TompkinsWeekly

Sunday, June 28, 2015

TompkinsWeekly for the week of June 29th

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County Tackles Emergency Prep
The flooding in Newfield and Danby on June 14, which stranded people in their homes, made streets impassible and damaged bridges, roads and dwellings, demonstrated the need for swift and effective emergency response. The Tompkins County Department of Emergency Response maintains a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan to coordinate the many agencies that may become involved in an emergency. Each municipality in Tompkins County also has its own local plan. This, the first in a two part series on emergency preparedness, examines coordination at the county level when disaster strikes.

Youth Bureau Launches Ithaca Bike Rental
Thanks to a grant from the Tompkins County Tourism Program (TCTP), Ithaca Bike Rental (IBR) is now making bikes available just steps from the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and Stewart Park. IBR is a program of the Ithaca Youth Bureau (IYB), and will employee local youth throughout the summer to run the program while learning about bike repair and entrepreneurship.

Design for Varna- Freeville Trail page 2
The Dryden Town Board, Conservation Board, and several other community groups have expressed interest in getting a design put together for a trail that would run from Varna to Freeville. The group Design Connect Cornell has put together a concept plan for such a trail.

Congressman Reed pushes for trade, market pressure page 3
Congressman Tom Reed, RCorning, made an appearance last Saturday morning at the Ithaca Town Hall, one of three stops he was making through the Fingerlakes region.

Living Wage Study page 4
The first Living Wage study was conducted in 1994 in order to determine how much Alternatives should pay its employees as a starting salary. The credit union engaged an intern from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University to work with then Assistant Manager Leni Hochman to conduct the study. (Alternatives has partnered with student interns from the ILR School for each subsequent Living Wage study.) Initially intended for internal use, the credit union’s board of directors decided that the information was valuable and released the study to the community. Alternatives has continued to update the Living Wage study every two years.

hotpotatopress.org serves up food news and networking page 5
I’m so pleased to introduce a new community resource: Hot Potato Press, the online food news and networking site for Ithaca and Tompkins County. Everyone can access it at www.hotpotatopress.org.

“When Marnie Was There” page 9
The sad news is that When Marnie Was There may be the last ever Studio Ghibli offering, as the studio reorganizes after the retirements of Miyazaki and Takahata; at the very least it will be a much more streamlined operation.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

TompkinsWeekly for the week of June 22nd

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

TompkinsWeekly for the week of June 15th

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Old Library Site Plan Gets Nod
A proposal to redevelop the Old Library site on Cayuga Street in Ithaca presented by Travis Hye Properties will be sent to the Tompkins County Legislature following a recommendation by the legislature’s Old Library Committee.

Scaling Down with Wind Power
Art Weaver is a man with a mission. As founder and president of Ithacabased Weaver Wind Energy, he is determined to design “the world’s most reliable wind turbines,” and hopes to release that design to the worldwide wind power market in coming years.

Community Foundation announces grants page 2
The Community Foundation of Tompkins County has announced 17 grants totaling $52,600 of 2015 Helen Thomas Howland Foundation awards. Community Foundation donor advised and field of interest funds awarded 22 more grants of an additional $81,980 from the resources of the Community Foundation.

Hikeapalooza is a Land Trust celebration page 2
The Finger Lakes Land Trust will hold an outdoor event in every county of the Finger Lakes on Saturday, June 20 to celebrate successful land and water conservation efforts across the region. All HIKEapalooza events are free and open to the public.

Sciencenter looks to the future page 3
Last Thursday the Sciencenter in Ithaca broke ground for the Curiosity Playground, a new science playground for kids ages five and under, while launching a $3.8 million fundraising campaign called “Curious. Confident. Inspired— a reimagination of exhibits and programs.” The wave of reimagination will wash through every part of the Sciencenter, replacing, enhancing, or expanding everything in its path, from the building itself to the exhibits and programming.

A decade of discovery for local kids page 5
Monthly articles about Kids Discover the Trail! (KDT) Ithaca have been published by Tompkins Weekly commemorating the 10th anniversary of this unique program for Ithaca City School District (ICSD) elementary school students. Different individuals have researched and written the feature stories covering the many facets of KDT. With this 10th edition, the year-long celebration of the “Decade of Discovery” will be summarized with an eye to the future.

Vigilance is vital in battling hydrilla page 8
Hydrilla patches continue to burden the southeast corner of Cayuga Lake. Is all lost? We don’t think so. Isolated patches in the southeast corner of Cayuga Lake pose the greatest threat for hydrilla spread. Considered one of the world’s worst aquatic invasive species, hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) is capable of spreading rapidly through plant fragmentation, vegetative buds and subterranean tubers (seedbank). Viable stem and leaf fragments can be transported via boats, trailers, and recreational equipment. Hydrilla tubers can remain dormant in the sediment for years at a time, only to give rise to new populations in the future.

Portrait of an artist as a troubled man page 9
What makes the Brian Wilson biopic “Love and Mercy” (currently at Cinemapolis) so magnificently right is that it abandons the whole bio-pic formula.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

TompkinsWeekly for the week of June 8th

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Home Energy Ratings Planned
Many people improve the energy performance of their homes to save money, or out of concern for the environment, but this investment is not always easy to recoup when it comes time to resell a home. An initiative being developed by five Tompkins County municipalities will hopefully make it easier in the future.

Decision Near on Old Library Site
The special Tompkins County Legislative committee charged with recommending a preferred developer for the Old Tompkins County Library site last week began a careful analysis of the three proposals before it to redevelop the site, but decided to wait a few more days before a scheduled decision.

It’s time for pollinator appreciation page 2
Last month the Obama Administration released a plan aimed at reversing the declining populations of honeybees and monarch butterflies. The Pollinator Health Strategy calls on everyone, from federal agencies to children, to do what they can to save bees—insects that, according to scientists, contribute more than $15 billion to the national economy.

Celtic Festival is coming to Stewart Park page 3
Bagpipe competitions, sheep sheering, Irish step dancing and a flaming caber toss are coming to Stewart Park on Saturday, June 13. The eighth annual Celtic Festival promises to showcase those and a variety of musical performances, demonstrations and games that celebrate Celtic culture and tradition.

Conservation easement announced page 5
The Finger Lakes Land Trust has accepted a donation of a conservation easement on 116 acres of fields and woodlands bordering Finger Lakes National Forest. The conserved land is located in the heart of the Finger Lakes Region, just outside of Watkins Glen in the Town of Hector, Schuyler County.

Sharing surplus produce with food hubs page 8
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?

Science fiction, then and now page 9
Brad Bird, the genius behind three glorious Pixar animations (“The Iron Giant,” “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille”) serves up a liveaction phantasmagoria in “Tomorrowland,” the latest Disney attraction to become a movie (move over “Pirates of the Caribbean”), now at Regal Cinemas.

Sunday, May 31, 2015

TompkinsWeekly for the week of June 1st

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Alternative Zoning Examined
A dialogue designed to support alternative land use regulations proposed by local governments will be offered by the Form Ithaca zoning reform initiative, which will bring to Ithaca this week leading urban designers, traffic engineers and development experts to collaborate with citizens, officials, local planners and design professionals in a four-day intensive work session exploring how to implement forward-thinking planning ideas of the City and Town of Ithaca.

Promoting Israeli-Palestinian Peace
In an effort to promote nonviolent social change, Ali Abu Awwad, a leading Palestinian activist, and Hanan Schlesinger, an Israeli Orthodox rabbi, have launched a joint grassroots initiative named Roots/Judur/ Shorashim. Their current tour brings them to Ithaca on Wednesday, June 3, at The Space @ GreenStar, with dinner and text study at 5:30 p.m. and the main event at 7 p.m.

Cyclists help promote heart health page 2
A group of some 150 cyclists will come together on Saturday, June 13, to raise awareness of a health hazard that nearly killed King Ferry Winery Peter Saltonstall two years ago and remains the number-one killer in America: heart disease.

New cider house opens its doors page 3
The Finger Lakes Cider House celebrated its grand opening on May 25 in conjunction with the fourth annual Asaparaganza festival at Good Life Farm in Interlaken.

Children’s book is a tribute to noted artist page 5
You can’t live in Ithaca without hearing the name Louis Agassiz Fuertes at least once in your life. Especially if you visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, where there is an auditorium bearing his name.

Coworking gains a foothold in Ithaca page 8
“What do you do?” We answer this familiar question with our occupation, rather than our hobbies or lifestyle—and for good reason. Americans spend roughly half of our waking life at work. It’s a big part of who we are, and it affects our quality of life.

Comicbook heroes on the big screen page 9
And from the opening frames it acts like one, with a kinetic, even frantic opening attack on the Sokovian lair of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Krestschmann, who even wears the requisite monocle) to retrieve Thor’s scepter. In quick beats, each superhero comes into view, then a money-shot of the whole team as it clicks into place. As the Avengers coordinate their attack they suffer the one-two punches of genetically modified twins Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) aka Quicksilver, a Flash-type, and his spookier sister Wanda/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), a mind-bender and telekinetic. Scarlet Witch gets into most of the Avengers’ minds, sending them deep into illusions built on their personal fears.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

TompkinsWeekly for the week of May 25th

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Final Fracking Review Released
It took seven years, numerous meetings, formal hearings and a couple drafts, but on May 13 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released its final SGEIS. Weighing in at 2,000 pages (about 20 pounds), this report lays the groundwork for what many believe will be a statewide ban on fracking.

County Mulls Health Care Measure
Asked to reaffirm its earlier actions in 2006 and 2009, the Tompkins County Legislature on May 19 rejected a resolution advocating continued support for a single-payer approach to health care coverage in New York State.

Walking map is a guide to better health page 2
Alternative transportation options are on the rise around Ithaca, with the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, Safe Routes to School and the Cayuga Street Bike Route receiving attention. The newest option to come to fruition is the Ithaca Neighborhood Walking Map, produced by the Human Services Coalition (HSC) of Tompkins County with funding provided by the New York State Department of Health’s Creating Healthy Places to Live, Work and Play grant.

Ithaca Festival celebrates togetherness page 3
Summer officially arrives in Ithaca this week—never mind the June solstice—when the Ithaca Festival returns, from Thursday through Sunday, featuring plenty of homegrown talent, food and libations, and an opporunity to celebrate many of the reasons we call this place home.

Large-scale solar farms dot the landscape page 5
Solar energy operations are cropping up throughout the area, resulting in significant reductions in our collective carbon footprint and introducing cutting-edge technology that holds promise for the future.

Creative problem-solving at IHS page 8
Students in Ithaca High School Art Teacher Jackie Richardson’s sculpture class were recently tasked with solving a problem—gravity— with art. Given limited supplies of only tape, newspaper and wire; they were encouraged to create a standing four-foot structure.

A woman haunted by her past page 9
Next week we shall plunge into the popcorn pulp of summer, but I’d like to pause for one last refreshing dip into the quieter pools of spring’s indies.

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