WTOP10 Reporter Jihad Yarber discusses with SUNY Oswego Professors and Students what exactly the death of Supreme Court Justice Scalia really means.
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Oswego Farmer’s Market season extended
By Xuefan Shi
OSWEGO, NY– The Oswego Farmer’s Market held every Thursday on West First Street was supposed to close for the season by October 5th. This year the market will extend their season an extra two weeks.
The Greater Oswego-Fulton Chamber of Commerce, the non-profit organization in charge of the farmers market, cooperated with the city of Oswego to extend their season a few more weeks.
Oswego Farmer’s Market Manager Gene Schoonmakerfranczek said that the extension is the result of apple season. “This is the middle of apple country. And we are still in the middle of apple season. It is not so fair for the farmers to quit that early.”
GMB Beckens Farm Owner Sherri Bauer said she found out when she arrived at the market and is is very excited about the extension.The last day of the Oswego Farmer’s Market will be Thursday, October 19, until next Spring. Farmers from the market will continue to travel to Syracuse where a farmers market will be held until Thanksgiving day.
For more information on the Oswego Farmer’s Market, visit their Facebook https://www.facebook.com/oswegofarmmarket/
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Liverpool man sentenced to 20 years on rape conviction
A man who forcibly raped a woman in the Village of Phoenix in July of 2005 has been convicted. Joseph A. Stefanovich was sentenced to 20 years in state prison by Oswego County Court Judge James Metcalf, for Rape in the First Degree. Stefanovich will also receive five years’ post-release supervision. The conviction pertains to an allegation that Stefanovich grabbed the victim from behind, put her in a chokehold, and dragged her into a wooded area where the offense was committed.
Stefanovich was linked to the case due to a DNA sample from a 2006 case. The DNA was on profile due to a prior sexual offense conviction.
At trial, Stefanovich claimed that his DNA appeared in the rape kit because he had a consensual encounter with the victim on the day of the offense. He told the jury that another person must have raped her later that same day.
The victim testified that she did not know Stefanovich and had never engaged in consensual intercourse with him.
District Attorney Gregory Oakes, the prosecutor of the case, stated that he wanted to commend the victim for having the “strength to come forward and the courage to testify at trial. Our community is now safe from this predator because of her bravery and fortitude. It was an honor to stand up and fight for her in court.”
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ESPN writer Kate Fagan shares inspiration for ‘What Made Maddy Run’
by Kerry Ryan
OSWEGO, N.Y. — On Tuesday, October 10th, the Sheldon Hall Ballroom was filled with members of the oswego community; all waiting to listen to ‘I Am Oz’ speaker and ESPN writer, Kate Fagan. Fagan shared her stories of coming out as a gay woman, working for ESPN, and her inspiration to write the book What Made Maddy Run?. What Made Maddy Run? is the story of University of Pennsylvania freshman track star Madison Holleran, who died by suicide at the age of 19 years old after secretly struggling with anxiety and depression.
Fagan originally wrote Holleran’s story as a piece for ESPN. After receiving numerous emails written by high school and college students, as well as their parents, Fagan said she knew that she needed to dig deeper into the story.
“I realized that we had really only touched on a certain piece of the story in the magazine piece and that there were other roads to travel down to make the story more fleashed out for the rest of the college students and young people who saw themselves in her,” Fagan said.
This isn’t Fagan’s first non-fiction story, however. The Former WNBA player previously released a book retelling the story of her own struggles. The Reappearing Act: Coming Out as Gay on a College Basketball Team Led by Born-Again Christians explains the background of Fagan’s difficulty with her identity and how it would affect her and those around her.
What Made Maddy Run? was an instant New York Times best-seller. This is a first for Fagan, who said she has always wanted to be a writer.
“Basketball was like the pursuit,” Fagan said. “I guess I’ll be a writer when I’m done. And so when i was done playing basketball, that’s when I moved the writing to the front burner.”
Fagan said her next goal is to get some of her fictional work published. She said that, unlike non-fiction, there’s a different way of storytelling in fiction and it allows writers to have more creative freedom.
What Made Maddy Run? by Kate Fagan is available online and in bookstores now.
