The Ithaca Voice

People convicted of abusing animals in Tompkins County will now be publicly listed on a countywide online registry. The Tompkins County Legislature adopted a resolution Tuesday following a small but supportive public hearing. It will create a registry designed to give animal rescues, shelters and others more information before adopting out an animal.

The Tompkins County Administration is officially recommending an 11.96% increase in the countywide property tax levy for 2027, handing legislators a double-digit starting point as weeks of budget deliberations commence. The increase is far from final. It is part of County Administrator Korsah Akumfi’s $307.82 million recommended budget, While Akumfi has said the administration has already made substantial reductions, legislators will now scrutinize the budget for places to trim fat from or add to.

Town of Ithaca Supervisor Rod Howe will step down Sept. 19 after serving in the role since 2019. A news release from the town stated that when he was asked why he is stopping 15 months short of completing his term, “Howe said simply, ‘It is time.’” In a phone interview Thursday, Howe said, “Well, it really kind of boils down to that. It is time. It’s not really a joke.” “There’s no health scare, it’s really just more personal,” he added.

A local trade union gave members of the Town of Ithaca Planning Board their first look at plans for a new apprentice training center Tuesday night. The project is being pitched to the town by the UA Local 81, a labor union representing plumbers, steamfitters and HVAC technicians. The union is seeking to develop a vacant 9-acre site on the 800 block of Elmira Road, near the intersection with Enfield Falls Road.

October 21, 1940 – July 28, 2026 Benjamin “Ben” Sherman died on the evening of Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at Robert Packer hospital of cardiac arrest. He was 85. In the past year or so, Ben started responding to situations with the phrase, “It is what it is.”  The words were an acknowledgement of his diminished capacity, that previously important tasks on the list were going to go undone.

A longtime Dryden property owner met with town planning board members Aug. 27 to discuss plans to expand housing in a rural part of the town. The property, called the Hillside Apartments, is located on a private drive off 253 Ringwood Road, west of the Yellow Barn State Forest. The site has been owned by the Cornelius family since 1971.

John “Gutie” Gutenberger, the former mayor of Ithaca, died on Aug. 29 at 84. Gutenberger served as mayor for six years, from 1984 to through 1989. Gutenberger’s legacy includes fostering a stronger connection between the city and Cornell University, which he continued work on after he left office. In 1990, Gutenberger was hired as assistant director in Cornell’s Office of Community Relations.

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts. In 2022, paramedics at Bangs Ambulance voted to unionize. Progressive activists and elected officials at the time cheered the effort. But the vote was close. And as far as union negotiations go, the four years since haven’t always been smooth sailing. It was only this summer that the union finally reached an agreement with the family that owns the longtime ambulance company.

A crowd gathered near the shore of Cayuga Lake Friday to urge Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign a bill that would establish sweeping regulations for data centers. In July, Hochul issued a one-year moratorium on state permitting of data centers as public opposition mounted against the energy-intensive projects. The move put in place the first statewide data center moratorium in the U.S., but advocates have pushed for Hochul to go a step further and sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act.

A Lansing man was severely injured Monday morning after he told sheriff’s deputies that he accidentally stabbed himself while falling down a flight of stairs. Officers later discovered he was wanted on an alleged parole violation. Tompkins County Sheriff’s deputies were called to Lansing Grove apartments — formerly known as University Heights Apartments —  on Graham Road in the Village of Lansing shortly before 11:30 a.m. for a reported stabbing. Deputies found 24-year-old Thomas A.