City

Alleged Drug Dealers’ Arrests May Curb Local Trade

Emily Cohn — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The recent arrests of three local men associated with a cocaine-trafficking ring will make a “significant dent” on the drug trade in Tompkins County, District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson told The Ithaca Journal last Tuesday. Curtis Echols of Rochester, said to be the ring’s leader, along with his sons, Curtis McCool and Darrell L. Bailey, have been charged on about 30 counts of drug trafficking.

According to The Journal, Echols allegedly distributed cocaine to both Bailey and McCool, in addition to Kelly Keefe, an Ithaca resident who was arrested on charges of alleged ties to a cocaine ring two weeks ago.

TCAT and Workers’ Union Reach Deal

Sun Staff — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit announced early Friday morning that it had reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers over contracts for its workers. The deal was the result of 17 consecutive hours of negotiations. Though the agreement — which specifies the salaries and benefits of all TCAT drivers and mechanics — still has to be formalized by the United Auto Workers on October 5, workers will continue to work under old contract conditions until the vote.

City of Ithaca Considers Banning Smoking in Many Outdoor Areas

Elizabeth Krevsky — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

25,500 deaths in New York State every year are attributed smoking, according to the City of Ithaca’s Resolution: Support for Tobacco-Free Zones and Other Voluntary Steps to Reduce Smoking.

Citing this statistic as one reason to support tobacco-free zones, the Ithaca Common Council’s Environment and Neighborhood Quality Committee considered legislation in July 2007 for smoke-free outdoor public spaces.

Currently, a subcommittee of the Community and Organizational Issues Committee is considering setting smoking restrictions on several public spaces, including playgrounds, city-owned parks, the area within 25 feet of public building entrances and — most recently — the “inner T” of the Commons.

Collegetown Vision Committee Approves Master Plan

Ben Eisen — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Collegetown Vision Implementation Committee, in its final meeting before an indefinite hiatus, has begun to conclude a master plan that has been a year in the making. Since the moratorium on Collegetown construction went into effect last year to enable consultants to formulate the Collegetown Master Plan, the CVIC — under the direction of Mary Tomlan ’71 (D-3rd Ward) and Svante Myrick ’09 (D-4th Ward) — has been hard at work guiding the planning process.

The result is a master plan that will likely steer the future development of Collegetown. Residents hope that it will improve issues of pedestrian transportation, add mixed-use developments, provide for student parking and open up public spaces.

City of Ithaca Pledges to Overhaul Contaminated Gun Factory Site

Molly OToole — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:35:51 -0400

On May 30, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced a final resolution for the Ithaca Gun Factory Site, closing a long and precarious chapter in the City of Ithaca’s history. However, many Ithacans feel the future of the site may still be up in the air.

The DEC — in cooperation with Mayor Carolyn Peterson, the City of Ithaca, developers Frost Travis, owner Wally Diehl and a previous pledge by the state — has authored a plan to dissolve the old Ithaca Gun Factory, which has been left stagnating above the rushing waters of Ithaca Falls for the past 125 years.

Ithacans’ Visit to Charlottesville Puts City in Context of Other College Towns

Ben Eisen — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:37:08 -0400

Correction Appended

From Ithaca Hours to the Ithaca Commons, no one can deny that the city Cornell calls home has its fair share of quirks. But the question of how unique Ithaca really is has surfaced recently with the city’s comparison to other college towns.

Last month, a delegation from the Ithaca Downtown Partnership took a trip to Charlottesville, where they observed the town, met with public officials and brought back a wealth of information on how the two cities compare. The trip was part of an effort to develop a 10-year master plan for downtown Ithaca.

Continental Airlines Begins Flight Service to Ithaca

Brian Karlovitz — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:30:13 -0400

Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport made a surprising announcement last week that it would expand service with the addition of Continental Airlines flights. This comes in the midst of service cutbacks across the country as airlines struggle to deal with skyrocketing fuel costs.

Larry Baum, President of the Ithaca Air Service Board, announced during a July 1 meeting of the Tompkins County Legislature that the airport would welcome back Continental this October. Continental, which left the airport in 1996 due to inadequate demand, plans to offer four daily non-stop flights from Ithaca to its hub, Newark Liberty Airport.

Baum also said that, beginning in August, Northwest Airlines' morning flight from Ithaca to Detroit will be upgraded to a larger plane.

Tompkins County Faces Budget Cuts

Scott Rosenthal — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The slowing economy is affecting the outlook for the 2008 Tompkins County budget, which will have to accommodate a significant cut in expenditures. Nathan Shinagawa ’05 (D-4th Ward), the Tompkins County Legislature Budget and Capital Committee chairman, described the situation as “tough” and said that his colleagues in other counties are facing similar cuts.

“When the state is in a budget crunch, it’s [an] easy temptation to push costs over to the county,” Shinagawa said.

Common Council Adds Plot of Land to Future Hotel Site

Brian Karlovitz — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Last night in Ithaca City Hall, the Common Council voted to approve the sale of a 2,140-square-foot plot of city land to Long Island developer Jeffrey Rimland of Ithaca Properties, LLC. The plot on the corner of Green St. and Aurora St., in addition to adjacent land the developer already owns, will be the site of a $17 million, 102-room hotel that will be leased by a chain.

The Common Council’s vote followed that of the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency, which unanimously approved the sale on Feb. 28.Making requests: Audrey Cooper petitioned the Common Council for uniform wages on behalf of the GIAC Board yesterday.

Ithaca Commons May Be Home to $17 Million Hotel

Ben Eisen — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Ithaca may be home to a new 102-room hotel if plans for the development on the corner of Green St. and Aurora St. go through. Jeffrey Rimland, a developer for Ithaca Properties L.L.C., along with architect Scott Whitham of Thomas Associates, has proposed the initiative as a means of “expansion and diversification of the economic base of the community,” according to a letter from Whitham to Mayor Carolyn Peterson dated Feb. 5. The hotel would cost approximately $17 million and be leased by a chain.

Rimland is also the owner of the Rothschild’s Building, which sits adjacent to the proposed site. The lot has remained empty since the buildings which once occupied the lot were torn down 42 years ago.

I.C. Student Allegedly Raped in Dorm Room

Ben Eisen — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

An Ithaca College student reported that she was raped last Sunday around 1:30 a.m. in her Emerson Hall dormitory room. According to The Ithacan, the female student returned to her room to find an unknown assailant waiting for her. There was no sign of forced entry into the room. The student reported the rape almost 12 hours later.

The male was identified to be Hispanic, about 170 pounds, 5’10’’ inches, with a thin build and no facial hair. He was also seen wearing loose jeans, a black hooded sweatshirt and red fitted hat, according to News 10 Now.

New Vision to Improve C-Town Cohesion and Business

Michelle Sun — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Amidst the controversial moratorium on Collegetown development, the Collegetown Vision Implementation Committee is moving forward to create a plan for future growth in the area. On Feb. 18, the CVIC will meet with Goody Clancy, the recently selected architecture firm that will be working on the project.

Last October, the Ithaca Common Council voted to halt approval of further development proposals in Collegetown in an effort to create a more cohesive design plan for the area. Since then, the CVIC has been collaborating with Goody Clancy, in addition to the real estate company WZHA and traffic firm Nelson Nygaard. Additionally, the University and the City each have donated $75,000 towards the planning process.