TompkinsWeekly for the week of October 5th

Download the newspaper in Acrobat Format Here 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. Full Story »   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. Full Story »   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. Full Story »   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. Full Story »   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. Full Story »   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. Full Story »   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. Full Story »   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. Full Story »   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. Full Story »