Archive: News

A total of 30 yard signs for Mike Allinger and incumbent Casey Powers, Democratic candidates for Newfield Town Board, were stolen from properties along Shaffer Road, Main Street, and Millard Hill Road between the hours of 7 and 10 PM on October 22. (See attached map.) Signs for the opposition candidates were left in place, making it "obvious," according to Newfield Democrats, that "this is not a prank…but a deliberate theft of signs for the Better Newfield and Democratic candidates for this year's election to the Newfield Town Board."

In Lansing Donna Scott reports that four signs were stolen from the Lansing Station Road home of Karin Pohl.  Scott had delivered the signs near Pohl's front door, behind some potted plants.  The signs were taken while the Pohls were out of town.

TCAT will bring in up to 10 professional transit contract drivers in the coming weeks to bolster its ranks and to address a shortage of bus operators that is being experienced on the local, regional and national levels. The use of temporary professional contract drivers will help TCAT maintain its high levels of service.

The TCAT Board of Directors unanimously approved a resolution Thursday at its regularly scheduled board meeting, to enter into a contract with California-based National Tour Integrated Resources.

Tom Reed called for changes in the federal budget process which would require the President to deliver tangible spending plans to Congress in order to rein in the federal deficit. "Our kids and grandkids are saddled with an 19 trillion dollar debt which continues to grow. That isn't fair and it isn't right. I care about ensuring that we leave our kids with a nation that is financially strong and this proposal is the first step in that process."

The move comes as U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew informed Congress that the United States would once again strike its debt limit on November 3.

	This week we conclude the Lansing Star interviews with Lansing candidates.  We ask the same questions of each and let you compare their answers.  Click here to see all the Lansing 2015 election interviews.

Andra Benson is one of the two Democratic candidates for Town Board in next month's election.  She has lived in Lansing for 46 years.  Her family owns Bensvue Farms.  She lives in a renewable energy powered home on the property with her husband, Chuck.  They have eight children 25 grandchildren.

Benson served on the Lansing Board Of Education for ten years, and serves on the Lansing Community Library Board Of Directors, where she also volunteers as a bookkeeper.  She is a founding member of the Lansing Youth Services Commission, and is the Director of Religious Education at All Saints Church.  She also serves there as teen minister.  For years she has been the announcer at Lansing Boys Varsity Swim Team home meets.  She also volunteers for Organic Valley projects.

She met with the Lansing Star in her home to talk about why she is running and what she hopes to accomplish, if elected.

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New York State Senator Michael Nozzolio today announced $1 million in state funding to assist new farmers and New York State's growing agriculture industry. Last year, the successful New York State New Farmers Grant Fund awarded $610,000 to 19 farms across the state.

"Agriculture is the backbone of our economy, not only in the Finger Lakes but statewide. Virtually every business, family and individual in our region directly or indirectly depends on agriculture, the single largest job producing enterprise in New York State," said Senator Mike Nozzolio.

The Tompkins County Legislature's Government Operations Committee today resumed its discussion of "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" (UAVs), more commonly referred to as "drones", discussing a preliminary draft of a proposed Local Law, which, if moved forward, could regulate use of the devices in Tompkins County..

The draft Local Law, prepared for committee review by County Attorney Jonathan Wood, would regulate the use of UAVs within Tompkins County that fly below a height of 400 feet.  (Current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidance recommends UAV use be limited to that level.)

School Business Administrator Mary June King Wednesday told the Board of Education that the Lansing School District underspent its $27.82 million budget by $1.651 million dollars last school year.  King said Lansing underspent by 5.94% of its budget.  But she said with the fate of the Cayuga Power Plant still undetermined, the money may be used to keep future property taxes at a reasonable rate if the plant is closed.  She added that if the plant stays open and regains some of its lost value it will be up to the school board to decide whether to give some of the money back to taxpayers in the form of lower taxes.

"That's a significant number.," King explained.  "That's almost 6% of the projected budget.  That's the most we've underspent the budget since I've been here.  The Comptroller's staff came this year, partly because they said we ended our year with a big fund balance.  They said we're ending our year with a lot of money left over.  And they want to know why."

Drivers on Ridge Road found the Salmon Creek Bridge closed late Monday after New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) inspectors found problems with steel underneath the bridge deck.  The bridge is located on the west side of Myers and Ludlowville Roads on the western edge of the Lansing schools campus.  DOT Public Information Officer for Region 3 Gene Cilento says the bridge will be closed for about two weeks.

"The repairs to this bridge at this time are being done by our in-house bridge crews," Cilento says.  "Because of the type of bridge and the location of the needed repairs they need to set up a scaffolding system in order to reach the repair spot, and to be able to get materials in there.   That's the first order of business, to get that platform system set up.  Then they'll do the actual steel repairs."

	On November 3rd voters will choose from among four candidates for two Town Board seats.  The Lansing Star asked the same questions of all four.  Two appear in this week's issue, and the other two next week.

Rick Hayes (R) is running for one of the two open Town Board seats.  A Newfield native, Hayes also lived in Ithaca before moving to Lansing 25 years ago. He is a real estate agent.  He and his wife, Charla, have two sons.

Hayes is the only candidate running for the Board who has not served on it before.  He says he has been reading minutes of past board meetings to prepare for a term on the Board.  He says a fresh perspective and new ideas are what the Town needs.

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	On November 3rd voters will choose from among four candidates for two Town Board seats.  The Lansing Star asked the same questions of all four.  Two appear in this week's issue, and the other two next week.

Katrina Binkewicz is running for Town Board.  If elected, she will serve for her third term -- she served in 2000 and again in 2012, when she finished Andra Benson's term after Benson stepped down to care for her husband after he suffered a severe accident.  She moved from Washington, DC to Lansing in 1990.  She teaches TST BOCES students, kindergarten through age 21, art and special education and formerly taught science there.  She and her husband Matthew live in Lansing, as does her son Tony. 

Binkewicz stopped by the Lansing Star to talk about the reasons she is running for the Board, and to share her thoughts on what is important for the Town.

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Amendments Adopted to 2016 Recommended Budget
The Tompkins County Legislature formally adopted amendments to the County Administrator's 2015 Recommended Budget and the Capital Program for the next five years, as recommended by the Expanded Budget Committee.  The vote was 10-2, with Legislators ………voting no.  There were no changes to the package recommended by the Expanded Budget Committee before the Legislature vote.

The amended budget would increase the County tax levy by 1.12%, compared to the 1.3% included in the Administrator's budget, to meet the Legislature's 2016 levy goal.  The recommended tax rate of $6.73 per thousand is down by 1.77% from 2015 and is about a penny less than the Administrator's budget, representing an increase of $13.62 in the tax bill for the median-valued $170,000 home.  As part of the amended budget, the County Solid Waste Fee would increase by $3.00 from the 2015 level, to $55.00 per household, a dollar less than was in the Recommended Budget.

The Public Safety Committee of the Tompkins County Legislature today, by a unanimous 4-0 vote, recommended approval by the full Legislature of a State-funded study of the consolidation of City and County law enforcement agencies.

Legislation is being submitted to both the City of Ithaca Common Council and County Legislature that will authorize the two governments to jointly apply for State funding for the study, and to develop a request for proposals that will seek expert consultants to assist with the study.