TompkinsWeekly for the week of March 16th

Download the newspaper in Acrobat Format Here Fracking Impacts Still in Play Three months ago, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a ban on highvolume hydraulic fracturing in the state of New York. While contamination from active drilling is off the table, at least for now, there are other ways that hydrofracking puts local water resources at risk. Full Story »   Forum to Focus on Education A local community forum, “Because We Care,” will be held at Lansing Middle School on Thursday, March 19, at 6:30 p.m. Several local legislators are expected to attend, including Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D/WF-125th District) and Rep. Tom Reed’s (R-23rd District) representative, Joseph Sempolinski. Attendees from the Ithaca, Lansing, Dryden, Groton and TST BOCES school districts have already volunteered to speak on the effects of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget on education. Full Story » Police and community members work to improve communications page 2 While the turmoil Ferguson, Mo., may seem like a problem that doesn’t exist in Tompkins County, issues of racism, distrust and division were topics of discussion last week among community members and Ithaca Police Department officers. Full Story »   Town’s plans to protect source water includes a survey page 3 There’s a lot of popular slogans, but one that rings true regardless of your political leanings is that “Water if Life.” The human body is more than 60 percent water. Seventy percent of the Earth is covered with water, yet only 2.5% percent of that is fresh water—and that 2.5 percent is getting scarcer and harder to distribute equally. Full Story »   New bowling alley has an old-school atmosphere page 5 Atlas Bowl, located on Main Street in Trumansburg, is more than just a bowling alley, according to coowner Todd Parlato. It’s first and foremost a restaurant and bar. But since the closest bowling alleys, according to Google Maps, are in Ithaca and Watkins Glen, the vintage lanes at Atlas Bowl should be a unique draw among area bowlers. Full Story »   CSMA exhibit features local sculptors page 8 The Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) announces the opening of Inherent Structure, a new show of large and small-scale works by contemporary sculptors Ann Reichlin and Chris Oliver. The exhibition will run through April 24. Full Story »   Writer’s latest novel is getting transfered to film page 9 Last year Cara Hoffmann, an expat Ithacan, learned that her latest novel “Be Safe I Love You” was on the filmmaking market. In January, the 2015 Sundance Institute’s Global Filmmaking Awards presented grants to five emerging filmmakers. One of the winning directors was Haifaa Al Mansour of Saudi Arabia for her “Be Safe I Love You” film project. Full Story »