Archive: News

State Urged to Pass Drivers License Access and Privacy Act
The Legislature, by a vote of 10-3 (Legislators Mike Sigler, Dave McKenna, and Glenn Morey voted no; Legislator Deborah Dawson was excused) urged New York State to pass the Drivers License Access and Privacy Act, to allow the issuance of driver's licenses to New York State residents regardless of immigration status. The Act, the measure notes, will amend the requirements to apply for a Standard Driver's License in New York so that the inability to obtain a social security number is not a barrier to driving in New York. The resolution, in part, states that the Act will improve public safety by ensuring drivers are properly licensed, educated on the traffic laws, and will help ensure that people are driving a vehicle that is properly insured, licensed, and inspected; and that it will improve trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities.

Legislator Sigler maintained that the approach is misdirected. "I don't understand this at all," he said, calling it "a lot of wasted energy (that will) hurt the people you really want to help…making it easier to live in the shadows." He said efforts should be focused on people who enter the U.S. legally at a port of entry, not to initiatives such as this that "turn a blind eye" to the immigration problem.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Monday that New York's state parks, historic sites, campgrounds, and trails welcomed a record-breaking estimated 74 million visitors in 2018. This milestone marks seven years of steady visitor growth and represents an overall increase of 28 percent—or 16.2 million visitors—since the Governor took office in 2011.

"State Parks are at the heart of New York's tourism economy, attracting visitors from all over the world to discover the history and explore the beauty of our great state," Cuomo said. "Through the Parks 2020 initiative and other major investments to preserve and modernize our parks, campgrounds, and historic sites, we continue to re-energize local economies and encourage families to experience the unparalleled recreation opportunities that are available in New York."

The Alcohol & Drug Council of Tompkins County announced February 11th that they had secured a site for the first 7 days/week and a medically-supervised detox and stabilization facility in Tompkins County to provide access for addiction treatment services.  The 19,420 square foot building will house 40 beds at its 2353 N. Triphammer Road in the Village of Lansing location.  Villagers who live near the proposed facility on Graham Road were at the Village trustees meeting Monday to air their concerns.

"I'm concerned with the safety of my property," Graham Road resident Gene Caraccilo said. "I'm concerned about the valuation of my house.  I also hear it will have 40 beds, which doesn't make me very happy, to have people walking around the neighborhood that don't belong there."

Aside from neighborhood resistance to a New York State Department Of Transportation (DOT) facility that will be relocated from the Ithaca Inlet to a 15.55 acre portion of about 70 acres on Warren Road, the problem of sewer was also raised. The DOT has requested that the Warren Road Sewer District be extended to include the property, and Monday it appeared that major hurdles standing in the way of that had been cleared.  Village of Lansing Mayor Donald Hartill said concerns about dwindling sewer treatment capacity had been addressed, and the Village would approve sewage transporting from the town, through the Village to the Cayuga Heights Sewer treatment plant.

Two concerns stood in the way of providing sewer service to the DOT. First, Town effluent must go through the Village of Lansing on its way to the Cayuga Heights treatment Plant.  The DOT had approached the Town first, but Town Supervisor Ed LaVigne he would refuse to act on the request until the DOT first cleared it with the Villages of Lansing and Cayuga Heights.  The other concern is the limited portion of the capacity of the Cayuga Heights Sewer treatment plant allotted to the Town.

Congressman Tom Reed announced plans Wednesday to reintroduce the Help Ensure Lives are Protected (HELP) Act, a bill that would allow federal prosecutors access to more severe penalties, including life in prison or the death penalty, when prosecuting certain criminal drug cases following the arrest of Buffalo man with thousands of lethal doses of fentanyl.

"The opioid epidemic is destroying our communities and devastating the young people we care about," said Tom. "Victims and their families deserve justice and fair treatment, and our law enforcement community deserves our full support as they stand on the front lines in dealing with this crisis. This legislation will empower our law enforcement officials to hold drug dealers responsible for their destructive actions."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Wednesday that the State Police completed its New York State Hate Crimes Investigation Seminar at the State Police Academy in Albany. More than 160 members of law enforcement from the state, county and local level, along with district attorneys, gathered at the school on March 5 and 6 to hear from representatives of law enforcement experienced in investigating these types of crimes along with experts on the legal issues associated with bias crimes and training staff from the Anti-Defamation League. The event provided an opportunity for the attendees to receive training in identifying and investigating hate crimes in New York State, evidence procedures and available resources, along with tips on how to combat these type of activities in their communities.

"With the recent spike in hate crimes, it's critically important that state and local law enforcement personnel get the latest training and most up-to-date information to aid in the investigation and prosecution of these heinous crimes," Cuomo said. "There is no place for hate in our state, and these trainings will ensure our response to bias related crimes remains swift."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo called for full passage this legislative session of his proposal last Friday to extend New York's Human Rights Law protections to all public school students after reports of persistent anti-Semitism in the Pine Bush Central School District. This reform, which the Governor proposed in his Executive Budget and has already been passed by the Assembly, would prohibit discrimination in public schools and provide the New York State Division of Human Rights enforcement authority.

"I am disgusted by reports of persistent anti-Semitism in Pine Bush Central School District, despite the district's legal commitment to tackle discrimination in its schools," Cuomo said. "The scourge of anti-Semitism in Pine Bush schools is another disturbing reminder of the urgent need to extend our nation-leading Human Rights Law protections to public school students. I call on the Legislature to immediately pass this reform that I have repeatedly proposed and ensure that all students in the State of New York have the right to pursue an education free from discrimination."

Village of Lansing Trustees took a first look Monday at a $3.2 million budget for the next fiscal year.  The proposed budget would be 20.52% larger than last year's budget.  Mayor Donald Hartill says that is largely due to a $.5 million sidewalk project planned for the coming building cycle.  But he adds that the money for that project will come out of reserves.

"It does mean a little more money coming out of reserve funds," he said. "That's because of the Dart Road sidewalk. It's a big chunk of that.  It's a half a million dollars.  That's 20% in round numbers."

While the first two sessions of the Lansing Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) hearing filled the town courtroom for  an appeal challenging Code Enforcement Officer Lynn Day's issuance of a building permit to the Lansing Rod & Gun Club (LRGC) to swap shooting ranges on its property was legal, few people attended the denouement Monday when deliberations were concluded and a ruling was made.  The board voted unanimously to uphold Day's decision with the one exception.  The ZBA determined the affected property to be part of a floodplain, Therefore the resolution ordered LRGC to apply for and obtain a floodplain building permit before continuing construction.

"I think this has weighed heavily on all of us," said Planning Board member peter Larson. "Our responsibility is to follow the law as its written. We can't make law.  It puts us in a tough spot in a lot of ways when things like this come up.  It's not a decision that any of us makes lightly."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced yesterday that $128 million in new State funding for renewing State roadways impacted by this year's harsh winter weather. Funding will support 91 paving projects and the renewal of approximately 1,000 lane miles of pavement across the state, including at least one project in every county and the City of New York. In Tompkins County the $950,000 was awarded to resurface Rt. 366 from Route 13 to the Village of Freeville Line in Tompkins County.

The new funding, provided through the PAVE NY Initiative, complements $100 million previously committed earlier this year for local projects that renew approximately 3,700 lane miles of road across New York State. This unprecedented infrastructure investment will make state highways safer and more efficient, while encouraging local commerce and tourism. The projects announced today will begin this spring and will be completed later this year.

At their regular meeting Monday, the Tompkins County Democratic Committee unanimously elected Dryden Democratic Chair Jim Gustafson to replace retiring Irene Stein as Chair of the Committee. Stein stepped down February 1 after nearly 30 years in the chairmanship.

Stein, who served as City Chair before taking her seat as Committee Chair, gave her annual State of the Committee report, ending by saying, "It's been nearly 30 years in this chairmanship. I'm not sure who I am now, but I guess I'll find myself!"

Washington, DC - Congressman Tom Reed took a stand against the proposal in the New York State legislature to make the minimum wage for prison inmates $3 an hour.

"We care about ensuring hard working, law abiding citizens are treated fairly, but it seems the extremists in Albany would rather prioritize prison inmates by giving them a $2 raise an hour," Reed said. "With proposed budgets cuts of $60 million for our local towns and villages and another $550 million in healthcare funding, how is it fair to propose a raise for prisoners?