May 6th, 2022 Daily Headlines

New York State has approved 36 new cannabis cultivator licenses. According to the Ithaca Journal, two licenses were awarded to Tompkins county growers, Mary L. Strassheim and Ithaca Growers LLC. Three licenses have now been distributed to Tompkins county growers including Enfield Glen Hopyard which was granted a license last month. Only 88 licenses have been issued statewide from over 200 applications. The state is only granting licenses to farms already growing cannabinoid hemp. 

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Yesterday Ithaca experienced widespread power outages. According to the Ithaca Voice, the outages were blamed on a squirrel that got into the South Hill Substation damaging equipment. WETM reported that over 2,000 customers were without power at 11:35 A.M.

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Next month the Downtown Ithaca Alliance (DIA) will be hosting Pride Week. According to the Ithacan, the event is scheduled for June 26th through July 3rd. This is the first pride week organized by the DIA. The event will include drag performances, dance parties, and documentary screening at Cinemapolis. DIA member Danny Palmer said the group wanted to highlight members of the LGBTQ community and their work. 

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Following the leaked draft decision from the Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade, New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed her own experience with abortion. According to Syracuse.com, James said she’d received an abortion nearly two decades ago. James said the decision came shortly after she was elected to the New York City Council in the early 2000s. James has proposed a state fund to help provide abortions to women in other states. James’ office has also filed “friend-of-the-court” briefings arguing against abortion restrictions in other states.