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Symptoms include a fever, headache or scratchy throat. If symptoms do develop, the health department recommends staying home and contacting your doctor for guidance about testing. Older adults, people with underlying conditions or the immunocompromised should contact their physician even if symptoms are mild. 

It's the second case involving an Auburn Lowe's employee. In May, a Lowe's employee who lives in Cayuga County tested positive for COVID-19. That led to a similar advisory from the health department that customers may have been exposed to the virus. 

The health department on Thursday reiterated the importance of social distancing — remaining six feet apart from others — and limiting trips to stores. The department reminded residents that only one household member should go to stores. When out in public, wear a face covering and continue to wash your hands often. 

In its daily situational update, the health department reported that there are no new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cayuga County. Seven people remain in mandatory isolation due to recent positive tests. Another 34 people are in mandatory quarantine because they were exposed to someone with the virus. 

One person remains hospitalized. So far, 104 people have been discharged from mandatory isolation after recovering from the virus. 

The ceremony was also on the Weedsport Central School District website for family and friends who couldn't attend the limited-capacity event.

For all the social distance, though, the ceremony didn't sound much different than it would have without COVID-19.

But the student speakers couldn't completely avoid mentioning the thing that radically altered the end of their 12-year journey through Weedsport schools.

After a welcome by Superintendent Shaun O'Connor, which stayed focused on praising the students, their parents and the school community, class president and salutatorian Bridget Hickey capped off the remarks of the first half of the ceremony. Her speech began with her quipping "thanks COVID," but she followed with more sincere gratitude to parents and teachers who taught her the most important lessons of her academic career. Among them were laughing to keep from crying and "all you need is love," both of which she learned in her Beatles-loving parents' house, she said.

Still, Hickey couldn't help lamenting what she and her classmates lost due to the pandemic.

"This was supposed to be the best time of our lives," she said. "But we did all we could in the days leading up to March 13, the day we didn't know would be our last here."

Closing out the second half of the ceremony was valedictorian Garrett Sevier.

After declaring that "this pandemic isn't going to define us" and praising his classmates' resiliency, Sevier also recalled lessons from Weedsport teachers he learned over the years. But his speech returned to COVID-19, both lightheartedly and seriously. It was nice not having to be at school at 7:45 a.m., he joked, and being able to stay up the night before watching TikTok videos.

Sevier then shared his gratitude for being able to grow closer with his family at home during quarantine. He also thanked his parents and teachers for keeping spirits high and doing their most to make distance learning work. Along with the loss of senior celebrations, learning to go to school remotely was one of the challenges that shaped — but didn't define — the class of 2020, Sevier said.

"School's hard enough, but now imagine that online," he said. "The challenges for us this year were unlike anything anyone could have imagined."

The defendant was then immediately sentenced and given youthful offender status, which vacated the conviction he earned by pleading guilty. The adjudication is granted to defendants based on factors like age and lack of previous felony convictions, Judge Mark Fandrich said in court.

Fandrich granted youthful offender status over Cayuga County Senior Assistant District Attorney Heather DeStefano's request to reconsider, citing parts of the defendant's grand jury testimony.

"I'm sorry for what I did," the defendant said in his statement to the court, adding he knew it's been hard on the victim and her family.

He pleaded guilty to third-degree rape, a class E felony, in exchange for the sentence of six months in the Cayuga County Jail to be followed by 10 years of probation without the requirement to register as a sex offender.

At the time, Fandrich did not grant a request from defense counsel to potentially shorten jail time with a community service component.

Also in court:

• An Auburn man with past felony convictions will serve a three-year sentence with shock camp for selling cocaine in 2018.

Christopher Piedmont, 48, admitted last December to selling cocaine on March 30, 2018, in the area of North Street in Auburn.

Around the time of Piedmont's Sept. 12 arrest, police said he sold the substance to a Finger Lakes Drug Task Force informant on two occasions. He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, a class B felony.

The pre-sentence investigation completed after his plea brought up questions during his sentencing on Tuesday regarding whether he fully accepted responsibility for the crime.

Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann said Piedmont "outright" denied ever making a sale and misrepresented his involvement. He also described Piedmont's criminal history that involved two prior felony convictions, failed probation sentences and about 700 days in local jail.

As a result of comments Piedmont made in the report, Fandrich asked him whether he committed the crime he already pleaded to.

"Yes, I did," he said and confirmed again after Fandrich asked if there was any question about his guilt.

Fandrich allowed the sentencing to go forward with the original plea bargain promising Piedmont a three-year prison sentence with a shock camp order and two years of parole. He will also be required to pay $100 in restitution for the drug money and a $50 DNA testing fee.

• A Liverpool man who was held in Cayuga County Jail since March 3 was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty in February to two felonies.

Jerrard Hoey, 41, of 114 Dorando Way, attempted to have sexual intercourse with a minor May 17 at or near the town of Brutus. He also admitted to sending a picture of a penis to someone he believed would send it to a minor.

The person he thought was younger than 15 years old was actually an undercover member of the New York State Police.

Hoey was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years of probation with a shock component of six months in the Cayuga County Jail. He received the sentence in exchange for pleading guilty Feb. 3 to the class E felonies of second-degree attempted rape of an actor younger than 17 years old and first-degree attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor.

• A 37-year-old man admitted to violating an order of protection and was sentenced for the violations in the same proceeding.

Mark Harrison admitted to being in the presence of a person benefiting from an order of protection against him on two occasions, Feb. 26 and April 6 of 2019, while in Locke. Harrison currently lives outside of Orlando, Fla. but previously resided at 511 Hillsdale Ave. in Syracuse.

Harrison was able to plead guilty Tuesday to two counts of second-degree criminal contempt, which are misdemeanors. Fandrich then sentenced him to one year of a conditional discharge that requires him to follow all laws and obey the victim's order of protection.

DPB Consulting Services has worked with Starbucks to open locations in and . Its president, Daniel Brennan, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Starbucks Corporation has also posted on Linkedin and other job sites looking for store managers and other positions in Auburn.

Headquartered in Seattle, Starbucks has more than 28,000 locations worldwide.

Until the Auburn location opens, the closest ones are inside the Target in Fairmount Fair in Camillus, and Armory Square in Syracuse. in Skaneateles serves Starbucks coffee, but is not an official location. Two downtown Auburn food businesses, Encore Eateries and The Underground, also served Starbucks coffee, but both have since closed.

Sunday night, the fireworks were so bad in the vicinity of Auburn Community Hospital that Cayuga County 911 on its Facebook page, asking people to stop igniting them. A helicopter was unable to lift off from the hospital due to the danger the fireworks posed to the patient and flight crew, the center said.

The county's 911 administrator, Denise Spingler, said Auburn police responded to the scene and after their investigation, the helicopter was able to take off.

The 911 center has received 97 calls related to fireworks since May 1, Spingler said.

In comparison, the center received 10 calls in the same time frame last year, she continued, and 23 in 2018. (Data from previous years was unavailable.)

The rise in fireworks has been even sharper in cities like New York, where there have been more than 6,000 complaints about them this month compared to 27 in the same time frame last year, . Nightly plethoras of pyrotechnics have also been reported in , and .

Many attribute the rise to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only has it led to the cancellation of summer fireworks shows — like the ones that follow the annual Fourth of July event at Emerson Park and Auburn Doubledays games — but the pandemic has also left people bored at home, or eager to blow off steam.

Still, Auburn Police Chief Shawn Butler asked those who use fireworks in the city to show some consideration for their neighbors. Though some fireworks are legal in New York and available for purchase in Auburn, he continued, that doesn't make them any less of a potential nuisance.

"Maybe your neighbors are elderly and go to sleep early. Maybe they have pets that are adversely affected by loud noise and bright lights. Perhaps their neighbors have health conditions or small children that these things affect," Butler said in an email. "We need to remember our basic civic duty to each other and consider these things appropriately."

The only fireworks legally available for sale and use in Cayuga County are sparkling devices, which are ground-based or handheld. They produce a shower of colored sparks and/or a colored flame, a crackling or whistling noise, and smoke. Butler said they can be as noisy as illegal fireworks, which many purchase in neighboring Pennsylvania or Canada.

So it's hard to know how many of the fireworks that are igniting complaints in Auburn are sparklers and how many aren't. But as the noise continues nightly, Butler said police may wind up with no recourse but to arrest users of illegal fireworks and seize any they discover, particularly when warnings are ignored.

"We certainly want to use our discretion to avoid arrests when possible," Butler said, "but some individuals do not always heed a friendly warning to cease their actions."

The United States and Canada agreed to the latest extension of restrictions to keep borders closed to non-essential travel just two weeks before the previous order would have expired. July 21 is now the earliest the restrictions might be taken down.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump have both said that there has been talk about how to proceed, but the public has been given no real update, and some families living along the border have expressed frustration at not being able to freely visit their relatives.

U.S. Reps. Brian Higgins and Elise Stefanik, who serve as co-chairs of the Northern Border Caucus in the House of Representatives, recently asked both countries to develop some guidance and provide clear direction on a plan to reopen the border.

The coronavirus remains a cause for concern, and keeping it from spreading is a priority for both the United States and Canada, but New York's congressional representatives are correct that a one-size-fits-all closure doesn't take the concerns of specific regions into account, and people should not be left to simply wait and wonder what the eventual plan for reopening might be.

ÈËÊÞÐÔ½» editorial board includes publisher Michelle Bowers, executive editor Jeremy Boyer and managing editor Mike Dowd.

The state requires that all nursing home employees are tested at least once a week. It was part of the routine testing that the positive case was discovered. The employee received a rapid test, which means the results were available minutes after the sample was collected. 

After the nursing home learned of the positive test, Chadderdon said the employee was sent home. The state and Cayuga County health departments have been notified, he added. 

The nursing home has more than 75 residents. Families of the residents were contacted by phone to notify them of the case. 

"Residents are being tested (Saturday morning) and staff will continue to follow (state Department of Health) and epidemiologists recommendations and monitor residents and staff health regularly," Chadderdon said. "FLCL has met with staff and residents and reinforced all the appropriate health and safety requirements to keep residents and employees safe." 

Finger Lakes Center for Living will continue to monitor residents and employees will be screened at the beginning of each shift. Chadderdon said the residents tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday. 

Chadderdon noted that it's the first positive case at the nursing home. There has been one other case involving an employee at a Cayuga County nursing home — a staff member at The Commons on St. Anthony in Auburn tested positive within the last month. It hasn't been revealed whether any nursing home residents in Cayuga County's four skilled nursing facilities have tested positive for COVID-19. 

Nursing homes have been a concern because they are congregate facilities where COVID-19 can easily spread. While Cayuga County hasn't had an outbreak in any of its nursing homes, other counties have reported numerous cases and deaths among employees or residents. 

Statewide, there have been 3,542 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 2,718 presumed deaths in nursing homes. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been criticized for a March policy that prevented nursing homes from refusing to admit or re-admit residents "solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19." The directive also prohibited nursing homes from requiring hospitalized residents from being tested for COVID-19 before they are admitted or re-admitted.

That policy has been reversed — it's no longer available on the state Department of Health's website — but there are other strict guidelines for nursing homes, including the mandate that every employee is tested at least once a week. It was previously a twice-a-week requirement, but Cuomo amended the order earlier this month. 

Nursing home visitation has been prohibited since mid-March. Chadderdon said Finger Lakes Center for Living implemented visitor restrictions before the state mandate took effect. 

"Auburn Community Hospital has very strict health and safety standards and will continue to aggressively ensure we are protecting our residents and our employees," he said. 

Jamar Lindo, 28, of Middletown, was airlifted to University Hospital in Syracuse where he was in serious condition as of early Friday night.

According to the release, at approximately 1:52 p.m., the Cayuga County 911 Center took a call reporting there was someone who had fallen off a boat somewhere in the north end of Cayuga Lake. Police, fire, and ambulance units were immediately dispatched.

Wade and Lindo were boating on Cayuga Lake in a 19-foot aluminum Tracker Bass fishing boat which was registered to Wade. The pair had been boating for most of the day and at some point struck a railroad bridge causing extensive damage to the boat. Wade was ejected from the boat and later pulled from the water by rescue personnel. Lindo was found by rescue personnel on the boat with apparent serious injuries.

Wade was transported to Auburn Community Hospital by ground ambulance where he was pronounced dead. It is unclear who was operating the vessel at the time of the accident or exactly when the accident occurred.

Anyone with information regarding this incident or who may have been on Cayuga Lake and could help to reconstruct a timeline of events is asked to contact Det. Joshua Blanchard at 315-253-3902. Tips can also be left at and can be done so anonymously.

Assisting the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office with this incident were the following: Cayuga County E911 Center, New York State Police, New York State Park Police, Cayuga Fire Department, Union Springs Fire Department, Aurelius Fire Department, AMR Ambulance, Cayuga Ambulance, Lifenet Helicopter.

"I could sum it up as networking," Muldrow said, "but this is more than just cocktails."

The association can also do more than its description might suggest. It could provide resources to new homeowners, or white business owners with diverse work forces. And members don't have to do business in Cayuga County, as living here or being from here is enough of a local connection for Muldrow.

He stressed, too, that the "Minority" part of the association's name is not limited to Black professionals, but all minorities.

Still, in the wake of the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, and the resurgence in the Black Lives Matter movement that has resulted, efforts to promote Black-owned businesses have been on the rise. Muldrow plans on doing the same by releasing a list of minority-owned businesses in Cayuga County, he said.

"Some could look at it as an advertising, but I look at it as a way to farm those young entrepreneur minds," he said. "There has been progress in this town that they may be unaware of. It's important for youth to see the positive effects, the people out here that paved the way and continue to trail-blaze. It's going to be a hard path, but the path has already been walked on."

What made the Minority Professional Association even more timely, however, was the COVID-19 pandemic.

Muldrow was forming the association's board of directors and writing its bylaws when the pandemic began in New York in March.

The president of Auburn-based automotive sales consulting business for 20 years, he saw the association meeting a need in the community. Its minority employment rate is about 2% higher than average, he said, but it didn't have the type of organized resources for them that Muldrow has seen in other communities. 

"We don't even know who we are," he said of minority professionals in the area. "Who are we, what do we look like and what do we do?"

Having traveled the country, forming partnerships and navigating the business landscape, he felt he could create that. And being the economic development chair of the Auburn/Cayuga branch of the NAACP, Muldrow found a useful framework for the association in the NAACP's .

But the pandemic forced Muldrow to put the association to work faster than he planned. He immediately made himself available to minority professionals in the area, using his network of contacts to help three businesses obtain Small Business Administration disaster assistance and Payroll Protection Program loans.

Muldrow had reason to be concerned: A released earlier this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the number of Black business owners nationwide fell 41% due to the pandemic and its economic effects. The number of all business owners, meanwhile, fell 22%.

The disproportion of that damage is just one reason why the Minority Professional Association now exists in Cayuga County. Muldrow hopes to have 10 members by the end of this week, but he said membership is not a prerequisite to reach out to him for help.

"Some people feel more comfortable with organizations like this, building strength in numbers," he said. "We need to make sure we're fully represented."