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 »