News briefs: What you might have missed this weekend
Kiran Ramsey | Senior Design Editor
Over the weekend, the 2nd annual Women's March drew about 200 people to the city's North Side.
Here are some Syracuse news stories and announcements you may have missed this past weekend:
About 200 Syracuse residents gathered Saturday on the city’s North Side to participate in the second Women’s March. The march, which was just one of dozens held across the country, protested President Donald Trump’s election and issues of gender inequity.
Rachel May, a Syracuse University staffer who announced her state Senate candidacy Thursday, was among the speakers who addressed the marchers before the event. And Colleen Deacon, who ran and lost to Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) in the 2016 congressional race, spoke on behalf of New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Dozens of women, like the march a year ago, donned pink, pointy-eared “pussyhats” — caps used to protest Trump’s vulgar comments in an Access Hollywood tape leaked before the 2016 election.
When the march kicked off, at about 10 a.m., the protesters traveled about a third of a mile down Hawley Avenue, to the ArtRage Gallery. Once there, the march organizers coordinated music, speeches and poetry readings.
“It’s a bit overwhelming at times, that there’s so many people around all supporting the same thing,” Kaitlyn McNeil said. “But it’s fun to be here.”
Report details shutdown affects
The government shutdown could eventually impact universities and students served by the United States Department of Education, Inside Higher Ed reported.
Congressional lawmakers have clashed over immigrant protections as politicians struggle to agree on a spending bill to reopen the government.
The shutdown freezes all functions of the DOE, according to Inside Higher Ed. While funding already awarded by the DOE will remain unaffected, no new funds can be allocated or awarded, per Inside Higher Ed. Federal student aid has already been awarded for this spring semester.
No more than six percent of the DOE staff will be working at any one time on a rotating basis, contingent on a prolonged shutdown.
In the past nine years, New York residents have paid more than $10 million to settle 88 cases of sexual harassment and related disturbances, the Tribune News Service reported.
Almost all of the cases have been, “gender discrimination, discrimination based on sexual orientation, sexual harassment, hostile work environment and/or sexual assault,” according to records obtained under the state Freedom of Information Act by the Tribune News Service. All but five of the cases have been brought by women.
New York State Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) said there are bills being discussed by the Senate Democratic conference that limit the cost of these settlements to taxpayers, while maintaining fair compensation and job security for victims.
“There is a culture in this town that I have observed and find very disturbing,” Krueger told the Tribune News Service. “Young people come to the Capitol, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and they think that legislators or people who work very high up in government are somehow godlike … and that if they are paid special attention this somehow makes them special or could be helpful to their own careers.”
More than 100 people rallied this weekend in downtown Syracuse to protest abortion in the annual March for Life. The walk was organized by the Syracuse Right to Life Association.
U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-New Hartford) was scheduled to speak at the rally, but because of the government shutdown, was forced to stay in Washington, a spokesperson from her office told Syracuse.com.
Tenney is in favor of a pro-life bill, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives last fall and is waiting for a Senate decision. The bill prohibits anyone from performing an abortion if the fetus is 20 weeks or more past fertilization.
Published on January 21, 2018 at 9:46 pm
Contact Jordan: jmulle01@syr.edu | @jordanmuller18
