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Highway that divided Syracuse decades ago is set to be demolished, reconnecting a neighborhood

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When Interstate 81 was built in the 1960s, it sliced right through Syracuse’s Pioneer Homes — one of the nation’s oldest public housing communities, which had been built some three decades earlier. But in a few years, the government is set to level to level a mile and a half of the highway and reconnect a neighborhood.

Bishop Bernard Alex’s church is just a few miles from Syracuse, where he grew up. He says the highway stretch of I-81 sits over where people from his hometown used to plant gardens. 

“You took away a thriving, vibrant community,” he said “You took away the hope and the space of a people.”

Alex said he believes the highway’s construction in New York state was a deliberate attempt to drive certain people out of the area.  

To this day, the highway casts a massive shadow, separating Pioneer Homes from White and affluent neighborhoods, hospitals and schools.

A CBS News review of federal records found communities that sit in the shadows of major highways suffer higher pollution rates. The people have higher asthma rates and the income levels and property values are lower.

Syracuse is one of more than 130 communities nationwide that shared $3 billion in federal awards this year to reconnect neighborhoods segregated by highway planners in the 1900s. From Portland, Oregon to Philadelphia, cities are repurposing stretches of expressways with parks and green space planted over the roadways, a process known as capping.

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said his city’s project is among the most ambitious, calling the soon-to-be-demolished stretch of I-81 “a scar that goes through the heart of our city.”

At a cost of more than $2 billion, I-81 is being rerouted around Syracuse. The current stretch will then be demolished and replaced with a pedestrian-friendly grid of surface streets with shops, stop signs and potentially new life for Pioneer Homes

“We can’t undo the wrongs of the past,” Walsh said. “But we can try to get it right this time around. We have an opportunity to knit back the fabric of our cities and to bring people together.”

Alex hopes the demolition will prompt people to move back to the neighborhoods near Pioneer Homes

But in other traffic-choked cities across the country, highway expansion goes on. Like in North Charleston, South Carolina, where Interstate 526, which runs through many mostly Black neighborhoods, is set to be widened.

North Charleston Mayor Reggie Burgess said the expansion is “unavoidable.” 

Burgess said dozens of homeowners will need to be relocated, but the state is offering affected residents housing assistance, employment help and college grants

“Of course, we don’t want to displace people. But when we have to actually improve the infrastructure, sometimes we have to make decisions that are not accepted, but I think that people understand it,” he said.



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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say

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9/18: CBS Evening News

19:57

Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.

The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.

The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.

old-faithful-sign-yellowstone-national-park.jpg
Old Faithful northbound sign in Yellowstone National Park

National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank


Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.

Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.

The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.

This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.

Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.



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LaMonica McIver wins special House election in New Jersey for late Donald Payne Jr.’s seat

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LaMonica McIver wins special House Democratic primary in N.J.


LaMonica McIver wins special House Democratic primary in N.J.

00:32

TRENTON, N.J. Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.

McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.

McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.

She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”

“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.

Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.

“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”

Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?

McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.

Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.

The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.

It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.

Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.

Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.



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Body found near Kentucky shooting site believed to be suspect, officials say

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Body found near Kentucky shooting site believed to be suspect, officials say – CBS News


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In a news conference Thursday night, Kentucky police said they believe a body found near the site of the Interstate 75 shooting on Sept. 7, 2024, is that of suspect Joseph Couch. Officials said articles on the body indicated it was likely Couch, but that crews were still processing the scene and wouldn’t have final identification until later. CBS News’ Carissa Lawson anchors a special report.

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