His school taught 800,000 people how to drive in Syracuse (Our top stories for the week of Oct. 27)

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 Oct. 27, 2024.
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Andrew Branch died on Sept. 19 in Camden, South Carolina. He was 91 years old. Branch was widely known in Syracuse for the business he started in 1963, Branch’s Driving School. It was one of the first Black-owned businesses in Syracuse, The Post-Standard said in 2004, and perhaps one of its most successful.
Would returning Donald Trump to the White House undermine Micron Technology’s plans to build a $100 billion chipmaking factory complex in Central New York? Many experts, including some Republicans, say no. But it’s a hard thing to predict with an unpredictable politician like Trump.
Onondaga County’s ambulance system is under a growing strain as emergency calls have soared and staffing has dropped. Those trends are testing a system that relies on coordination and cooperation among 19 ambulance providers in an arrangement called “mutual aid.”
They care deeply about political issues – immigration, abortion, guns. But don’t put them in a blue or red box. They don’t want your junk mail. They laugh at your debates. They are disappointed when you don’t answer the question. The next generation of voters is rejecting political parties and registering independent in even bigger volumes than four years ago.
When Jen Scott began working at the Fish-On! Motel 30 years ago, the price for this highly skilled service was $3. Today the price is an inflation-defying $4. Scott politely declined to disclose how many fish she cleans in a season, but it’s a lot. The truly remarkable thing is that she does it at all. Cleaning fish isn’t even her real job.
The dramatic spike in Syracuse’s drinking water lead levels earlier this year could be a false alarm because city staff made mistakes and failed to follow test procedures, syracuse.com | The Post-Standard has learned. Those mistakes included gathering samples from outdoor hoses, instead of following federal testing guidelines, officials told syracuse.com.