State parks dept. to hold meeting

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is seeking the public's input regarding issues, opportunities, and needs associated with historic preservation activities across the state.

It has scheduled several public meetings to gather ideas for its five-year statewide historic preservation plan.

A meeting will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Dec. 10, in the Common Council Chamber, City Hall, 108 E. Green Street, Ithaca.

For more information about the planning initiative and the regional meetings, or to RSVP, contact Amy Facca at the Historic Preservation Field Services Bureau at (518) 237-8643, ext. 3109 or visit the state parks Web site at www.nysparks.com/shpo/planning.

Cornell Coop says use new light bulbs

The Cayuga County Cornell Cooperative Extension is encouraging people to commit to being more energy efficient by switching just one light in their homes to an Energy Star qualified one.

If every New York household replaced one incandescent bulb with a qualified compact fluorescent bulb, New Yorkers could cut out more than 562 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year, according to Christina Selvek of the Cornell Cooperative Extension.

And by replacing just one 75 watt incandescent bulb with a CFL that generates the same amount of light, a household could reduce electricity costs by more than $20 per year.

Statewide, changing just one bulb in each home would save a combined 365 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year or $56 million savings in electricity costs

For more information, contact Christina J. Selvek at 255-1183 ext. 230 or cjs268@cornell.edu.

- From staff reports