TompkinsWeekly for the week of August 31st

Download the newspaper in Acrobat Format Here Food Recycling Effort Grows Food scraps recycling is proving popular in Tompkins County, with the Solid Waste Division recently reaching the 2,500 mark in the number of recycling tool kits distributed to residents. Full Story »   ‘Savor’ Event Shares Local Bounty The Finger Lakes region is blessed with more than 100 independent breweries, wineries, cideries and distilleries, plus a vibrant variety of farms, artisanal food producers and restaurants. Yet not everyone can afford to take advantage of our region’s bounty, a situation that the Healthy Foods For All (HFFA) program hopes to remedy. Full Story »   IC gets grant for STEM student program page 2 A $600,000 grant from the New York State Department of Education will aid Ithaca College in its efforts to increase the number of students who have been traditionally underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and health-related fields. Full Story »   Museum’s Dino Lab adds new attraction page 3 Steggy, a life-sized stegosaurus presiding over the Museum of the Earth’s new Dino Lab, is not just a life-sized representation of a dinosaur that lived over 144 million years ago, he’s also a piece of history. Constructed from papier-mâché for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Steggy spent the next 107 years at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Full Story »   Local currency issues new notes page 5 The development of Ithacash as an alternative currency took another step forward as they unveiled the design of the $5 Ithaca Dollar (i$5) note at an Aug. 20 ceremony at Rev: Ithaca Startup Works on the Commons. Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick, Jennifer Tavares of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, Gary Ferguson of the Downtown Ithaca Alliance and numerous community members showed up to show their support. Full Story »   Yiddish Festival planned in Ithaca page 8 Yiddish theater grabs you by the kishkes (guts) and doesn’t let go. Now the tradition that inspired Broadway is coming to Ithaca, with all the humor, pathos and meaning of its long history. Full Story »   On the Road with David Foster Wallace page 9 What if someone filmed a seriousminded bromance? Which is just what James Ponsoldt’s “The End of the Tour” is, though not without abundant humor. Full Story »   Sustainable land use, past and present page 10 Understanding and using historical ecological knowledge to properly manage the landscape is one of the great tasks of landowners in our time. Over the past 50 to 100 years, forests around the region have been coming back, due largely to the widespread abandonment of farm fields. The inevitable restorative nature of the forest is a blessing to our generation, but one we must not take for granted. With rising fuel costs and an increasingly extractive culture, we have a danger of repeating the mistakes of the past, of turning an emerging legacy into devastation. Full Story »

TompkinsWeekly for the week of August 24th

Download the newspaper in Acrobat Format Here Day of Giving Has Broad Appeal Starting at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Tompkins County will hold its first “Giving Is Gorges” campaign, a 24- hour countywide day of giving. The online challenge celebrates local nonprofits and affirms the community’s culture of giving. More than 100 area nonprofits have signed up for the event. Full Story »   Lifton Petitions for Airport Rule Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D- 125th District) and several of her upstate Assembly colleagues have signed a letter urging the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to uphold the 1,500-mile perimeter rule at LaGuardia International Airport in Nerw York City. Full Story »   County legislature approves an agreement with union page 2 A new, three-year collective bargaining agreement between Tompkins County and its White Collar Unit (Civil Service Employees Association, Local 855), the county’s largest employees union, was approved by the Tompkins County Legislature on Aug. 18. Approval came without dissent, with Dan Klein abstaining since a family member is covered under the White Collar contract. Union membership ratified the tentative agreement July 30. Full Story »   Sheriff’s Office seeks more funding page 2 The Tompkins County Legislature’s Public Safety Committee is considering a request from the Tompkins County Sheriff ’s Office to appropriate more than $360,000 from the Contingent Fund to cover anticipated shortfalls in the 2015 budget related to overtime expense in the Road Patrol and Corrections divisions, and inmate boardout costs. Full Story »   Time to celebrate completion of the Commons project page 3 A two-day bash to celebrate the long-awaited completion of the Ithaca Commons construction project will be held Friday and Saturday, Aug. 28 and 29, with something for everyone in downtown Ithaca. Full Story »   Entrepreneurs create new recipe for fast food page 5 A new Ithaca-based company, MacroFuel, will launch a Kickstarter campaign on Monday, Aug. 24, to raise capital for production of its namesake product, a powdered meal alternative that claims to be different from those already on the market. Full Story »   New season begins for Cornell Cinema page 8 The colleges have started up; cars turning the wrong way on the oneway streets around the Commons, long lines at Wegmans, a lot more people everywhere. One silver lining to the end of a sultry summer is that Cornell Cinema has also started up for its fall screenings. Full Story »   The Pope’s plan for saving the planet page 9 “Laudato Si’, mi’ Signore”— “Praise be to you, my Lord”—so begins Pope Francis’ June 2015 encyclical on the environment. The Pope quotes from a famous canticle (chant or religious song of praise) composed in 1225 by Saint Francis of Assisi. Full Story »

TompkinsWeekly for the week of August 17th

Download the newspaper in Acrobat Format Here Village Targets Water Pollution The Village of Trumansburg broke ground for a new $6.2 million sewage treatment plant on Aug. 10, marking the start of a project that is the result of community environmental activism combined with responsive regulatory agencies and local government. Full Story »   Permaculture Efforts on Display Permaculture is loosely defined as “the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient,” a melding of both “permanent” and “culture”. Permaculture practices have strongly taken root in the Finger Lakes Region, and will be on full display this weekend. Full Story »   Challege Workforce has a new director page 2 After a careful and thorough search, Challenge Workforce Solutions’ Board of Directors has announced that Joe Sammons will join the agency as its new executive director. Full Story »   Waterfront trail is finally completed page 3 The entire length of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail is finally open, after 15 years and $4.75 million, not counting private donations toward trail amenities such as benches and signs. Full Story »   Cornell’s POST program marks 20 years of community service page 5 This year marks the 20th anniversary of Cornell’s Pre-Orientation Service Trips (POST), a Public Service Center program that provides the opportunity for incoming students to get a head start on their Cornell careers through volunteering in the local community. Full Story »   Kitchen Theatre reveals new season page 8 Kitchen Theatre Company’s 2015-16 season begins next month. This is the 25th anniversary season and the sixth in the renovated, LEEDcertified theater at 417 W. State/MLK, Jr. St. in downtown Ithaca. Full Story »   Survival in the city page 9 Explosions of color, bright, saturated, deep, as in a few swift, lovely scenes we are introduced to Jude’s life in rural Vermont. In voiceover he brings us back to two key nights in his youth: both marked by his best friend Teddy and Teddy’s absence. Full Story »

TompkinsWeekly for the week of August 10th

Download the newspaper in Acrobat Format Here Energy Program a Smart Idea A new countywide program to offer geothermal and airsource heat pumps, as well as energy-saving home improvements is now moving forward. HeatSmart Tompkins is a program of the non-profit Solar Tompkins, which recently hired program director Matt Johnston. Full Story »   Old Library Site Developer Chosen The Tompkins County Legislature overcame its deadlock at two previous meetings and on Aug. 4 approved the Travis Hyde Group as preferred developer of the County’s Old Library site, located at the corner of Ithaca’s Cayuga and Court Streets. Travis Hyde proposes 60 senior-focused market- rate rental apartments, with professional office space and space for the senior services organization Lifelong. Full Story »   New street parking system is rolled out by the City of Ithaca page 2 Frank Nagy offers these words of advice for those using the new, high-tech parking meter system in effect on city streets: Know your license plate number. “Most people don’t know their license plate numbers off the tops of their heads, but that’s the key with this system,” Nagy, Director of Parking for the City of Ithaca, says. Full Story »   Therapist pushes for healthy relationships class at IHS page 3 A recent study by Teachers College at Columbia University found that for every dollar schools spend on students’ emotional intelligence, there is an average of $11 worth of benefits to society. Work at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence has shown that children of all ages can be taught these skills, and “there are real benefits, such as more effective leadership skills, stronger friendships and connections to teachers, better conflict management skills, and greater academic achievement than children who do not receive the training.” Full Story »   Dairy Princess embraces her role as an industry advocate page 5 Elizabeth Drake, Tompkins County Dairy Princess, is one of 35 county dairy princesses involved in the New York State Dairy Princess and Promotion Program. She is the 16- year-old daughter of Doyle and Judy Drake of Lansing. Full Story »   Wine symposium puts the spotlight on Finger Lakes region page 8 New York was selected as the world’s top wine region of 2015 by Wine Enthusiast magazine, and its wines are increasingly being recognized for their excellence. Full Story »   Family ties are tested in new film page 9 So, yes, Dad is a bit crazy, and not used to routines, but Mom has to go off to grad school at Columbia, so you get to stay with him for the next 18 months. Full Story »   Food Hubs take surplus garden produce page 10 If you have a backyard garden or share in a CSA, you’ve probably grown more fresh produce than you can use and have ended up throwing some of it away. What if there was a place nearby where you could take your surplus fresh fruits and veggies that would then redirect it to community members in need who can’t afford to buy it? Full Story »

TompkinsWeekly for the week of August 3rd

Download the newspaper in Acrobat Format Here New Commons Finally Arrives Gone are the dust and debris, the detours and the noise. The finishing touches— finally—are being applied to the rebuilt Ithaca Commons. Completion of the $15 million project was overdue and over budget, but a stroll down Ithaca’s landmark pedestrian mall reveals that downtown is now a more inviting place. Full Story »   Sumner to Step Down in Dryden Mary Ann Sumner has been the Dryden Town Supervisor for eight years and a member of the town board for an additional two years. She and the board have achieved many accomplishments in her time as town supervisor, but probably the biggest being the landmark fracking ban that the town passed. Their decision to pass such a ban has had lasting implications on New York State as a whole as the fracking ban has already been upheld in several court cases. Full Story »   Ithaca mayor sends a message on funding for affordable housing page 2 Ithaca Mayor Svante L. Myrick hand-delivered a letter to U.S. Rep, Thomas Reeds Washington, D.C. office last month opposing the virtual elimination of the HOME program, the primary federal program for building affordable housing. Full Story »   New initiative aims to bring solar power to the masses page 3 ßA report this spring from the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency (NYSERDA) counted 635 solar-power energy systems in Tompkins County producing some 69 kilowatts of power per 1,000 county residents, the thirdhighest of all New York counties. As solar continues to grow, a new initiative from Renovus Solar may well push Tompkins County to number one. Full Story »   Film based on local author’s novel to debut in Ithaca page 5 The film adaptation of “Ten Thousand Saints,” the critically acclaimed debut novel by Ithaca College associate professor of writing Eleanor Henderson, will open in selected cities on Friday, Aug. 14, and in wider release the following week. Full Story »   Documenting a singer’s fall from grace page 8 Is Schadenfreude, as the Germans say, enjoying other’s misery? In our 24/7 reality TV mindscape, addiction is just another episode and we expect the good to die young. And rehab stays come and go like vacations for the rich and famous. Full Story »   At the Hangar, love American style page 9 It’s July 4th, 1944, in small-town Missouri. The Great Depression and, subsequently, World War II have left the community reeling. The town of Lebanon, like many others across the nation, is coming to grips with the suffering and loss of the previous decade. But one man, Matt Friedman, sets out with a heart full of hope to prove that, even in the most tumultuous and unlikely circumstances, love may still bloom. Full Story »   Students take their cues from entrepreneurs page 10 What if every high school introductory business course began with a lesson about sustainability? At New Roots Charter School, it does. Full Story »