Local News for June 14, 2023

A Republican Joins Race for Ithaca Mayor

Janis Kelly announced she is running for mayor of Ithaca during the public comment period of the June 7 Common Council meeting. The Republican said the Council has failed the citizens of Ithaca in three ways. She criticized the Reimagining Public Safety planning, the lack of a permanent police chief, and a loss of a sense of safety in the city. Her opponent is Democrat Robert Cantelmo. There aren’t primaries for the office so the two will face each other in the general election in November. Kelly previously ran for mayor in 2010. 

Cortland County State of Emergency Expires

Cortland County let its state of emergency expire. The declaration prevented migrants and asylum seekers from being housed in it’s communities. The decision was announced the day after New York City filed suit against 30 counties for making similar emergency declarations. Cortland was one of those named in the lawsuit.

Finger Lakes Opioid Trafficking Operation Shut Down 

Forty-eight people were arrested and charge in connection with a narcotics trafficking operation in the Finger Lakes. The state Attorney General, Letitia James announced the arrests on Tuesday. They were the result of two years of investigations that reached from Rochester into Seneca, Cayuga and five other counties. Law enforcement officers confiscated over $400,000 in cash, guns, and over $9 million worth of fentanyl, cocaine and fake oxycodone pills. The charges also include money laundering and attempted murder.