February 25th, 2022 Daily Headlines

Republican Tompkins County Legislator Mike Sigler has announced he’s running for congress in New York’s 22nd District. According to the Ithaca Voice, Sigler, who represents Lansing, has gained a reputation as a moderate Republican representing a heavily democratic district. The new 22nd district is deeply Democratic, and voted for President Joe Biden by over 18 points. Sigler is the second Tompkins County resident to join the race after Vanessa Fajans-Turner joined the Democratic race last week. According to the Ithaca Times, only one other Republican, health care worker Tim Ko, has entered the race. 

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The City of Ithaca has issued a statement saying that “unlicensed marijuana sales” remain illegal in New York State. The statement was in response to reports of businesses offering marijuana as a gift for buying certain products such as stickers. This is a work around New York state’s current marijuana laws which don’t yet allow marijuana sales, but do allow marijuana to be given as a gift. The city said consequences could include losing the opportunity to gain licenses in future legal marijuana markets.

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Schuyler County Public Health has canceled COVID vaccine clinics scheduled for today due to inclement weather. The county is urging residents to instead attend one of three clinics scheduled in March. A little over 61 percent of Schuyler county residents are fully vaccinated. 67 percent have received their first dose.  

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New York State is expected to see a second year of enrollment decline in K-12 schools. According to the Albany Times Union, the State Education Department published preliminary enrollment data that showed a loss of 60,000 students in the last year. State officials however warned that data is only preliminary and could change before the final report is published. They say the state could see an enrollment drop of as much as 5 percent since the start of the pandemic in 2020.