The hot race in Tompkins County right now is the race for Sheriff.  Ken Lansing is hoping to replace Sheriff Peter Meskill, who is running for his fourth term as Sheriff.  Both candidates are Democrats from Trumansberg, and with nobody else throwing their gauntlet into the ring, the Sheriff's race could be decided -- unofficially, at least -- in the primary on September 14th. 

The main issue in the race boils down to management versus law enforcement experience.  With 37 years of police experience including 33 years in the Cayuga Heights police force where he retired as chief, Lansing says that on the ground experience is necessary in order to be an effective leader.  But Meskill argues that he has 12 years of experience as Sheriff that shows he is a proven leader with an impressive array of accomplishments.

Potential Town GreenIn January Lansing residents got to tell architects and town officials what they would like to see included in a new town center.  The Lansing Town Center Committee worked with architects to get more input and translate that into tangible plans for potential features and locations for elements of the center, which led to a second presentation in April.  Town Councilwoman and Town Center Committee Chairwoman Kathy Miller continues to get community input, and she says she hopes work can begin on some of the elements within the next year or two.

"If you create an entry into this area (town land north of the Town Hall) then anyone who is interested in locating their business here can go back there and see it," she says.  "The neat thing about having all this land is that parking could be behind businesses.  You could have municipal lots behind, which would be lovely.  It would still serve the recreation areas.  It would be connected to Conlon Road and 34.  It would be really fun riding your bicycle here.  The potential is wonderful."

Peter Meskill

Peter Meskill has lived in Trumansburg all his life.  He and his wife Dale have three children, Diana (a medical student), Michael (an accountant), and Kelly (studying to be a special education teacher).  Meskill worked as a real estate broker for 13 years, and has served in local government and his community for many years.  He is currently finishing his 12th year (third term) as Tompkins County Sheriff.  He stopped the Lansing Star this week by to talk about his candidacy.  Here is what he had to say:

Originally from the Catskills, Ken Lansing came to Central New York in 1973 after graduating from college.  Has lived in Trumansburg with his wife Kim since 1975.  They have four children, Sean, Denise, Jason, and Chad, and six grandchildren.  He has served for 37 years in law enforcement, 33 of them in the Cayuga Heights Police, from which he retired in 2007 as Chief of Police.  He took time out of his campaign schedule to talk to The Lansing Star on Tuesday.

Lansing Star: Why are you running now?

Ken Lansing: I was involved in law enforcement during the incumbent's tenure, when he became Sheriff.  I've worked with him and his department.  When I retired in 2007 my intentions were to just enjoy retirement, but I did take up part time employment with the Schuyler County Sheriff's Department and with a private detective to keep myself occupied.

Garden plan by The Plantsmen NurseryVolunteers take a lot of pride in the Lansing Community Library.  Before the library was chartered they raised private donations for two capital improvement projects that expanded the indoor space, and added many features like a children's reading room, a spacious lobby and office area, and an art gallery/meeting room.  Individuals like Katrina Binkewicz, various scouts and others worked on plantings, and in 2006 Mark Baily designed and executed a reading garden on the northwest side.  Last Saturday a dozen volunteers could be seen creating a large garden with a variety of plants, walkways, and a fence.

"They aren't all native plants, but by far the majority are," says Suzanne Hinderliter, who has been part of the Friends of the Library since the beginning.  "We purposefully tried to do that.  We have a lot of variety.  For instance we have a lot of grasses, but they aren't all the same species.   Our hope is that we can incorporate some nature programming that we don't do now.  We want to involve children or families."

Lansing showed flashes of talent in its opening volleyball match on Tuesday 8/31 in Trumansburg. However, teamwork fell short as Trumansburg's offense imposed a Swiss cheese effect on the young Lansing squad.

The night had an auspicious start for the visiting team when Tburg was unable to return Tara Miller's first serve and Nicole Washburn, Miller, and Amber Howser dealt with the Raiders' spikes. Breanna Brann's serving extended Lansing's lead to 7-1, with scrappy play by Amber Ryan at the net and Brann assisting Hannah Armstrong to Lansing's first kill.

Sheriff Peter Meskill announced Monday that the Tompkins County Sheriff's Department has received a $10,000 grant that will pay for training on how to collect DNA evidence as well as collection kits.  The Byrne JAG (Justice Assistance Grant) grant is part of a federal program that supports local law enforcement agencies, courts, corrections departments with training, planning, and innovation.  Meskill  says that the enhanced training and evidence kits the grant provides will go hand in hand with neighborhood watch programs to solve home and business burglaries.

"It's a great advantage for us to help us take a better look and a better approach to solving burglaries using modern techniques that are available," Meskill says.  "This grant is designed to help us learn how to properly collect DNA evidence and save it.  We have education and training for other evidence collection procedures all the time, but this is specific to DNA collection.  It will help us to understand what to look for, how to collect it, how to store it, and what to do with it.  In addition the grant helps pay for training classes and DNA evidence collection kits."

Most florists have attractive flower shops blooming with bouquets and sprigs that people can come and see when they want flowers for a loved one, holiday or a special event.  Sara Culotta wanted to create something different, a way to bring art arrangements into Ithaca businesses.  Thus was born Business Is Blooming, which specializes in bringing flowers to business places on a subscription basis.

"We bring beauty and the natural world into business offices every week," she explains.  "Every Monday we have a fresh flower service where we deliver artistic bouquets and an information card that goes along with them that tells people the name of every flower in it and most of the foliages, and a little story about one of the botanical elements.  It might be historical, it might be scientific information, it might be how to grow it in your own garden.  That's our flagship service."