TompkinsWeekly for the week of September 7th

Download the newspaper in Acrobat Format Here Pipeline Measure Approved The Tompkins County legislature approved a resolution on Sept. 1 that asks the New York State legislature to assess the health and environmental risks associated with new, large-scale natural gas pipelines and compressor stations. The measure passed by vote of 10-3. Full Story »   County Budget Proposal Unveiled Tompkins County Administrator Joe Mareane has delivered to the county legislature a 2016 Recommended County Budget that maintains services, reinvests in infrastructure, addresses organizational pressure points and remains within the county’s projected property tax cap. Full Story »   Reading marathon provides a boost for the library page 2 The Tompkins County Public Library’s (TCPL) annual fundraiser is moving apace toward its goal of collecting $25,000, and the highlight of the drive, a 24-hour reading marathon starting at noon on Friday, Sept. 15, is almost full-up with eager readers. Full Story »   New farmers connect with land owners page 3 The cost of starting a new farm can be prohibitive to beginning farmers, so Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) has established a LandLink program to connect landowners who would like their land farmed with beginning farmers looking to get established or current farmers looking to expand. Full Story »   Legislature takes city properties off of the tax rolls page 5 The Tompkins County Legislature, by unanimous vote at its Sept. 1 meeting, approved an agreement for the county to forgo collection of county taxes, for the years 2014-16, in an amount not to exceed $5,400, on two parcels on Lake Street, now owned by the City of Ithaca, adjacent to the Ithaca Falls Natural Area, in support of the parcels’ addition to this public resource. Full Story »   Cornell fundraising at an all-time high page 8 In a banner year for fundraising, Cornell University raised $672.9 million in fiscal 2015 that ended June 30, vaulting the Cornell Now campaign above $6 billion and setting new records for dollars raised and participation. Cash giving to the university totaled $590.6 million, surpassing last year’s record $545.4 million. Full Story »   Growing pains, and pleasures page 9 It’s been a good season for girls (that is teen or younger) in film. From the major studios we had Pixar’s “Inside Out,” with its gutsy, lonely pre-teen soccer player, and Brad Bird’s “Tomorrowland,” with a teen girl rebel-scientist; from Studio Ghibli, a haunting story of the strength of girl friendship in “When Marnie Was There.” Full Story »   Better building practices promote energy efficiency page 10 In Tompkins County, as in most places, our built environment—the collection of buildings we live, work and play in—is responsible for a large portion of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. This article describes two projects that the City of Ithaca and the Town of Ithaca are working on to address this issue: the Residential Energy Score Project (RESP) and energy efficiency standards for new construction. Full Story »