TompkinsWeekly for the week of May 11th

Download the newspaper in Acrobat Format Here City Parcel Eyed for Park Land Taxes on a single family home and adjacent property that abut Fall Creek across from the Ithaca Falls Recreation Area have not been paid for over two years, for which the property could go to auction should the City of Ithaca decide to sell it. Seeing this situation as a rare opportunity to expand the city’s park lands, the Natural Areas Commission (NAC) is encouraging the city to consider its options. Full Story »   Voters to Decide ICSD Budget A $115 million spending plan is on the ballot for voters in the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) who will go to the polls on Tuesday, May 18 from noon to 9 p.m. The 2015-16 school budget represents a 1 percent increase from this year’s total, with a tax levy increase of 2.99 percent. Full Story »   Seneca Lake protesters’ case dismissals now in doubt page 2 Protesters charged with trespass and disorderly conduct for participating in a civil disobedience blockade to stop Houston-based Crestwood Midstream Partners’ planned methane expansion storage facility under Seneca Lake thought their cases would be dismissed on April 30, based on a settlement their lawyers had reached with prosecutors. Full Story »   Technology plays pivotal role with KDT page 3 Kids Discover the Trail! Ithaca (KDT) is a unique program that brings all pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade children in the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) on educational field trips to one of the eight Discovery Trail sites each school year. Teachers regularly use technology tools to extend KDT’s place-based learning in powerful ways. Full Story »   Financial goal set by county legislature page 5 As the first step in the process of developing the 2016 Tompkins County budget, the county legislature on May 5 approved a financial goal that directs the County Administrator Joe Mareane to prepare a recommended operating and capital budget that can be supported with a tax levy increase of 1.3 percent. Full Story »   Delving into love/hate relationships page 8 “Swimming in the Shallows” by Adam Bock, directed by Rachel Lampert, Kitchen Theatre, through May 17; 272-0403, www.kitchentheatre. org. “Swimming in the Shallows” opens with two women, Barb (Karina Arroyave) and Carla Carla (Lesley Gurule), discussing the value of material possessions. Barb has recently discovered that Buddhist monks only keep eight things in their lives, and it’s clearly a struggle for her to envision how one could live so simply. Nevertheless, the idea of having fewer material possessions holds a strong appeal for her. Full Story »   Festival connects readers with writers page 9 The sixth annual Spring Writes Literary Arts Festival closed on an appropriate note, with readings held in the swanky Argos Inn’s outdoor porch. Tall windows were in an upright and locked position to muffle East Hill traffic and to keep any “birds thou never wert” from taking wing. Full Story »   Signs of Sustainability poll award winners are announced page 10 According to a recent poll, Ithaca’s most popular “power couple”— renewable power, that is—is Melissa Kemp and Brice Smith. Full Story »