Living in Dryden

Violence mars New Year

I'm back, physically if not yet mentally, and it seems like I missed a fair amount in the Ithaca Journal. Unfortunately their archive only goes back a week, but here's what's happened so far in 2005 2007.

The worst story of the year so far, maybe of the year to come, is the alleged stomping and sexual abuse of two three-year-olds off Hanshaw Road. A three-year-old boy is in a Syracuse hospital, while Jacob Carter of Dryden is in the county jail. The sheriff's office apparently has a confession, and the DA is filing charges that could lead to a 75-year sentence.

There's another Monitor entry for an assault on a three-year-old, though I don't know if it's related.

In much brighter news, the first child of the year at Cayuga Medical Center was born to parents from Varna, and Cathy Wakeman devotes her column to local heroes.

Marge Villanova has a photo of the Grand Canyon published.

A look at Dryden's agenda for the new year reports that:

Framing for the new town hall is currently going up and the new home for the Town of Dryden administrative offices should be complete in the fall. The county is working on a study of land use on Routes 13 and 366. Consultants are taking public comments from a previous work session to create two alternatives for development along the corridor, one of which will feature two-node development in Dryden and Varna. These options could be presented to the public in January or February, said Ed Marx, county commissioner of planning.

I have my doubts about the 13/366 study, but we'll see what they come up with.

Just to the east of Dryden, Greek Peak is working on becoming a year-round destination, which could help local tourism.

The County Legislature re-elected Tim Joseph as its Chair and approved a $500,000 loan for RPM, the tree-growing company that's moving to Dryden.

Yes, December was incredibly warm. It sounds like January's had quite a start too.

In politics, the Journal notes newly-elected State Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Garry's taking over half the Tompkins County caseload. There's a piece on Michael Arcuri's joining Congress, and a number of pieces on Governor Spitzer. A local views piece includes Dryden School Board President Anderson Young, another examines the prospects for Spitzer's shaking up the legislature (my main reason for supporting him), and another presents State Senator James Seward pretending he agrees with Spitzer while still defending State Senator Joe Bruno, who Seward calls "a great majority leader".

On the opinion page, I'm pleased to see someone support the construction of a suspension bridge over Cayuga Lake, though I agree with the letter's author that it's unlikely. (Of course, I did just pay $9 to cross the Verrazano Narrows bridge - ouch!)

On more serious notes, Murray Cohen of Dryden wonders when the world will start pitying the U.S., Julie Owens of Freeville questions the wisdom of bringing back the draft, and Barbara Decker thanks Dryden EMTs for their help.

One other note on the Journal - readers seem to have noticed the comments space on their articles, and the comments seem like a free-fire zone to me. Maybe people just had time over the holidays?