February 16th, 2022 Daily Headlines

The yearly report from the Tompkins County Department of Assessments, says the county has seen a continued increase in housing prices over the last year. Median housing prices have increased by 64 percent in the last 10 years in the county. And, according to the Ithaca Voice, the median home price in  2021 was $295,000.  This represents a more than 14 percent increase over the previous year. The total number of sales in Tompkins also increased by over 100 to 959 following a dip in 2020 due to the pandemic. 

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The Ithaca City Chamberlain’s Office is asking for “patience” as the city processes property tax payments. According to the Ithaca Voice, the office is currently processing payments from late January, and are encouraging residents to wait two weeks before calling to check the status of their payments. The office also clarified that no penalties will be incurred as long as the payments are postmarked before January 31st. 

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On Monday, Governor Kathy Hochul pledged up to 1,200 jobs in state agencies to disabled to New Yorkers. According to the Albany Times Union, Hochul made the announcement as she introduced Kimberly T. Hill as the state’s new chief disability officer. Hochul pointed out that just 35 percent of disabled New Yorkers between the ages of 18 and 64 have jobs, but said  “I know we can do better.”

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On Monday Attorney General Letitia James announced New York State has recovered over $400,000 from COVID testing labs that misled consumers. According to the New York Times, the state recovered money from ClearMD Health and Sameday Health, who misrepresented turnaround times on COVID test results. The labs were also required to change their advertising and train employees to provide more accurate times.