March 11th, 2022 Daily Headlines
The Tompkins County Human Services Coalition has named Cindy Wilcox as their new Executive Director. According to the Ithaca Voice, Wilcox was approved by the Coalition’s board of directors and will take the helm on April 11th. Wilcox is a graduate of Ithaca College, and has worked in the non-profit sector for over 30 years. The Human Services Coalition includes a staff of 20 people working to support the delivery of health and human services in Tompkins County.
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The Tompkins County Republican Committee has endorsed Derek Osbourne for Sheriff and Maureen Reynolds for County Clerk. According to WICZ, local Republicans are now gathering signatures to allow Osbourne and Reynolds to appear on the Republican line in November. Osbourne and Reynolds were already endorsed by the county’s Democratic committee as well. New York’s fusion voting system allows candidates to appear on the ballot for multiple political parties, meaning Osbourne and Reynolds could appear on the ballot as both Democrats and Republicans.
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According to the Ithaca Voice, former State Assemblymember Barbara Lifton has endorsed Vanessa Fajans-Turner in the race for New York’s New 22nd Congressional District. Fajans-Turner is one of several Democrats running in the new deeply Democratic seat. Fajans-Turner had been the sole Tompkins Democrat running until former Broome County based candidate Josh Riley moved to Ithaca last month. Lifton represented parts of Tompkins and Cortland counties in the State Assembly for several years before retiring in 2020.
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New York State has said it’s beginning the process of licensing legal marijuana shops. According to WIVB, the state says they plan to allow shops to open by the end of the year. The state is also offering the first licenses to people who have been convicted of a marijuana offense or had a family member convicted. According to the Associated Press this will apply for the first 100 to 200 licenses.
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CORRECTION: A previous version of this story had reported that congressional candidate Vanessa Fajans-Turner was the sole Tompkins County resident in the race for NY-22.