Archive: Around Town

This week the Ithaca-Cayuga Rotary Club announced it is changing its name to the Lansing-Ithaca Rotary.  The club, which was founded in 1971, has been considering the change since 2005 to better reflect its focus on activities in the Lansing community.

"What we are at this point is small and scrappy," says AnnMarie Hautaniemi who currently shares the President's seat with Ed Siemon.  "We're trying to broaden our profile in Lansing so we can get more Lansing members.  We've sponsored exchange students for Lansing.  More recently we've sent kids from Lansing to Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA).  All of our efforts have been geared toward Lansing.  Our focus is Lansing, and that's where we want to grow, and grow our membership from."

The absence of rural broadband isn't just a newspaper story about some remote part of the country in Tompkins County.  It's a very real, very frustrating problem for some people who live so close to Time Warner's cable that they can just about smell it.  Claire Perez is one of these people.  She lives on Peruville Road in Dryden, just over a mile from the Lansing border.  More importantly she is one sixth of a mile from the cable.  It might as well be a thousand miles.

"Everything I do is pretty much online," she says.  "I do my banking online, I look up health issues online.  There are a lot of opportunities for me to do research and writing online.  And looking for jobs online.  That's been a real problem.  Our tenants are always going to be dependent on online services.  I am constantly thinking of the list of things I have to do online that I can't access."

Lansing-Ithaca Rotary (formerly Ithaca-Cayuga Rotary) is collecting non-perishable food, cleaning supplies, and personal hygiene items to assist in the flood relief efforts for New Yorkers in Delaware County. You can drop off items through Monday, September 5, at these Lansing locations: Lansing Community Library, All Saints Church, Lansing United Methodist Church, Lansing Town Hall, Rogue's Harbor, and Crossroads Bar & Grille.

Canned food, Diapers, Adult Diapers, Cleaning supplies, Personal hygiene items, Shampoo, Soap, Towels, Small Coolers,School supplies, Non-perishable food items such as peanut butter and jelly

v7i34

Hey there, my name is E.J. I am a five-year-old domestic shorthair/ mix. I'm a handsome fellow who is looking for a loving home, so please come and visit me at the SPCA to see if I'm the right cat for you!


Visit the SPCA Web Page

v7i134

Ithaca Superintendent of Public Works and City Engineer Bill Gray, who was instrumental in consolidating three transit agencies to make TCAT what it is today, has returned to his old stomping grounds to serve on the TCAT, Inc. Board of Directors.

The TCAT Board at its Aug. 25 meeting accepted the resignation of Ithaca Common Council Member Dan Cogan and unanimously voted to replace him with Gray, who was part of the preTCAT Operations Committee in the earlytomid 1990s. The committee worked toward consolidating three transit systems operated separately by the city, Tompkins County and Cornell University.

Hey there my name is Mini. I am an eleven-year-old domestic short-haired mix. I'm a gorgeous girl who is looking for a loving home, so please come and visit me at the SPCA to see if I'm the right cat for you!


Visit the SPCA Web Page

v7i133

SewGreen, downtown Ithaca’s sustainable sewing center, will soon add a third space to its storefront location. A sewing machine tune-up shop will open in October next door to the existing classroom and fabric reuse store at 112 North Cayuga Street.

The tune-up shop will be staffed by SewGreen volunteers and interns who have learned how to clean, oil, and do minor repairs on vintage sewing machines.

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Louisa, VA was felt in Ithaca Tuesday.  While no emergencies resulted in Tompkins County, it was certainly felt here.  Two Lansing Highway Department employees were returning from Lowe's when the quake hit.  They said it felt as if someone had jumped onto the bed of their pickup truck.

Easrthquakes are rare in Tompkins County, and the chances of a serious one hitting the area are pretty low.  According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) there is only a 0.44% chance of a 5 magnitude earthquake hitting the area, and that goes down to a 0.192% of a 5.5 magnitude quake within 31 miles of ithaca in the next 50 years.

Tompkins Learning Partners will launch its Literacy for Life Capital Campaign with a “ground breaking” celebration Monday at the organization’s home at 124 W. Buffalo Street in Ithaca.

Campaign Co-Chairs Carl Haynes, president of Tompkins Cortland Community College, and Tom Weiler, board president of Tompkins Learning Partners, will be on hand to officially kick off the agency’s first-ever capital campaign.

The Lansing community has been eagerly awaiting the opening of its own supermarket all summer.  The construction site has been turning heads for months.  Last week shopping carts were spotted through the front window, making the opening seem even more imminent.  Inside the building construction workers have entered the final stretch.  Most of the fixtures are installed or are being installed, after which the floor will be tiled and finishing touches applied in time for a September 14th opening.  Store Manager Don Taylert says that's when the real challenge will begin.

"It's going to be very busy," he says.  "A lot of Lansing people and people from the surrounding area are so excited to shop here.  We'll also have curiosity seekers who want to see what it looks like.  That's where we have to impress.  First impressions are lasting.  We're very excited.  All of us can't wait.  We want it open tomorrow."

v7i32

Chicago (August 01, 2011)—The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), a professional association of more than 37,000 general dentists dedicated to staying up to date in the profession through continuing education to better serve the public, is pleased to announce that John C. Comisi, DDS, MAGD, of Ithaca, NY, received the association’s 2011 Mastership award during the AGD 2011 Annual Meeting & Exhibits, held July 28 to 31 in San Diego, California.

The Mastership award is the highest honor available at the AGD and one of the most respected designations within the profession. To accomplish this goal, Comisi completed over 1,100 hours of continuing dental education.