Archive: Around Town

Moore Tree Farm is donating Real Christmas Trees as part of the nationwide Trees for Troops program, sponsored by The Christmas Tree Farmers Association of New York, the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation and FedEx Corp.

This holiday season, Trees for Troops is expected to collect and deliver more than 11,000 Real Christmas Trees from 27 states to military families across the United States, as well as to soldiers serving overseas.

Pet of the WeekHi there my name is Carey I am a female tortoise cat and I was wondering if you needed a new cat to add to your family. Please come and visit me at the SPCA.

Visit the SPCA Web Page

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Last week construction began at the John Joseph Inn on Auburn Road.  Many Lansing residents hoped something like this would happen, ever since the historic Rose Inn was destroyed by fire over two years ago.  Owners John and Elizabeth Hamilton plan to open the restaurant and six-guest room inn this Spring.  Now they are busy with repairs and renovations to the inn, the restaurant, and a small house on the property they recently moved in to.  "My whole career I've just been waiting to come home and play for myself," says John.

Well known Ithacans Ellie and Monte May were honored by the Ithaca-Cayuga Rotary Club with its 2006 Distinguished Community Service Award at a dinner Tuesday evening (Oct 31) at the Country Club of Ithaca. Both of the Mays have been involved in a wide variety of community service activities over the years. They are probably best known as the saviors of the Stewart Park merry-go-round, having purchased it in mid-1980 and fixed it up and run it until they sold it to the City five years ago.

Monte is the retired owner of Wheaton Heating and Air Conditioning. He served on the Town of Ithaca Planning Board for 15 years, half as its chair. Among his many accomplishments during that time was the negotiation of an agreement with the City to have one fire department cover both communities and another to swap land with the City to bring the Youth Bureau inside the city limits and provide a site for the Chamber of Commerce building. He also is involved with the Sciencenter’s Einstein’s Attic and is an avid collector of steam engines.

Pet of the WeekHi I’m ladybug a female tortoiseshell cat. I am a beautiful girl who needs a home…what more could you ask for? So come and visit me at the SPCA.

Visit the SPCA Web Page

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Last year many people complained about school tax collection.  There were problems, not the least of which was late deposits that meant lost interest for the Lansing school district.  Town Board members Connie Wilcox and Matt Besemer thought they could do something this year to help the school district and improve the situation.  "We wanted to make it convenient for taxpayers whether it be school district, town, county, whatever," Wilcox says.  "We felt it was a service to the town that we wanted to provide, so we did.  We had the facilities to do it, found the personnel.  It all worked out well."

Most parents know that theft is a problem in high school.  The problem is not unique to Lansing High School, but it is something that students are faced with, and that school administrators try their best to deal with.  But the root of the problem is that our kids are too trusting, and can be lazy about securing their belongings.  "Students, in light of their desire for self-preservation, will often go home and say, 'My locker was locked.  Something must have happened,'" explains Principal Michelle Stone.  "And I will tell you I frequently go through the locker rooms and it's difficult to find lockers that are locked."

"I find book bags all over the school.  When I go into them to see who they belong to I will often find calculators, sometimes money, all kinds of things.  And they're just laying there."

Most of the theft in Lansing takes place in the locker rooms where Stone notes students are lax about locking lockers, as opposed to the hall lockers which are more secure because students are better about locking them.  She notes that they don't leave the same things in hall lockers, because iPods, cell phones, and cash are typically carried on their person except when they are in gym.

The Town of Lansing has been awarded a $105,000 on behalf of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization (IO) for two watershed projects by the New York State Department of State Environmental Protection Fund.  The money will be spent on two projects that will benefit IO municipalities.

"Looking at things one spot by one spot is not a good way to go," says Darby Kiley who currently works half time for Lansing and the other half for the IO.  "We started at a larger Cayuga Lake Watershed plan, and now we're looking at these sub-water sheds, and what are the best approaches to fixing things, leaving things alone, encouraging certain types of behavior, whether it's not mowing to the edge of a stream and planting some different trees."

Lansing – State Senator Michael F. Nozzolio today announced that Kionix Inc. plans to locate its new microfluidics business unit in the Cornell Business and Technology Park in Lansing, where it is already based. Senator Nozzolio successfully secured $250,000 in state funding for the project, which is expected to create more than 150 new jobs and represents more than $5 million of new investment.

“This announcement by Kionix is terrific news for Lansing and Tompkins County and I was pleased to successfully secure funding and work with state officials to make this expansion by Kionix a reality,” said Senator Nozzolio. "Promoting and supporting high-tech businesses is the future of job growth in our region and all of New York State. This investment is another example of how we can create jobs and continue to make New York State the national leader in innovative and emerging industries."

This past weekend the Lansing Community Center was bustling with activity as the Troop 48 Boy Scouts held their annual Haunted House on Saturday evening.

Each year the scouts in Lansing plan for the Haunted House during their troop meetings in October. Everyone gets to contribute ideas for what they would like to see in the Haunted House. After selecting what they want to include in the current year’s event, the boys volunteer for parts in the various scenes or to act as tour guides.

Do you do the same old thing every Saturday?  Maybe it's time to recycle the day by doing something different with it.  That's what Tompkins County Solid Waste Division's Lynette Short has in mind for tomorrow (11/4).  From 10am to 4pm you'll be able to go to the Pyramid Mall for this year's America Recycles Day Fair.  "It's a county-wide effort to share the benefits and the knowledge that we have about recycling waste reduction and buying green," Short says.  "It's going to have a lot of carnival-like activities, contests, workshops, live shows, music, and 40 to 50 environmentally correct vendors."