Archive: News

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation (A.117A/S.4020A) Wednesday prohibiting telemarketers from knowingly making unsolicited sales calls to any individual in a city, county, town or village during a declared state of emergency.

"On a good day telemarketer calls are a nuisance - during times of emergency they can impede residents' ability to get the information they need to stay safe," Cuomo said. "By signing this measure into law, we will help ensure New Yorkers receive potentially life-saving notifications in real time, creating a safer Empire State for all."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the 6th proposal of his 2020 State of the State agenda Wednesday - a three part plan to lower prescription drug costs for all New Yorkers. The Governor's proposal would cap insulin co-payments at $100 per month for insured patients to help address the rising cost of insulin that has resulted in diabetes patients rationing, skipping doses and not filling prescriptions. The proposal would empower the State Department of Financial Services to investigate and hold drug manufacturers accountable for unjustifiable, exorbitant increases in drug prices. Finally, the proposal would establish a commission of experts to study the feasibility and benefits of a Canadian drug importation program and submit a plan to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for review.

"The exorbitant cost of prescription drugs is a massive burden on families across the country, and we're determined to use every tool in the tool box and pursue every available avenue to bring real relief to New Yorkers," Cuomo said. "This multi-pronged approach to tackling a complex problem will hold manufacturers accountable for drug prices that border on price-gouging and explore new ways to access less expensive medicines and bring more competition into the market."

The Tompkins County Legislature, by unanimous vote, confirmed County Administrator Jason Molino's appointment of Daniel Cornell as Tompkins County's Director of Probation and Community Justice.

Cornell has served in his current position of Deputy Director of Probation since 2018. He began his career as a probation officer with Delaware County in 1995 and came to the Tompkins County Department of Probation in 1999, where he has served in the positions of probation officer, senior probation officer, and probation supervisor, before assuming the position of Deputy Director. Mr. Cornell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Ithaca College, with a focus in Juvenile Justice. While in college, career he also interned with the London Borough of Ealing Probation Services.

Merger Plan for Public Health and Mental Health Departments Approved
Following six months on intensive Task Force study and a month of thoughtful review by legislators, the Legislature authorized the County to move ahead and implement a plan to merge the County's Departments of Public Health and Mental Health into one department, identifying the responsibilities of departmental leadership of the two departments to be provided in a merged model, with full merger of the Departments to take effect as of July 2021. The vote was 11-3, with Legislators Dan Klein, Leslyn McBean-Clairborne, and Henry Granison voting no. The fully merged structure would replace the shared leadership model, which has been in effect for the past four years.

Mirroring findings of the Task Force, the resolution notes that "one department will best meet the needs of the clients, staff, and community as public health and mental health will function not just as opportunistic collaborating partners but will be working side-by-side to support progress toward achieving one single vision, and that as a single department, staff members will operate under a shared vision to support clients in achieving better health-related outcomes, be it mental or physical, both at the individual and community level."

The New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced Tuesday that two gigawatts of solar capacity has been installed across the state, underscoring New York's position as one of the fastest growing distributed solar markets in the nation with a nearly 1,800 percent growth, leveraging $4 billion in private investment, fueling nearly 12,000 jobs since 2011 and decreasing the cost of solar by nearly 60 percent. Today's announcement represents one-third of the solar capacity needed to achieve the statewide target to install six gigawatts of solar by 2025 and supports Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's nation-leading Green New Deal, which calls for 70 percent of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030.

"Solar is a vital part of New York's Green New Deal strategy to transition to a clean energy future and reduce emissions to combat one of the most pressing issues of our time–climate change," Governor Cuomo said. "The success of this initiative demonstrates we are on a path to meeting our nation-leading energy goals, and our climate agenda is spurring economic growth and leaving this planet cleaner and greener for generations to come."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the 5th proposal of his 2020 State of the State Agenda Tuesday -- prohibiting the distribution and use of expanded polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam, single-use food containers. The proposal also bans the sale of expanded polystyrene packaging materials known as packing peanuts. Additionally, the bill would authorize the State Department of Environmental Conservation to review and take action to limit or ban other packaging material upon a finding of environmental impact. This would be the strongest statewide ban in the United States and would go into effect by January 1, 2022. This ban will build on the Governor's historic effort to reduce environmental pollution statewide, including the recent ban on single-use plastic bags first announced by the Governor in his 2019 State of the State address.

"Styrofoam is one of the most common pollutants and a public health hazard that impacts humans and the environment alike," Cuomo said. "From take-out containers to packing peanuts, this material is everywhere and it will continue to pollute our waters and harm our wildlife for generations to come if we do not act. With this proposal, we can build on our nation-leading initiatives to protect the environment and move New York another step closer to a greener, more sustainable future."

Rensselaer, NY -- Strong winds across New York State over the weekend pushed electricity generated by wind power to a new record.

The new record output of 1,675 megawatts (MW) was set during the 11:00 p.m. hour on Saturday, December 14, eclipsing the previous record of 1,651 MW which was set during the 8:00 p.m. hour on April 26, 2019.

Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D-125AD, Tompkins/Cortland) announced that Governor Cuomo has signed into law her bill (A382) that directs the New York State Office of Information Technology Services to study and submit a report on current practices and recommended ways to ensure the authenticity of electronic legal materials, such as the State Constitution; court opinions; the laws of the state; any state agency rule, regulation or decision that has or had the effect of law; material published in the New York register; and the New York code of rules and regulations.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation (S.6184/A.7680) last week establishing a regulatory framework for the production and sale of hemp and hemp extract in New York State. The measure also requires the hemp industry to test and label their products, protecting consumers from potential harm. The legislation was signed pursuant to a chapter agreement, which provided for a more streamlined regulatory pathway for hemp products, granted the Department of Agriculture and Markets supervision over hemp growers and the Department of Health supervision over hemp extract; created a registration requirement for sellers of hemp extract products; made conforming regulatory changes to the 2018 Farm Bill; and defers decision making on hemp extracts, including CBD, as additives for food and beverages.

The Governor also announced that New York State will host a hemp summit in January to further develop policies and priorities related to this burgeoning industry.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the 7th proposal of his 2020 State of the State Agenda Thursday --- advancing the strongest statewide net neutrality protections in the United States. As part of this proposal, the Governor will introduce legislation to prevent the blocking, throttling and paid prioritization of online content — practices that undermine a free and open internet. The legislation will also prohibit so-called "zero-rating" practices, which penalize consumers for accessing content or applications that are not preferred by their internet provider. The legislation will also codify into law Governor Cuomo's 2018 Executive Order mandating that state government entities may not enter into contracts with internet service providers unless they follow net neutrality principles. Taken together, these protections exceed the net neutrality standards established by the Federal Communications Commission in 2015, which the Trump administration subsequently repealed in 2017.

"A free and open internet is one of the great equalizers — allowing every person the same access to information and helping protect freedom of speech," Cuomo said. "While the federal administration works to undermine this asset, in New York we are advancing the strongest net neutrality proposal in the nation so big corporations can't control what information we access or stymie smaller competitors. These protections will help ensure an open market for ideas and content across platforms and preserve the unimpeded access to online content the public wants and needs."

On December 7th at 1:26 AM, Sheriff’s deputies responded to a shooting incident inside a home located on Shaffer Road in the Town of Newfield.

Upon arrival, a resident of the home, Dejour Xavier Gandy, age 29, was found deceased from an apparent gunshot wound. Another resident, who was inside the home at the time, contacted 911 and reported the incident.  According to another witness, three black males with face coverings entered the home and confronted the victim with guns drawn, one of which shot at the victim before all three fled the scene.

A $10.5 million settlement between New York State and two upstate utilities, New York State Electric & Gas Corp. and Rochester Gas & Electric Corp., was agreed upon following the companies' failure to adequately prepare for and restore service after storms in 2018 swept through their service territories and left more than 300,000 homes and businesses without power, in the dark and in the cold. Following the outages, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo directed the Department of Public Service to investigate the utilities' preparations and response to the storms. The $10.5 million settlement is the largest ever in New York State for a utility failing to follow procedures related to an emergency response. A consent order will require NYSEG and RG&E to develop a more robust storm response program, enhance communication and coordination with municipal and county governments, and strengthen support for people on life-saving equipment.

"It is beyond unacceptable to leave hundreds of thousands of customers in the dark for as long as these utilities did last year," Cuomo said. "This settlement makes crystal clear that utilities in New York have an obligation to prepare for severe weather and to develop robust storm response programs, and if they fail to adequately do that job we will hold them accountable and force them to change how they do business."