ITHACA, N.Y.—The Ithaca Fire Department responded to a house fire Wednesday night on Valley View Road in the Town of Ithaca. The fire was reported to Tompkins County Dispatch around 7:05 p.m by a neighbor who saw flames from a house across the street. Firefighters were already at another fire but pivoted to the Valley […]
Posted inFeatured
Cornell junior Patrick Mehler approved to fill Common Council vacancy
ITHACA, N.Y.—Patrick Mehler has been appointed to fill the vacancy on the City of Ithaca’s Common Council, but not without some resistance or confusion. Mehler was virtually sworn into the Common Council—a first in city government history—during a special meeting of the council on Wednesday, just before the regular meeting of Common Council. He will […]
Posted inHealth & Human Services
Seven people incarcerated at County Jail test positive for COVID-19 over last month
TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y.—Tompkins County Jail is dealing with a limited outbreak of COVID-19 among its inmates, with seven incarcerated people having tested positive over the last month and some others in quarantine. It is the first COVID-19 outbreak at Tompkins County Jail, though there have been severe outbreaks at other jails and prisons throughout the […]
Posted inCrime & Courts
No injuries reported in second shooting incident near Elm Street
ITHACA, N.Y.—For a second consecutive night, police responded to multiple reports of gunfire in the area of Elm Street on Wednesday night. Unlike Tuesday night’s shooting, no injuries were reported in connection to the latest incident. Around 10:24 p.m., police were dispatched to the area of Elm Street at Chestnut Street. According to the police’s […]
Posted inNews
Green New Deal primer: Vote approaches for the $100M plan to make Ithaca’s buildings go green
ITHACA, N.Y.—With the passage of the Green New Deal in 2019, Ithaca committed to what will have to be an aggressive pursuit to completely decarbonize its economy by 2030, while also fulfilling the additional promise to put social equity at the forefront of its efforts to fight climate change. The first plan of the Ithaca […]
Posted inHealth & Human Services
COVID-19 Update: School cases frequent, but no classroom spread detected
TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y.—The Tompkins County Legislature received its regular COVID-19 status update from Deputy County Administrator Amie Hendrix and Public Health Director Frank Kruppa, revealing new information about the coronavirus in schools and community spread. The overall picture was fairly rosy, as much as it can be for such a topic. After a severe spike […]
Posted inGovernment
Over objections, County pivots to new rural broadband strategy, hoping for faster results
TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y.—In the midst of budget season, the Tompkins County Legislature convened for its regular Tuesday night meeting on Oct. 5, addressing a wide swath of topics. Most of them are covered below, with a separate story here for the COVID-19 update. You can watch the meeting in its entirety here, and follow along […]
Posted inHealth & Human Services
Cornell expands COVID-19 vaccination mandate to include all employees
ITHACA, N.Y.—Cornell University will now require all employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccination by Dec. 8, according to an announcement from the school on Wednesday. The university had already required any student taking on-campus classes to receive the vaccination to return for the Fall 2021 semester, though it did honor religious and medical exemptions, but […]
Posted inCrime & Courts
One person believed injured in Elm Street shooting
ITHACA, N.Y.—Ithaca police are investigating a shooting that took place in the area of Elm Street in the City of Ithaca during the evening of Oct. 5. Police said they received multiple complaints of gunshots in the area around 8:15 p.m. and responded, looking for witnesses. “While officers were conducting an investigation on scene it […]
Posted inNews
Health Department announces COVID-19 booster clinics this week
This is a community announcement from the Tompkins County Health Department. It was not written by the Ithaca Voice. To submit community announcements, please email tips@ithacavoice.com. The Tompkins County Health Department is announcing three upcoming clinics for booster dosing of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. TCHD is encouraging eligible older adults to get a booster dose when they are able, and alerting additional populations of their […]