January 14, 2022 Daily Headlines

The Tompkins County Health Department has announced a COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Clinic for youth ages 12-17. The clinic will provide the Pfizer booster, and will be open from 2:30 to 6:00 P.M. on Saturday at the Ithaca Mall vaccine site. Residents are eligible for the booster if they received their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at least five months ago. For more information visit the county website at Tompkinscountyny.gov/health

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On Wednesday, the Tompkins County Legislature voted to continue funding COVID testing in local schools. According to the Ithaca Voice, the County Health and Human Services Committee approved funding that will allow the county health department to continue testing in Tompkins Schools. At the same meeting County Health Director Frank Kruppa, briefed the committee on the county’s changing guidelines. New York state is no longer requiring county health departments perform contact tracing and is instead focusing on enhanced testing and vaccination. 

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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is awarding $766,000 to 9 projects aimed at improving Dam safety in the Capitol, Mid-Hudson Valley, and Southern Tier Regions. Included in the funds is over $69,000 towards the Guilford Dam in Chenango County. Last month a report in the Albany Times Union found that Hundreds of New York’s Dams were structurally unsound with thousands more going uninspected including in Tompkins and Schuyler Counties.. 

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The New York State Senate is expected to vote on the Adult Survivors Act later this year. According to Syracuse.com, the bill would create a one year window for adult victims of sexual abuse to sue their peretrators in civil court after the statute of limitations runs out. The state passed a similar law for childhood victims back in 2019. The state senate passed the adult version of the bill unanimously last summer but it failed to make it out of the state assembly.