HIT: Voters in Cayuga 69´«Ã½ are turning out in large numbers to make their voices heard in the upcoming elections.
On the first day of early voting Saturday, 2,181 people visited the four local polling locations — the busiest of which was the new countywide one at Fingerlakes Mall, which had 907 voters.
Clifford Park, which has hosted early voting since it began in 2019, had 621 voters. The Cato Municipal Building hosted 352 voters, while Moravia Town Hall had 301.
The opening day turnout beat the previous record of 1,028 set in 2020, which was also a presidential election year. The county reported 599 early voters on opening day in 2022, a midterm election year.
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In 2019, the first year of early voting, there were 274 voters on opening day. But that was a local election year, when turnout is usually lower compared to midterm and presidential elections.
The early voting period concludes Sunday, Nov. 3, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
MISS: The Cayuga 69´«Ã½ Sheriff's Office and an 69´«Ã½ real estate agent are urging community members to be wary of local property scams.Â
The sheriff's office recently reported that the area is seeing real estate and rental property scams, which were explained by Matt Chalanick, owner of the Real Estate Agency in 69´«Ã½.
When realtors list vacant homes, the sheriff's office said, pictures of them are sometimes stolen and used in advertisements online. The scammers will claim they can only communicate through email due to being deaf or too busy to answer the phone. The ad will say prospective renters can walk around the property and look through the windows, but cannot go inside.Â
If a renter is interested, the sheriff's office said, they are asked to send the scammer a deposit, normally one month of rent money or that plus a security deposit.Â
"In some cases even a lease is signed. The renter then thinks they have rented the property and it has even gotten as far as the tenant trying to occupy the property," the sheriff's office said.
Ariana Paz, 9, sits with her pumpkin that won an award for the biggest in Cayuga 69´«Ã½ on Saturday at the Ward W. O'Hara Agricultural & Country Living Museum.
HIT: If you see a really big pumpkin while out trick-or-treating in Union Springs on Thursday, it just might be a prize winner.
Ariana Paz, 9, won a contest organized by Cayuga 69´«Ã½ 4-H after growing a pumpkin this season that weighed in at 88.6 pounds, and she plans to have it outside her home on Halloween.
She planted the Big Moose variety of pumpkin on June 26 and said that she gave it plenty of water and used black plastic and straw to prevent weeds. She was helped by Morgan's Half Acre Produce in Aurelius, where her grandmother works, and her sister Tina.
