ITHACA, N.Y. — Late Monday morning, dozens of people streamed out of the Econo Lodge in Lansing, leaving the modest hotel that, for some, served as their only stable sleeping quarters since October. The Econo Lodge is one of the primary local hotels that host the local homeless population...

ITHACA, N.Y. — When a Native American tribal council in Oklahoma struck down its nation’s free press law in 2018, the number of sovereign indigenous nations in the U.S. with free press protections dropped from five to four, out of 574 total. It signaled another attack on the...

ITHACA, N.Y. — A new policy proposal promises to commit the City of Ithaca to directing the benefits of the Ithaca Green New Deal toward reducing local social and economic inequities. Common Council appears poised to approve it. The proposal is called Justice50, and is modeled after the federal...

ITHACA, N.Y. — A proposal for affordable lower-income senior housing on Inlet Island is seeking a boost from the City of Ithaca to pursue state economic development funds. The proposal, called the “Ithaca Flatiron” is primarily the work of local businessmen and brothers Ishka Alpern and Franklin Milton, who own the triangle-shaped property at 900-912 West State Street on Inlet Island.

TRUMANSBURG, N.Y. — Trumansburg Central School District moved forward with a plan to cut seven teacher positions next year, despite community outcry. The district is also eliminating at least nine other full-time positions across all departments, ranging from athletic director to classroom and bus monitors. The belt-tightening measures comes...

ITHACA, N.Y. — The City of Ithaca was ordered to clean up a waste-strewn part of the homeless encampments, commonly known as “the Jungle,” after it was designated as a public health hazard. Tompkins County Environmental Health (TCEH) sent a notice of violation to the city on...

ITHACA, N.Y. — All vehicles should avoid Cascadilla Park Road during the day Thursday, according to the City of Ithaca, while a crane is erected near the roadway. The crane is being installed for work on the creek below the area. The work is scheduled to take place from...

ITHACA, N.Y. — The two dozen Cornell University students and staff arrested during a sit-in last month appeared in city court Wednesday morning, all pleading not guilty. Following a decision by Ithaca City Court Judge Seth Peacock, all 24 are eligible to have their cases dismissed in a month — provided they are not arrested again in that time.

ITHACA, N.Y. — The Tompkins County District Attorney’s office announced Tuesday that a man responsible for firing a shotgun around county deputies in April 2023 was found guilty by a jury. Richard A. Marks Jr., a 39-year old Newfield resident, was convicted of two counts of menacing a...

ITHACA, N.Y. — Following pushback from taxpayers, the Ithaca City School District Board of Education rejected the district’s 2024-2025 school year budget proposal at its meeting late Tuesday night. Instead, the board approved an alternative budget that would cut total spending by roughly $2 million. After a lengthy...

ITHACA, N.Y. — Matt Rosenbloom-Jones was appointed as the general manager of Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) on Friday. Rosenbloom-Jones was hired at TCAT in January as its service development manager, and was named acting general manager six weeks ago when TCAT’s former general manager, Scot Vanderpool, retired in March. TCAT’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to put Rosenbloom-Jones at the helm of the Ithaca area’s challenged transit organization.

ITHACA, N.Y. — The Community Justice Center (CJC) published its new data dashboard on its website Monday. It includes data on arrests, prosecutions and case outcomes from law enforcement agencies in Tompkins County, and satisfies one of the major police reform recommendations set forth by the Reimaging Public Safety working group in 2021.

ITHACA, N.Y. — A planned celebration of Taughannock Falls State Park was postponed Monday after local residents expressed concerns the event, which would include lighting the parkat night, would disturb nearby nesting Peregrine falcons, an endangered species. The event, which was scheduled for nighttime on April 18, 19 and...

ITHACA, N.Y. — Ithaca played host to at least five separate events Sunday related to the war in Gaza. Hundreds of people in total attended the various events — seemingly unfazed by hail, rain and tour groups of prospective Cornellians, all of which had also descended on the city over the weekend.

ITHACA, N.Y. — The bomb threat that closed Dewitt Mall briefly on Sunday, April 7, was targeted at Buffalo Street Books, according to a letter sent by the bookstore. Distributed Monday morning, the letter from Buffalo Street Books General Manager Lisa Swayze describes that the threat was made via an anonymous email sent to a news agency “in another part of the state.”

ITHACA, N.Y. — The Ithaca Farmers Market will receive new state funds to remake its oft-maligned and pothole-beset parking lot, New York State Senator Lea Webb announced Saturday. Webb delivered the customary oversized check for $125,000, which will be used for renovations to the market’s parking lot. Farmers Market...

ITHACA, N.Y. —The tour of local construction continues, with this second installment of what’s being built in Tompkins County outside Ithaca this spring focusing on the Lansing and Trumansburg areas. The update on Dryden and Freeville published last week can be found here. Village Solars (Village Circle, Lansing)

LANSING, NY–Douglas “Grampy” Dake, 62, died peacefully at home in Lansing, on Thursday, April 11, 2024. Doug was born in Bowling Green, Ohio, on Jan. 19, 1962, to Robert and Andrea Dake, and had two sisters, Kristie and Carla. Doug’s family lived in Lansing through middle school...

ITHACA, N.Y. — A fire at an apartment building on Lake Street sent one person to the hospital Sunday afternoon. Ithaca Fire Department spokesperson Jim Wheal said firefighters were called to the 500 block of Lake Street for a fire at the Fall Haven Apartments complex around 1 p.m. Smoke was seen coming from the building’s roof, and the firefighters’ initial response and investigation found a fire in the ceiling of a third-floor bedroom, which was then extinguished.

ITHACA, N.Y. — At this midpoint of the month, we’re running at double our typical rainfall for April, and it doesn’t appear that we’ll be drying out much anytime soon. A storm system galloping across the area today will trigger more showers and potentially some severe thunderstorms. After a brief dry respite for the beginning of the week, showers and seasonably cool temperatures will be on deck for the next several days.