Posts by George Christopher

Yesterday, “Special Master” Jonathan Cervas released a draft of the State’s new congressional districts. The map would create 21 districts where  President Biden won the popular vote in 2020, and 5 where former President Trump did. According to Politico the map is expected to be finalized by this Friday. The originally proposed map would have…

Tompkins County Public Health Director and Mental Health Commissioner Frank Kruppa is warning of fentanyl in street drugs. According to the Ithaca Voice, Kruppa said Fentanyl is “in all street drugs”  including marijuana and that users should “assume” the drug’s presence. Fentanyl is about 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine…

The Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office is launching an unarmed response pilot program as part of the county’s reimagining public safety plan. The program will use unarmed sheriff’s clerks to respond to certain non-emergency calls.. The sheriff’s office says the program will free up time for deputies to respond to emergency calls, conduct investigations, and build…

According to the New York Times, on Tuesday a federal judge delayed New York’s congressional and state senate primaries until August 23. The move will allow time to redrawn district maps.  On Wednesday Steuben County Supreme Court Judge Patrick McAllister issued orders setting rules for the primary. Candidates who were already qualified will not need…

On Monday Tompkins County attorney William Troy released an opinion concerning an ethics complaint made by Councilor Cynthia Brock against former Mayor Svante Myrick. In his opinion Troy said that since the City of Ithaca doesn’t have a Board of Ethics, jurisdiction should fall to the County Board of Ethics. Brock’s allegations stem from payments…

A study by the Washington Post has found that rent prices in Tompkins County have risen by 12.3 percent since the beginning of 2020. According to the Ithaca Voice, that was the fourth highest rise of any county in New York state. Rent prices have been  a hot button issue in Ithaca especially since the…

Last week two COVID deaths were reported in Tompkins bringing the county’s total to 62. According to the Ithaca Voice, these were the first COVID deaths locally since late March. COVID-19 has been on the upswing with hospitalization numbers in the double digits for the first time since January. The county no longer publishes active…

New York State has approved 36 new cannabis cultivator licenses. According to the Ithaca Journal, two licenses were awarded to Tompkins county growers, Mary L. Strassheim and Ithaca Growers LLC. Three licenses have now been distributed to Tompkins county growers including Enfield Glen Hopyard which was granted a license last month. Only 88 licenses have…