Headlines for Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Attorney General Letitia James, is suing long-time Ithaca landlord Jason Fane and his Ithaca Renting Company. According to the Ithaca Voice the filing in New York’s Supreme Court alleges that Fane violated income protection law by not accepting Section 8 vouchers. In the course of the investigation, Fane–who operates more than 500 local housing units—acknowledged the policy was his own. If the court rules against the Fane, he could be required to pay $300,000 in fines, and set aside 5% of his holdings for Section 8 tenants.

Tompkins County Public Library has announced their decision to hire a new Library Director. Leslie Tabor says she fell in love with Ithaca and the Finger Lakes years ago as a student studying library science in Syracuse. Her career since then has taken her to New York City, Oklahoma City, and Phoenix, Arizona. She says she feels privileged for the opportunity to serve as a librarian and that “Public libraries engage with people from all walks of life, with vastly differing needs, who come into the library because they trust it to be a safe place.” Teresa Vadakin who served as interim director will return to the library’s adult services department.

Crews will install a new water main along Buffalo Street between Fulton and Meadow streets in Ithaca. The block will be closed to traffic from 7am until 3:30pm both today and tomorrow.

And peace and social justice advocate and namesake of the Mary Durham boutique at Ithaca’s Women’s Opportunity Center Eleanor Mary Durham Spiegel has passed away at the age of 97. Spiegel grew up in Ithaca where her father was a Methodist chaplain at Cornell. Her interest in social justice began in the 1940s when she and her family helped Cornell students of color find housing off campus; at that time Cornell dorms were closed to people of color.