Archive: News

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation (S.7112/A.4956) Tuesday to authorize pets boarding any public transportation service in the event of a state of emergency and evacuation. This legislation expands existing law to include Port Authority Public Transportation and is consistent with current emergency operation plans pertaining to the needs of animals and pet owners.

"For many New Yorkers, their pets are members of their families, and no one should be forced to abandon them in the event of an evacuation," Governor Cuomo said. "I'm proud to sign this commonsense, humane legislation to bring comfort to pet owners in times of distress."

Washington, DC - At Congressman Tom Reed's request President Trump declared a major disaster for Chemung, Seneca, Steuben and Tioga counties Tuesday and authorized Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance following the devastating flooding experienced in August.

"We care about those impacted by the devastating flooding this past August," Reed said. "This is why we reached out to the White House for recovery assistance to ensure our communities have fair access to the resources they need to rebuild."

Washington, DC - Congressman Tom Reed announced the United States and Canada have negotiated a new trade agreement, pending congressional approval, to eliminate trade barriers for farmers and improve dairy market access. This deal with Canada completes a new United States, Canada and Mexico trade deal – formerly known as NAFTA.

"This proposed deal brings our trading standards with Mexico and Canada out of the dark ages and into the 21st century and allows our dairy farmers and workers a fair shake at success," Reed said. "We look forward to further reviewing this deal to verify our all of our local farmers, manufacturers and workers are treated fairly."

At 2:18 Eastern Time Wednesday cell phones across America beeped, honked, rang, and produced that obnoxious 'this is a test of the emergency broadcast system' claxon.  If you were alone in your car or at your home it may have been startling, but reports from phone owners at Walmart and other places where lots of people gather say that the effect was startling. 

Presidential alerts don't come from the President.  Worries that President Trump will be moving his Twitter postings to mandatory alerts on our phones are ill-founded.  But the not-entirely clearly titled alert is called a 'Presidential Alert' because FEMA issues it on behalf of the President, a level of alert that citizens can't opt out of.  Theoretically a president could use it to address the nation in a real emergency, but the system isn't for tweeting. Wednesday's test was scheduled for September 20th, but postponed because of an actual emergency, Hurricane Florence.

The Legislature tonight held its annual Community Budget Forum, inviting residents to learn about and comment on the County's recommended 2019 budget currently under review by the Legislature.  About 14 people attended, and 7 of them spoke during the hour-long session.

Susan Holland, Executive Director of Historic Ithaca, and Laurel Southard, president of The History Center's Board of Directors, advocated continued funding of a History Center bookkeeper position, not included in the Administrator's budget. Holland said there's an "absolute need for this position," especially with the capital campaign for the new Tompkins Center for History and Culture underway and the necessary management of a large amount of grant funding.

Application Authorized for Electric Bus Funding
The Legislature, without dissent, took the procedural step necessary to access grant funds awarded to Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) to acquire three electric transit buses and related equipment. Legislators authorized application for the nearly $2.3 million awarded to TCAT under the Federal Transit Administration's competitive Low and No-emission Electric Transit Bus Program. The total project budget is more than $2.8 million, with a nearly $575,000 share from TCAT. The County needs to apply for the funds to obligate them for the federal 2019 fiscal year.

Washington, DC - Congressman Tom Reed announced he has introduced a bill help save money, reduce destruction and prevent the loss of lives in disaster-prone areas following the recent flooding in the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier along with his colleagues Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Rep. Peter Defazio (D-OR).

"From the flooding across our communities, to the hurricane in the Carolinas and the wildfires in California we care about those who have been impacted by the devastating effects of natural disasters," Reed said. "We want to ensure our friends and neighbors are incentived to rebuild with materials which have a chance of withstanding the next disaster."

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced last week that Tompkins County has achieved silver certification as a Climate Smart Community, and the town of Ulysses has become New York’s 21st Certified Climate Smart Community by achieving the bronze level. Tompkins County is the fourth community in New York State to achieve silver certification. Tompkins County was designated as the 12th Certified Climate Smart Community in 2017, when it achieved bronze certification.

DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said, "Across the state, New York communities are already experiencing the effects of climate change, ranging from extreme storms like Sandy and Irene to rising sea levels. Thanks to efforts like Climate Smart Communities, New York is out in front, building resiliency to our changing climate county by county, town by town, and village by village, helping local governments, business owners, and residents reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. I applaud these communities for their commitment to reducing energy use in government operations. These communities are models for others to follow, with committed teams who bridge the gap between traditional government silos and achieve an exceptional level of integration of climate concerns into daily decision making. Tompkins County and the town of Ulysses are demonstrating what is possible with committed leadership and setting the standard for municipalities across the state."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday a major disaster declaration has been issued for seven counties that sustained damages during severe storms and flash flooding that occurred from August 13-15, 2018. With this declaration, FEMA has validated state and local government estimates that more than $36 million in response costs and infrastructure damage was incurred following the storms. This approval, indicating that these counties have reached the necessary threshold for federal funding, is the next step toward gaining financial assistance from the federal government to allow local communities to continue to recover. This assistance can be used towards funding for emergency protective measures, debris removal, and repairs to public infrastructure.

The seven counties are Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Seneca, and Tioga.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced $200 million in grant funding Tuesday to help communities address federally unregulated contaminants in their drinking water supplies, a national issue that is still lacking federal guidance. The funding will provide advanced support and assistance for communities to combat emerging contaminants, as the State prepares to take the important step of setting enforceable drinking water standards for the emerging contaminants PFOA, PFOS, and 1,4-dioxane.

Of the grant funding, $185 million will be available to communities across the state to upgrade drinking water treatment systems to combat emerging contaminants, prioritizing PFOA, PFOS, and 1,4-dioxane. The remaining $15 million has been awarded to communities already pursuing system upgrades and innovative pilot technologies to treat emerging contaminants. Additionally, the Governor directed the Department of Health, Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Environmental Facilities Corporation to provide technical assistance to communities to help assess system needs and apply for grant funding.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced yesterday a $13 billion plan to transform John F. Kennedy International Airport into a modern 21st century airport anchored by two new world-class international terminal complexes on the airport's north and south sides. This record investment — including $12 billion in private funding — advances the Governor's vision for a unified and interconnected airport system with best-in-class passenger amenities, centralized ground transportation options and vastly improved roadways that collectively will increase the airport's capacity by at least 15 million passengers a year.

"While leaders in Washington talk about investing in infrastructure, we're actually doing it at historic levels and the transformation of JFK Airport into a 21st century transportation hub will ensure New York remains the nation's front door to the world," Cuomo said. "This historic investment to modernize JFK Airport and the surrounding transportation network will not only ease travel through this major hub, but it will ensure JFK joins the ranks as one of the finest airports in the world."

Do Not Call registry complaints by New York state residents have more than doubled since 2014 to more than 450,000 annually, but only two cases were referred for enforcement action in 2016 and 2017 combined, according to an auditreleased today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

"The Do Not Call Registry was created to help consumers avoid unwanted, nuisance calls from telemarketers, but requests to investigate violations of the law are going unanswered," DiNapoli said. "Without enforcement of the law, telemarketers will continue to bother people who do not want calls, attempt to steal personal information or take money from the unsuspecting. Officials at the state's Division of Consumer Protection need to do a better job putting unwanted calls on mute."