Archive: News

Rep. Tom Reed and Gary Mervis, Chairman and Founder of Camp Good Days and Special Times announced Monday at the Falck Cancer Center at Arnot Health the reintroduction of Reed’s legislation to strengthen cancer research reporting requirements to make research data more available and ensure taxpayer dollars are not being spent on duplicative studies.

“We are here today to make sure important clinical trial results are made available to all researchers so that we might improve care, increase the chances of finding a cure, and safeguard taxpayer dollars from funding redundant research,” Reed said. “We are very happy to be here with Gary to continue our commitment to Cancer Mission 2020 and announce the reintroduction of the Clinical Trial Cancer Mission 2020 legislation my good friend Gary and I worked to compile last Congress. We’re working together to help give patients a fair chance at beating cancer.”

A few weeks ago the Lansing Town Board voted to employ GHD, an engineering firm, to do work to complete a generic environmental impact statement (GEIS), a vital piece of the process of sewer district formation, and navigate State approval.  Last week GHD provided a time line showing steps that would take 28 weeks to complete.  Wednesday the Town Board did not set the date for a public hearing that would have been one of the first steps in completing that process.

"I would like to see the sewer committee come up with the Map Plan Report first of all," said Councilman Ed LaVigne.  "If those numbers are finalized it then has to go back to the board.  The board has to look at this product and decide whether it is acceptable or not moving forward.  Before we move forward with any other process I would like the sewer committee to do their job and give us the final numbers.  We can look at those numbers and make a decision."

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli will examine payments made by the state in response to Superstorm Sandy to make sure state agencies received goods and services at the appropriate price.

DiNapoli’s review was sparked by possible price gouging discovered on six purchase orders submitted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHSES) last month. That review prompted one vendor to cut its price by more than $63,000. The Comptroller returned the purchase orders to DHSES for adjustment or renegotiation.

The Coalition for Safe Medication Disposal has announced that its “Med Return” Drop Box program, initiated last September, is now expanded to nine locations in Tompkins County, making it even easier for people to safely and securely dispose of expired or unneeded household medications.

The first “Med Return” drop box, located at the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office, located at the County Public Safety Building on Warren Road, has received heavy use since it was installed last September.  Now boxes are available, as well, at eight other secure locations around the county.

The vote on whether to create a town-wide Lansing sewer district will probably be held as much as eight months later than originally hoped.  Officials had hoped to be ready for a vote on the $10.8 million project in September, but a new estimate based on a schedule for completing a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) pushes the vote to next April or May.

Sewer committee members Wednesday saw the longer time frame as an opportunity to provide information and answers to community members who eventually will vote on the proposal.  A poorly attended public information meeting last week prompted the committee to cancel another scheduled for June 12.  Committee members said they will concentrate on neighborhood meetings hosted in peoples' homes and reschedule the public information meeting.

Rep. Tom Reed visited Hospice Chautauqua County (HCC) Wednesday to announce the bipartisan Hospice Evaluation and Legitimate Payment (HELP) Act, a bill to ensure hospices, particularly those serving patients in rural and underserved areas, are able to continue offering high quality patient care.

“Our priority is two-fold with the HELP Act: make sure these centers are able to keep their doors open and ensure our loved ones are provided with the same high-quality care patients and families depend on,” Reed said. “By providing seniors with strong end of life care, these centers are also offering families peace of mind.”

As the first step in the process of developing the 2014 County budget, the Legislature has approved a 2014 financial goal that directs the County Administrator Joe Mareane to prepare a recommended budget, including critical needs that he may identify, that could be supported with a tax levy increase of no more than 4%.

The final vote was 10-4, with Legislators Pat Pryor, Mike Lane, Brian Robison, and Dave McKenna voting no and Legislator Nathan Shinagawa excused.  In language added by Legislator Dooley Kiefer, the measure notes that, although based on what is known at this time, a tax levy increase of 4.5% would be justifiable, it is the desire of the Legislature to review a budget that can be supported with a levy increase of no more than 4%.

The Legislature formally resolved its Center of Government Study, begun in 2010, accepting by unanimous vote the project business case analysis prepared by HOLT Architects, with involvement of expert partners, and expressing official thanks to all who contributed to that report.  (Legislator Nathan Shinagawa was excused.)

The expert analysis took a critical look at the County’s space needs, considering a number of alternative space-use configuration options, to determine the cost-effectiveness of housing a number of County legislative and administrative options in a Center of Government building, as first recommended in the County’s Space Use Master Plan back in 2005 and then included in the County’s 20-Year Capital Plan, which had been projected for development in 2016.

Pat Pryor, Tompkins County Legislator, announced that she is running for re-election to the County Legislature from District 6.  The district includes the Town of Lansing with the exceptions of the Village of Lansing and Lansing District 8 near the Town of Groton.

“Legislators, working with county staff, have worked hard during the recent recession to find creative ways of doing more with less,” Pryor stated in her announcement.  “We’ve reduced staffing, examined programs for efficiency, frozen wages, and consolidated and eliminated when necessary.  Our best efforts to manage resources will continue to be needed even as the general economy slowly improves.  I will work to maintain the leaner, more efficient operations instituted during the recession and believe my experience will allow me to maintain a balance between the real human needs of residents and the need for accountability in how taxpayer dollars are spent.”

Senator Mike Nozzolio and Assemblymen Brian Kolb and Bill Magee introduced legislation that is designed to end the destruction of the property tax base in Cayuga, Seneca, Madison and Oneida Counties resulting from the refusal of individuals to pay their property taxes based on their claims of individual Indian sovereignty.  To date, the Cayugas' have refused to pay almost $1.5 million in property taxes owed to Cayuga and Seneca Counties.

“It is critical that we enact this legislation to protect local taxpayers from those who refuse to pay property taxes based on their highly questionable claims of individual Indian sovereignty.  Because of this, every year our local, hardworking taxpayers are forced to shoulder an increasingly unfair and costly burden because the Cayuga Indians refuse to pay their lawfully administered and rightfully owed property taxes.  I believe that we must do everything possible to ensure the fair and equitable collection of these unpaid property taxes and we will continue our aggressive efforts to eliminate this unfair burden on the hardworking taxpayers of Cayuga and Seneca Counties, as well as other impacted areas of New York State,” said Nozzolio.

SMART TALK

by Dr. Perse Nickety


WATERS: At the Center for English as a First Language, I started as a research fellow. One of my favorite projects was tracing the origin of the gratuitous use of waters. As a bonus, I might formulate a guide to its proper use. To the best of my knowledge, this has never been done.

For a basic reference, I turned to the Oxford English Dictionary, which devotes pages to water with no separate entry for waters, as if it doesn't deserve acknowledgement as a real word.

However, waters is covered in the entries for water, and its uses tend to fall into three main categories. First, "The plural is often used...with reference to flowing water or to water moving in waves." I had never noticed this. The raging waters of the Atlantic, the waters of the Hudson and all that.

I'd prefer the raging Atlantic and the Hudson, having been taught that simple language is better language. We know the Atlantic and the Hudson are made of water, thank you very much.

Waters also tends to get used "in a figurative context," says the OED. To me, that means when you want to sound poetic. Spare me. Speak plain English, please.

And third, waters is often used to refer to "the seas and oceans in a particular quarter of the globe." Quarter? Why quarter? Why not "the waters of the world?

Which leads me to a proposal for a guideline. Let's make water/waters analogous to people/peoples and fish/fishes. Why not? Use waters to refer to more than one distinct body of water.

Otherwise, it's all water under the bridge.

v9i19

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Friday that it will restore the funding needed to support continued operation of the Ithaca air traffic control tower, as well as 148 other airport contract towers across the country, through the end of the federal fiscal year September 30.  Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced DOT has determined that the recently enacted Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 will allow the FAA to transfer sufficient funds to keep the contract towers open for the remainder of this fiscal year.  The towers, including Ithaca’s, had been scheduled to close as of June 15, as a result of federal sequestration.

“I am absolutely delighted to hear that our air traffic control tower will be allowed to stay open,” said Airport Manager Bob Nicholas.  “It is a hugely important facility for the smooth flow of air traffic and the efficiency of our airline partners.  My thanks to all the hard work from the Air Services Board, Tompkins County officials, Cornell, Ithaca College and a whole host of others who have used their time and influence to lobby people in Washington.  Due to their efforts the FAA now clearly understands what the tower means to this airport and the community in general.”