May 24th, 2022 Daily Headlines

On Sunday Congressional candidate Vanessa Fajans-Turner ended her campaign. Fajans-Turner, an Ithaca native, initially ran in the 22nd district before the state’s congressional maps were thrown out. Ithaca is now being placed in the 19th district, a competitive, but less solidly Democratic district. Fajans-Turner said the district had become too different from the one where she originally mounted her campaign. The original district ran from Ithaca up to Syracuse and Onondaga county; the new district stretches from Ithaca across the Catskills and towards the Massachusetts border. Fajans-Turner also voiced her commitment to a Democratic victory in November saying she would “not act in any way that splits the Democratic field.”

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Last week, the Downtown Ithaca Local Development Corporation announced that the new Ithaca Downtown Conference Center will be fossil-fuel free. It would be the first fossil-fuel free conference center in the United States. The fossil-fuel free status became official after the center announced its kitchen would be all electric. The electric kitchen was paid for with $2 million in federal funds announced earlier this year by New York Senator Chuck Schumer. 

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Last Friday, the New York State Department of Health issued an advisory to schools in response to elevated levels of the flu. According to WKBW, the Department announced it would be extending its influenza surveillance beyond May. Typically, the Department runs surveillance from October through May. The department says levels of the flu have continued to rise since March. 

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As New York’s Gubernatorial primary approaches on June 28th, some candidates have begun to run television ads. According to the New York Times, Democrats Tom Suozzi and Kathy Hochul as well as Republicans Harry Wilson and Lee Zeldin have spent a combined $19.8 million on TV ads. Neither, Democratic candidate Jumaane Williams nor Republican Andrew Giuliani have bought TV ad space. Governor Hochul has spent the most, $6.8 million, on television ads.