News

WTOP-10 has been giving SUNY Oswego, and Oswego county its news during the school year for over 40 years now!  People from all over tune into our broadcasts through our various platforms.  If you’re looking for consistent up-to-date Oswego information, you can catch us on channel 10.2 on campus, Oswego County’s Public Access channel, our Facebook Live stream, or some of our other live streams right here on the website.  Catch our nightly newscasts live every night at 9 pm, Monday through Thursday. 

City of Oswego, Port Authority officials take construction feud to court

OSWEGO N.Y. —  Construction of a storage facility at the port, meant for the transport of pot-ash or salt, is now at a standstill after city officials took the Port Authority to court. 

“Their whole attitude should have been one of picking up the phone and talking to us,” the Executive Director of the Port Authority, William Scriber said. 

Now, Port Authority officials are trying to prove that the structure will help the city if completed. 

“With this project, we’re putting a lot of money into this local economy,” Scriber said. 

Scriber explained that the port runs as its own business, creating jobs, and opening opportunities for the local economy without the help of tax money. But Mayor Barlow said they are going about the project in the wrong way – upset that the structure will block the view of the iconic Oswego lighthouse coming into the city. 

“What would really be the win is for the port to build what they originally proposed, that being the 55 foot dome..What you can do is completely skirt the entire review process,” Mayor Billy Barlow said. 

What stands now is a roughly  68-70 foot tall square structure, something city officials said they never agreed on. But Scriber said the height difference won’t change that view of the lighthouse from the Marina. 

Photo of the structure as it stands now from First West St. in Oswego, NY. Photo by reporter Melanie Higgins.

“If you’re not changing the holding capacity, or position…It’s not a major change…It’s still going to block that view, which by the way, isn’t a historical registered view,” Scriber said. 

But Fort Ontario on the other hand is a historical view of the lighthouse, and Scriber said that was the view that they worked through with the SHPO review – where the State Historic Preservation Office reviewed and eventually approved the initial proposal of the 55 foot dome.  

“The view of the Fort is not in the least obstructed by the building,” Scriber added. 
City residents are split, some feeling as though the structure isn’t a big deal, and others agreeing with the Mayor. Lee Chetney is a city resident who said the view of the lighthouse is going to be, ”forever changed.” 

“You used to be able to come into the city…and ‘wow, I made it to Oswego, and look at how beautiful it is’ now they put that thing up and I hope they take it down because it’s just terrible,” city resident Lee Chetney said.

National emergency declared in child and teen mental health – what this means for college students

Photo by MGN.

In early October, a group of health professionals and psychiatric experts around the nation gathered enough data to declare a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health. 

This comes nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, and for young adults specifically in higher education, their mental health is also taking a toll. 

“With the environment constantly changing, it’s kind of hard to reach stability in mental health,” Nicole Hillyard, a student at University at Buffalo said about her own struggles this year. 

This includes SUNY Oswego students who have been feeling the effects of keeping up with mandates as the school resumes in-person activities. 
“We’re so used to just having all these online classes, and not doing as much, and now we’re doing so much more,” Seth Nesbitt, a SUNY Oswego student said in regards to coming back in person. “I feel like a lot of my peers and I are having a hard time with the readjustments.”

“I just needed to take this semester off to help fix my mental health” 

KEAUNDREA HANDFORD

A study called Healthy Minds Network found that last fall, college students in particular reported peak levels of depression and anxiety. 

The study is led by four professors at different universities, and it details the rising trend over the last several  years of mental health concerns, especially depression and anxiety, among college students. 

Experts with the study reported that 47% of students screened positive for “clinically significant symptoms of depression, and/or anxiety,” which is the highest percentage since the trials began in 2007. 

This data comes from the Healthy Minds Network website – it shows the percentage of students who have screened positive for depression and anxiety from 2007 to 2021. Graph created by reporter Melanie Higgins.

“I have terrible anxiety attacks, like constantly, so I kinda knew that if I lived alone, especially two hours away, I would have to come home every day, and I knew that wouldn’t have worked,” Keaundrea Handford, a student at SUNY Brockport said about why she took this semester off. “I just needed to take this semester off to help fix my mental health.” 

The Healthy Minds Network also studied that feeling of isolation, something Handford said she dreaded about going back to school.

In the study, they found that about 66% of students indicated feeling isolated from others sometimes or often, which experts said is a key risk factor in mental health.

At Wayne Behavioral Health, a mental health center located in Wayne County, representatives said most facilities no longer have enough staff to cover the rise in mental health concerns. However, the introduction of telehealth services during the pandemic helped them bring a new resource to patients in need. 

“Because of the fact that a lot of insurance companies now kind of across the board are  allowing telehealth, which is either by telephone or video conference,” Suzanne Catholdi, the communications liaison for Wayne Behavioral Health said. “A lot of people who weren’t seen before now have more accessibility.” 

Mental health facilities all over the country have been struggling to keep up with the rise of these mental health concerns, and many have also been utilizing telehealth services as a result. 

Catholdi said younger people and college students being seen at Wayne Behavioral are taking advantage of the virtual services now offered if they aren’t already using their on-campus college therapists. 

However wait times across the board for many mental health facilities are becoming problematic for those in need. For Strong Hospital in Rochester, they said over the summer that wait times for those seeking therapy reached over one year. 

“Our mental health therapists, they need to be able to be available and be on top of the needs, and we need to be supportive of our medical staff as well,” Catholdi said about facilities falling behind.

“They lost that, they lost those contacts, they lost that structure, a lot of kids were at home alone…”

SUZANNE CATHOLDI


She emphasized that staff all around are “suffering,” so It’s important to keep working through the pandemic and keep schools open as a resource for those struggling. 

“There were a lot of kids who were struggling already, that really needed that contact in the school with the teachers and professors,” Catholdi said while talking about the effects the shutdowns had on students. 

“When there’s nothing for people to do, and no support in place, and a big question mark day-to-day about what they’re doing,” Catholdi added. “It was a big disaster waiting to happen.” 

She said that students and adults “lost that structure,” and it led to a huge uptick in mental health concerns. Now therapy has become a big point of discussion. 

“I did start therapy, and it actually helped quite a lot,” Nesbitt said. 

But Nesbitt also said that despite these concerns being more publicly talked about, some students aren’t opening up enough. 

“I would recommend that help to anyone,” Nesbitt explained, “Those who may be going through something, but even if you’re just alive, it’s good to just have that outlet.” 
As things continue to open up, and people adjust to a normal life after two years shut down, those mental health concerns continue to be analyzed. The Healthy Minds Study is still in the process of gathering data during this time, and more colleges are being enrolled to help diversify the results.

Oswego State men’s hockey gets another weekend sweep

[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]

OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s hockey team finds themselves coming out of the weekend with another two victories. The Lakers defeated SUNY Canton Friday night on the road by a score of 8-2 and then returned home Saturday to get a conference win 5-1 against the Morrisville State Mustangs. The Lakers are now 7-3-1 with one game left prior to a couple weeks off over the month of December.

Friday night, Oswego State traveled two hours and thirty minutes north to take on the SUNY Canton Kangaroos. The non conference victory featured a 8-2 score line with Oswego and Canton going into the second period tied at 1-1. Tyler Flack would get his first goal of the evening with Jackson Arcan snagging the assist. That powerplay goal was the first of five unanswered goals with four of them coming in the second period. Alex Dicarlo, AJ Ryan, Garrett Clegg, and Mac Lewis all got credited with the tallies to put the Lakers ahead big heading into the second period. The Kangaroos were able to get one powerplay goal before the end of the stanza but in the third period, Oswego State would find three more pucks going into the back of the net. Flack and DiCarlo both tallied their second goals of the evening and captain Travis Broughman found himself back in the goal column with the final goal of the evening. Oswego State netminder Eric Green would get his first win in between the pipes as a Laker after making fourteen saves and only allowing two goals.

On Saturday, head coach Ed Gosek put junior netminder Steven Kozikoski back in the net for their match up against Morrisville State. Tyson Kirkby would snag the first goal of the contest and let the teddy bears fly on Teddy Bear Night. All the toys were donated to Toys For Tots during this holiday season. That powerplay goal was assisted by Rocco Andreacchi and Ben Addison within the first ten minutes of the contest. Kirkby would tally another at the end of another powerplay for the Lakers as Flack and Arcan got back into the assist column. In the second period, it would be the Lakers once again as two defenseman buried two goals past the Morrisville State goaltender. Troy Robillard and Quinn Warmuth would find the back of the net and Warmuth gets his first goal as an Oswego State Laker. The two teams would trade back and forth powerplay goals as DiCarlo added another to his season totals. Kozikoski would make thirty saves and give up one goal over the course of the contest.

The Lakers now sit in third place in the SUNYAC conference behind Geneseo and Brockport. Oswego does have a game at hand compared to the two teams, and will not play any conference games until the middle of January when Potsdam and Plattsburgh State travel to the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. Till then, Oswego will head on the road down Route 104 towards Rochester to take on Nazareth College on Saturday in a non-conference match up. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Bill Gray’s Iceplex. WTOP 10 will continue to provide coverage of the Oswego State men’s hockey team for the remainder of the 2021-22 season.

Image Provided By Oswego State Athletics

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column] [/et_pb_row] [/et_pb_section]

Oswego State Women’s Basketball falls short this weekend

OSWEGO, N.Y. — It was a rough weekend for the Lakers as they suffered two unfortunate losses Friday and Saturday. The Lakers played the Buffalo State Bengals Friday. Despite a valiant effort, the Lakers fell short with a fourteen point loss. Oswego State was off to a great start with help by star sophomore Chastin Giles. Giles had yet another dominant performance scoring twenty-one points. Not an uncommon sight seeing her put up big numbers like this. Giles was splashin all night, scoring five three pointers. Senior Danielle Caivana also had a notable performance with fourteen points. Unfortunately the Lakers were outscored in the first three quarters making a fourth quarter comeback highly unlikely. Despite Outscoring the Bengals in the fourth, it wasn’t enough to get the job done. The Lakers then had to shift their attention to the Golden Eagles of Brockport who have been on a tear this year.
The Lakers took on SUNY Brockport Saturday in a very close game from start to finish. The Lakers put up a fight but sadly came up short in a twelve point loss. Both teams put up big numbers in the first quarter with the Golden Eagles putting up nineteen and the Lakers with sixteen. From there it was a battle. The Lakers were hungry for a victory and fought tooth and nail to come out on top. Senior Danielle Caivana had yet another great performance dropping sixteen points, twelve of those points coming from threes. Caivana is the backbone of this offense and will surely be missed next season. Freshman Shania Iglesias also put up sixteen yesterday. These two combined for half of the teams points this game. Brockport was able to break free in the third and fourth quarter, outscoring the Lakers by fifteen to solidify their victory. The Lakers have a week to recuperate and try to get back in the win column as they go on the road to take on Fredonia on December 11th at 12:00 p.m.

Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics

Oswego State men’s basketball finishes fall semester on 3-game win streak

OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s basketball team concluded the 2021 fall semester with a pair of SUNYAC wins, extending their win streak to three. The Lakers defeated Buffalo State 79-63 on Friday and SUNY Brockport 85-58 on Saturday.

Going into Friday’s matchup, the Lakers went in confident following their victory over SUNY Cortland a few days prior. That confidence showed early in the game as the Lakers raced out to a 9-0 lead to begin the first half. Oswego pushed their lead to 33-13 with just 3:16 remaining in the half. The Lakers went into halftime leading 41-25 with the Oswego bench outscoring Buffalo State’s bench 23-0. Oswego continued their dominance in the second half as the Bengals got no closer than 16 points. Four Lakers finished with double-digit points including Julian Crittendon (14), Ahkee Anderson (11), Jeremiah Sparks (11) and Brendan Mulson (10). Oswego out-rebounded Buffalo State 46-37, led by junior Devin Green who finished with a team-high seven rebounds.

Much like Friday’s matchup versus Buffalo State, the Lakers started off their game against SUNY Brockport leading 9-0. Though, the Golden Eagles stormed back with an 11-0 run of their own. Oswego was able to capitalize on several runs throughout the first half and went into halftime leading 51-26. The Lakers led by as much as 30 points in the contest and won by 27, their second largest margin of victory this season. Oswego was led by Devin Green who had a team-high 15 points on the night.

With these pair of victories, the Lakers improve to 6-1 on the season and move into 2nd place in the SUNYAC standings. After a short hiatus, Oswego will head to Fredonia to challenge the Blue Devils on Saturday, Dec. 11. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.

Image Provided By Oswego State Athletics

Oswego State women’s hockey completes comeback to secure victory in Cortland

CORTLAND N.Y. — The Oswego State women’s hockey team traveled down Interstate 81 on Friday to take on the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons. The Lakers tallied four goals in the final period of regulation to win the NEWHL contest 5-4. Oswego State would strike first in the first period as Simone Bednarik would net her second goal of this season. Megan Teachout would add another assist to her stats column and the Lakers headed into the first intermission with the lead. The Red Dragons would come back in the second period and put three goals past Oswego State netminder Joanna Hiebert. Oswego would not have an answer until the third period. The Lakers would snag a powerplay goal off the twig of Mack Hull. The forward got her fourth goal of the season which was assisted by Chyne Kennedy and Ariella Haas. Cortland would respond with another goal only minutes later. From this point on, the game was in the hands of the Lakers as the women’s hockey team rallied back in the final stanza. Goals from Kyleigh Grugin, Lizzie Burke, and the game winner from Hull. Kennedy would get the assist on the game winning goal to put her assist total at two that day.

Oswego State improves to 6-2-1 overall during the 2021-22 season. In terms of the NEWHL conference, the Lakers find themselves back in second place after the victory with a conference record of 3-0-2-1 and seven total points. Oswego State will have some time to take a break and enjoy their holiday season before returning back in 2022. The Lakers will travel to Amherst, Massachusetts to take on Amherst College in a non-conference match up on January 3rd. WTOP 10 will continue to provide coverage of the Oswego State women’s hockey team as the group continues their 2021-22 season.

Image Provided By Oswego State Athletics

A Look Ahead: Oswego State men’s hockey prepares for SUNY Canton and SUNY Morrisville

OSWEGO N.Y. — After completing nine games into the season, the Oswego State men’s hockey team finds themselves second in the State University of New York Athletic Conference and trending upward towards the national poll. After starting slow with two losses against Hobart College and Elmira College the opening weekend, the Lakers were able to get back on track going 3-0-1 against SUNYAC opponents. The wins coming against opponents like SUNY Cortland, SUNY Brockport, and SUNY Potsdam. The 2-2 tie against Plattsburgh State was the only fall back during that four games stretch. The Geneseo Ice Knights came to the Deborah F. Stanley Arena on November 20th in anticipated match up. The Lakers would fall 6-1 to the Ice Knights after six unanswered goals over the course of the contest. Although the Lakers out shot the Ice Knights 23-17, Oswego could not find a way around Geneseo netminder Matt Petizian.

The Lakers were able to get back in the win column this past weekend with two wins against the Williams College Ephs. The 3-0 and 3-1 victories put Oswego at 5-3-1 overall record. Underclassmen Shane Bull and Garrett Clegg both had stand out weekends with Bull recording a goal and assist in each contest and Clegg with two goals and one assist. Clegg was named Oswego State Athletics Male Athlete of the Week due to his performances. Junior goaltender Steven Kozikoski has continued to come to form in between the pipes for Oswego State making 50 saves over the course of the two games and only allowing one goal. Kozikoski was named the SUNYAC Prestosports Goaltender of the Week due to his performances in this past weekend’s games.

Junior captain Travis Broughman is tied for the lead in points through the first nine games of the season. The forward has two goals and five assists for seven points in these contests. Connor Sleeth has matched that points total with one goal and six assists. The sophomore forward scored his first career collegiate goal in the Teal Game against Cortland and started the season with a six game point streak. On the defensive side, transfer Troy Robillard leads the team in blocks with a total of twelve. The junior defenseman has also tallied one goal and two assists for three points through his eight games played with the Lakers this season.

Around the SUNYAC

With most teams playing five games or more in the conference, SUNYAC fans have been able to see how the conference is going to shake out this season. Without any shock, the Geneseo Ice Knights lead the pack with a conference record of 4-0-0-0-1 with 13 points. Geneseo’s tie comes against Cortland two weekends ago. Their 13 points are followed up by the Cortland Red Dragons with 11 points. The Red Dragons are coming off a 4-1 win over the Morrisville State Mustangs Wednesday night. The Lakers who sit with 10 points and a conference record of 3-0-1-0-1 hold the third spot. Oswego State’s loss came against Geneseo in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and their tie against the Plattsburgh State Cardinals on the North Country swing. Plattsburgh State and SUNY Brockport are tied for fourth with nine points. However, the Cardinals have already played seven conference games compared to the five the Golden Eagles have completed. The two teams out west, Buffalo State and Fredonia, both have six points and conference records of 2-0-1-0-0. Rounding out the conference, Morrisville and Potsdam are both looking for their first wins of the season after starting 0-0-5-0-0 and 0-0-6-0-0. As the fall semester finishes up, a similar picture has emerged. Geneseo remains to be the top dog in the conference after winning the SUNYAC Championship in 2019-20, and everyone else is chasing the number one team in the nation.

Around the Nation

After five weeks of the United States College Hockey Online Division III poll, Oswego State fans have been able to see where the Lakers fall compared to the rest of Division III hockey. Throughout the beginning of the season, the Lakers have been receiving two to four votes per week. Compared to the rest of the SUNYAC, Oswego is one of just three teams currently listed in the poll that represent the conference. Geneseo remained at number one for the fourth straight week receiving eighteen first place votes. The Ice Knights have an 8-0-1 record overall and will not face Oswego State until February 5th when the Lakers travel back to Geneseo. SUNY Brockport also has received votes the first five weeks of the season, but has been decreasing in the votes count due to loses the past couple of weeks. The Golden Eagles got four votes this past week after a 2-3 lost to Connecticut College and a 7-1 victory over Chatham University in the Skidmore College tournament.

As the national poll stands right now, Oswego State will play three more teams that find themselves in the national poll. The first being January 1st in the Oswego State Hockey Classic as current #4 Augsburg University takes on the Lakers at 7:00 p.m. in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. Eight days later, Oswego will travel down Interstate 90 to take on current #3 Utica College in a Sunday afternoon contest on January 9th. This will the second contest between these two non-conference opponents this season after the Pioneers found themselves victorious in a preseason match up in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. The final nationally ranked opponent will be the SUNYAC match up on February 5th in Geneseo.

A Look Ahead

Heading into this weekend, Oswego State sets their sights on SUNY Canton and then SUNY Morrisville. Friday night, the Lakers will head two and a half hours up north to take on the Kangaroos in a non-conference battle. Canton comes into the match up posting a 2-2-1 record and on a one game losing streak. Recently, the Kangaroos canceled their holiday tournament due to COVID-19 protocols. This will be the second contest these two teams will play this season after SUNY Canton dropped an exhibition match up to the Lakers earlier in October. This game gives Oswego another opportunity to continue their win streak and gain national attention as the season continues on.

On Saturday, the Lakers will head home for another SUNYAC match up in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. The Morrisville State Mustangs will return to Oswego to add another chapter to the two team’s history books. The last time the Lakers faced the Mustangs, it was a 7-0 victory on February 15th, 2020. The Lakers have won the last seventeen match ups against the Mustangs and have only dropped one game against Morrisville. Special teams will have an impact on Saturday’s match up as the Lakers post a 25.0 percent power play efficiency compared to the Mustang’s penalty kill that is below an 80.0 percent success rate. Morrisville comes to Oswego after losing Wednesday night to Cortland 4-1. Oswego looks to continue their success in the conference as the team chases the top spot in the SUNYAC. Saturday night is also the annual Teddy Bear Toss game for Oswego State men’s hockey. On the first goal, Oswego State fans are asked to throw teddy bears on the ice. If fans can not attend, there is an online donation portal. Click here for the link.

How to Tune In

Hockey Night in Oswego on WTOP 10 kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Twitch and on campus on Channel 10.2. Oswego State fans can find puck drop at 7:00 p.m. on WTOP 10. WNYO, SUNY Oswego’s radio station, will also be broadcasting the game live on their website and on 88.9 FM.

Image Provided by Shelby Peplowski, WTOP 10 Photography Department

SUNYAC Standings Provided by the SUNYAC website

USCHO Division III National Poll Provided by the USCHO website

Oswego State women’s basketball falls short in SUNYAC matchup

OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State women’s basketball team hosted SUNY Cortland in a hard fought SUNYAC opener last night. The 3-3-1 Lakers looked to pick up momentum after a dominant win Sunday night. Despite a valiant effort, the Lakers came up short. With a final score of 67-53 the Lakers continued to fight until the final buzzer. Cortland had a twelve point lead at the end of the first quarter that unfortunately set the tone for the rest of the game. The Lakers put up a fight and kept the game close. Senior Danielle Caivana was on fire scoring a whopping twenty-three points this game. Despite Caivana’s outstanding performance, Cortland refused to let up and fought their way to victory. Sophomores Chastin Giles and Caitie Lilly were the other key contributors for the Lakers. While this loss must have stung for the Lakers, they turn their attention towards another SUNYAC matchup against the Buffalo State Bengals December 3rd in the Max Zeil Gymnasium.  Tip-Off is at 5:30 p.m. on WTOP 10! 

Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics

Men’s basketball rolls over Cortland in first SUNYAC matchup

OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s basketball team took on the Cortland Red Dragons at home in the their SUNYAC opener Tuesday night. A great night on defense for the team saw them shutdown the Red Dragons and win 69-44. A fast start by the Red Dragons saw them grab an early 6-2 lead, but Oswego took control from there. The next twelve minutes saw the Lakers outscore Cortland 25-3, including an eight minute stretch where Cortland wouldn’t score at all. The scoring run was lead by guards Julien Crittendon, ten points, and Devin Green, eight points. The teams went into the locker rooms at the half with Oswego up a commanding 33-16. Oswego held the Cortland to 25% shooting in the first half, and 1-7 from beyond the arc.

The second half started with senior Brendon Mulson hitting a shot for his 1,001 career collegiate point, a major milestone on his part. Oswego would keep the defensive pressure high through the second half, with seven minutes left they had grown the lead to 56-28. After some Cortland makes, Green would add to his scoring output, hitting three straight threes to extend the lead to 65-35. Oswego’s reserves would finish the game from their, and the final score would be a whopping 69-44. Green lead the Lakers in scoring on the night with twenty points, adding four rebounds. Crittendon also had a good night with fourteen points of his own and three steals. Jeremiah Sparks cleaned the boards with fourteen rebounds for Oswego. The Lakers were efficient shooting on the night, 40% overall, while 39% from deep. They also scored nineteen points off turnovers.

The Lakers next game comes against the Buffalo State Bengals (0-4) at home in the Max Ziel Gymnasium. They look to keep the hot start going and extend on their now 4-1 record. Tip off is set for 7:30 P.M. WTOP 10 will have coverage of the game starting just before tip off.

IMAGE PROVIDED BY SHELBY PEPLOWSKI, WTOP 10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT

Leave a Reply

Scroll to top