Each week, syracuse.com will look back at some of our most important and valuable journalism from the previous week. Here are six stories for the week of Nov. 9, 2025.
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When ICE came for Jeremy, Syracuse’s underground railroad helped him escape the country
Friends, activists, politicians and a network of total strangers collaborated to keep one Syracuse husband from the clutches of an increasingly heartless federal government. They used misdirection the way a smuggler might. There were decoy cars. A chain of human shields. Movement under darkness. And finally, sympathetic Canadians. They found refuge after hours of frantic planning.
Inspiration. Opportunity. Representation. Why Sharon Owens’ win is more than a Syracuse milestone
The congratulatory messages came from all over the country in the hours after Sharon Owens won the Syracuse mayoral race. They included Facebook posts from media companies with more than a million followers, including Essence magazine and TheGrio media network. Nonprofit groups such as the African American Mayors Association and Higher Heights for America chimed in with kudos. Even the former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, called the mayor-elect. News of Owens’ victory Tuesday spread far and quickly because she’s the first Black resident elected mayor in Syracuse’s 177-year history.
Former Syracuse great is helping lift a college football doormat to unseen heights
Former Syracuse defensive back Steve Gregory recognizes two lessons delivered over the first three weeks of last season as critical to one of college football’s best stories of 2025. Vanderbilt opened last year with an upset win over Virginia Tech, a team considered a dark horse candidate to win the ACC at the start of last year. Gregory, Vanderbilt’s second-year defensive coordinator, said he believed the Commodores could win big games when he was hired before the 2024 season. But while the Hokies weren’t as good as advertised, that game was the start of the entire program knowing, not just believing, that winning big was possible at Vanderbilt.
The Novelis plant in Central NY grew into a crucial supplier to the U.S. auto industry. Then disaster hit
Fifteen years ago, Novelis Inc. made a decision that would turn its factory in the tiny Oswego County town of Scriba into a powerhouse in the automotive aluminum market. It bet that expanding the plant, known for making aluminum for beverage cans, into a maker of aluminum sheet for automakers would pay off big. It did.
Syracuse City School District creates 13 new jobs to deal with payroll problems
The Syracuse City School District added 13 new jobs to deal with a new payroll system after a rocky transition left hundreds of teachers unpaid or underpaid to start the school year. The SCSD Board of Education unanimously voted to approve the creation of 13 jobs with little discussion on Wednesday. The salaries total at least $912,000 a year, plus benefits.
What are those red Xs on the Syracuse basketball scoreboard and how do they involve fans?
Before Syracuse’s last two men’s basketball games, a video of Adrian Autry played in the JMA Wireless Dome. On it, Autry talks about the importance of getting three straight stops on defense. When that happens, he explains, three large red Xs will appear on the giant stadium video board. Syracuse will have entered what Autry describes as the “Orange Zone.”