Archive: News

Helming & Manktelow Call for Nursing Home Protections

: By Office of NYS Senator Pam Helming; News; | Apr 17, 2020 |

Senator Helming and Assemblyman Manktelow called on Governor Cuomo and the New York State Department of Health Monday to do more to protect vulnerable nursing home residents. This includes stopping the practice of moving patients who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 into living facilities free from the virus and releasing facility specific data related to the presence of COVID-19.

"Many of us may find ourselves in difficult situations made even more challenging because of the Coronavirus. This is especially true for families and individuals who must make quick decisions about placing a loved one in a nursing home. If you have ever been through this process, you know finding the best facility for a loved one can be challenging even under the best of circumstances. Imagine going through this process now; when because of the current pandemic, you cannot visit the facility or personally meet with the caregivers. Today, placement decisions are based upon telephone conversations, personal knowledge and available data. While the New York State Department of Health does provide a website with helpful data, it was only today that the state announced it will start sharing county by county data on COVID-19 related nursing home deaths. However, New York State must be more transparent and report on the number of current cases by facility. Sharing this information is imperative and would not violate the privacy of individual residents," said Senator Helming. "Additionally, as hospitals and nursing home facilities transfer patients, it is imperative that we maintain nursing home facilities that do not have any cases of COVID-19. New residents should not be put into these facilities and data should be updated daily so we may mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus and protect our most vulnerable populations," Helming said.

County Asks for Cardboard Inside Recycling Bins

: By TCRMM; News; | Apr 17, 2020 |

Tompkins County Recycling and Materials Management (TCRMM) asked residents Wednesday to put cardboard in their recycling bin rather than stacking it to the side. This would allow recycling collectors to touch fewer surfaces while picking up recycling bins and dumping their contents into the recycling truck.

Although COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly from person to person, surface transmission is a possibility according to the Centers for Disease Control. Recycling collectors are outfitted with personal protective equipment, but containing all of your recyclables in your bin is a simple precaution that reduces the risk of surface transmission from residents to collectors.

NYS Courts To Provide Pro Bono Legal Assistance

: By New York State Governor's Office; News; | Apr 17, 2020 |

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a new partnership with the New York State Court System to create a pro bono network of volunteer lawyers to provide New Yorkers with free legal assistance. Volunteers will begin to receive training and start offering assistance next week.

Online IRS Form For Economic Impact Payments

: By Office of Congressman Tom Reed; News; | Apr 17, 2020 |

Washington, DC - Congressman Tom Reed alerted constituents to a new resource from the IRS – an online form where they can share their payment information to receive Economic Impact Payments. Individuals needing to fill out the form include people who have not filed taxes in 2018 or 2019 and do not collect benefits such as Social Security retirement benefits, Social Security Disability Insurance benefits or Railroad retirement and survivor benefits.

Regents Exams, Other Senior Activities Cancelled

: By Dan Veaner; News; | Apr 17, 2020 |

Lansing seniors may have cause to rejoice because they won't have to take the Regents exams to be issued a Regent's diploma, one of the many consequences of measures taken to fight COVID-19. On April 6th Lansing School Superintendent Chris Pettograsso alerted the community that Regents exams have been cancelled by the New York State Education Department (NYSED). She went into more detail Monday at an online Board of Education meeting.

"We're working with the Board of Regents and NYSED, trying to figure out what our endgame is. Getting some of that information was helpful," Pettograsso said. "We do know that June Regents are canceled. Any student that was scheduled for them does not have to take them ever. So that is just a straight-up cancellation and that helped guide our planning for our curriculum coming up."

$4.6 Million In Funding For District Airports

: By Office of Congressman Tom Reed; News; | Apr 17, 2020 |

Washington, DC - Congressman Tom Reed announced Wednesday that $4,638,156 in funding is being released to airports throughout the 23rd NY Congressional district. The funds are being released by the Federal Aviation Administration. The Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport is receiving the second highest amount: $1,775,964. $2,494,192 will go to the Elmira/Corning Regional Airport.

"We care about making sure our airports have fair access to the funds they need to function," Reed said. "Our infrastructure is of vital importance, and it is critical to maintain its capacity. That is why we were proud to fight for this funding and will continue to fight for the needs for our district and our region."

Town to Issue RFP For Highway Department Building Renovation

: By Dan Veaner; News; | Apr 17, 2020 |

The Lansing Town Board Wednesday voted 4-1 to move forward with issuing a Request For Proposals (RFP) to renovate the Town Highway Department building. In February Highway Superintendent Charlie Purcell said that that upgrading the 51 year old building has been under discussion for the past dozen years, and something has to be done for the building to catch up to current demands. He estimated the project may cost between $2.5 and $4 million. Councilman Joseph Wetmore said Wednesday that he doesn't want to commit to new major projects during the period of uncertainty due to coronavirus restrictions and its impact on municipal budgets.

"I don't think we're going to be ready to do the engineering work that we need to really hold back on doing projects that are optional right now," Wetmore said. "Putting out an RFP at this point and saying to all these architectural firms, we're planning on hiring somebody in six months when I don't feel like we're going to be ready -- they're the ones we're leading along. I think we need to do this when we know we're ready to move forward."

Face Coverings Required For All New Yorkers In Public

: By New York State Governor's Office; News; | Apr 17, 2020 |

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Wednesday that he will issue an Executive Order requiring all people in New York to wear a mask or a face covering when out in public and in situations where social distancing cannot be maintained, such as on public transportation. The Executive Order will go into effect on Friday, April 17th.

"As we continue to flatten the curve and slow the infection rate of the virus we have to build a bridge from where we are now to the reopening of the economy, and the single best tool to do that is large scale testing," Cuomo said. "We have done more tests than any other state in the nation - more than 500,000 in over a one-month period - but we need to do more and we need the help of the federal government to get people back to work and begin our return to a new normal. We are going to begin conducting antibody testing for our frontline workers and we are currently able to test 2,000 people per day, and we are asking the FDA for approval of a finger prick test that would allow us to test 100,000 people per day. Another part of getting to the new normal is continuing to stop the spread of the virus, and to do that I am issuing an Executive Order that says all people in public must wear a mask or face covering."

Cuomo Announces 'NYS On Pause' Extended Until May 15

: By New York State Governor's Office; News; | Apr 17, 2020 |

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced yesterday that all NYS on Pause restrictions and closures will be extended until May 15th. This action is taken in consultation with other regional states. The states will re-evaluate after this additional closure period.

Cuomo also directed all New Yorkers to wear masks or face coverings on public transportation systems and while taking private transportation or riding in for-hire vehicles. Additionally, all operators of public systems, private carriers and for-hire vehicles must wear a mask or face covering at all times while working. These directives expand on the Executive Order announced by the Governor yesterday requiring all people in New York to wear a mask or a face covering when out in public and in situations where social distancing cannot be maintained. The Executive Order will go into effect on today, April 17th, at 8pm.

Lansing Taxing Authorities Worry About Revenues

: By Dan Veaner; News; | Apr 17, 2020 |

Stress about catching novel coronavirus is bad enough. But the impact of the pandemic has brought a lot of different kinds of stress, especially money worries. With non-essential businesses closed and public gatherings pretty much banned, a significant number of people are taking big hits to their incomes that won't even begin to be addressed by the $1,200 checks promised by the federal government. That worry doesn't extend only to individuals -- the taxing authorities in Lansing have all been working on their next budgets. And all reasonable assumptions about probable revenue in their next budget year has flown out the window in the wake of COVID-19.

"It has shifted drastically since our conversations before March 16" said Lansing School Superintendent Chris Pettograsso at the April 6th Board of Education meeting. "We've been having a lot of conversations with faculty, with the union, with each other, a leadership team because we'd be looking at making some difficult decisions coming up."

Lansing Mirabito Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19

: By Samantha Hillson,Tompkins County Health Department; News; | Apr 17, 2020 |

The Tompkins County Health Department received notification that a Mirabito employee who works at the Lansing Mirabito Convenience Store is a confirmed COVID-19 case. Potential exposures may have occurred during two shifts at Mirabito, located at 32 Peruville Rd., Lansing, NY 14882:

Thursday, April 9, 8:45 AM – 1:30 PM
Friday, April 10, 2:00 PM – 6:30 PM

China and Oregon Ventilators Slow Plan To "Borrow" Upstate Ventilators

: By -Staff; News; | Apr 10, 2020 |

Last Friday, April 3, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced an Executive Order that the National Guard would take ventilators and protective equipment from hospitals Upstate for use downstate. The order was met with bipartisan opposition from all levels of government. Congressman Tom Reed (R NY-23) said Tuesday that the Governor "is responding to the strong opposition as the order has not yet been carried out and an announcement was made that the state has procured an additional 1,140 ventilators over the weekend".

"I'm not going to be in a position where people are dying and we have several hundred ventilators in our own state, somewhere else," Cuomo said last Friday. "I apologize for the hardship to those institutions — ultimately there is no hardship, if you don't get the ventilator back, I give you my personal word I will pay you for the ventilator — but I'm not going to let people die because we didn't redeploy these ventilators."

TCAT Extends No-Fare Policy to May 23

: By Patty Poist; News; | Apr 10, 2020 |

A no-fare policy that went into effect last month to reduce any potential for coronavirus contagion between drivers and riders will be extended to Sat., May 23, which marks the end of TCAT’s spring service period. The TCAT Board of Directors called a special remote conference Monday at which they voted unanimously to extend the policy, which went into effect March 20 and was set to expire yesterday, April 9.

The policy eliminates the need for riders to put their hands on the farebox, as well as limits the amount of time they spend near drivers, who sit adjacent to the fare equipment. The measure also aims to provide financial relief to riders who are struggling to make ends meet during the crisis.

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