Headlines for October 17, 2022

Tompkins County Legislator Mike Sigler has been re-elected as chairman of the Tompkins County Republican party. The Ithaca Voice reports that Sigler's immediate focus would be on the upcoming elections, where he says Republican victories could “[change] the direction of the state.” The Tompkins County Republicans have so far endorsed Republican Lee Zeldin for Governor, Alison Esposito for lieutenant governor, and Marc Molinaro for Congress.

New York  Supreme Court Justice Dianne Freestone is expected to make a decision on the constitutionality of New York’s temporary illness voting provision by the end of the month. The provision allows voters to request an absentee ballot to prevent contracting Covid-19. According to the Times Union, last Tuesday, Republican lawmakers filed a  legal challenge to question the constitutionality of the provision–just weeks before the November 8 election. Despite having no evidence of voter fraud from absentee ballots, they argued that more absentee ballots could be subject to future “tampering” and “fraud.” Democratic attorneys argued that cases that change election laws should not be brought to the Supreme Court so soon before election day. 

New York is on track to become the sixth state to approve of a new form of green burial: composting human remains. The process, called Natural Organic Reduction, involves leaving the deceased in an above-ground container filled with a biodegradable soil mixture, and was recently approved by both the State Senate and Assembly. Advocates for the process are asking Governor Hochul to sign the bill into law, citing an increased interest in new forms of environmentally-safe burial. Approval of the process would add a green burial option in New York. The state already allows burial of un-embalmed bodies. However, according to the Times Union, cremation can leave a significant carbon footprint, and traditional burials often use chemicals that can leach into the ground.