TompkinsWeekly: October 2015

Sunday, October 25, 2015

TompkinsWeekly for the week of October 26th

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County Mulls Drone Law
The rise of new technologies is often followed by unforeseen legal questions, prompting legislators to create laws that address the new issues. With the cost of a personal unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones, now below $300, more people are buying them and flying them, which raises privacy and safety concerns regarding their use.

Budget Amendments Adopted
The Tompkins County Legislature has formally adopted amendments to the County Administrator’s 2015 Recommended Budget and the Capital Program for the next five years, as recommended by the Expanded Budget Committee. There were no changes to the package recommended by the Expanded Budget Committee before the legislature’s vote.

A celebration of insects at Cornell page 2
Cornell University’s Entomology Department opened the doors of Comstock Hall on Saturday, Oct, 17, and invited the neighbors in. More than 1,500 people visited the student- organized insect fair dubbed Insectapalooza. This year was the 12th anniversary, celebrating the “Bizarre, Bad, and Beneficial” denizens of the bug world with an arthropod zoo, origami, face-painting and an entire room set aside for the Battle of the Bugs.

Council seats on the ballot in Caroline page 3
Town of Caroline voters will elect two town council members in November, with four candidates vying for the four-year seats on the ballot. And a changing of the guard will take place in the town next year when Don Barber steps down after 22 years as supervisor, to be replaced by Mark Whitmer, who is running unopposed for the leadership post.

Wine and spirits producers get a boost from New York State page 5
“The whole winery is bubbling away,” says Maren Hosmer, owner of Hosmer Winery, referring to the fermentation of red wines on site in Ovid, north of Ithaca on State Route 89. On sunny weekends like those this fall, the tasting room has been full of folks enjoying Riesling, Cabernet Franc and many other varieties.

Carbon offset effort benefits area residents page 8
Anybody who is concerned about climate change hits a very slippery slope early on in the thought process, namely: Isn’t it at least a little hypocritical to rail against fossil energy exploration when it is highly likely you drive a gas-guzzling car and/or heat your house with fossil fuels? What about taking airplane trips to visit friends and family or to pursue your business? How does this behavior jibe with a sincere attempt to support green energy alternatives and slow down climate disruption?

Radical vision is documented in film on Black Panthers page 9
There’s a clip of “Soul Train” early in “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” (playing at Cinemapolis) which lightly but succinctly makes the point that the Panthers were at the center of the zeitgeist in the radical Sixties.

Pets have adverse ecological impacts page 10
The book “Time to Eat the Dog? The Real Guide to Sustainable Living” by Brenda and Robert Vale reports on ecological effects of owning pets. Owning an average sized dog uses the yearly energy equivalent in dog food and other aspects of dog care of twice that of an average SUV driving 6,000 miles per year. A cat’s carbon footprint is around that of a compact car.

Artists will go the distance in CSMA Marathon event page 11
For two weeks of creative exchange in November, the gamut of community artists, arts patrons and enthusiasts will devote or “get back to” their artistic callings on behalf of the Community School of Music and Arts and its charitable mission: to keep local arts education accessible to anyone and everyone.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

TompkinsWeekly for the week of October 19th

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2 Legislature Seats on Ballot
Rich T. John, 56, is running as a write-in candidate against Elie Kirshner, 19, to represent the 4th District on the Tompkins County Legislature. An Ithaca resident for 50 years, John has lived in the legislature’s district for 18 years.

Black Lives Matter Event Planned
Racial tensions in the U.S. have escalated over time following a number of tragic events involving police and citizens, such as the shootings of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray and Tamir Rice, as well as the church shooting in Charleston, S.C. In response to these events, and the systemic problems that contributed to them, communities have responded by organizing Black Lives Matter (BLM) events. The first major BLM event in Ithaca will be held on Saturday.

Impacts of wind farms on bird populations are scrutinize page 2
Bill Evans studies nighttime migration calls of birds. He’s also one of the local experts who have studied the impacts of wind turbines on bird populations. Evans visited the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on Oct. 12 to share his perspective on avian impacts of wind energy in our region.

Dryden voters face supervisor and town board races page 3
After 8 years as Dryden Town Supervisor Mary- Ann Sumner has chosen not to seek re-election. This vacancy will be contested as current Deputy Supervisor Jason Leifer, a Democrat, faces Dryden Independence challenger Craig Schutt.

Local musicians provide film score page 5
Jay Craven’s new seaside film drama “Peter and John,” starring 2014 Golden Globe winner Jacqueline Bisset, will play in a special screening at 6:30 p.m., on Thursday, Oct. 22, at Cinemapolis. Director Craven will introduce the film and lead a post-screening Q & A that will include Craven’s longtime music collaborators Judy Hyman and Jeff Claus of the local band the Horse Flies.

Film series bring the world to Ithaca page 8
Most weeks, this column takes on one film. But we are lucky in Ithaca to have more than the latest Hollywood and independent features on hand. We also have many film series, principally at Cornell Cinema, but also sponsored by community groups at Cinemapolis, while Ithaca College brings us the Out of the Closet and Onto the Screen Film Series sponsored by their Center for LGBT Education, Outreach & Services.

‘Mountaintop’ exposes the real Dr. King page 9
I’m willing to wager that any American could identify a picture of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On classroom posters, stamps, Tshirts, Internet memes, television specials, films, and art: his face is one of the most ubiquitous and beloved in recent U.S. history. But the image of MLK that Memphisborn playwright Katori Hall serves up in “The Mountaintop” is anything but commonplace.

City adds new bicycle infrastructure page 10
In the past year, the City of Ithaca invested in three significant bike infrastructure projects: the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, new bike lanes and a bicycle boulevard across Ithaca. With six miles of new non-motorized trail, three miles of newly traffic-calmed streets and nearly one mile of new bike lanes, Ithaca is moving toward sustainability and livable, inclusive neighborhoods as prioritized in the city’s Comprehensive Plan and the county’s Long Range Transportation Plan.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

TompkinsWeekly for the week of October 12th

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Plastics Pollution Targeted
Later this month, the Tompkins County legislature could take up legislation to locally ban the sale of products containing microbeads—tiny plastic beads used as abrasives in personal care products such as toothpaste, scrubs and exfoliating soaps. The Planning, Energy and Environmental Quality Committee is expected to consider a bill as early as Oct. 21, says committee chair Dooley Kiefer.

Input Received on County Budget
The Tompkins County Legislature held its annual Community Budget Forum on Oct. 7, inviting residents to learn about and comment on the county’s recommended 2016 budget currently under review by the legislature.

Inmate re-entry program examined in report page 2
The Re-entry Subcommittee charged with developing recommendations regarding a a program to transition jail inmates out of the Tompkins County Jail and back into the community last week presented its report and recommendation to the Tompkins County Legislature.

More fresh foods offered in local schools page 3
Wood’s Earth Living Classroom, a project of the Center for Transformative Action, has added the 368 Pre-K through fifth-grade students in Belle Sherman Elementary School to the list of those receiving fresh classroom snacks through the Fresh Snack Program (FSP). This marks the third school in the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) to join the program, which include Enfield Elementary School and Beverly J. Martin (BJM) Elementary School.

Photojournalist documents the impacts of climate change page 5
You might not know the name Gary Braasch, but you’ve seen his awardwinning photographs in Time, LIFE, Discover, Smithsonian, National Geographic and, at the beginning of this year, on the cover of the New York Times Magazine. For the past 15 years or so, Braasch has been documenting the effects of what he calls “rapid climate change”.

State shows an interest in hemp crop page 8
New York’s first legal hemp seeds are closer to being sown next spring by universities and local farmers after revised regulations were issued by the State Department of Agriculture and Markets last week. Research of industrial hemp by states was permitted as part of the 2014 US Farm Bill; legislation creating New York’s pilot program was sponsored by Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and State Sen. Tom O’Mara.

The science of survival in a hostile world page 9
About 20 years ago, the late Carl Sagan, during a Bailey Hall speech to students at Cornell, likened some natural phenomenon to “coupled differential equations”. When the students hissed at this reference to their math homework, Sagan remarked, “Why all the hissing? One day differential equations will save your life.”

The pope, the planet and the poor page 10
The previous essay about Pope Francis’ June 2015 Encyclical, “Laudato Si’, mi’ Signore” (“Praise be to you, my Lord”) was published on Aug. 24. In that essay I summarized his views on environmental threats and especially global warming.

Cornell prison education program receives grant funding page 11
The Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP) plans to expand to provide classes and degree programs in four regional prisons, establish a consortium of regional colleges and universities participating in prison education, and create a model college-in-prison network in the region with support from a $1 million, three-year grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

TompkinsWeekly for the week of October 5th

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Refugees Find Helping Hands
The migration of refugees out of Syria and Iraq has highlighted the desperation of people fleeing war and persecution in those countries. Over the past four years, since the conflict in Syria began, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have absorbed most of those displaced, and almost 5 million refugees are anticipated to have applied for asylum in those countries by the end of this year.

Crime Concerns Aired in Groton
A Facebook movement to bring awareness to a continued local crime problem in Groton led to a recent village board meeting that was attended by about 190 residents. The crowd was so big that the meeting had to be moved to the Groton high school auditorium.

Budget talks include TCAT funding page 2
Tompkins County Legislators acting as an Expanded Budget Committee last wek heard the final scheduled presentations, as they completed their first phase of reviewing County Administrator Joe Mareane’s recommended 2016 County budget.

Finger Lakes wineries join forces in solar energy installations page 3
Three of the region’s most respected, multi-generational wineries, along with the nation’s oldest sacramental winery, are embracing the solar movement in the Finger Lakes.

Musician Crookston explores his creative influences page 5
When I showed up at Joe Crookston’s house for an interview, eerie violin noises were emanating from within. When his daughter Josie opened the door and I asked for her dad, she smiled and said, “Just follow the sound.” That seems to be the best way to track down Joe Crookston—just follow his sound.

Finding refuge from politics and religion page 8
Gentle and tough, unsentimental yet romantic, “Jimmy’s Hall” (currently at Cinemapolis) is an antiheroic movie about a heroic man and his beloved community.

Land Trust acquisition will add to Connecticut Hill site page 9
The Finger Lakes Land Trust has announced the acquisition of an 86-acre parcel of land adjacent to Connecticut Hill Wildlife Manage-ment Area in the town of Catharine, Schuyler County. Conn-ecticut Hill encompasses more than 11,500 acres of undeveloped land southwest of Ithaca and is the largest wildlife management area in the state of New York.

Dish truck proposed as alternative to compostables page 10
In Pope Francis’ recent Encyclical, “Laudato Si’ On Care for Our Common Home,” he recounts how each year hundreds of millions of tons of waste are generated. “The Earth, our home, is beginning to look like an immense pile of filth.” The following is a look at some of the issues surrounding one of the largest components of personal garbage and attempts to ameliorate, and a proposed solution.

Public space recycling proves popular page 11
The areas near the Tompkins County Public Library and the Lansing Community Library have a welcomed addition—public space recycling bins. Installed at the end of August, the bins feature receptacles for both trash and common single- stream recyclable items like cans, bottles and newspapers.

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