Daily Headlines for November 11th, 2022

On Wednesday, the Ithaca common council approved the city’s budget for 2023. According to the Ithaca Times, the budget outlines $90 million in spending for the next year, a six million dollar increase over the previous budget. The budget was approved during a meeting without public comment. During the meeting city attorney Ari Lavine responded to criticisms at the previous week's meeting by city employees who said Lavine did not enter contract negotiations in good faith. Lavine described the comments as a “mob attack” going on to say the speakers were acting on “limited facts.”

Ithaca’s bike share program is underway with the first bikes hitting the streets. According to the Ithacan, using an app, users can unlock a bike for 1 dollar, and will be charged 15 cents for every minute it’s ridden. When finished, users can lock the bikes between sidewalks and curbs or next to bike racks. The program has no bike docking station, bikes can be found anywhere they are left. The Center for Community Transportation, which operates the bikeshare program, is in talks with Ithaca College to place bikes on IC’s campus.

The final election results in New York State are still being tallied. According to the Albany Times Union, Democrats will retain majorities in the State Senate and State Assembly. However, whether they will be supermajorities, meaning two-thirds of seats, is still unclear. The Times Union also reports that Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin has conceded the race to Governor Kathy Hochul who will become the first woman elected as Governor. The final results will likely end up with Hochul leading Zeldin by around 5 points making it the closest race for New York Governor since George Pataki’s upset victory over Mario Cuomo in 1994.