Archive: News

New Yorkers plan to spend up to $192 million for back-to-school supplies this year, with 64 percent of this spending ($123 million) driven by school supply lists from their children’s schools, according to estimates in a report released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. DiNapoli said that by examining and implementing various purchasing and sharing options, school districts may be able to help families save $47 million a year on those supplies.

“Back-to-school spending can be very expensive for New York families,” DiNapoli said. “The good news is that school districts can explore alternatives and replicate best practices that could save families millions on school supplies. These are tough times. School districts should be looking for ways to lower back-to-school costs for students and their families.”

Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (Dem., 125th Assembly District) held a joint press conference today with County Legislator and NYS Senate Candidate Pam Mackesey, to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage in the United States.  As women elected officials, both Assemblywoman Lifton and NYS Senate hopeful MacKesey told supporters and the media that it is important that women's voices be heard in Albany, and that can be accomplished by increasing the number of women serving in the NYS legislature.  Currently, the NYS Legislature has a small minority of woman members, and no top leadership posts are held by women legislators-- and none ever have been.

Robertson Says Proposed State Takeover of Medicaid Administration Could Cost Counties More

Legislature Chair Martha Robertson, reporting on discussions to date by a statewide commission on the State takeover of Medicaid, said she and other county representatives on the commission fear that State assumption of Medicaid administration costs, as currently proposed, will cause numerous unintended consequences and cost counties more.  An appointed member of the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) commission, made up of representatives from across the state, Robertson was asked to chair its Service Delivery Committee at the commission's first meeting last week.

Albany, NY (08/17/2010)(readMedia)-- Governor David A. Paterson announced Tuesday that actions taken by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) are reducing the number of large, oversized and overweight trucks, particularly those hauling municipal solid waste (MSW), traveling on roads through Finger Lakes communities. These actions maintain the delicate balance between safety, quality of life and economic vitality. Rather than issuing a new regulation, the State is utilizing NYSDOT's existing regulatory powers in combination with new strategies and tools to resolve the issue of large through-trucks traveling in the Finger Lakes.

Sheriff Peter Meskill is pleased to announce that the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office has received a grant from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee for $8,500.00 to participate in the statewide "Child Passenger Safety Program".

Sheriff Meskill said "This grant will allow our long standing Child Safety Seat Program, established in 2000, to continue for another year through September of 2011".

Richard Hanna and Elizabeth Cree

	Over the next few weeks we'll feature political interviews from Lansing Harbor Festival and others.

The Lansing Harbor Festival is about fun, food, activities, and music.  But for some it's all about politics.  Republicans and Democrats alike came to the festival to meet voters face to face and talk about what they would do if elected.  On the local scene the hot race is for Sheriff where incumbent Peter Meskill is challenged by Ken Lansing in the Democratic Primary September 14th. At the state level Republican Tom Reynolds, who is challenging incumbent Barbara Lifton for her State Assembly seat, and Democrat Ed O'Shea, State Senator Michael Nozzolio's challenger were there to gain support for their campaigns.  While Congressman Michael Arcuri was not at the festival, two challengers were: Republican Richard Hanna and independent Logan Bell were.

"It's great," Hanna said.  "Lansing's a small place, but there's a couple of thousand people here.  That's a big percentage of the population.  It shows you that there are people who want to be here.  They love their community and are looking for things to do on this great lake.  It's pleasant.  It makes me feel good to see."

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There are few issues that frustrate me more than seeing a report showing US students lagging behind in math or science, while those in developing countries, who do not have anywhere near the level of resources, are scoring higher.

The reasons behind this are many. Some say it is a lack of parental involvement. Some blame technology-the internet, cell phones and ipods. I believe the reason can be found in the value we place on the position of teachers.

Lansing Community Library board member Marlaine Darfler petitioned the Lansing Town board Wednesday for advice on providing health insurance for an employee.  Library officials have been providing the librarian with insurance through Healthy New York, a 'fallback policy' offered by the State for New Yorkers whose salaries fall below a capped income level.  With the Lansing librarian's salary rising above that cap, library officials are scrambling to find an economical policy.

"By January we need to find an insurance option," Darfler said.  "Our first hope is to go through the school.  For a school district library it seems to make sense.  Two years ago the school said no.  But they are now considering it through BOCES."

NY COmptroller Thomas DiNapoliThe State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) made $214,593 in inappropriate payments to adoptive parents of hard-to-place and handicapped children, according to an audit being released today by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.  This included $180,783 to support 25 children who were listed as deceased. 

A subsequent check of records found that one child, who accounted for $2,613 of the inappropriate payments cited in the audit, had been incorrectly identified as deceased due to a data entry error by the Erie County social services district. 

Last Sunday Holy Apostles Orthodox Church opened its doors in Lansing for the first time.   The new congregation is using the old All Saints Catholic Church building for services.   The church has been a year and a half in the making, propelled by a Lansing Orthodox priest, Matthew Binkewicz and his wife Katrina.  They have been quietly working to find a meeting place, to identify the need and people who would want to attend Orthodox services, and coordinate with the larger Orthodox Church hierarchy.

"It came about from a need for an Orthodox church in the Lansing area," Fr. Matthew says.  "You could say there is a need in the northern part of Tompkins and the Southern part of Cayuga County, and a bit of Cortland County.  The closest Orthodox church outside of the Greek Orthodox churches in Ithaca are in Auburn, Syracuse, Elmira, Binghamton/Edicott -- all about an hour drive away.  Most people would not drive that distance.  We thought there was a need in this area."

If you like to complain about the high property taxes in Tompkins County,  you have a point.  According to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research group based in Washington, D.C., Tompkins county is the 36th highest taxed county (ranked by property taxes as a percentage of home value) in the United States.  In fact 30 of those 36 are in New York, with two in Illinois, and one in Texas.  The foundation released the results based on taxes over a three year period between 2006 and 2008.

Not surprisingly, the highest median real estate taxes were paid in Westchester County, New York, where the median home value was $581,900.  But for property taxes as a percentage of home value Westchester ranked 316th with taxes equalling 1.44% of property value -- surprisingly much lower than Tompkins County.

The Legislature’s Public Safety Committee last week was told that pre-planning will be critical to being prepared to address emergencies that could arise, should gas drilling in the Marcellus shale come to Tompkins County.

Ithaca Fire Department Deputy Chief Tom Parsons presented a progress report on research conducted by members of the department’s Hazardous Materials Response Team (serving all of Tompkins County), based on information collected through consultation with emergency management colleagues in Pennsylvania where the gas drilling has produced significant changes over the past few years.