TompkinsWeekly for the week of June 22nd

Download the newspaper in Acrobat Format Here Fracking Report Re-examined Two weeks ago, on June 4, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Draft Assessment on the Potential Impacts to Drinking Water Resources from Hydraulic Fracturing Activities. This report, drawn from five years of investigation, identifies several potentially serious threats to drinking water supplies. You can read the complete study at www2.epa.gov/hfstudy. Full Story »   Town Targets Global Warming A Resolution on Global Warming is under consideration by the Town Board of Caroline, introduced at the June 10 town board meeting by board member Mark Witmer. It provides documentary evidence of global warming, and cites the negative effects of climate change, as well as the benefits of renewable energy. Full Story »   Alternatives Library to hold birthday bash page 2 The Durland Alternatives Library will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Wenesday, July 1, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Anabel Taylor Hall on the Cornell campus. The event is free and open to the public, and will include food, live music, presentations and activities for kids. Full Story »   Flood cleanup is a massive effort page 3 It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment the big mess at the North Spencer Baptist Bible Church and Christian Academy began. It was a problem shared by residents along Hulbert Hollow Creek after a late Sunday afternoon deluge of Biblical proportion on June 14 turned the often low-running stream into a roiling brown mass of troubled water that slammed into the Route 34/96 bridge. That bridge is adjacent to the church and a road so named for the Susquehanna tributary that begins in Newfield and empties into Spencer Lake in Tioga County. Full Story »   Legislature delays decision on old library page 5 The Tompkins County Legislature could not reach a decision on selecting the preferred developer for the county’s Old Library site during its June 16 meeting. Full Story »   Dino stars return in “Jurassic World” page 8 We forget that Jurassic Park didn’t begin with Spielberg, but Michael Crichton (“ER”), who first made theme parks a horror thriller with 1973’s “Westworld,” then wrote a little story about a dinosaur park. Full Story »   Many voices heard through thin walls page 9 A lifelong New Yorker who smokes like a forest fire and casually laces her conversation with racial and homophobic epithets. An easygoing 16-year-old boy who wants a babysitting job but wonders whether the parents might consider changing the baby’s diaper before they leave? A domestic violence survivor who is in hiding from her crack-addict husband. A spunky Israeli cellist whose zest for life leads her to discover her boyfriend’s pornography collection. Full Story »   Shared services is a local success story page 10 This year, New York State required local governments and schools to present a plan to show how they will save over 1 percent of their tax levies through mergers, consolidations, shared services and efficiencies that have been initiated since 2012. Full Story »