Archive: Around Town

Solar power will be a key to New York achieving its mandated climate goals of obtaining most of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and having carbon-free electricity by 2040. And fulfilling these goals could require large swaths of cleared farmland for immense, land-intensive solar projects.

Max Zhang, a Cornell University professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has been awarded a 2 ½-year, approximately $200,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for work aimed at determining efficient solar farm array configurations to avoid land-use conflicts or spoiling precious agricultural space.

'After 6 months of closure due to COVID-19, New Roots Charter School opened the doors of the Clinton House right on schedule on September 9, 2020. Students attend in person classes two full days and one half day per week, following the same schedule on alternating days remotely. Students who have chosen entirely remote instruction due to medical needs and other factors attend the in-person classes remotely via live streaming.

After four weeks, there have been no cases of COVID-19 reported at the school.

National Fire Prevention Week is October 4th – 10th. The theme for 2020 is "Serve Up Fire Safety in the Kitchen." Unattended cooking is the leading cause of fires in the home, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The Fire Prevention Week campaign serves to educate everyone about simple but important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe.

According to the NFPA, cooking is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries in the United States. Almost half (44%) of reported home fires start in the kitchen. Two-thirds (66%) of home cooking fires start with the ignition of food or other cooking materials.

If you're still not recycling correctly, now is the time to get your bin in order. Starting November 1st, recycling bins and set-outs that do not follow the guidelines for Tompkins County will receive Rejection stickers and be left at the curb uncollected. This measure will ensure that Tompkins County continues to produce clean, high quality recyclables with low contamination that don't get rejected by recycling markets.

Making sure that your recycling gets collected is easy, and information about what is accepted in your curbside bin can be found at RecycleTompkins.org and in the Curbside Recycling Guidelines for Tompkins County brochure. Some of the most common mistakes residents make include putting plastic bags and film, Styrofoam electronics, and garbage in the recycling bin. Any plastic items must include a number 1, 2, or 5 recycling symbol to be accepted.

Thirty-five people attended a ceremony on Saturday, October 3, to unveil a historic marker placed at the Salt Point Natural Area in Lansing. Members of the Friends of Salt Point group, which manages the natural area in cooperation with the Town of Lansing, arranged placement of the marker to commemorate the table salt processing that took place there from 1891 to 1962. Event attendees were required to wear masks and practice social distancing.

Long-time Lansing residents Guy Isaac and Ron Bowman, who both worked at the plant prior to its closure, unveiled the blue and yellow marker. Town Supervisor Ed LaVigne and Lansing resident Donna Scott, who wrote the funding grant and researched the history for the marker, spoke at the event.

"It's great to have our town volunteers help us celebrate our local history," LaVigne told the group. "We're excited about everything that's happening here at Salt Point." The marker reads: "Table Salt Wells. From 1891-1962, Cayuga Lake Salt Co. pumped brine from wells here to produce refined salt for food & cooking. Plant demolished 1964."

The Savage Club of Ithaca is moving to Lansing.  The 125 year old arts and literature club is purchasing the Faith Baptist Fellowship Church building on Auburn Road between South and North Lansing.  Club Treasurer C. William Heffner presented a plan to convert the church to a meeting/rehearsal and performance space to the Town of Lansing Planning Board Monday.

"The church that's out there is just ideal. One, because it has a basement," Heffner told the Board. "The upstairs, the sanctuary, is a perfect spot for small performances. And once we saw it, aside from our own idea for us to perform for ourselves and for some small audiences, we thought long term it would be a wonderful space for amateurs and other people who are trying to find a space to either to practice in or to perform in. Around Tompkins County it's hard to find places where it would not be expensive."

There is such a thing as a free lunch, at least while the COVID-19 crisis is significantly impacting how and where students learn.  School lunch is free for all students, at least for now.  Two weeks ago Lansing Central School District Business Administrator Kate Heath reported that the program providing lunch at no charge for all students has been extended through December 31st.  As of that report, Heath said 330 students had signed up to have meals delivered weekly to their homes.

"For every meal that we give out, we get federal reimbursement for that, whether they qualify for free or reduced meals or not," Heath said. "We are still encouraging families to sign up for free and reduced who are eligible so when that deadline passes in December, they'll still be able to continue to receive their free and reduced lunch through the normal program."

Responding to an urgent local need, Cornell University and the Cayuga Health System are donating COVID-19 testing and analysis to the Ithaca City School District (ICSD), testing more than 1,200 students this week as the district prepares to reopen for in-person instruction Oct. 5.

Thanks to a five-year, $935,125 award from the U.S. Department of Education, the College will be able to increase support services for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. AURORA, N.Y. (Sept. 30, 2020)—The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a $935,125 five-year grant to Wells College through the TRIO Student Support Services program. Starting with the current year, the first-year grant award is $187,025, with the rest of the grant to be distributed over the subsequent four years.

The federal government's Student Support Services (SSS) Program is a comprehensive academic and personal support program that aims to increase retention and graduation rates among students who are first-generation college students or from low-income backgrounds, as well as individuals with disabilities. The program provides academic and personal support services, including tutoring, academic advising, career counseling, financial literacy, post-graduate preparation, and mentorship to all participants.

Equipped with Zoom rooms, Instagram, Facebook, tweets and texts – social distancing tools in the age of COVID-19 – a group of students is demystifying the mechanics of voter registration and casting a ballot.

The approximately 50 students are members of Cornell Votes, a universitywide, nonpartisan group seeking to increase civic engagement on campus, and promote voter registration and turnout. Amy Somchanhmavong, associate director of the Cornell Public Service Center, and Sage Clemenco, community initiatives associate, serve as advisers.

United Way of Tompkins County (UWTC) is announced Jean McPheeters, a long-time community advocate who has previously chaired the community campaign, and Dominick Recckio, recipient of the "Fab 5" Nonprofit Leader of the Year Award and current Tompkins County employee, will join together as co-chairs of this year's community campaign.

The pair firmly believes that the financial support that UWTC provides to households and nonprofit agencies in Tompkins County is more critical than ever. "The COVID-19 pandemic has made the role of community philanthropy all the more important. Working together the people of Tompkins County can support families and individuals through food, shelter, mental and physical health, and the knowledge that we stand together during difficulty and that we still celebrate the joys that life brings," shared McPheeters.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced last Friday that the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is expanding online services with a pilot program that will allow new drivers to take the written learner permit tests for passenger cars (Class D) and motorcycles (Class M) online, and also allow customers who reside in counties served by the state DMV to register their vehicles online.  That may seem like good news, but Tompkins County Clerk Maureen Reynolds says the plan takes much needed revenue away from the County DMV -- run by her office and not by the State -- sort of.  And that makes it more challenging to generate enough income to keep all the local DMV employees and services here in Tompkins County.  Reynolds adds that removing the vision test because services are offered online could pose a hazard.

"I do see this as a big loss of income. They're saying it's due to COVID, but it could move in the future," Reynolds says.  "But now if they take away the vision test, which is not a good thing, because some people really shouldn't need to have their vision tested before they get a license.  There are some people that shouldn't be driving. So there's a safety issue that we're concerned about."