May 18th, 2022 Daily Headlines

Special Master Jonathan Cervas has released a draft of New York State’s new state senate map. The draft would place Ithaca into the 52nd State Senate district along with Binghamton and Cortland. The district is similar to the now invalid 53rd district Ithaca was placed in originally. The district would be heavily Democratic. Joe Biden won the popular vote in the proposed district by over 20 points in 2020. The state senate and congressional primaries have been delayed to August 23rd. The state’s other primaries will continue as scheduled on June 28th.

——-

Yesterday the Ithaca City School District election was held. According to preliminary results incumbents Erin Croyle and Eldred Harris were re-elected with newcomers Jill Tripp and Karen Yearwood also winning seats on the board. The only incumbent seeking re-election who lost was Robert Ainslie who’s been on the board since 2007. Voters also approve three propositions including the district budget of nearly $149 Million. The only proposition to be rejected was prop 4 which would’ve allowed the district to transfer a piece of land over to the city of Ithaca to expand a public gym operated by the Greater Ithaca Activities Center. 

——-

Following last weekend’s white supremacist attack at a Buffalo supermarket, questions have been raised about New York’s red flags laws. According to the Associated Press, Red Flag laws are measures which allow the state to confiscate guns or bar the purchase of guns by people with potentially violent behavior for up to a year. In New York state a person must be flagged by family members, law enforcement, or educators. Less than a year ago the Buffalo shooter was investigated for making a “threatening statement” at his high school, but he was never flagged. The AR15 style assault rifle used in the Buffalo shooting was purchased legally.