Thanksgiving thefts target unlocked vehicles

A wave of car break-ins hit Lansing and parts of Groton over the Thanksgiving holiday, with four reports coming to the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office and five reports to the New York State Police.

“That was just Thanksgiving Day that there were four reported,” said Lt. Kyle Koskinen, department supervisor of the Tompkins County Criminal Investigations Division.

He said there could have been more thefts that were unreported or even unnoticed.

The thieves slip inside the vehicles and quickly go through center consoles and gloveboxes looking for items of value — most commonly, loose change.

Koskinen noted that these sorts of thefts are “crimes of opportunity.”

“It’s a sporadic problem,” he said. “They go through a neighborhood looking for easy targets — unlocked vehicles. They leave locked vehicles alone.”

In Lansing, the reports were on Buck and Brickyard roads. In Groton, state troopers took five reports of thefts — on Old Stage Road, Pleasant Valley Road (which becomes Buck Road in Lansing), Cobb Street (two reports) and near the Locke town line, according to Trooper Aga Dembinska, public information officer for Troop C headquartered in Sydney, New York.

Dembinska said that troopers fanned out through the neighborhoods, knocking on doors to see if other thefts had been noticed.

“I was on patrol for six years, and it seemed like we had these reports once every month,” she said. “Right now, a lot of people are desperate.”

Both officers emphasized that locking cars is better than leaving them unlocked, hoping that thieves will not damage the cars if able to open them easily.

Veaner to step down, sell Lansing Star

The Dec. 18 issue of The Lansing Star newspaper will be the last issue published by longtime editor and owner Dan Veaner, who plans to sell the online paper after more than 15 years at its helm.

“I planned to retire at a certain age, a reasonable age in the grand scheme of things. I am five years past that goal,” Veaner posted on the paper’s homepage. “I can’t say definitively that the last issue of the Star will be on Dec. 18, but I can say that it will be my own last issue.”

Lansing, county asks for input

The town of Lansing has circulated a survey for the Parks, Recreation and Trails Master Plan, asking residents to weigh in on community needs and issues by Dec. 18.

The Lansing park system includes Myers Park, Ludlowville Park, Town Ball Fields, Town Barn Fields, Salt Point and the Lansing Town Center Trail. The results will provide a baseline of information for determining needs, desires and planning for future improvements to facilities and programs.

A Request for Proposals for the master plan was approved by the Town Board on May 20. The survey is available online at https://www.research.net/r/LansingParks.

Meanwhile, Tompkins County is seeking input on a mitigation plan that addresses hazards that impact Lansing.
Hazard mitigation is any action taken to reduce the loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters. These disasters include floods, severe storms, extreme temperatures and others.

This survey is designed to gather information from around Tompkins County to help us better coordinate activities and reduce the risk of injury or property damage. The survey is available online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TompkinsHMP2020.