The Ithaca Voice

ITHACA, N.Y. — A Lansing resident is taking legal action against a town official, alleging he misused his position to block a proposed data center and other projects he personally opposed. The 135-page petition, filed June 17 in the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, calls for the removal of board member and deputy town supervisor Joe Wetmore, alleging he conducted town business through private email channels.

ITHACA, N.Y. — Developers are seeking an estimated $17.5 million local tax break to support the construction of 230 affordable housing units. Beacon Communities plans to construct 10 buildings as part of the SouthWorks redevelopment, a proposal to transform a 95-acre former industrial site and its surroundings into a neighborhood with about 915 housing units.

ITHACA, N.Y.– A man is facing a felony charge after authorities said he made threats against the Tompkins County Department of Social Services on Wednesday. Richard Madorsky, 41, was charged with making a terroristic threat. The Tompkins County Human Services building, at 320 W. State St., was temporarily closed Wednesday while the Ithaca Police Department investigated the incident.

ITHACA, N.Y. — Tompkins County is under an Air Quality Alert, according to the National Weather Service. The poor air quality and accompanying haze are the result of smoke from Canadian wildfires.

ITHACA, NY – The inciting incident of “Dear Evan Hansen” is a teen suicide, and it’s “a little bit dark [and] really sad,” said Erica Reyes, who plays Alana Beck in the Hangar Theatre’s current production of the musical. However, she’s quick to add that “there’s a lot of humor and a lot of joy” to the story. “Because that’s what life is. It’s a lot of dark and a lot of light,” Reyes said. “Dear Evan Hansen” had its Broadway debut in 2016 and went on to win six Tony awards in 2017.

ITHACA, N.Y. — New York now has the first statewide moratorium on data center permitting. Gov. Kathy Hochul issued the moratorium Tuesday through an executive order, putting the future of Lansing’s controversial data center project into question. The moratorium is intended to give the state more time to examine the impact of data centers. This review will be carried out by the New York State Department of Public Service (DPS), which will include public hearings.

LANSING, N.Y. — A new 4,000-square-foot family entertainment center is bringing immersive, virtual-reality gaming to the Ithaca area. Located in the Cayuga Shopping Center at 2309 Triphammer Road, ReviveZone features free-roam immersive games from the technology company Zero Latency VR. ReviveZone features two golf stimulator bays and a game lounge. Owned by Ithaca College graduates Steven Cox and Elijah Greene, ReviveZone opened its doors with a soft launch on July 1.

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts. Trumansburg’s one and only GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance returns this week for the 34th year. We’re going back to the roots with one of the festival’s co-founders, local musician Jeb Puryear. Plus, a round-up of news from town halls across the county. Access a time-stamped transcript by clicking the button with three lines on the embedded player.

ITHACA, N.Y. — The latest proposal taking shape in City Hall to support Ithaca’s homeless population is a village-style group of one-room shelters. They would be single-occupancy, feature digital keypads and have heating and cooling. The shelters would share multiple bathrooms, and they could serve people for as little as one night or for longer-term stays. The site could also include lockers and laundry facilities, depending on where the city chooses to locate the dwellings if they are approved.

ITHACA, N.Y. — A hot and humid stretch of weather will set in for the first half of this week, with heat index values likely climbing into the 100s for Tuesday. A drier air mass brings slightly cooler but substantially less humid air for Thursday and Friday, with dry conditions until at least the start of next weekend.