Archive: News

Village of Lansing Trustees set a public hearing for September 15th for the public to weigh in on adjustments to its firearms and bow safety law.  The Village has held a deer population control hunt each year since 2007.  If passed the law will make it easier to manage the official hunt.  Mayor Donald Hartill said the law will also bring Village code in line with changes in State hunting law.

"That avoids the drama we periodically have trying to get everybody on board," Hartill said.  "This is a way of easing that.  It also takes considerable load off of (Village hunt organizer Bernd Blossey)."

Tom Reed spent Thursday in Ithaca at Hospicare and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County promoting local hospice care. After a tour of the facility and a chance to meet with employees and hospice providers from the area, Reed announced a new bill he recently introduced to strengthen and improve access to quality hospice care. Reed’s bipartisan HOSPICE Act – Hospice Opportunities for Supporting Patients with Integrity and Care Evaluations – was drafted with input from local hospice caregivers and is supported by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

“Our bill is designed to help hospice and palliative caregivers, like Hospicare in Ithaca, do their jobs more effectively and provide higher quality care,” Tom Reed said. “From my family’s personal experience, I’m a firm believer in the quality care and support hospice gives to patients and their families. That’s why we’re committed to putting the fair accountability and transparency measures in our bill in place – so that families in rural areas like our own have access to the hospice care of their choice.”

The New York State Archives, a unit of the State Education Department, has awarded Tompkins County a nearly $150,000 Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund grant to further extend the County’s digital records management program.

The $149,972 grant, awarded in what Archives officials describe as a “highly competitive” year, will expand the program to share services with the county’s six villages (Cayuga Heights, Groton, Lansing, Dryden, Freeville, and Trumansburg) and the Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation District.  The successful grant application was filed by the Tompkins County Clerk’s Office.

The Tompkins County Department of Emergency Response issued an alert Tuesday warning motorists of road closures on both sides of the lake, due to flooding and downed trees and wires.  Hardest hit were Lansing and Ulysses, where Route 34/East Shore Drive in Lansing and Route 89/Taughannock Boulevard near the Taughannock Falls State Park were closed for at least a half hour Tuesday evening.  That storm followed on the heels of a thunderstorm Sunday that flooded parts of the Village of Lansing.  Village Mayor Donald Hartill said there was significant flooding on Cayuga Heights Road.

"It was partly a result of two culverts upstream on Oakcrest Road not doing their job," he said Monday.  "We're going to take a careful look at that.  The only way you can deal with this kind of flow is to distribute and make sure that those culverts are working properly."

Bonding Authorized for Capital Projects
Supporting capital projects approved in the County’s Capital Program for the next five years as part of the 2014 budget process, the Legislature authorized bonding for $8.76 million to support three projects that are part of the Capital Program.

The Legislature, by unanimous vote of those present, authorized the issuance of up to $1.6 million in serial bonds and notes to support part of the cost of facility restoration projects—buildings and grounds capital improvements—at several County buildings during 2014 and 2015.  (Legislator Martha Robertson was excused.)  The capital improvements include roof replacements, mechanical system replacements and upgrades, life safety alarm system replacements, masonry improvements, and parking lot improvements.

In a joint release, Mayor Svante Myrick, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton and the New York State Department of Transportation Region 3 Director Carl Ford announced the formation of a joint working group Monday with their three offices to evaluate every possible improvement to safety on the state highways leading into Ithaca.

The effort to improve safety comes after the tragic accident on June 20th, in which a tractor trailer truck lost its brakes on Route 79 in the City of Ithaca and careened into Simeon’s restaurant on the corner of 79 and North Aurora Street, taking the life of the 27-year-old bartender, Amanda Bush.  Lifton and Myrick spoke soon after the accident that evening and agreed to ask for a meeting with DOT and work together to see what might be done to augment safety measures on the steep hills around Ithaca in order to try to prevent such an accident from happening again.

If you work at home in the Village of Lansing you may need a permit. Village Trustees considered changes to the definition of home occupation Monday which will clarify existing law on business conducted in homes.  Telecommuters may not need permission.  But a permit is required for home businesses that have any impact whatsoever on the neighborhood, even those for whom only occasional client visits are involved.

"You could apply for a special permit," said Village Attorney David Dubow.  "If you meet the criteria of that special permit you are granted permission and that use is proper and lawful under the Village's regulations.  There are a lot of people these days that work at home."

The weather forecast is looking good for a family day at Myers Park: 'Celebrate Lansing' premiers tomorrow.  The event, hosted by the Lansing Community Council, will feature live music, food and activities from 10am until 6:30pm.  Community Council President and Celebrate Lansing Chairman Ed LaVigne says tomorrow's celebration will be geared toward families and kids.

"We have seven different bounce houses," he says.  "For a five dollar charge kids can go on as many bounce houses as they want, all day.  And for a family we're only going to charge up to $20.  We also have a youth pavilion."

Reps. Tom Reed and Louise Slaughter have introduced a bill that would make totally and permanently disabled public safety officers eligible to receive disability benefits regardless of when their injuries were sustained in the line of duty. The Disabled Public Safety Officers Fairness Act corrects an unfairness in current law so that disabled officers are eligible for the same federal disability benefits.

“Whether a public safety officer became permanently disabled on November 28, 1990 or August 6, 2014, they deserve fair treatment for their injuries,” Tom Reed said. “Our bill cares for the welfare of first responders in New York State and across the country. This is a common sense fix to give all permanently disabled public safety officers access to the same disability benefits.”

Following a public hearing Monday the Village of Lansing Planning Board approved a special permit to build a mosque on Graham Road.  The 4,828 square foot Al-Huda Islamic Center of the Finger Lakes mosque is planned for a .95 acre parcel, north of the Cayuga Mall, across the street from the Swarthout Coaches bus facility.  Al-Huda Islamic Center Committee Vice President and Treasurer Ahmed H. Ahmed says the facility will serve the local Muslim community that is made up primarily of students and faculty at Cornell, Ithaca College and TC3.

"Muslims need a place to gather and have an identity, and in addition their children have the right to learn and practice their true Islamic religion," Ahmed said.  "And it is also to break the feeling of being a minority as Islamic people in Ithaca or the surrounding area.  This location will allow will allow the Muslim community at Cornell, Ithaca and others to have easy access to a central location."

Corning - Tom Reed’s campaign announced an A+ rating Tuesday from the Shooters Committee on Political Education (S.C.O.P.E.) in New York State.

The Shooters Committee on Political Education voter rating system helps Second Amendment supporters stay informed about candidates before heading to the polls. The ratings addressed any vote in favor of the New York SAFE Act and a history of support for Second Amendment rights.

Ithaca, NY - One of the most beloved musicals of all time comes to Ithaca with Running to Places' production of 'Fiddler on the Roof,' Aug. 15-17 in the air-conditioned Kulp Auditorium, 1401 N. Cayuga St., Ithaca.

The cast brings a vibrant energy to the show that never flags. From the famous 'Matchmaker Matchmaker' to the heartbreaking 'Far From the Home I Love,' R2P's company recreates the bustle of a Russian village and the daily struggle to survive using a simple set (designed by Deb Drew) and a lot of enthusiasm.