Local News: March 25, 2024

- Early voting for presidential primaries has begun -

Early voting in New York’s presidential primaries began this past Saturday. Tompkins County has two early voting sites. They are in the Town of Ithaca town hall on Tioga Street in downtown Ithaca and the Finger Lakes Library System building on Dryden Road in Ithaca. To find early voting sites in other counties check with your board of elections. Early voting ends March 30. Election Day is April 2.

- Ithaca Common Council to consider “just cause” employment proposal -

The Ithaca Common Council will form a working group to consider a “just cause” proposal to require employers to give a reason before firing someone. The Ithaca Voice reports if approved Ithaca would become the first city in New York State to end “at-will” firings. The proposal was brought before the Council at last week’s meeting by Alderpersons Kayla Matos and Phoebe Brown. It has support from a coalition of groups which includes the Tompkins County Working Families Party and the Tompkins County Worker’s Center. Other members of the Council have already expressed their support for the proposal.

- Lawsuit filed against Seneca Meadows, DEC to block landfill expansion -

A lawsuit filed on Monday against the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Seneca Meadows landfill seeks to block the expansion of the Seneca Meadows landfill. The suit claims the odors from the landfill are a potential health hazard, annoying and deprive residents of clean air. New York voters approved a Green Amendment to the state constitution in 2021. It includes a provision about ensuring a right to clean air.  FingerLakes1.com reports it was filed by a group that includes residents, environmental groups, and businesses who say the landfill’s existence harms them. They want the DEC to deny the landfill’s request for a new permit. The current one expires in 2025.