Finger Lakes Today

Jim Kennedy was appointed by Geneva City Council to fill a vacancy last September on the Ontario County Board of Supervisors representing Wards 1 and 2. He called it some of the most invigorating work he's done in his career, and has spent countless hours talking with neighbors and community members about how the county can work better for city residents. He's running for a full-term this November and joined us in-studio to talk about his campaign and what it means to represent the city at the county-level.

Today we continue our series previewing local, contested races across the Finger Lakes region, as we sit down with Jean Chrisman, who is running for Ontario County Clerk. She touts more than two-and-a-half decades of experience, and aims to bring trust and confidence back to the county clerk's office. She says residents need an advocate who understands the systems the clerk has to work within and will maintain an open door policy to constantly improve service.

Check out our conversation with Chrisman below or on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts.

A recent poll found more than half of Hispanic college students considered leaving in the last year.
A Lumina Foundation-Gallup poll showed one in four Hispanic students frequently or occasionally feel discriminated against in post-high school programs. In New York, 50% of Latino students left 2-year programs, with only a quarter of students graduating in 2021.
Courtney Brown, vice president of strategic impact and planning for Lumina Foundation, said campuses need to address discrimination and harassment.
"They need to work on those policies," Brown asserted. "They need to make sure they can educate all their faculty and staff on discrimination. They need to establish a process for publicly resolving discrimination issues, and make sure that they have an anti-retaliation program so that students feel safe in even reporting the harassment."
While respondents report such feelings in all college programs, they were highest in industrial certification programs, which are often taught outside higher-ed classrooms. Brown argued it is up to industry to address the problems.
Aside from feelings of discrimination, other factors are keeping Hispanic students from staying in school. Taking care of family members and money problems were forcing kids to drop out, too. Brown noted the barriers go beyond paying tuition.
"Just the cost of tuition isn't the only financial barrier these students face," Brown emphasized. "You know, they still have to pay rent, pay for food, and pay for child care. And, so that's why having on campus child care is so important, having food banks, having emergency financial services."
Though Hispanic students are experiencing these feelings, the National Center for Education Statistics finds enrollment grew between 2000 and 2020, but has declined in recent years, which some attribute to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On this edition of FLX Today we're joined by Jan Regan, who is running for Geneva Mayor against incumbent Steve Valentino.

A new report found raking and bagging leaves could be doing a disservice to your yard or garden.
A National Wildlife Federation survey showed most people know throwing away their fall leaves is not ideal but they often do it anyway. Leaves on a lawn can serve as mulch. They keep the soil moist, suppress weeds, and cover roots to protect them in the winter.
Jim Bitner, executive director of the New York State Horticultural Society, is a fruit farmer who is always puzzled by seeing people bag their leaves. He described how they can use those leaves to benefit the soil.
"Shredding the leaves, hitting them with the lawnmower and breaking them into smaller pieces so they drift down through the mat, on the ground, below the leaves of the grass," Bitner explained. "If you've got a whole lot, composting is a great way of handling them. On-site composting is not that hard."
Bitner noted the common reason people remove their leaves is aesthetics, to have a neat and tidy-looking lawn. While 82% of people surveyed said they are willing to "leave the leaves," 36% said they have to rake them, to comply with a city ordinance or a homeowner's association.
Along with bolstering lawn life, fallen leaves can keep songbirds and insect populations up.
David Mizejewski, naturalist for the National Wildlife Federation, said pesticide-ridden yards are preventing species like the monarch butterfly from flourishing.
"The monarch butterfly is disappearing before our eyes," Mizejewski pointed out. "In some years, their populations have been down by as much as 90% for the Eastern population, and for the Western monarch population, over 99%."
He noted the leaf cover on a yard can be used by numerous bird species as they develop their habitat. The National Wildlife Federation finds most birds rely on butterfly and moth caterpillars in the leaf layer as their primary food source during nesting season. Removing fallen leaves means there will be fewer insects, and fewer birds, too.

Sean Buck is running for Canandaigua City Council. It's his third run for office, and over the last six years being involved in the community -- he says many lessons have been learned. Today we sit down with him to talk about his campaign, what good development in the city looks like, and how to protect the long-term health of Canandaigua Lake -- one of the city's greatest assets. When he's not running for elected office, he's often organizing and participating in dives on Canandaigua Lake, helping clean it up.

James 'Jim' Basile is running for another term as a legislator in Cayuga County District #1. The longtime public servant recently appeared on FLX Today to discuss his long list of goals for the next four years. He'll appear on the Conservative Party line on the ballot; and says Cayuga County is well-positioned after the last two years of effort by the legislature-at-large.

Among his top priorities are: Improving access to broadband across the entire county, supporting and promoting tourism, as well as agriculture, and finding ways to stay competitive when it comes to bolstering first responder services.

New Yorkers are preparing for an impending government shutdown.
State officials are worried about how it could impact the work state agencies have been doing for migrants. Meanwhile, residents are concerned about how a shutdown could affect federal benefits they receive.
Make the Road Action held a press conference this week urging U.S. Rep. Anthony D'Esposito - R-Island Park - to stand up to hard-right Republicans taking budget negotiations hostage.
Angel Reyes Rivas, Long Island organizing coordinator with Make the Road Action, said a shutdown would be financially disruptive for New Yorkers.
"For Social Security and Medicare, the checks are sent out, but benefit verification as well as card issuance would cease," said Reyes Rivas. "Also, SNAP, that many low-income families use on Long Island also would, the ability to send out food stamp benefits could be affected by the shutdown."
The Center on Budget Policy and Priorities finds almost 3 million New Yorkers received SNAP benefits in 2022.
Earlier this week, Gov. Kathy Hochul implored members of Congress to avert a shutdown - noting that among the many other problems it would pose, New York's 51,000 federal employees would be out of work.
The Senate passed a measure to fund the government until November 17, though House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said he will not take the measure up as it is.
Reyes Rivas said any kind of budget must be bipartisan and based on what constituents want.
"A solution would be for the people, being Democrat or being Republican, that really care about these communities and understanding the importance of these benefits to pass something, right?" said Reyes Rivas. "There's a government shutdown, it's unacceptable."
The Senate's budget bill would have provided around $6 billion for Ukraine war efforts and another $6 billion for disaster relief in the wake of recent floods, and wildfires in the U.S.

Liz Yockel wants every resident in Ontario County to feel served by the clerks office. Whether it's DMV, property records, or anything in-between - when she began her campaign for Ontario County Clerk the goals centered around responsible improvement of services. On this edition of FLX Today we continue conversations with local candidates for elected office by learning more about Yockel, who is aiming to be the next clerk in Ontario County.

Check out our entire conversation with Yockel below on YouTube, Facebook, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

Fall is here and that means its prime time to get out to the Montezuma Audubon Center in Savannah, Wayne County.

The center has an array of events coming up, including conservation/volunteer opportunities on September 27 and September 30, as well as a youth pheasant hunt with multiple spots still open (as of publishing). We caught up with Chris Lajewski, Director at the Montezuma Audubon Center, to talk all things outdoors. He broke down the fall migration, as well as some species like the Canada Goose and White Tail Deer whose populations have fallen out of synch across the region and state.

Check out our entire conversation with Lajewski below on YouTube, Facebook, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.