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Haircuts Are Phase 2

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Broome County’s Executive Jason Garnar said if the region continues to fulfill the reopening criteria set by the state, it could see Phase 2 on May 29th.

App NEWS

As Vaping Lung Injuries Rise, State Faces Obstacles In Data Gathering

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ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) – Many of the growing number of lung injuries caused by vaping in New York state are being treated in Rochester. In the state health department’s regional breakdown of New York state, western New York is a 17-county region that stretches from the shore of Lake Erie in the west nearly to Syracuse and Binghamton in the east. Thirty-one cases of vaping lung injuries have been reported in that region. More than half of them have been treated at one hospital: Strong Memorial in Rochester. The University of Rochester Medical Center, which runs Strong, said the concentration does not mean that Rochester is the center of an epidemic.

App NEWS

Owego Awarded $10 Million From State Fund To Revitalize Downtowns

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VESTAL, NY (WSKG) — Owego was awarded $10 million dollars as part of New York state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, or DRI. Owego is in Tioga County. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the various projects. They are meant to boost the local economy by attracting new businesses while strengthening existing ones, repair infrastructure, enhance recreational opportunities, and address the demand for affordable housing. The money will go toward 17 projects.

Ithaca Mayoral Race Now Contested

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In his bid for a third term, Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick has an opponent  The Tompkins County Board of Election confirmed that Adam Levine will be on the November ballot.

Firing Of Ithaca Officer Prompts Review Of Police Cases

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“We’re starting to get inquiries from former clients regarding their former cases in which they plead or been convicted at trial seeking a review and that’s gonna require a review, in some cases, of what was the officers role in those cases.”

Ithaca Legalizes Backyard Chickens

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The ordinance would only allow for hens. No roosters!  Only six per household will be allowed, a property must be at least 2,000 square feet and there are other requirements for the chickens shelter and regular inspections.

Government

“I’ll Never Forget”: Cornell Law Students On Border, Heading To Tijuana

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A group of Cornell Law Students and their professor have been volunteering on the Texas border this week. They are helping mothers and children in the largest family immigration detention center in the country to file asylum claims.

The center is in Dilley, Texas. A remote town of about 4,000 people located over an hour’s drive south of San Antonio. The students have been interviewing women about the experiences that caused them to flee their homes and seek asylum thousands of miles away. From there they will be interviewed by an asylum officer who will decide if they have a “credible fear”.

Cornell Law Students Go To Border To Help Mothers, Children Seeking Asylum

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Six Cornell Law School students and one of their professors have gone to border this week to volunteer at the country’s the largest family immigration center in Dilley, Texas. They are working with the Dilley Pro Bono Project. The Project has been organizing volunteers since the federal facility opened in 2014. Each week a group of volunteer lawyers, law students, paralegals arrived to assist mothers and children file their asylum claims.

Dilley is a remote town of about 4,000 people over an hour’s drive from San Antonio. Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer is an associate professor at Cornell Law School.

Arts & Culture

In Ithaca, Looking Ahead To 2019

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ITHACA, NY (WSKG) – 2018 is almost over and 2019 is on its way in. Around Ithaca, people are looking to make some changes. Inside a health club, people are signing up for new memberships to start the new year. Nearby others are pushing and pulling on weight machines. “I’m most looking forward to great self care,” said Christine Cummings.

Economy

Brindisi Calls On NYS Public Service Commission To Push Case Against Charter/Spectrum

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ITHACA, NY (WSKG) – Tuesday, the New York State Attorney General announced a $174 million consumer fraud settlement with Charter/Spectrum, the largest internet and cable provider in New York State. Wednesday, Congressman-Elect Anthony Brindisi called for the state’s Public Service Commission to move forward with their case against Spectrum. That case challenges Spectrum’s right to operate in the state. Brindisi said customers deserve better options than Spectrum provides. “No one’s losing their cable,”  Brindisi said.

Health

Cornell Graduate Students Say Their University Has A Mental Health Crisis

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About one hundred Cornell graduate students gathered outside the Cornell Health Center on campus Wednesday afternoon. They were calling for an external review of the mental health services at the University. Students shared their own mental health struggles. They described not being taken seriously by faculty and having to go off campus to find therapists. They say getting appointments is difficult unless they are in crisis, suicidal or in academic trouble.

Finger Lakes

O’Mara Faces Newcomer In New York State Senate Re-Election Campaign

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Republican Tom O’Mara is running for a fourth term in the New York State senate. O’Mara represents the 58th district. It’s one of the biggest in the state senate. It stretches from Yates County in the west into the eastern part of Tompkins County. WSKG’s Celia Clarke talked with him about some of the biggest issues affecting his district.

congressional district

With Dem’s House Win, Reed’s Bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus May Weaken

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Now that Rep. Tom Reed has defended his seat against Democratic challenger Tracy Mitrano, he says his first priority is to pass a set of legislative rules changes from a bipartisan caucus he co-chairs. Reed and a few other representatives have said they’ll withhold their support from the next House Speaker unless that person agrees to the changes. But, with the Democrats winning control of the House, that caucus may lose steam.

“I doubt that that caucus will stay together in terms of any leadership question because the Democrats who are members of that caucus, their bread is going to be buttered by whoever becomes Speaker,” said Jim Twombly, professor of political science at Elmira College.

First-Time Candidate Kirchgessner Faces Incumbent O’Mara for New York State Senate in Southern Tier District

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ITHACA, NY (WSKG) – When Amanda Kirchgessner won the Democratic primary for New York’s 58th Senate district, she didn’t have a campaign manager, a communications team or even a staff. Just friends and supporters helping her.  She’d campaigned by driving around the district and walking door-to-door to talk to people. She’s a first time candidate running against Republican incumbent Tom O’Mara. The district is one of the biggest in the state senate.

News

NY23 Candidates Debate Healthcare, Extremism, Values in Corning

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Republican Congressman Tom Reed and Democratic challenger Tracy Mitrano met in a debate Tuesday night at Corning Community College. They are running for the 23rd congressional district seat. The district covers the Western Southern Tier and parts of the Finger Lakes including Ithaca, Elmira and Hornell. The debate was televised by WETM-TV. Healthcare was a prominent topic.

Rep. Tom Reed Says He Supports Net Neutrality. Some Constituents Want Action.

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ITHACA, NY (WSKG) – Some constituents are urging Congressman Tom Reed to take action to support net neutrality. Reed represents New York’s 23rd congressional district, which stretches from Ithaca to Jamestown. Seven people met with a member of his staff in Ithaca on Tuesday morning. Back in December, the Federal Communications Commission repealed 2015 net neutrality rules that required internet providers to allow equal access to all web content. Congressman Reed supported the repeal.

Andrew Cuomo

Primary Voters In Ithaca Weigh Federal Impact Of State Races

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ITHACA, NY (WSKG) – Thursday’s primaries were dominated by Democratic primaries. Many people who voted are looking ahead to the mid-term elections in November. For Elizabeth Skapley, a sophomore studying chemistry at Cornell University, she’s concerned about the national consequences of the mid-terms.

“I think it’s very important for Democrats to take back the Senate and kinda help take down Donald Trump,” said Skapley. “So, yeah. I mean, I think that just equal rights for everyone are very important, working rights are very important and it’s important for the middle class to rise up and take control.”

Food and Farms

A Tompkins County Food Pantry Re-Opens After Temporary Suspension

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ENFIELD, NY (WSKG) – The Enfield Food Pantry has re-opened. It was temporarily suspended by the Food Bank of the Southern Tier for potential rodent problems.

Enfield is about 6 miles from Ithaca. About three weeks ago, Food Bank of the Southern Tier stopped delivering food to the pantry until they did a few things to prevent rodents from getting in. The town owns the building where the pantry’s located. So, the Town Board, Pantry volunteers and the Food Bank came together to resolve the problems.

Now, the food pantry has freshly spackled and painted walls to keep rodents from getting in.

News

Southern Tier Economy Growing, But Help’s Wanted

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Micatu is growing fast, The Horseheads start-up has over 20 employees right now and wants to expand to more than a hundred. “Started in my garage with $75 and, you know, five years later, here we  are,” co-founder Mike Oshetski explained.  Oshetski credits state economic development money for helping Micatu grow. The company makes a device that tracks energy usage. It sells the device to utilities.

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Trump Plans To Cut Agency That Helps Rural Poor In Southern Tier

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Steuben County is one of the counties that receives money through the Appalachian Regional Commission. Credit Dougtone / Flickr

A high-tech business incubator. Rural high speed internet. Flood mitigation. A wide range of major infrastructure projects in our area are funded through the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).

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Women To March In The Southern Tier, Too

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Hundreds of thousands of people are headed to D.C. for the inauguration and for the Women’s March on Washington. WSKG caught up with one group in the Southern Tier and Northern Pennsylvania as they prepared for the voyage. Twin Tiers to D.C. is what the group is calling themselves. Last weekend, they got ready for the march by making posters with phrases like “We’ll show you nasty.”
Angela Button’s poster says, “Feminism: back by popular demand.” She’s a student in Corning and was at President Obama’s inauguration in 2012. “That was really inspiring at that point,” she said, “so this is a cool experience to go back to D.C. kind of in a different light to say, “No, we’re not going to stop.

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How Southern Tier Farmers Fought To Hold The Union Line

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Many books and movies have been written about Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and his valiant success at Little Roundtop, but very little has been said about the right end the line where Colonel Ireland was with his regiment. Today, they’re getting a little time in the sun. The 137th New York and their leader Colonel David Ireland held down the right side of the line on Culp’s Hill. Culp’s Hill is actually two hills sloping down into a ditch or a swale. On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, General Lee and the Confederate army attempted to get around the Union line.

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Despite Trends, Upstate’s Not Done Yet With Manufacturing

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Roxanne Mourhess says the milk trucks roll by her antique store every day. The store is a 150-year-old former church on the main drag in Campbell, New York, a small town near Corning. The store is just down the street from the weathered, light blue grocery store. In the other direction, a Kraft plant puffs out steam by the railroad tracks. Mourhess couldn’t believe it when she heard last month that the plant was slated for closure.

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Parents Sue So. Tier School For More Say, Lower Taxes

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Parents in Harpursville, New York, are taking their school district to court. A group sued the school earlier this year over what they say is a lack of transparency. The case went before a Broome County judge Tuesday. The group is called STOP, or School Transparency Organization for Parents. They say their school used a secretive process to get rid of two administrators last year and hire replacements.

agricultural history

Harvest

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Harvest, a new documentary by award-winning filmmaker Brian Frey, aired November 19, 2015 and December 8, 2015 on WSKG TV. The film traces the history and evolution of the farming and agricultural community in upstate New York over six generations through the lives and stories of farming families and the communities they help build. Utilizing rare archival photographs and film footage, first-person accounts of historical characters, personal memories and analysis, along with breathtaking cinematography, this new documentary chronicles the critical contribution the farming community has made in the development of the culture and customs across the Southern Tier of New York. Woven within the narrative of the film are biographies of dozens of normal everyday area farmers and their families whose triumphs and often devastating personal and economic struggles help punctuate the incredible story of rural life in the region. Along with their journey, we see the life-altering innovations and scientific developments in farming that helped to transform Upstate New York’s landscape.

Cultural History

The Flood of ’35

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On Sunday evening, July 7, 1935, the skies north of the Southern Tier of New York State opened up, dumping more than 11 inches of rain in some areas, and inundating the rivers, lakes, and streams throughout the valley. The terrible chain of events that followed would devastate small towns and cities alike, destroying hundreds of home and properties, and claim more than 50 lives. It would become the worst natural disaster in the history of the Southern Tier. Winner of two New York State Emmy Awards, The Flood of ’35 utilizes rare film footage, hundreds of photographs and first-person accounts to tell the story of that horrible night and the days that followed, days that changed lives and the Southern Tier forever. Buy the DVD

Cultural History

Southern Tier Memory Store 3

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Preserves in word and image an abundance of objects and events. In the third program in the series: “46-Quart Cans and some Passengers” – the milk trains; “The Standard Herbal Remedies” – Dr. Kilmer’s Swamp Root and other medicinal products; “Hi, Sweety” – Mr. Willoby and Igy; and “Another Side of the Tracks” – Oneonta’s Delaware and Hudson Railroad’s Susquehanna Division. Buy the DVD

Cultural History

Southern Tier Memory Store 2

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A series of remembrances of extraordinary events and everyday life in the Southern Tier of New York featuring: Elmira’s Eldridge Park, once called “the playground of the Southern Tier”; Lackawanna Railroad Trains on the Ithaca-Owego line that negotiated the hills via an unusual double switchback; more than 1,000 people paddling home-made rafts 11 miles down the Susquehanna River in the Owego to Nichols raft race; and Rothschild’s department store in Ithaca. Buy the DVD

Cultural History

Southern Tier Memory Store 1

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Offering a nostalgic look at the Southern Tier of New York’s landmarks and institutions and how they have changed or simply “are no more.” Included in program #1 are the Triplets baseball team, the Lackawanna Train Station, Ithaca’s Mutt Dog Parade of the 1930s, the Triple Cities-area Pig Stand restaurants and WNBF-TV (the original Channel 12). Buy the DVD