February 2nd, 2022 Daily Headlines

New York State Democrats have unveiled their proposal for the state’s new state legislature maps. In the state Assembly, the proposal would keep all of Tompkins and part of Cortland county in a single, deeply Democratic district, currently represented by Assemblymember Anna Kelles. In the State Senate, Tompkins would join with Binghamton to form a new, largely democratic seat. Tompkins County is currently split between 3 republican senate seats. Democratic State Senate candidate Lea Webb praised the new map saying it will give New York’s Southern Tier “the voice we need in the State Senate.” Webb is a former Binghamton City Councilor. 2020 Democratic nominee Leslie Danks Burke has already announced her own campaign for the Democratic nomination. A vote on the maps is expected as soon as tomorrow.

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Yesterday, Governor Kathy Hochul said New York state was “turning the corner on the winter wave” of COVID-19. According to WGRZ, positive covid cases have dropped 92 percent over the last 3 weeks. On January 7th New York reported over 90,000 positive cases. Yesterday it reported just over 7,000. Hospitalizations have also fallen 43 percent since early January. Still, New York reported 122 COVID deaths on Monday.

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Cornell University has announced it plans to hold two in-person commencement ceremonies this May for it’s graduating students. According to 14850.com, two ceremonies will be held on Saturday, May 28th at 10:00 A.M. and 2:30 P.M. Students will be able to reserve tickets for four guests to attend the ceremonies. The school will also host other events throughout the weekend.