Posts by Peter Champelli
GIAC’s Leslyn McBean-Clairborne reflects on annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Breakfast
Today is Martin Luther King Day, and in recognition of the holiday, Greater Ithaca Activities Center held its annual MLK breakfast over the weekend – in a virtual setting. WRFI News Contributor Peter Champelli caught up with GIAC Executive Director Leslyn McBean-Clairborne about the event, and what MLK day means this year in particular. CHAMPELLI:…
Read MoreCoronavirus Update: December 10, 2020
Tompkins County held another COVID-19 town hall last night to speak to the community and take questions. There, county leaders talked about the coronavirus vaccine and handling nursing home outbreaks, reports the Ithaca Times. Public Health Director Frank Kruppa says the Southern Tier will be getting 4,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine sometime this week.…
Read MoreInterview: Leslie Danks Burke on 2020 race, key issues for 58th District
On Friday, we welcomed Leslie Danks Burke to our program. Danks Burke was the Democratic candidate for New York’s 58th State Senate district. While the incumbent, Tom O’Mara won the election, we asked the challenger’s thoughts on how the 58th senate district, which includes Tompkins and Schuyler Counties, could be improved going forward.
Read MoreCoronavirus Update, December 4, 2020
Looking at the local COVID-19 caseload, the latest numbers, released yesterday from the Tompkins County health department, indicate that there are 23 additional positives, and 16 new recoveries. According to the County Health Department, that leaves 233 active cases of COVID-19 in Tompkins. In Schuyler County, there are 14 new cases of COVID-19 reported as…
Read MoreInterview: Laura Rosbrow-Telem on audio storytelling and COVID-19 vaccines [AUDIO]
On Tuesday, Public News Service Reporter Laura Rosbrow-Telem joined WRFI Community Radio News for a live interview about her recent story for WNYC’s Radiolab. The story, which is available online and on podcast platforms, was about the process of developing COVID-19 vaccines through human challenge trials. Listen to the interview below to hear the interview…
Read MoreCoronavirus Update, December 1, 2020
Looking at the local COVID-19 caseload, the latest numbers, released today from the Tompkins County health department, indicate that there are 34 additional positives, and 8 new recoveries. According to the County Health Department, that’s 219 active cases of COVID-19 in Tompkins. In Schuyler County, there are 3 new cases of COVID-19 reported as of…
Read MoreCoronavirus Update, November 13, 2020
The Tompkins County Health Department announced Thursday that an employee at Target in the Ithaca Mall worked during their infectious period, and also that the county now has as of this evening, 117 active cases, the greatest number of active cases the county has ever had. The Ithaca Times reports that the Target employee worked…
Read MoreCoronavirus Update, November 12, 2020
Looking at the local COVID-19 caseload, the latest numbers, released yesterday from the Tompkins County health department, indicate that there are 19 additional positives, and 9 new recoveries. According to the County Health Department, that leaves 73 active cases of COVID-19 in Tompkins. The Health Department also announces that the Cayuga Health sampling site will…
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