WRFI Community Radio News

On Wednesday, local politicians toured the homeless encampment behind Wal-Mart. According to the Ithaca Voice, the group included Ithaca Common Council member Cynthia Brock, Republican Congressional candidate Marc Molinaro, and Tompkins County legislator Mike Sigler. The group spoke with several residents of the encampments who said theft and drug abuse were their primary concerns. Alderperson…

The Ithaca Voice’s exhaustive coverage of Tuesday’s Ithaca Planning and Development Board meeting details plans reviewed for five new apartment projects, a new fire house, a car wash, and a new building on the Cornell campus.  The housing projects would construct some 423 new housing units. The housing projects reviewed include four proposed by the…

The Ithaca Planning and Economic Development Committee is reviewing two policy proposals dealing with the short term rental (or STR) market in the city. The STR market includes dwellings rented through Airbnb, VRBO, and other platforms. According to the Ithaca Voice the main goals of the draft policies are to help ensure that STRs don’t…

Ithaca’s Health and Human Services Committee has begun discussing policies to combat the growing opioid crisis including the creation of a special task force. Other forms of assistance discussed include  providing addiction services and fentanyl testing strips. According to the Ithaca Voice, the committee intends on asking the Chair of the Tompkins County Legislature about…

Ithaca’s Planning and Economic Development Committee voted unanimously last week to endorse an application for state funds to revitalize two downtown properties. According to the Ithaca Voice, developer Urban Encore LLC led by local John Guttridge will apply for up to $2 million to renovate two buildings on the 100 block of South Cayuga St.…

The Tompkins County Legislature has approved a new transportation agreement between TCAT and its three underwriters, the county, the city of Ithaca, and Cornell University. According to the Ithaca Times, the previous agreement was set to expire in early October which would’ve left TCAT unfunded. The new contract will also allow TCAT’s three underwriters to…

Advocates of a moratorium on proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining in New York are celebrating one currency’s transition to a greener process.  Etherium, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, transitioned last week to a proof-of-stake blockchain which uses less than one percent of the energy of the more common proof-of-work. Yvonne Taylor, vice president of Seneca Lake Guardian…

Recidivism has continued to fall in Tompkins County. Researchers say the steady fall in people being locked up more than once a year is directly correlated with investments the County has made in alternatives to incarceration and other supportive measures for court involved people. At their meeting Monday, the County Health and Human Services Committee…