TompkinsWeekly for the week of June 15th

Download the newspaper in Acrobat Format Here Old Library Site Plan Gets Nod A proposal to redevelop the Old Library site on Cayuga Street in Ithaca presented by Travis Hye Properties will be sent to the Tompkins County Legislature following a recommendation by the legislature’s Old Library Committee. Full Story »   Scaling Down with Wind Power Art Weaver is a man with a mission. As founder and president of Ithacabased Weaver Wind Energy, he is determined to design “the world’s most reliable wind turbines,” and hopes to release that design to the worldwide wind power market in coming years. Full Story »   Community Foundation announces grants page 2 The Community Foundation of Tompkins County has announced 17 grants totaling $52,600 of 2015 Helen Thomas Howland Foundation awards. Community Foundation donor advised and field of interest funds awarded 22 more grants of an additional $81,980 from the resources of the Community Foundation. Full Story »   Hikeapalooza is a Land Trust celebration page 2 The Finger Lakes Land Trust will hold an outdoor event in every county of the Finger Lakes on Saturday, June 20 to celebrate successful land and water conservation efforts across the region. All HIKEapalooza events are free and open to the public. Full Story »   Sciencenter looks to the future page 3 Last Thursday the Sciencenter in Ithaca broke ground for the Curiosity Playground, a new science playground for kids ages five and under, while launching a $3.8 million fundraising campaign called “Curious. Confident. Inspired— a reimagination of exhibits and programs.” The wave of reimagination will wash through every part of the Sciencenter, replacing, enhancing, or expanding everything in its path, from the building itself to the exhibits and programming. Full Story »   A decade of discovery for local kids page 5 Monthly articles about Kids Discover the Trail! (KDT) Ithaca have been published by Tompkins Weekly commemorating the 10th anniversary of this unique program for Ithaca City School District (ICSD) elementary school students. Different individuals have researched and written the feature stories covering the many facets of KDT. With this 10th edition, the year-long celebration of the “Decade of Discovery” will be summarized with an eye to the future. Full Story »   Vigilance is vital in battling hydrilla page 8 Hydrilla patches continue to burden the southeast corner of Cayuga Lake. Is all lost? We don’t think so. Isolated patches in the southeast corner of Cayuga Lake pose the greatest threat for hydrilla spread. Considered one of the world’s worst aquatic invasive species, hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) is capable of spreading rapidly through plant fragmentation, vegetative buds and subterranean tubers (seedbank). Viable stem and leaf fragments can be transported via boats, trailers, and recreational equipment. Hydrilla tubers can remain dormant in the sediment for years at a time, only to give rise to new populations in the future. Full Story »   Portrait of an artist as a troubled man page 9 What makes the Brian Wilson biopic “Love and Mercy” (currently at Cinemapolis) so magnificently right is that it abandons the whole bio-pic formula. Full Story »