterprises in Syracuse in 1915. Subsequently moving to Gloversville, N.Y. by the time of the operations agreement, Schine Enterprises owned more than 75 movie theaters in New York state. The agreement between RKO and Schine divided control of the Syracuse movie theaters between the two management companies, and they dictated which theaters would show first and second-run movies. The Strand then became known as the RKO Schine Strand.
By 1940, the Strand was offering live entertainment along with its movie presentations. In between showing the most recent films of the day, audiences could also go to the Strand to watch variety-show revues, Blackstone the magician, or drummer Gene Krupa and his swing band.
In April 1943, the RKO Schine Strand joined the Loew’s State theater chain and became known as the Loew’s Strand Theater. This new association with Loew’s, which occurred during the height of World War II, was marked by a campaign to sell $328,000 in war bonds. The Back Your Buddy with a Bond campaign culminated on April 28 with a parade through downtown Syracuse that ended at the Strand. Inside, patriotic exercises were conducted on the Strand’s stage. A capacity crowd joined in the festivities, free of charge, with Loew’s staff giving each patron who purchased a war bond a souvenir admission card. Theater management announced that the new Loew’s Strand would show only first run movies in its newly decorated theater.
Throughout most of the 1950s, the Loew’s Strand Theater continued to offer a wide variety of movies. During the early to mid-1950s, westerns were a popular genre, along with other hits featuring Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Burt Lancaster. However, the 1950s also saw the end of the Strand Theater’s existence.
On Aug. 16, 1959, the Strand showed its last movies. The lineup included a Tom & Jerry cartoon, Loew’s News of the Day, and the feature film: “A Hole in the Head,” starring Frank Sinatra & Edward G. Robinson. The advertisement in the Syracuse newspapers simply stated, “Last Day.” After 45 years, the Strand Theater closed its doors to its loyal movie-going patrons that Sunday night.
The closing was precipitated by the City of Syracuse offering to buy the Strand Theater from Loew’s for $225,000 and build a parking garage on the site, providing the court approved the sale. After some wrangling with one city councilman, the city won court approval, passed local legislation to sell $1 million in bonds to build the garage, and proceeded to demolish the opulent theater. When it opened on Monday, May 1, 1961, the Strand Garage was the first mechanical parking garage in Syracuse, featuring staff-operated elevators that raised or lowered vehicles throughout the multi-level structure. Unfortunately, the new garage opened to a lackluster response by downtown drivers; only 100 garage patrons parked in the available 360 sites while other parking garages filled to capacity. Almost from its opening, the Strand Garage was plagued by losing money. During its first month, the $1 million garage had only made $1,965, falling drastically behind the anticipated revenue. By 1962, collecting fees from too few parkers, paying staff salary, and facing constant repairs to the elevators and other equipment, the garage was losing $10,000 a month. By 1966, Lee Alexander, Democratic candidate for councilor-at-large, suggested that the city sell the garage, citing lost revenue and the construction of the MONY Center garage as a major competitor. As the 1960s came to a close, the Strand Garage was still losing more than $10,000 per month. By 1975, after 15 years of losing income on the “white elephant” garage, the now Mayor Alexander decided to close the Strand garage. Four years later, the closed parking garage was demolished, and in June 1980, Alexander opened another city-owned garage, built on the site of the old Strand Garage at a cost of $3.5 million and accommodating 570 vehicles. The new garage was connected to the Hotel Syracuse by a skyway bridge and was called the Hotel Syracuse Parking Garage. Because of Hotel Syracuse’s financial troubles in the 1990s and early 2000s, the garage had deteriorated and the city closed it in 2002. However, the city reopened the garage in 2007 and it remains open today. It will now serve a revitalized hotel and downtown Syracuse.
Thomas Hunter is the curator of museum collections at the Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) (www.cnyhistory.org), located at 321 Montgomery St. in Syracuse.
After a negative reading in May, increases in new orders and shipments helped drive a monthly gauge of New York’s manufacturing activity back into positive territory in June. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index jumped 15 points to at 6.0 in June. The index also registered positive readings in both March and April.
After a negative reading in May, increases in new orders and shipments helped drive a monthly gauge of New York’s manufacturing activity back into positive territory in June.
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index jumped 15 points to at 6.0 in June.
The index also registered positive readings in both March and April.
The results of the June survey indicate that business activity “expanded modestly” for New York manufacturers, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a news release.
A positive reading on the index indicates expansion or growth in the sector, while a negative reading indicates a decline in manufacturing activity.
The positive result was unexpected as economists were forecasting a negative index reading, ranging from -3.5 to -4 to -5, in June, according to reports from Bloomberg, Reuters, and MarketWatch.com, respectively.
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey found 28 percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 22 percent said that conditions had worsened, according to the New York Fed.
The new-orders index also rose above zero, its 16-point climb to 10.9 pointing to an increase in orders.
Shipments were also higher, with the shipments index rising to 9.3, while the unfilled-orders index fell to -10.2.
The delivery-time index moved up to -2.0, and at -15.3, the inventories index indicated that firms “drew down inventories in June.”
The prices-paid index was “little changed” at 18.4, an indication that input prices continued to increase at a “moderate” pace.
The prices-received index edged up to -1.0, suggesting that selling prices were largely stable.
The employment index came in at a reading of zero, indicating that employment levels remained flat, a pattern “evident since February.”
At -5.1, the average-workweek index showed that hours worked declined this month.
Indexes for the six-month outlook suggested that respondents were more “sanguine,” or optimistic about future conditions.
The index for future-business conditions rose six points to 34.8, reaching its highest level of 2016.
Indexes for future new orders and shipments also increased, and firms expected employment levels and the average workweek to “hold steady” in the coming months.
After a sharp decline last month, the capital expenditures index rose eight points to 11.2, and the technology-spending index edged down to 4.1.
The New York Fed distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey on the first day of each month to the same pool of about 200 manufacturing executives in New York. On average, about 100 executives return responses.
AUBURN — The Auburn Doubledays started their 2016 season on June 17 knowing the fans who sit near the dugout have a little more protection from game action. The City of Auburn has installed protective netting at the top of the first and third-base dugouts at Falcon Park where the Auburn Doubledays play their home
AUBURN — The Auburn Doubledays started their 2016 season on June 17 knowing the fans who sit near the dugout have a little more protection from game action.
The City of Auburn has installed protective netting at the top of the first and third-base dugouts at Falcon Park where the Auburn Doubledays play their home games.
Major League Baseball (MLB) had recommended the netting last December, the Doubledays said in a news release issued in late May.
The Auburn Doubledays of the New York-Penn League are a Single-A, short-season (summertime) affiliate of the MLB’s Washington Nationals.
The recommendation — issued at the baseball winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee — stipulated that teams shield fans from balls and bats in all field-level seats within 70 feet of home plate. Minor League Baseball subsequently endorsed the recommendation, the Doubledays said.
“We felt like that set an industry standard that we wanted to make sure we met,” says Mike Voutsinas, general manager of the Auburn Doubledays, who spoke with CNYBJ on June 16.
The City of Auburn’s Department of Public Works, which oversees Falcon Park, contracted the work to Clay–based C.W. Rich, Inc., according to Voutsinas.
The installation process lasted two days, he adds.
The City of Auburn purchased the net, while C.W. Rich provided the support system, says Voutsinas.
The new forward-facing netting at Falcon Park will shield fans sitting in box-seat sections 102 and 103 on the first-base side and sections 108 and 109 on the third-base side.
In all, the new netting will protect 160 box seats. Both a forward facing and overhead net will protect sections 104 through 107 in Falcon Park, the Doubledays noted.
Falcon Park can seat 2,800 people, according to Voutsinas.
The Doubledays opened their 2016 season on June 17 at home with a 3-0 win over the Batavia Muckdogs, a Miami Marlins farm team.Auburn won four of its first five games of the new season.
The team has posted an attendance increase of 22 percent over the last two years, according to Voutsinas.
“We actually had the highest per-game attendance increase in the league last year. We’re just looking for another building-block year and keep moving things in the right direction,” he adds.
In 2015, Auburn finished the season with a 36-38 record, good for fourth place in the six-team Pinckney Division of the New York-Penn League, according to the website Baseball-Reference.com. The Doubledays’ season-long attendance last year was 50,670, up 14 percent from 2014, according to the website.
Can we discuss contempt today? Contempt for you. Many of us complain that our Congress people are elitist. That they often vote in legislation that a majority of Americans don’t want. Obamacare is a prime example. The accusations go beyond Obamacare. Many feel the way Congress taxes and regulates us shows our lawmakers are out
Many of us complain that our Congress people are elitist. That they often vote in legislation that a majority of Americans don’t want. Obamacare is a prime example.
The accusations go beyond Obamacare. Many feel the way Congress taxes and regulates us shows our lawmakers are out of touch with average folks. Their Dodd-Frank laws, for instance, have killed off thousands of our community banks. Recent investment regulations snuff out opportunities for small investors. They clearly don’t hear the many pleas to reform our stupid tax system.
Further evidence of elitism comes in the form of exemptions. Congress people have made themselves exempt from any number of regulations you have to obey.
For instance, you can be jailed or fined for insider trading. That is, buying or selling stock based on information you have that the public does not. Congressmen exempted themselves from that.
They could buy and sell stocks as insider traders. Buy and sell on information only they had. Many did, and made fat profits. They could do so because they had placed themselves above the law. The law that would and could skewer you.
It took a lot of publicity to embarrass Congress enough to change this a few years ago. Without both, Congress people would still be profiting from the loopholes they created for themselves.
Suppose you are a whistleblower. You see your employer break the law. You report it to authorities. If you work in the government, you are protected from retaliation from your employer. If you work for a company, you are protected from retaliation.
Ah, but if you work for Congress, you get no protection. If you report that the Senator you work for takes bribes, he can sack you. And you cannot do a thing about it. You have no protection under the law — because when Congress wrote the whistleblower law, it exempted itself.
If you run a small business, OSHA may make your life miserable. It may seize your records. It may hound you over your recordkeeping. If one of your workers complains to OSHA, you know you can expect a visit. And maybe harassment.
If a worker within Congress complains, nothing will happen. Congress made itself exempt from annoyances like subpoenas.
If you run a business, you have to keep a variety of records for years, because various laws require you to do so. This can be a nuisance for you. And expensive.
No such nuisance for Congress. It exempted itself from the recordkeeping.
You can request information from various government agencies under the Freedom of Information Act. Can you ask for information from Congress? You can ask, but Congress made itself exempt from having to provide anything to you.
I could fill a dozen articles with examples of how Congress exempts itself from laws it inflicts upon you.
Do you wonder what possesses members of Congress? Do you wonder what is in Washington’s water?
You may have met your representative. If yours is like the handful I’ve met, you would easily think he or she is a “regular” sort of person. Why is it that when Congress people inflict laws upon you they become so elitist?
Don’t you think somebody in Congress asks the obvious question? When these birds are exempting themselves? “Who the hell do we think we are?”
The more important question is who the hell do they think we the people are? When you look at all the exemptions they have granted themselves, you might wonder if they feel contempt for us.
From Tom…as in Morgan.
Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta. Several upstate radio stations carry his daily commentary, Tom Morgan’s Money Talk. Contact him at tomasinmorgan.com
The top official at Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE), which operates two locations in Central New York, is applauding the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) decision
The group has elected John Lauchert, a CPA who works in Clinton in Oneida County, to serve as the board’s secretary/treasurer. Lauchert is an outsource
The Great Lakes Research Consortium (GLRC) has awarded nearly $45,000 in grants for research projects in upstate New York. The projects investigate vitamin B deficiency
ROME, N.Y. — Melissa Ruddy has been named clinical director of Rome Memorial Hospital’s Regional Center for Wound Care. She will manage the day-to-day operations
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