Local News: February 26, 2024

- Tompkins County property values go up almost 20% -

Tompkins County has started mailing out this year’s property assessment values. Property values in Tompkins County are up an average of almost 20%. The Ithaca Voice reports the increase is due to rising sales prices. Between 2020 and 2023 the average residential property prices in the county have gone up about 28%. The deadline to appeal an assessment is April 12.

- Cornell among universities to receive unsubstantiated emailed threats  -

Cornell, Dartmouth, and the University of Pennsylvania received unsubstantiated threats by email. The Cornell Daily Sun reports university public safety officials described the threats as “especially hurtful toward “Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students, faculty and staff.” An undergraduate student is in custody for allegedly making violent antisemitic threats on an online forum in October. He is being held on federal charges in Broome County Jail.

- Female union member sues state union and staff over alleged 2019 sexual assault in Ithaca -

A female union member is suing the Public Employee Federation (PEF) and a former top staffer over allegations she was sexually abused by the staffer. The Albany Times Union reports the case was filed in Broome County last November. The alleged took place at the Statler Hotel on Cornell’s campus during a union conference in 2019. The union allegedly did not investigate the claims until four years after they were made. Union officials concluded they were “unsubstantiated”. The official who was accused left the union less than two months after the lawsuit was filed. The PEF represents over 50,000 state employees.